1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary Using Genie+ & Lightning Lanes
Our 1-day itinerary for Magic Kingdom using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes offers a step-by-step plan for the park. Its goal is to answer questions, illustrate the process of how paid FastPass works in practice at Walt Disney World, and address the best strategy for ride reservations. (Updated September 17, 2022.)
This is a theoretical day at Magic Kingdom since there are unknowns and the Lightning Lane return times here are not necessarily what you’ll get. That’ll vary considerably based on crowd levels, how many other guests buy the Genie+ service, and a variety of other variables. If you want to see an example of what we accomplished in the park, see My Day Using Genie+ at Magic Kingdom.
The good news is that Magic Kingdom is the “easiest” park for using Genie+ at Walt Disney World, so it’s not essentially that you follow a strict itinerary for accomplishing a lot via Lightning Lanes. There’s a lot of room for flexibility, which is important since your plans and priorities will differ from what’s here depending upon whether you’re eligible for Early Entry, characters are important to your party, you do sit-down or counter service dining, etc.
Another thing to know is that a lot has changed with Genie+ in the last few months. Some of these are across the board policy or rule changes that apply equally to all parks at Walt Disney World. Then there are those specific to Magic Kingdom that began with the start of the party season, and will continue through at least late December 2022. As such, we’ve returned to refresh this itinerary once again, for those with trips planned for the Halloween and Christmas 2022 seasons.
Speaking of Halloween and Christmas, this itinerary assumes you’re visiting Magic Kingdom on a day when the park is not hosting Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. On those days, Magic Kingdom opens and closes earlier. Despite that, we actually recommend doing the park on those days. (See My Day at Magic Kingdom Using Genie+ on a Party Night and Magic Kingdom Early Entry at 7:30 am on Party Days for insight as to why.)
In essence, this itinerary offers a run through of a normal day at Magic Kingdom using both Lightning Lanes and standby lines. If you’re a type A vacation planner, hopefully this gives you some peace of mind about how Genie+ works. With that said, keep in mind that there will likely be some fluidity with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes in the months to come as tweaks are made–a lot has already changed since the systems launched last fall.
This is intended to supplement our Lightning Lane and Genie+ at Walt Disney World FAQ. A lot of you have had questions, and we’ve tried to answer most of the common ones there. However, many are about specific scenarios and that FAQ would be as long as a Tolstoy novel if we addressed each one there.
As discussed in the aforementioned FAQ, there is currently one attraction per park that sells individual Lightning Lane access and are not part of Genie+. In Magic Kingdom, this attraction is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. (Previously, Space Mountain was an Individual Lightning Lane ride, but it has been moved over to Genie+ permanently.)
Anyway, on with our 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes…
7:00 am – Book Peter Pan’s Flight via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 9:00 am to 10:00 am.
8:30 am – Rope drop Space Mountain via standby during Early Entry. (If you’re not eligible for Early Entry, skip ahead to Jungle Cruise.)
8:40 am – Do Astro Orbiter via standby line.
9:00 am – Cross the Central Plaza in front of Cinderella Castle and head to Adventureland for regular rope drop (park opening). Here, do Jungle Cruise, which is currently #3 on our Magic Kingdom Genie+ Priorities & Lightning Lane Ride Rankings.
If you don’t care about character meet & greets, consider staying in Tomorrowland and taking a spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. You’ll be able to have a much more leisurely day than those who are also trying to knock out meet & greets via the Lightning Lanes.
9:30 am – Do Peter Pan’s Flight via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation). Immediately upon tapping into the Lightning Lane, book Meet Mickey & Minnie at Town Square Theater via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. (If you skipped Jungle Cruise before because you don’t care about characters, book that instead.)
9:45 am – Do the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh via standby line.
10:00 am – Do Haunted Mansion via standby line.
10:30 am – Do Pirates of the Caribbean via standby line.
10:45 am – Free time or a buffer in case crowds are worse during your visit. If you’ve already accomplished all or most of this, consider rewarding yourself with one of the Best Magic Kingdom Snacks & Desserts List. (We’re going to leave some gaps in this itinerary so it doesn’t become too confusing or overwhelming–eating is always a great way to fill the void!)
11:30 am – Score immediate Walk-Up Waitlist availability at Skipper Canteen, an underrated dining gem (and arguably the park’s best restaurant) that many Magic Kingdom guests are afraid to try because it’s “too exotic.”
11:30 am – While waiting at Skipper Canteen, book Splash Mountain via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.
Note: 11:30 am is chosen because it’s 120 minutes after 9 am, which is consistent with the 120 minute rule. This means that you can select your next Genie+ ride reservation either after tapping into your previous one or after 120 minutes have passed, whichever is sooner. In this case, that’s 120 minutes.
