Are you looking for ways to maximize your Disney Genie Plus Lightning Lane pass purchase? I will share tips and strategies for maximizing your Disney Genie plus at Epcot and real-life examples of my Lightning Lane reservations experience at Epcot. I will also share which Lightning Lane ride sells out at Epcot so you will know how to prioritize your lightning lane reservations. I want you to learn from my mistakes! Below I’ve listed down tips and strategies for Disney Genie Plus at Epcot. Here is my video showing you how to get the most out of your Disney Genie plus at Epcot.
What is Lightning Lane?
Before we start, I just want to go over the basics of what Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane is. It is Disney World’s ride reservation system. There are 2 types of Lightning Lanes at Disney World. The Disney Genie+ Lightning can be used to make ride reservations all day long. You can use it on multiple rides but only one ride at a time. While Individual Lightning Lane is a ride reservation for one ride only. If you are still confused about Lightning Lane. Read my Beginner’s Guide to Disney World’s Lightning Lane before proceeding to the tips and strategies.
Disney Genie Plus Tips and Strategies for Epcot
1. Popular Lightning Lane Rides at Epcot Sells Out
Popular Lightning Lane rides such as Remy’s Ratatouille, Test Track, and Frozen Ever After do sell out by mid-day. On both days I was at Epcot, all three rides sold out. You need to book your Lightning Lane reservations early! Don’t assume you have all day to book your Lightning Lane rides at Epcot because they do sell out!
2. Buy your Disney Genie plus BEFORE 7 am!
I can’t stress this enough. Disney Genie plus go on sale starting at midnight on the day of your visit. If you don’t want to stay up past midnight, you can set an alarm and buy your Disney Genie plus at 6:30 am. That way, you are ready to go with your Disney Genie+ and can start making reservations at 7 am.
3. Wake Up Early to Book Your First Epcot Lightning Lane at 7 am
There are many popular rides at Epcot, in order to maximize your Disney Genie plus and to make sure you get your ride reservations before it sells out, you need to wake up early to book your Lightning Lane at Epcot. Set your alarm! Book your first Lightning Lane ride at 7 am.
4. Book the Lightning Lane for the Most Popular Ride at Epcot First
If you want to ride Remy’s Ratatouille at Epcot, you need to book it as your first Lightning Lane ride, This is the most popular Lightning Lane ride at Epcot and can sell out by 10 am.
To give you an idea of how in-demand Lighting Lane reservation is for Remy’s Ratatouille, on the first day, I was a little late in booking Remy’s Ratatouille, instead of booking it at 7 am, I booked Remy’s Ratatouille at 7:08 am. I was only 8 minutes late but I already got assigned a 6:20 pm ride window! Imagine if I were an hour late, it would have sold out!
5. Book Your Second Lightning Lane 2 hours after Your Previous Reservation
You are eligible to book your next Lightning Lane reservation once 2 hours have elapsed since your last lightning lane reservation. However, the 2 hours start when Epcot opens. Assuming you booked your first reservation at 7 am and that Epcot opens at 8:30 am. That means you are eligible to book your next lightning lane reservation 2 hours after opening which is 10:30 am. Set an alarm as a reminder.
Book Test Track or Frozen Ever After as your second Lightning Lane ride. Both are similar in popularity and will pretty much sell out within an hour. What this means for you is you will have to stand in line for one of these rides, either Test Track or Frozen Ever After. If you can’t decide which ride to book. One way to think about it is- are you willing to split up your group and go on the single rider line at Test Track? If so, I’d book Frozen Ever After as your second Lighting Lane ride and get in line at the single rider line for Test Track.
6. Book Soarin’ Around the World as Your 3rd Lightning Lane at Epcot
Book Soarin’ Around the World as your 3rd Lightning Lane ride. Book your 3rd Lightning Lane ride at 12:30 pm, which is 2 hours after 10:30 am. If, by any chance, Test Track or Frozen Ever After is still available, you should book it. From my experience, by the time you are booking your 3rd Lighting Lane ride, Test Track, Frozen Ever After, and Remy’s Ratatouille are already sold out.
7. Book Guardians of the Galaxy- Cosmic Rewind Individual Lightning Lane
Guardians of the Galaxy-Cosmic Rewind is the newest ride in Epcot. It is currently available as a Virtual Queue ride which is a lottery system. You can sign up for Virtual Queue at 7 am or 1 pm. However, if you want a guarantee to ride it and are willing to pay $14. Buy the Individual Lightning Lane for Guardians of the Galaxy- Cosmic Rewind.
8. Book Lighting Lane for the Less Popular Epcot Rides so You Don’t Have to Wait in Line
After you have the most popular Epcot rides booked, use Disney Genie plus to book the less popular rides at Epcot. Whenever you become eligible to book a Lighting Lane, don’t waste it, use it to book another ride. Even if you see that the standby line is less than 20 minutes, go ahead and just book a lightning lane. For example, I booked Lightning Lane for Spaceship Earth and Living with the Land even if the Standby line was short, it was still shorter when you go on Lightning Lane because you go straight to the ride!
9. Order of Lightning Lane at Epcot
To help you prioritize your Lighting Lane reservations, here is the order of rides at Epcot with regards to popularity. Definitely book the most popular rides first because they do sell out at Epcot.
The most popular ride at Epcot is Remy’s Ratatouille. Book Remy’s Ratatouille first. You need to book Remy’s Ratatouille at 7 am sharp. It sells out within the first hour!
Next, book either Test Track or Frozen Ever After as your second ride. Both of these rides typically sell out by 11:30 am! Unfortunately, you can only pick one of these rides. The other one will sell out before you have the chance to book it.
Next, book Soarin’ Around the World. This is the 4th most popular ride at Epcot but you will most likely be booking this ride as your 3rd lightning lane ride because the top 3 rides will sell out.
Finally, book the less popular Epcot rides such as Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. You really don’t need Disney Genie plus for these rides because they usually have a short standby wait time but if you are eligible to book a lightning lane, you should do it because it can cut down your having to stand in line. So why not use your Disney Genie plus for these rides?
Real-Life Example of How I Used Lighting Lane at Epcot
Below, you will see how I booked Lightning Lane when I was in Epcot for 2 days. I was able to book 5 Lighting Lanes rides each day. You will also see that I was not able to book Test Track and Frozen Ever After for both days. I had to choose between the two rides because they are both similar in popularity and they sold out shortly after 10:30 am.
Remy’s Ratatouille sold out by 10:30 am on both days so if I did not book it at 7 am, I would have to wait in the standby line to ride Remy’s Ratatouille.
Day 1: Epcot Disney Genie Plus Experience
7:08 am-Booked Remy’s Ratatouille- got 6:20 pm
10:30 am- Booked Frozen Ever After (Remy’s Ratatouille sold out already)- got 8:30 pm
12:30 pm- Booked Soarin’ Around the World
Booked- Living with the Land
Booked- Spaceship Earth
Day 2: Epcot Disney Genie Plus Experience
7:03 am- Booked Remy’s Ratatouille and got a 4:55 pm ride window
10:30 am- Booked Test Track (Remy’s Ratatouille sold out already)- got 8:05 pm ride window
12:30 pm- Booked Soarin’ Around the World (Frozen Ever After was already sold out)
Booked Living with the Land
Booked Spaceship Earth
If you are still on the fence about whether or not, Lighting Lane is worth it at Epcot. Check out my article: Is Lightning Lane Worth it at Disney World?
Other Disney World Parks Lighting Lane Tips:
Magic Kingdom Lighting Lane Strategies
Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Strategies
Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategies
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