Curious about the Genie Plus rides at Epcot and if you even need to worry about Lightning Lane attractions at this Disney park? Read on for answers to these questions and more.

The Disney Genie service, which launched back in October of 2021, is free through the My Disney Experience app. It helps you plan out your day at a main Disney World park (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom) by suggesting what to do next based on your preferences.

🧞‍♂️ Genie Plus is a paid add-on service to the basic Genie offering. Its main draw is that it lets you skip lines … kinda.

When you purchase Genie Plus, you pay for access to the Lightning Lane system. That means you can book one Lightning Lane reservation at a time for participating rides and attractions.

Now, you can’t simply buy Genie Plus and then walk up to any of the Lightning Lane entrances and be allowed on line. (Wouldn’t that be nice, though?)

⚡️ A Lightning Lane is a separate line that only people who made a Lightning Lane reservation can access. It’s not that there’s no line, it’s just that the LL line is usually shorter than the regular line.

There are times when you’ll wait in the Lightning Lane queue for a while. And if the regular line is short, you may even see those guests passing you before it’s your turn. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There are a few more important Genie Plus limitations to know about:

❌ It’s only available during regular park hours, which excludes early entry, Extended Evening Hours and special events.

❌ There are no Genie Plus discounts offered — not for D23 or DVC members, not for Annual Passholders, and not for Disney resort guests.

❌ Buying Genie Plus does not guarantee that you’ll get on every Lightning Lane ride available. You have to wait between bookings, and it’s nearly impossible to snag an LL for all of the Genie Plus rides at Epcot (or any Disney World park) in a single day.

All in all, there’s a lot to know about Lightning Lane attractions and Individual Lightning Lane access at Epcot. Let’s get into it!

You may also like:

• 4 Disney Genie Plus Tips You Should Try
• Is Genie Plus Worth It? Everything We Did at MK Without It
• When Can You Buy Genie Plus for Disney World?

The Genie Plus Rides at Epcot

These are the Genie Plus rides at Epcot — in other words, the rides and attractions with Lightning Lane entrances offered:

• Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
• Frozen Ever After
• Journey Into Imagination With Figment
• Living with the Land
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends
• Soarin’
• Spaceship Earth
• Test Track
• Turtle Talk With Crush

Keep in mind that the Disney theme parks also usually have Individual Lightning Lane attractions and virtual queue attractions, neither of which is included in Genie Plus. At Epcot (at this time of this writing), Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has Individual Lightning Lane entry and a virtual queue, as well as a regular standby line. We’ll talk more about those options in a bit.

What’s your favorite Cosmic Rewind song? Show it off.

What Rides Should I Use Lightning Lane for at Epcot?

On top of wondering which Epcot rides are included in Genie Plus, you probably also want to know, “Is Lightning Lane worth it in Epcot?” After all, it can be a waste to book an LL for a low-wait ride.

These are the most worthwhile Genie Plus rides at Epcot:

• Frozen Ever After
• Mission: SPACE (sometimes)
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’
• Spaceship Earth (sometimes)
• Test Track

Let’s circle back to Spaceship Earth for a second. This ride often has a standby line on the short side, and the line also moves quickly most days.

(Also, the wait time at Spaceship Earth is a good way to estimate how busy the park is. I talk about that here.)

For Mission: SPACE and Spaceship Earth, it’s not difficult to find low standby line wait times, so you may not want to waste a Lightning Lane reservation on either of those rides. However, if you really want to go on one of those rides and it’s an especially day at the park, it may be worth it to you to get on a short Lightning Lane queue instead of waiting on a longer line.

⭐️ Otherwise, prioritize the top four: Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Soarin’, and Test Track.

Which Lightning Lane Attractions Should I Reserve First?

The short answer is: the most popular ones. Knowing which Lightning Lanes sell out first can help you determine the most popular rides. Here’s how to figure that out:

(This walk-through will also show you which rides are part of Genie Plus. For example, if you’re wondering, “Does Frozen Ever After have Lightning Lane?” this is how you can find out.)

Step 1: Find Lighting Lane Times with the My Disney Experience App

Open the My Disney Experience app. Tap the Three Horizontal Lines on the bottom-right.