12:30 pm – Recover from a feast of highly adventurous and unusual dishes such as “grilled steak” and “fried chicken” by a brief hibernation during Country Bear Jamboree. Marvel at its bear-rific brilliance.
1:00 pm – Further feast recovery with a showing of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.
1:25 pm – Meet Mickey & Minnie at Town Square Theater via Lightning Lane (Genie+ reservation).
1:31 pm – Book Big Thunder Mountain Railroad via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. (If you skipped Space Mountain before, book that instead.)
1:40 pm – Wander over to Sunshine Tree Terrace, and have a life changing experience when trying your first Citrus Swirl.
2:00 pm – Do Splash Mountain via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
~2:30 pm – What time is the 3 o’clock parade? In Frontierland, it’s literally 3 pm, as that’s where Festival of Fantasy steps off. Catch it in this area for easier viewing. (Although we recommend Main Street for the most “iconic” experience.)
3:21 pm – Book Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
4 pm – Do Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
4:01 pm – Book Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Note: We discussed the 120 minute rule above, but you also should be able to book another Genie+ reservation after tapping into your previous one. That won’t be relevant if you’re going for all high-priority options, but grabbing some low-hanging fruit after booking all of your high-priority options can make afternoon touring easier. (Pretty much anything done via standby in the first couple hours could be moved to the afternoon via Genie+ if you so desire.)
4:15 pm – Embrace Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrowland via the Carousel of Progress and the PeopleMover. (Pretty wild that Magic Kingdom’s three most iconic attractions–these two plus Country Bear Jamboree–don’t use Genie+ or Lightning Lanes. That’s a pretty big oversight!)
5:30 pm – Do Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
5:31 pm – Plot twist: the high temperature on the day you’re visiting Magic Kingdom is 57º. Since you’re a tough and/or foolish Midwesterner who considers that a “warm front” and/or “shorts weather,” you are unfazed. None of the Southerners in the park agree with you, and thus seasonal demand for water rides is low, meaning there’s still Lightning Lane availability for Splash Mountain. Unfortunately, you cannot book it due to the no re-rides rule.
You instead book another character meet & greet: either Cinderella or Tiana at Princess Fairytale Hall with a 7:30 pm return time. Alternatively, book a Lightning Lane for Pirates of the Caribbean, which is permissible since you did it via standby the previous time, if you’re not into princesses.
6 pm – Do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
6:15 pm to 7:25 pm – Open time to accomplish any attractions that were not possible earlier due to crowd levels, plus dinner. Columbia Harbour House would be our recommendation for a quicker but quality meal.
We’d also recommend catching the last performance of Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire at Cinderella Castle–check the times guide for showtimes.
7:30 pm – Meet Cinderella or Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall via the Lightning Lane.
8:00 pm – Do “it’s a small world” via standby line.
8:45 pm – Grab a last minute spot for Disney Enchantment in Fantasyland with a view of both Cinderella Castle and Beast’s Castle above Be Our Guest Restaurant. This is not a recommended “one and done” fireworks viewing location (check out our viewing location tips for Magic Kingdom fireworks), but you’ll be doing another night in Magic Kingdom later.
~9:30 pm to 10:45 pm – Open time to revisit favorite attractions, revisit rides that are better at night, or do things that were not feasible earlier in the day due to crowd levels.
~10:55 pm – Race to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, jumping in line just before park closing.
This assumes Magic Kingdom closes at 11 pm and Disney Enchantment happens at 9 pm. These times should be adjusted if Magic Kingdom closes at an earlier hour. The salient point is that you are not paying for Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) access to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train by doing it at the end of the night. Moreover, no new ILL guests will be entering the queue once the park closes. It’s all standby at that point, which means a faster-moving queue!
Once again, this was a step-by-step day in Magic Kingdom using Genie+ based on assumptions about capacity allocation and demand. Some or all of these assumptions could be off and not reflect what you actually experience when you visit Walt Disney World–but the same could be said of any itinerary. We think this is probably ~75% accurate, and at the very least, should illustrate how a day could look using the Genie+ service.
The point here is to illustrate how Genie+ could prove advantageous for days you opt to purchase the add-on. Personally, I’d buy strategically, and likely only for one Magic Kingdom day plus one DHS day and maybe EPCOT now that Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure are included. That’s just me, though, as someone who is relatively frugal but also recognizes that “vacation time is money.”
Finally, even with a lot of things you’d be able to accomplish during the middle of the day removed for the sake of simplicity, this itinerary might look overwhelming. Just keep in mind that your past itinerary with FastPass+ or current one also might look pretty intimidating to the uninitiated. Like all things Walt Disney World, it’ll become simpler and more intuitive once put into practice.
