People will tell you a LOT of things about Disney World — you’ve “got” to try this, you “can’t” skip this, you should “never” do this — it goes on and on. But there’s one big LIE you might be hearing about Disney World right now.

Genie+ is the paid system that has replaced FastPass+. With Genie+, you pay a certain amount depending on whether you buy a multi-park or single-park option (and depending on the day on which you visit), and then you can make Genie+ selections one at a time throughout the day. Your Genie+ selection lets you SKIP the standby line at the ride you select once the return time you pick arrives. The system can be incredibly useful (though confusing) but there’s one big lie people say about it that you should NOT believe.

You might have heard people saying that Genie+ is NECESSARY for your trip and that you absolutely NEED to buy it to enjoy your time in Disney World, but that is a LIE.

Now, don’t get us wrong — Genie+ can be incredibly useful. The service can help you skip the standby lines at many of Disney World’s popular rides which can help you accomplish a LOT in much less time than if you got caught in long waits at each attraction.

If you know how to use it properly, plan your Genie+ times carefully, take full advantage of the system, and make new selections as SOON as you’re able to, then you can really make the system work for you. But…is Genie+ necessary? NO.

First, from a technical standpoint, Genie+ is not necessary to get on any of Disney World’s rides and that’s an important thing to keep in mind. You can still get on Space Mountain, Rise of the Resistance, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and ALL of the other Disney rides WITHOUT Genie+.

You’ll have to either wait in the standby lines or join a virtual queue (where applicable) to get on the attractions, but you do not by any means have to buy Genie+ to actually get on those rides. Again, Genie+ might make it easier to get on those rides in less time, but it’s not required for you to experience them.

Second, Genie+ might not be worth your cash if the rides you REALLY want to skip the lines for aren’t even included in the service. Some of Disney World’s most popular rides are actually NOT available through Genie+. To skip the lines at these super popular rides, you’ll need to pay for something called Individual Lightning Lanes.

Basically, what you do with this service is pay individually for the ability to skip the standby line/virtual queue once at a single ride. You can only buy a maximum of 2 Individual Lightning Lanes per day and you can only buy 1 per ride.

The rides with Individual Lightning Lanes are:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – $10 – $12 per person
• AVATAR Flight of Passage — $11 – $16 per person
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – $15 – $25 per person
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind — $14 – 17 per person
• TRON Lightcycle / Run — $20 per person

If the only rides on your must-do list are the ones noted above, then buying the more general Genie+ service might not be worth it for you because Genie+ won’t let you skip the rides at these rides. Instead, you’ll want to pay for the Individual Lightning Lanes for the rides on this list that are a must-do for you and then you can stick to standby lines/virtual queues for everything else.

Another reason why Genie+ might not be necessary for you is that there are ways to wait LESS time for many of the popular rides in Disney World WITHOUT using Genie+. 

For starters, you could take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry. This is a perk for Disney World hotel guests (and those staying at select other hotels) that lets qualifying guests enter any Disney World theme park 30 minutes EARLY any day they want (provided they have a Park Pass and valid ticket).

If you take advantage of this perk, you could get into the park before the heavier crowds arrive. That gives you 30 minutes to hit some of the popular rides with fewer crowds around, which can equal shorter waits.

Additionally, select guests can take advantage of Extended Evening Hours to also get some extra time in the parks with fewer crowds. This perk is available for those staying at Deluxe Disney World Hotels, Deluxe Villas, and select other qualifying hotels. With Extended Evening Hours, qualifying guests can stay in select parks AFTER they close to the general public on select nights.

Again, this can give you time in the parks with fewer guests around, giving you the opportunity to hop on some great rides with shorter waits.

Only certain rides are available during Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours, but the perks can still help you get a good amount done with fewer crowds around — potentially lessening the pressure to get more done during “regular” theme park hours, and thereby lessening the pressure to get Genie+.

Even if you don’t qualify for these perks, you could rope drop (get to the park extremely early so you’re one of the first people in the park for the day) to try and hop on rides with shorter waits. The early bird gets the worm! Or, you could stick around until later in the night, at which point some of the rides often have shorter waits since many guests (especially ones with small kiddos) will have already left for the day.

On top of ALL of this, there are some parks where Genie+ might not feel necessary…at all. Genie+ can be especially helpful, from what we’ve found, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. But at EPCOT and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it might not be all that beneficial.

Sure, EPCOT has some heavy hitters — like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After — but if you time things right and take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry, Extended Evening Hours, rope drop, or stay later in the evening, you may be able to get on the rides with shorter waits without needing Genie+ at all.

In Animal Kingdom, Genie+ won’t help you with those long waits at Avatar Flight of Passage anyway (that’s an Individual Lightning Lane ride) and you may not feel that it is as necessary for the other attractions in the park. There may not even be enough attractions in the park on Genie+ to really make the purchase worth it, especially because some of the unique activities in Animal Kingdom don’t use Genie+ (like the walking trails).

Genie+ might also not be necessary for a variety of other reasons. For example, if you don’t care about getting onto a lot of the popular rides and just want to ride Living with the Land and watch Reflections of China at EPCOT after eating your way around World Showcase, then Genie+ is NOT for you. If your focus is on eating, entertainment, shopping, characters, and/or rides that typically don’t have longer lines, then Genie+ could be a total skip.

You could also take advantage of single-rider lines in some places (where available) to help skip those longer waits. Don’t forget that the FREE version of Genie that is in the My Disney Experience can also help, as it can show you predicted wait times, helping you know just when is the best time to rush over to the Jungle Cruise to get a shorter wait.

If you’re visiting during a slower time of the year (like around late August or September when kiddos have gone back to school), then you might not even encounter enough crowds to make Genie+ really worth it. You can usually get a feel for when crowds might be lighter by looking at Disney’s ticket prices. Cheaper ticket prices often indicate an expectation that fewer crowds will be in the park (versus peak days that are priced higher).

In short, Genie+ can certainly be helpful. If you are going during a really busy season, want to get on every single ride in every single park, or just would rather not mess with standby lines, then it might be a good buy for you. But there are MANY reasons why Genie+ might not be necessary. Our advice? Sit down with your group and see what their needs/wants are. Will Genie+ help them accomplish that? Is Genie+ necessary for them to accomplish that? If the answer is “no” then you might have just saved yourself some serious cash (which you can spend on more snacks, obviously).

We’ll continue to share more Disney tips and tricks with you soon, so stay tuned for that!

 Do you like Genie+? Tell us in the comments.