Our 1-day itinerary for Magic Kingdom utilizing Genie+ and Lightning Lanes affords a step-by-step plan for the park. Its aim is to reply questions, illustrate the method of how paid FastPass works in apply at Walt Disney World, and deal with the very best technique for journey reservations. (Updated March 3, 2023.)
This is a theoretical day at Magic Kingdom since there are unknowns and the Lightning Lane return instances right here aren’t essentially what you’ll get. That’ll differ significantly primarily based on crowd ranges, what number of different visitors purchase the Genie+ service, and quite a lot of different variables. If you wish to see an instance of what we achieved within the park, see My Day Using Genie+ at Magic Kingdom.
The excellent news is that Magic Kingdom is the “easiest” park for utilizing Genie+ at Walt Disney World, so it’s not primarily that you simply observe a strict itinerary for conducting loads through Lightning Lanes. There’s a whole lot of room for flexibility, which is necessary since your plans and priorities will differ from what’s right here relying upon whether or not you’re eligible for Early Entry, characters are necessary to your celebration, you do sit-down or counter service eating, and so on.
Another factor to know is that loads has modified with Genie+ in the previous couple of months. Some of those are throughout the board coverage or rule modifications that apply equally to all parks at Walt Disney World. Then there are these particular to Magic Kingdom because of the current return of a number of character experiences, together with Enchanted Tales with Belle and the Ariel’s Grotto meet & greet. As such, we’ve returned to refresh this itinerary as soon as once more.
In essence, this itinerary affords a run via of a traditional day at Magic Kingdom utilizing each Lightning Lanes and standby strains. If you’re a kind A trip planner, hopefully this provides you some peace of thoughts about how Genie+ works. With that mentioned, remember that there’ll possible be some fluidity with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes within the months to come back as tweaks are made–loads has already modified because the techniques launched final fall.
This is meant to complement our Lightning Lane and Genie+ at Walt Disney World FAQ. Numerous you’ve got had questions, and we’ve tried to reply a lot of the widespread ones there. However, many are about particular situations and that FAQ can be so long as a Tolstoy novel if we addressed each there.
As mentioned within the aforementioned FAQ, there’s at present one attraction per park that sells particular person Lightning Lane entry and aren’t a part of Genie+. In Magic Kingdom, this attraction is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. (Previously, Space Mountain was an Individual Lightning Lane journey, however it has been moved over to Genie+ completely.)
Anyway, on with our 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes…
7:00 am – Book Peter Pan’s Flight through Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 9:00 am to 10:00 am.
8:30 am – Rope drop Space Mountain through standby throughout Early Entry. (If you’re not eligible for Early Entry, skip forward to Jungle Cruise.)
8:40 am – Do Astro Orbiter through standby line.
9:00 am – Cross the Central Plaza in entrance of Cinderella Castle and head to Adventureland for normal rope drop (park opening). Here, do Jungle Cruise, which is at present excessive on our Magic Kingdom Genie+ Priorities & Lightning Lane Ride Rankings.
If you don’t care about character meet & greets, you would possibly really wish to learn that listing of rankings as a substitute of this pattern itinerary. This goes to contain a whole lot of character stops that many households would possibly wish to skip solely. If so, you’ll unencumber a whole lot of time to do various things.
Parties tired of characters may additionally think about staying in Tomorrowland and taking a spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. You’ll have the ability to have a way more leisurely day than those that are additionally attempting to knock out meet & greets through the Lightning Lanes.
9:30 am – Do Peter Pan’s Flight through Lightning Lane (Genie+ journey reservation). Immediately upon tapping into the Lightning Lane, guide Meet Ariel at Her Grotto through Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. (If you skipped Jungle Cruise earlier than since you don’t care about characters, guide that as a substitute.)
9:45 am – Do the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh through standby line.
10:00 am – Do Haunted Mansion through standby line.
10:30 am – Do Pirates of the Caribbean through standby line.
10:45 am – Free time or a buffer in case crowds are worse throughout your go to. If you’ve already achieved all or most of this, think about rewarding your self with one of many Best Magic Kingdom Snacks & Desserts List. (We’re going to go away some gaps on this itinerary so it doesn’t change into too complicated or overwhelming–consuming is at all times a good way to fill the void!)
11:30 am – Score rapid Walk-Up Waitlist availability at Skipper Canteen, an underrated eating gem (and arguably the park’s greatest restaurant) that many Magic Kingdom visitors are afraid to attempt as a result of it’s “too exotic.”
11:30 am – While ready at Skipper Canteen, guide Meet Mickey & Minnie at Town Square Theater through Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of two:00 pm to three:00 pm.
Note: 11:30 am is chosen as a result of it’s 120 minutes after 9 am, which is according to the 120 minute rule. This means that you may choose your subsequent Genie+ journey reservation both after tapping into your earlier one or after 120 minutes have handed, whichever is sooner. In this case, that’s 120 minutes.
12:30 pm – Recover from a feast of extremely adventurous and weird dishes similar to “grilled steak” and “fried chicken” by a short hibernation throughout Country Bear Jamboree. Marvel at its bear-rific brilliance. Further feast restoration with a displaying of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. (In different phrases, that is about an hour of free time.)
1:25 pm – Meet Ariel at Her Grotto through Lightning Lane (Genie+ reservation).
1:31 pm – While within the Lightning Lane to satisfy Ariel, guide Big Thunder Mountain Railroad through Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. (If you skipped Space Mountain earlier than, guide that as a substitute.)
1:40 pm – Do Enchanted Tales with Belle through the standby line.
2:10 pm – While strolling to the entrance of the park, seize a snack from Gaston’s Tavern, Storybook Treats, or Friar’s Nook–all of which in Fantasyland and on the best way to the following cease.