Ultimately, it should be relatively easy to use Genie+ at Magic Kingdom. We’ve already done so several times, and find it to be the best and most laid back park for the paid FastPass service, and that’s in large part due to its more robust ride roster and better Lightning Lane return times. With that said, we recognize Genie+ isn’t for everyone–particularly those who don’t being glued to their phones or are on a tight budget. As such, we have a great 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary Without Genie+ and Lightning Lanes that’ll help you have a great day without the upcharge!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Was this 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary w/ Genie+ helpful to illustrate how paid FastPass works in Walt Disney World’s flagship park? If you’ve put this to practice, were you able to accomplish all of this in a single day at Magic Kingdom? Did you purchase Individual Lightning Lane access to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or do it at the end of the night? Have any questions we didn’t answer with the above? Still confused by how Genie+ or Lightning Lanes work? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi this may very well be a dumb question, but should we purchase Genie+ for the MVMCP event nights? We are not going to the park during the day, just the night time event. Will we need it? TIA
Hi Tom, going to WDW this weekend for several days. Are the crowds creeping up? Trying to not buy genie plus if possible. Your post on doing MK on a party day without genie gives me hope but I may buy for HWS. Thanks for any insight.
We are going in October and doing one day at MK, but then returning for Mickey’s not so spooky party. I plan to use genie+ and ILl, for the first day of MK, but not for the party. I have a 13 and 11 year old boys and a 6 year old girl girl. There is no way that my 6 year old could last all day on your 1 day day plan from opening to close without a break. On the day of the party, we aren’t going to another park, we plan to just hang out at the resort. We are also spending one day at HS. Do you have any suggestions for 1 day at HS (with genie + and ILL), 1 day at MK (with genie + and ILL) and Mickey’s not so spooky party on a serrated day no genie+? A break on both of the days.
I think this is a great itinerary for couples or friends who want to maximise their time in the park. If you are families with younger children, this may be a struggle. We find that we have to take regular breaks and not rush around as much. I think as someone mentioned keeping rides close together in the different areas meant moving across the park a lot.
If you have older teens you probably could cope with most of this, maybe not as late but definitely a great example of maximising rides in MK.
Thanks for all of this info! We went to Magic Kingdom yesterday (May 22nd). I attempted to follow this itinerary exactly, but we were not staying on property. We hit Space Mountain at 9:05 and were done and walking away at 9:25. The schedule pretty much stayed 30 min behind for the morning. Biggest problem is I didn’t realize Genie+ doesn’t allow to select a time(Unless I missed something…). You get what you get. Peter Pan time was 9:25 which was perfect, but my reservations were now 35 min behind and Splash Mount reservation came in after lunch. Skipper Canteen had no wait list for lunch. We tried the Tortuga Tavern. I wish we had a backup plan, because that was a bad idea. Not very good. Anyway after lunch we were in out of this itinerary. We missed a couple minor shows, but added at least three others. 7 Dwarfs standby at about 3/4 of the way through the fireworks got us on the ride in 30 min. Thanks again!
We were there the end of March and did Genie+ at MK. Can’t really complain bc we were able to do almost every ride we wanted to do. But I thought I fully understood the 120 min rule and booking your next Genie+ ride after using Genie+ on a ride. However, it seemed I could only book every two hours after our 10:25 am Genie+ Peter Pan ride. Not every 120 minutes from the park opening at 9 am. And I regularly tried to see if I could book another ride but it kept saying the soonest I could book was two hrs from my last selection. Any insight as to what I was doing wrong?
I did something like this our first day at MK and we were all EXHAUSTED. At the end of the day we had to walk back and forth across the park FOUR TIMES. It was killer, especially for the 7yo and especially because it was the first day of our trip! I reallllllly don’t recommend this approach.
On our second MK day, we worked one land at a time, doing Fantasyland last (when lines were shortest, especially because we could book two rides at once with two kids on one LL and two adults on the other, then switch bracelets so the kids could do both rides).
We got Thunder Mountain for 9 a.m., rope dropped Jungle Cruise, hit Haunted before the line for very long, rode Thunder, chose Splash as our next LL, had time for a break. watched noon parade. Then we did Tomorrowland Speedway (LL) and Buzz (LL) with Hall of Presidents, Monsters Inc., Carousel of Progress, lunch and some photopass photos in between. Next we hit dinner and then did all of Fantasyland before the fireworks, with LLs for Pooh and It’s a small world, no line for carousel, no line for Philharmagic, got to the castle in time to join the horde. Crowded location but we could see fine. Walked 13,000 steps instead of 26,000. Felt like a MUCH less hectic and more enjoyable day.
Thanks for this. I have a 6 year old (and 2 older) and just don’t know about being at the parks all day. She hasn’t napped since she was 3. Just don’t know how to tackle all this with genie plus which seems to push everything to late. I prefer getting there early and bailing around 5 for pool/dinner. And we all know we have to get up the next day like it’s a school day.
