Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Ride Ranks

Magic Kingdom is the best park for buying Walt Disney World’s line-skipping service. The paid FastPass replacement offers Lightning Lane line-skipping access to 23 attractions and character sightings in Magic Kingdom, and our guide ranks the rides and entertainment in terms of time-saved and how quickly reservations fill up.

The goal of this post is giving you the tools and info to build your own Magic Kingdom itinerary, rather than relying on our 1-Day Magic Kingdom Lightning Lanes Plan. We’d recommend a best of both worlds approach, consulting that pre-made plan and the rankings here so you understand the why of it, and can make your own itinerary.

Since crowds, weather, attraction downtime, and more can all heavily impact how an actual day at Walt Disney World plays out, it’s almost certain that a sample itinerary cannot be replicated step-for-step with the exact same Lightning Lane time slots, etc. As such, this equips you to put together your own dynamic plan of attack for using Genie+ in Magic Kingdom…

Of course, this assumes that you want to ‘pay to play’ and will use Genie+ rather than simply doing standby lines. In Magic Kingdom, that’s typically our recommendation. Basically, it boils down to the ride count. With 23 attractions offering Genie+ at Magic Kingdom, it has almost double the number of attractions as other parks at Walt Disney World.

With that said, Genie+ is not always strictly necessary. This is especially true during the off-season, such as many dates prior to spring break season, as well as after that ends and summer starts. It’s also true during Party Season–from mid-August through December on days when Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is held. Basically, whenever crowd levels drop below 4/10, you don’t need to pay extra for Lightning Lane access. It still can be nice to have, but it’s hardly essential.

Our next big caveat is that this list expires soon. Genie+ is being replaced by Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass, which is an advance ride reservation system. Some have categorized this as a renaming, which is inaccurate (it is true for Disneyland, which might be where the confusion is coming into play).

Although the Lightning Lane name is being retained, Genie+ is dead as of that date. For all intents and purposes, the new system will have more in common with FastPass+ than it does Genie, meaning that the moniker “paid FastPass” really is coming true. In any case, these rankings will be irrelevant for anyone visiting in the second half of this year or 2025. There’s no point in reading any further if you’re visiting further down the road.

Instead, read our Lightning Lane MultiPass and Single Pass at Disney World FAQ.

Our final asterisk is that this guide offers ride priorities for Lightning Lanes via Genie+ and not Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL), which are pay-per-ride. At present, the ILL attractions in Magic Kingdom are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle Run. We are not keen on buying a la carte front of line access, so we recommend doing those rides first strategically.

One thing to consider with regard to TRON Lightcycle Run is that it’s a very different experience after the sun goes down, and you might want to do it in the evening as a result. To accomplish this, you can either gamble and try for the later virtual queue entry time, or join the 7 am VQ, and then purchase a Lightning Lane for the evening. (A best of both worlds approach is doing it via the VQ earlier, seeing how much you enjoy it, and then buying the ILL if you want to do it again.)

Now, on with the show & ride rankings for Genie+ at Magic Kingdom…

The Best of Genie+ at Magic Kingdom

1. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – This is the reimagined ride that replaces Splash Mountain, which was usually a top 3 Lightning Lane in Magic Kingdom, but never the #1 priority. The differences are two-fold. The first being that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure literally just opened and anything new or redone is popular. (Jungle Cruise is still seeing renewed popularity following its enhancements a few years ago!) The new ride smell will eventually wear off, but it’ll probably take a year or so for that to occur.

Second, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is suffering reliability woes and extensive daily downtime as a result. This is arguably the bigger issue (at least on some days), and exacerbates the aforementioned increased popularity with decreased daily capacity. As a result, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is running out of Lightning Lanes within seconds or minutes of 7 am.

The good news is that, if the ride is reliable and has below-average downtime, Walt Disney World is dropping more Lightning Lane availability throughout the day. The bad news is that you have literally no way of knowing at 7 am whether it’ll be reliable or not on the day of your visit. As such, it’s imperative that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is your #1 pick going forward, for at least as long as Genie+ exists. Every other ride should be available with your #2 pick–there’s a good chance this will not. All depends on how often (and for how long) it breaks down throughout the day of your visit.

2. Peter Pan’s Flight – Not a huge shock for those who booked FastPass+ reservations in the past! Peter Pan’s Flight is far and away the most popular of Magic Kingdom’s iconic Fantasyland dark rides, with wait times regularly exceeding 90 minutes. Its Lightning Lane reservations go fast early on, but there’s usually availability into the evening. Nevertheless, it’s a smart first pick. That’s especially true if you have small children who may not make it past 7 pm. (Or for anyone who wants to watch the fireworks.)

3. Jungle Cruise – This one might come as a huge surprise, but Jungle Cruise has seen a huge resurgence in popularity since it’s recent reimagining. This year, it has the third-longest average wait time in Magic Kingdom, behind only Peter Pan’s Flight and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. (It would also be behind TRON Lightcycle Run, but that doesn’t post a wait time.)