Alternatively, you may head in direction of the entrance of the park to refuel at Main Street Bakery, which is the Starbucks in Magic Kingdom. In addition to espresso, Main Street Bakery has quite a lot of snacks and, normally, a seasonal cupcake.
2:30 pm – Meet Mickey & Minnie at Town Square Theater through Lightning Lane (Genie+ reservation).
2:40 pm – Meet Snow White exterior Town Square Theater
2:55 pm – Take PhotoPass household images round Main Street
~3:15 pm – What time is the three o’clock parade? On Main Street, it’s really about 15-20 minutes after 3 pm, because it takes a while for Festival of Fantasy Parade to make its technique to the entrance of the park. (If you don’t wish to wait, you may stroll in direction of the parade by heading to Liberty Square or Frontierland–however we advocate Main Street for probably the most “iconic” expertise.)
3:31 pm – Book Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin through Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 4:00 pm to five:00 pm.
4 pm – Do Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin through Lightning Lane (Genie+ journey reservation).
4:01 pm – Book Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid through Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 5:00 pm to six:00 pm.
Note: We mentioned the 120 minute rule above, however you additionally ought to have the ability to guide one other Genie+ reservation after tapping into your earlier one. That gained’t be related in case you’re going for all high-priority choices, however grabbing some low-hanging fruit after reserving all your high-priority choices could make afternoon touring simpler. (Pretty a lot something performed through standby within the first couple hours may very well be moved to the afternoon through Genie+ in case you so want.)
4:15 pm – Embrace Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrowland through the Carousel of Progress and the PeopleMover. (Pretty wild that Magic Kingdom’s three most iconic points of interest–these two plus Country Bear Jamboree–don’t use Genie+ or Lightning Lanes. That’s a reasonably large oversight!)
5:30 pm – Do Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid through Lightning Lane (Genie+ journey reservation).
5:31 pm – Book one other character meet & greet: both Cinderella or Tiana at Princess Fairytale Hall with a 7:30 pm return time. Alternatively, guide a Lightning Lane for Pirates of the Caribbean, which is permissible since you probably did it through standby the earlier time, in case you’re not into princesses.
6 pm – Do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad through Lightning Lane (Genie+ journey reservation).
6:15 pm to 7:25 pm – Open time to perform any points of interest that weren’t potential earlier on account of crowd ranges, plus dinner. Columbia Harbour House can be our suggestion for a faster however high quality meal.
We’d additionally advocate catching the final efficiency of Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire at Cinderella Castle–verify the instances information for showtimes.
7:30 pm – Meet Cinderella or Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall through the Lightning Lane.
8:00 pm – Do “it’s a small world” through standby line.
8:45 pm – Grab a final minute spot for Disney Enchantment in Fantasyland with a view of each Cinderella Castle and Beast’s Castle above Be Our Guest Restaurant. This is just not a beneficial “one and done” fireworks viewing location (try our viewing location ideas for Magic Kingdom fireworks), however you’ll be doing one other evening in Magic Kingdom later.
~9:30 pm to 10:45 pm – Open time to revisit favourite points of interest, revisit rides which can be higher at evening, or do issues that weren’t possible earlier within the day on account of crowd ranges.
~10:55 pm – Race to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, leaping in line simply earlier than park closing.
This assumes Magic Kingdom closes at 11 pm and Disney Enchantment occurs at 9 pm. These instances must be adjusted if Magic Kingdom closes at an earlier hour. The salient level is that you’re not paying for Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) entry to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train by doing it on the finish of the evening. Moreover, no new ILL visitors will probably be getting into the queue as soon as the park closes. It’s all standby at that time, which suggests a faster-moving queue!
Once once more, this was a step-by-step day in Magic Kingdom utilizing Genie+ primarily based on assumptions about capability allocation and demand. Some or all of those assumptions may very well be off and never replicate what you really expertise once you go to Walt Disney World–however the identical may very well be mentioned of any itinerary. We suppose that is in all probability ~75% correct, and on the very least, ought to illustrate how a day might look utilizing the Genie+ service.
The level right here is for instance how Genie+ might show advantageous for days you choose to buy the add-on. Personally, I’d purchase strategically, and certain just for one Magic Kingdom day plus one DHS day and perhaps EPCOT now that Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure are included. That’s simply me, although, as somebody who is comparatively frugal but additionally acknowledges that “vacation time is money.”
Finally, even with a whole lot of stuff you’d have the ability to accomplish in the course of the center of the day eliminated for the sake of simplicity, this itinerary would possibly look overwhelming. Just remember that your previous itinerary with FastPass+ or present one additionally would possibly look fairly intimidating to the uninitiated. Like all issues Walt Disney World, it’ll change into easier and extra intuitive as soon as put into apply.
Ultimately, it must be comparatively straightforward to make use of Genie+ at Magic Kingdom. We’ve already performed so a number of instances, and discover it to be the very best and most laid again park for the paid FastPass service, and that’s largely on account of its extra sturdy journey roster and higher Lightning Lane return instances. With that mentioned, we acknowledge Genie+ isn’t for everybody–significantly those that don’t being glued to their telephones or are on a good price range. As such, we now have an ideal 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary Without Genie+ and Lightning Lanes that’ll assist you’ve got an ideal day with out the upcharge!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about accommodations on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To get monetary savings on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips submit takes a novel take a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the very best place to begin is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for every little thing that you must know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Was this 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary w/ Genie+ useful for instance how paid FastPass works in Walt Disney World’s flagship park? If you’ve put this to apply, have been you capable of accomplish all of this in a single day at Magic Kingdom? Did you buy Individual Lightning Lane entry to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or do it on the finish of the evening? Have any questions we didn’t reply with the above? Still confused by how Genie+ or Lightning Lanes work? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Other ideas or considerations? Any questions we might help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!