This is my concern- walking back and forth from one part of the park to the other. I would prefer to ride all the rides in one part of the park first and then move on to the next area. You make it sound like it’s possible. We go in October. We will be at MK one day, HS one day, and then will be at the Halloween party as well, so we can also do more rides at MK that we missed the first day. I do plan to buy genie+, but I don’t plan do pay for the ILL.
Thanks for this! Planning on going at the beginning of May.
We (us+2little kids) have Magic Kingdom set for a Sunday and Friday. Was thinking of doing what you said and getting Genie+ the second day. We have been to the parks before. Do you think Genie on a Friday would be more advantageous?
We were thinking of try to do Fantasyland one morning for early hours and Tomorrowland the next.
Thank you!
Just wrapped up a week a WDW using genie+ daily and this guide is accurate, but that’s a long day in the park for sure – especially with kids. Rebooking after 120 minute is key especially if you plan to hang out at the hotel early (or do mid day pool time) and visit the parks later in the day – don’t forget to keep booking every 2 hours so you’ll stack up rides. I used reminders on my phone.
If you mess up somehow – bad timing, missing a person in your party, etc. – see the guest services team in the parks (blue umbrellas) they are very helpful and it’s worth waiting a few minutes to talk to them. More than once we got bonus fast passes. Just be nice.
If your reserved ride is down when you show up in your time slot, usually the fast pass automatically turns into a “come back anytime today” option. Refresh or close the app and go back in if this happens.
Set your alarms for 6:45am, you’ll want to start booking right at 7 every day especially for the paid ones. If you get a paid one, you can book 2 at this time.
Lastly, I get that buying individual lightning lanes isn’t for everyone but it’s definitely a decent option worth considering for smaller parties. Really this is the best way to be able to do 2 rides in close proximity within the same time frame. So you can stay in the land and do both rides either back to back or within a reasonable amour of time – think rise and falcon and both pandora rides. Keeps you in the same “place” and saves the feet a bit (not having to come back to the land later for the second ride).
Tom,
So at 9am you booked JC at 1120, but waited til you tapped in at JC to book Splash Mtn. Was this just a 20 min oversight on booking your next LL or is there an advantage to waiting to tap in rather than the 120 min rule. I know your Last Action Hero strategy is long gone so I imagine booking at 120 mins then tapping into JC a few mins later would not allow an extra LL reservation?
We leave for our twice rescheduled trip next week finally. We hoped for a slower post Easter crowd but looks like that’s out!
Good catch–that’s just an oversight. I shifted some of these times around to be more realistic, and it looks like that went from being subject to the tap-in rule to being subject to the 120 minute rule. Tough to keep track of everything, even during a theoretical run-through! 🙂
When it comes to HS is genie + most effective stacking for the evening?
Yes.
Personally, I like doing an aggressive morning (ideally with Early Entry) followed by a long midday break and stacking for evening at DHS. Ideally, you’d do one LL attraction in the morning and the rest of the return times would be late afternoon or night.
If you have 3 days planned for MK and only did one day of Genie+ would you chose first, second or third day? Or is it really best to get it for all 3 days if budget isn’t too much of an issue for that? We are taking a 3 year old so a lot of the big rides aren’t a priority but we might do rider switch for 1 or 2. Thanks!
I think that’s really up to you, but I’d probably do it the first day if budget is no issue–so you can see how much you like it and determine whether to buy subsequent days.
If budget were an issue, I’d say last day for sorta the same reason–to see how much you got done without it and whether you really *need* it even once.
Have fun! 🙂
Thanks so much for your input! That logic makes sense and I hadn’t even thought about just trying and seeing. Lol.
Hello, loving your blog from London UK! So thankful we found you, as like you, we are those kinda planners 😛 Will you publish an updated version of this itinerary for 2022? My husband and I are planning to visit in September and we just want to get everything down. Thank you!
Is this still a good itinerary to follow for April 11-13th, 2022? We are traveling with teen kids and want to make sure they have a great time, as this is their first. Doing Hollywood studios as well ans looked at the itinerary for that. They dont want to miss ROR!! Any info would help! THank you. We did buy Genie plus and intend on using ILL. Not staying on property though.
Based on my experience visiting last week, I would not think it would be possible to get all of these rides in. The Genie+ plan may still work, but when I went to ride the Astro Orbiter at 8:45 last week, it took 45 minutes from entering the line before we were done with the ride. Wait times have been increasing across the parks, so I would plan on only getting half of these rides done in a day to be on the safe side, and then if you get anything else done, it’s a pleasant surprise.
I have so many question!!!!I love the itinerary above but have questions for those not staying on property who will not have early access rope drop. Would you keep the same ride/food itinerary for the day if you weren’t able to enter until 9:00am?
I have the same question!
This is great, thank you! I have the same question. Any recommendations/changes for those who can’t enter till 9?