You’ve been saving and planning for MONTHS! From where to stay and choosing your resort to figuring out airline and airport transportation, your vacation is HERE! Hooray! You did! Now, it’s time to sit back and enjoy your vacation, right? Well, hold on a hot-dang minute….

Your planning doesn’t end with a hotel selection, plane tickets, or even advanced dining reservations. Oh, no! Disney wants you to plan out your day in the parks, too. Thus enters Disney Genie!

Today, we’re taking a look at Genie+, Individual Attraction Selection, and what Lightning Lanes you should try to get first! Here are some things to keep in mind when planning with Genie+.

Disney Genie is a planning service, which you can find on the Disney World app, features a paid FastPass+ replacement option (now known as Lightning Lanes), and more!

Genie+ vs. Individual Attraction Selection

Need a little Genie overview and recap? Don’t worry, we gotchu! Disney Genie is a FREE planning service that helps you figure out your day at the Disney parks!

Within Disney Genie, you can purchase Genie+, which includes Lightning Lanes (the old FastPass lanes), PhotoPass lenses, and more. With Genie+, you can book one Lightning Lane at a time throughout the day, with some exceptions. However, not every ride’s Lightning Lane is included in Genie+.

Individual Attraction Selection, often called Pay-Per-Ride, is an additional service that costs extra on top of the price of Genie+. This service allows you to get access to especially popular rides. Prices vary depending on the park, ride, and day, and you can book a maximum of two per day. 

Click Here to Read More About The Difference Between Genie+ and Pay-Per-Ride! 

Individual Attraction Selection Rides

Individual Attraction Selection rides are rides that have Lightning Lanes that aren’t included in the cost of Genie+! There are typically two rides per park that are part of this Pay-Per-Ride service, and they’re typically the newest or most popular rides at each park.

Note, however, that sometimes these ride offerings can change. For example, for a limited time, Disney might offer one of these IAS rides through the traditional Genie+ service. That means you’ll be able to pay for the standard Genie+ service and grab a Lightning Lane for one of these traditional IAS rides without an additional cost.

BUT these changes are typically only made for a limited time and only affect select rides, so that’s something to keep in mind. Be sure to check and see if any changes have been made ahead of your trip.

Magic Kingdom

For Magic Kingdom, the IAS attractions are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON/Lightcycle Run. Which of these amazing attractions should you prioritize?  Well, hate to kinda evade a direct answer for ya, but we gotta say — it depends!

You should prioritize TRON/Lightcyle Run if:

• You haven’t experienced this one-of-a-kind attraction, yet.
• You want to secure a time slot so you can ride it at night, when the canopy is illuminated.
• You have older, more thrill-seeking individuals in your group.
• You’re not taken aback by the higher price point for the IAS access.
• You plan to “rope drop” Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

You should prioritize Seven Dwarfs Mine Train if:

• You have little ones in your group who aren’t tall enough to ride TRON/Lightcyle Run.
• You’ve already secured a Virtual Queue access to TRON/Lightcycle Run
• You’ve already ridden TRON/Lightcyle Run, and it’s just not your jam.
• That price point for the IAS access to TRON/Lightcycle Run is just a little too daunting for your family, but Seven Dwarfs Mine Train feels more reasonable.

EPCOT

For EPCOT, the IAS attraction is just Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, so that makes the decision pretty darned easy, but it also means that Lightning Lane selections can fill up quickly!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has been operating with a virtual queue since it opened. This means you could easily snag two rides on this popular attraction!

Hollywood Studios

For Hollywood Studios, the IAS attraction is only Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and it will book up super quickly through Genie+ and IAS, so you might want to purchase these ASAP if you want them for the day. 

Rise of the Resistance, in particular, can fill up in SECONDS after it becomes available for the day. (Although, we have been able to keep refreshing the app and see Lightning Lane availability pop up for Rise of the Resistance occasionally.)

Animal Kingdom

For Animal Kingdom, the IAS attraction is Avatar Flight of Passage!

If you’re a Disney World Resort Hotel guest, you might be able to get around booking an IAS Lightning Lane for some of these rides by hitting up the ride during a park’s Early Theme Park Entry.

Click Here to See How To Buy Individual Attraction Selections!

Popular Attractions

Another important thing to think about when you’re thinking about what rides to prioritize when you’re booking your Genie+ reservations is what rides are popular at the park you’re visiting. On the first day of Genie, rides like Jungle Cruise, Slinky Dog Dash, Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Smugglers Run, Test Track, and Peter Pan’s Flight all sold out of Lightning Lanes before the end of the day. (Note: some of the popular attractions are only available through IAS, but a lot of them are just regular Genie+ Lightning Lanes). Many of these rides continue to be extremely popular.

Disney World Lightning Lanes that are unavailable as of right now:

Jungle Cruise
Slinky Dog Dash
Rise of the Resistance
Smugglers Run
Test Track
Peter Pan’s Flight

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) October 19, 2021

When you’re visiting Magic Kingdom, keep an eye out for popular attractions like Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (IAS) is another one to keep a close eye on if it’s a must-do for you, as it can fill up fast!

When you’re visiting EPCOT, make sure to prioritize rides like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (IAS), Test Track, Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Soarin’ Around the World when planning out your day. You’ll also want to keep a close eye on Mission: SPACE Orange.

When you’re visiting Hollywood Studios, there are a LOT of rides that are popular: Slinky Dog Dash, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (IAS), Toy Story Mania, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror can all be very popular so you’ll want to prioritize these.

When you’re visiting Animal Kingdom, look out for Avatar Flight of Passage (IAS), Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, and Navi River Journey. A Celebration of the Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond are others to look at if you’re determined to reserve good seating for a show. (Keep in mind that there is lower availability of Lightning Lanes for shows and entertainment options since there are a limited number of performances each day.)

A good rule of thumb for popular attractions is to check out what the wait times are like the day before your visit so you can kind of gauge what rides are especially popular right now.

You can also go into the app the day before your trip (or a few days before) and take a look at the Tip Board to see what rides have already “sold out” or otherwise filled up during the early morning hours. You can also see what the next return times look like. That can help you gauge which ones might need to be at the very top of your list during your trip.

Click Here to Read Everything About Disney Genie!

Personal Favorites

Finally, make sure to get your personal favorites! This might seem like a no-brainer, but it can be hard to remember to grab the rides you love when you’re trying to hunt down all the popular stuff. There’s no sense in prioritizing some of the rides we mentioned above if they don’t interest you or aren’t at the top of your own personal list.

Be sure to feed all your interests into the FREE Disney Genie’s planning service, because it can end up being helpful and could give you good recommendations throughout the day. Generally, make sure you’re having fun at the parks, that’s what it’s all about!

We’re always keeping up with the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more!

Read all about Disney Genie, Genie+, and Individual Attraction Selections here. 

What do you think about Disney Genie? Let us know in the comments!