Click Tip Board on the top-left.

Make sure Epcot is the selected park. If it’s not, click Change Park to update it. Toggle on the button next to Show Only Disney Genie+ Lightning Lanes.

(For instructions about purchasing Genie Plus, check out our My Disney Experience app walk-through in this article.)

Now, all of the rides and attractions you see will be the ones with a Lightning Lane queue. The Individual Lightning Lane and Virtual Queue rides, however, won’t be included in this list.

✨ Pro Tip: You can see the standby line time above the next Lightning Lane return time. Seeing the standby time helps you decide if this is a good Lightning Lane reservation to make or not because you don’t want to waste your Genie Plus money or a Lightning Lane slot on an attraction that barely has a wait anyway.

Step 2: Book the Most Popular Ride First

To figure out which Lightning Lane to book first, look at the latest return time on the list. That means it’s the most popular ride and that its Lightning Lane bookings are going fast. That’s the ride you want to reserve first.

For example, if you’re booking as early as possible, which is 7 a.m. on the day of your Epcot visit, you may notice that a lot of the Lightning Lane times are in the morning. But something popular like Frozen Ever After or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure may have a return time of 3 p.m. That means that the earlier times have already been claimed, and it’s also a sign that those LLs will run out quickly.

What Rides Are Not Included in Genie Plus in Epcot?

There’s a lot to do in Epcot on your Disney World vacation that doesn’t require paying for Genie Plus. Here are the attractions that don’t have Lightning Lanes or other VIP-type access:

We’ve purposely left out the very childish options since this website discusses kid-free Disney World travel.

• The American Adventure
• Awesome Planet
• Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
• Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana
• Reflections of China
• Voices of Liberty

Also, don’t forget about the live entertainment around the World Showcase or the nighttime show. You can see what’s coming up in the My Disney Experience app.

And here’s another consideration: You can easily get on a few of the Genie Plus rides at Epcot without a Lightning Lane. These are the LL rides that rarely (if ever) have a long wait, so there’s no point in getting Genie Plus to access them:

• Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
• Journey Into Imagination With Figment
• Living with the Land
• Mission: SPACE
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends
• Spaceship Earth

Get more Genie Plus tips here.

What’s Included in Genie Plus for Epcot?

The biggest, most important feature of Genie Plus — the reason people pay for it — is the ability to book Lightning Lane attractions. In addition, Genie Plus also has a few other perks:

• Get digital downloads of certain PhotoPass attractions from the same day as your Genie Plus purchase.
• Use PhotoPass lenses on your phone.
• Hear facts and secrets about Disney theme parks with Audio Tales.

Those are fun add-ons if you remember to use them. They’re not worth the price of Genie Plus alone, but it’s nice to have a few extras anyway.

How Does Lightning Lane Work at Epcot?

Lightning Lane at Epcot works the same as LL at any of the other Disney parks. Here are the basics:

✨ Genie Plus is good for one day only. Right now, you can only purchase it for the current day — you can’t buy it in advance.

✨ As early as midnight on the day of your park visit, you can purchase Genie Plus for an individual park or if you want it for park hopping. You’ll make your purchase (and do just about everything else with Genie Plus) through the My Disney Experience app.

✨ At 7 a.m. that same day, you can make your first Lightning Lane reservation.

✨ You can’t make your next LL reservation until 2 hours later and the park must be open.

✨ You can book Lightning Lane attractions every 2 hours. Sometimes, a new slot opens up after you scan in for an attraction, so it pays to double-check the app.

✨ You can only book one Lightning Lane per attraction per day.

✨ All of your Lightning Lane return times and the time when you can make your next booking can be viewed in the My Disney Experience app.

Individual Lightning Lane and Virtual Queue Rides

In addition to the Lightning Lane attractions you can access with Genie Plus, there are also Individual Lightning Lane attractions at the Disney parks. Also, when a park opens a new ride that they expect to be popular, there’s usually a virtual queue for it instead of a standby line.

Eventually, some rides may have a standby line, Individual Lightning Lane and/or virtual queue available — the options change as time goes on.

