OPINION: The Happiest Place on Earth - Part 3

You made it! Months of planning are finally over and you’re officially on your Disney World vacation. Thanks to following my tips from my last two columns, you’re at a resort with lots of perks and you have your dining reservations ready to go. However, nothing with Disney is simple. Just because you made it doesn’t mean you’re done.

Once upon a time, Disney had the FastPass system. FastPass was a quick and easy way to skip the line for some of Disney’s biggest attractions. Every guest was able to go to FastPass booths and get a ticket for two free attractions a day.

Using the FastPass ticket, guests could use a smaller, expedited line to ride their favorite attractions. Each ticket gave you a time to come back, so the FastPass line wasn’t overloaded with guests.

Well, Disney decided to use COVID as a great time to change more than just their bus shuttle system. As COVID regulations started to ease, guests saw FastPass lines drifting away as well. In 2021, Disney announced Genie+, a new version of the FastPass system guests now have to pay for.

Prices depend on the day of your visit and which park you’re visiting. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios generally have higher prices, due to the increased number and popularity of rides available. Genie+ is more expensive during busier times of the year, such as during holidays or school breaks. In general, Genie+ ranges from $15 to $35 per person.

Genie+ includes a number of extra perks with purchase. Guests can listen to behind-the-scenes stories about attractions and the park through Audio Tales. Also included is an unlimited amount of PhotoPass downloads. PhotoPass downloads include pictures taken by Disney cast members throughout the park as well as on-ride photos. However, the reason most people get Genie+ is for the Lightning Lane access.

Lightning Lane is the new name for FastPass lines. Magic Kingdom has 23 different experiences available with Lightning Lanes, including rides, parades and meeting characters. Epcot and Animal Kingdom both have 11 experiences, while Hollywood Studios offers 14.

However, just because you’ve purchased Genie+ doesn’t mean you have access to every Lightning Lane. On the day you plan on using Genie+, you can start making experience reservations at 7 a.m. You can only have one Lightning Lane pass at a time, with confusing exceptions.

For example, let’s say your first Lightning Lane is for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at 9 a.m. This is a time range, so you can enter the Lightning Lane anywhere from 9 a.m. to 9:59 a.m. (you are generally allowed a 5 minute grace period.) Once you tap into the attraction, you are able to make another Lightning Lane selection.

However, what if you want to go on the Haunted Mansion and the next available time slot isn’t until 5 p.m.? You won’t have to wait another eight hours until your next selection. Instead, two hours after you made that next selection, you are able to make another one. Technically, you could have a number of Lightning Lane selections stacked at the same time if they all are at the end of the day.

If that isn’t confusing enough, Genie+ doesn’t cover the big ticket rides. If you want to skip the line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT, Avatar Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom or Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios, you will be required to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane.

Like Genie+, Individual Lightning Lanes are subject to flex pricing. The more popular the park, the more expensive the Lightning Lane will be. For example, Rise of the Resistance could cost $15 per person on a slow day, or $25 per person on a busy day. If your family of four comes to EPCOT on a busy day and wants to skip the line, it could cost $100.

Of course, Lightning Lanes aren’t required to get on these rides. For almost every ride, you can simply join the regular outdoor queue and be good to go, no matter how long the wait. However, for the very newest of the rides, Disney has created a virtual queue system.

The two rides using a virtual queue right now are TRON Lightcycle Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. When Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens later this year, it will likely join this lineup. Unfortunately, joining a virtual queue isn’t as simple as joining a physical queue. There are a couple of steps to the process, and even then you might not be able to ride.

First things first: make sure everyone in your party has their tickets connected on the My Disney Experience app. Not everyone needs to have this app, but if you want to ride together, you all need to be connected. Once connected, you can request to join the virtual queue at 7 a.m. Make sure to be ready before 7 a.m. hits, as the newer the ride, the quicker boarding spots will be grabbed. When TRON first opened, I heard of people trying to join at 7:05 a.m. and not making it.

If you were able to join the virtual queue, then you can go about your day at the park until it’s your turn to board. If you didn’t manage to get a spot, don’t fear. Another virtual queue opens at 1 p.m. that you can attempt to join.

Virtual queues may seem like a crazy hassle, and I concede that, but it’s better than the alternative. In January 2022, EPCOT announced the sale of a new popcorn bucket themed after the 80s-phenomenon Figment the Dragon. Guests went crazy for this limited merchandise, and on its release day, there was a line estimated to be 6.5 hours long. Just for a popcorn bucket. Yes, Disney did run out and yes, the next time they sold a Figment bucket they had a virtual queue. While virtual queues may be annoying to figure out, it’s better than spending $130 to stand in line all day.

I know all this information seems like a lot, and for many, means a trip to the parks just isn’t worth it. While I agree the steps one must take to have a successful Disney vacation are insane, it clearly doesn’t stop me from loving the parks. I would love for Disney to simplify everything, but until then, I hope you found my tips useful.