📣 You don’t need to purchase Genie Plus in order to buy an Individual Lightning Lane. One doesn’t impact the other. ILLs are priced separately whether or not you have Genie Plus for that day.

Virtual queues are free, but you have to (a) know when you’re allowed to join one and then (b) show up during the time window for your boarding group.

What Are the Individual Lightning Lane and Virtual Queue Rides at Epcot?

Currently, the only Individual Lightning Lane attraction at Epcot is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Since the ride’s been around for a while, it also has a regular standby line and a virtual queue. Cosmic Rewind is also the only virtual queue ride at Epcot. That means there are three ways to ride Cosmic Rewind, one of which requires payment.

Get your customized Cosmic Rewind journal on Etsy! No judgment if September isn’t your favorite song. 🤨

FAQ About the Genie Plus Rides at Epcot

Does Genie+ work at Epcot?

Yes, Genie+ works at Epcot as well as Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. You can purchase Genie Plus for a single park or for all of them if you want to park hop.

Which Disney parks is Genie Plus worth it for?

Genie Plus is most worth it for Hollywood Studios. That’s where most of Disney World’s thrill rides are, and they’re all so popular that they tend to have long waits. Aside from Hollywood Studios, whether or not Genie Plus is worth it depends on what you want to ride.

If you have a long Disney World vacation, you may have enough park time to eventually get on all the rides that are important to you without having to pay extra. On the other hand, if you won’t be in WDW for long and most of the waits are more than an hour, paying for Genie Plus can mean seeing more in a day.

Can you park hop with Genie Plus?

Yes, there’s a park-hopper option when buying Genie Plus. It’s the highest-price choice, and it tends to cost about the same as buying Genie+ for Magic Kingdom.

Does Disney Genie Plus include all rides?

No, Disney Genie Plus does not include all of the rides at the Disney parks. Some of the less popular rides and attractions won’t have a Lightning Lane entrance. Also, some of the most popular rides won’t have an LL entrance because they require Individual Lightning Lane reservations instead.

Is Frozen Ever After included in Genie Plus?

Yes, Frozen Ever After is one of the Lightning Lane attractions you can book with Genie Plus.

How much does Genie Plus cost?

The cost of Genie Plus changes from day to day, and there will also be different pricing for different parks and the park-hopper option. In general, costs range from $15 up to around $40. Busier times at the park, like during Christmastime, will be costlier than times when crowds are low.

Final Thoughts: Is It Worth Getting Genie Plus at Epcot?

Whether or not Genie Plus at Epcot is worth it depends on the type of WDW vacation you’re planning. Here are a couple of examples.

Visiting Epcot Outside of Regular Hours

If you’re going to be in Epcot outside of regular park hours — like for early entry or Extended Evening Hours if you’re staying at a Walt Disney World resort, or if you have special event tickets — you may not want to buy Genie Plus even if you’ll also be in the park during regular hours.

Here’s why: Lines are shorter when there are fewer people in the park. (Duh.)

Let’s say you’re getting to the park for early entry. You can prioritize the one or two major rides you’re most interested in and (hopefully) get on them before the park opens. By the time you could use Genie Plus, your list of all the major rides you want to get will already be cut down. 🙌

With savvy planning (like getting on popular rides during the nighttime show) and keeping an eye on wait times via the My Disney Experience app, you can head to a standby line when the wait is short.

Having One Epcot Day in Your Disney World Itinerary

Let’s say you’re only planning to be in Epcot for one day during your Disney World trip — and that day is on a weekend during Christmas. Buying Genie Plus is well worth it to avoid waiting on long lines and only seeing a few things throughout the day.

On the other hand, if you travel to Disney World often, like we do, skipping that extra cost isn’t a big deal, even if it means we can’t do every single thing we love. There’s a lot to do in Epcot that doesn’t require Lightning Lanes, and sometimes being so glued to your phone and running around to make your Lightning Lane return times can take away from the other experiences you could be having.

Can’t visit Epcot without making sure to ride Spaceship Earth? Yeah, us too. You probably need this Spaceship Earth magnet or sticker.