4. Meet Ariel at Her Grotto – The Little Mermaid meet & greet has extremely limited Lightning Lane availability. If going solely by how quickly reservations book up, this would be the #1 Genie+ Lightning Lane at Magic Kingdom on many dates. However, the average wait time for the Princess Ariel meet & greet doesn’t even begin to justify giving it the top slot.

5. Space Mountain – The first of two consecutive Magic Kingdom Mountain Range rides, it should be unsurprising to see Space Mountain crack the top 5. Space Mountain has seen even higher demand in the last year-plus, as its next-door neighbor–TRON Lightcycle Run–draws crowds to this side of the park.

6. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – Another Magic Kingdom Mountain Range entry, so this one probably doesn’t need much explanation. If anything, you might wonder why Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ranks this low. It’s all a matter of average wait times–which have been moderate–and Genie+ availability–which has been abundant. Both of those things could change, but for now, there’s no need to prioritize BTMRR any earlier.

7. Haunted Mansion – Since Hatbox Ghost debuted, Haunted Mansion now has one of the top 5 average wait times in Magic Kingdom. The only reason it doesn’t rank higher is because Haunted Mansion also has perpetual Lightning Lane availability–until park closing on most days–so there’s really no sense of urgency here.

8. Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall – Both of the next two princess meet & greets at Princess Fairytale Hall in Fantasyland rank higher during Party Season due to staffing shortages. We won’t go too deep into how the sausage is made, so to speak, but more characters during the hard ticket parties means fewer for other shifts. Consequently, there are longer lines during normal hours.

9. Meet Princess Tiana and a Visiting Princess at Princess Fairytale Hall – Cinderella’s meet & greet has the slight edge on Tiana, with slightly higher wait time on average. In reality, prioritize whichever of these matters more to you. This really holds true for picks #6 through #9. All of these are character-centric entertainment that aren’t that far apart from one another in terms of priority.

10. Festival of Fantasy Parade – All of these are obviously optional, but this is even more circumstantial. You can easily watch Festival of Fantasy Parade without a Cinderella Castle-facing view. As such, this Lightning Lane doesn’t necessarily save any time–it offers a reserved viewing area, which can be valuable to families with small children. If you want to do this one, be mindful of showtimes for Festival of Fantasy Parade. You might need to move this one up a few spots depending upon crowd levels.

11. Meet Mickey & Minnie at Town Square Theater – Late last year, this climbed to #1 on our rankings. That was due to party season, which pulled meet & greet “resources” away from the Mickey Mouse meet & greet. During Party Season, this Lightning Lane spikes in popularity. All other times, it has only moderate popularity/priority.

12. Pirates of the Caribbean – Similar story to Haunted Mansion with Pirates of the Caribbean. Standby waits have been long due to regular downtime, so you’re potentially bypassing a lengthy line when using the Lightning Lane for PotC. On the plus side, it seldom runs out of reservation availability in Genie+, except during the busier seasons.

13. Enchanted Tales with Belle – When it reopened, Lightning Lane availability for Enchanted Tales with Belle was extremely limited. That has changed in a big way over the course of the last few months, and even though it’s sometimes gone by mid-afternoon (before many entries earlier on this list), Enchanted Tales with Belle is NOT a high or even moderate priority Lightning Lane. The reason for that is fairly simple: the Lightning Lane doesn’t save you much time.

14. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – Lines can fluctuate dramatically for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, with waits some days exceeding 60 minutes and it being a near walk-on other days. If you’re visiting when it’s busier, scoring a Lightning Lane reservation here will be important–especially since the overflow queue is outdoors and offers minimal shade. Fortunately, Genie+ often has almost instant return times and it almost always has Lightning Lane availability right up until park closing.

15. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – The argument could be made that Winnie the Pooh’s Fantasyland dark ride should be in the top 5. Its average wait time puts it there and, subjectively, the wait in the standby line is excruciating (I speak from experience). However, Genie+ availability has been abundant, and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is more skippable due to its quality (or lack thereof) than the attractions above it.

16. “it’s a small world” – This famous–or infamous, depending upon your perspective–Fantasyland boat ride has not had long wait times historically, but they’ve spiked in recent months. Some days, using the Lightning Lane entrance will bypass a 45 minute (or more) wait, making this a potentially strong Genie+ ride reservation. (Other days, it’ll save you no time at all.)

17. Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – It’s a very similar story here. If the standby line for the Little Mermaid dark ride spills out into the walkway, this can be a 45 to 60 minute wait. Most of the time, this ‘people-eater’ attraction will have pretty short waits, though. Still, it’s easy to grab a nearly-immediate return time via Genie+, and the potential savings make it a recommended pick for late afternoon.

18. Dumbo the Flying Elephant – Another iconic Magic Kingdom rite-of-passage attraction that’s a real wildcard. Standby waits here can be long, but so too can Lightning Lane waits if you get unlucky. Nevertheless, we’d recommend using Genie+ for it on busier days, as there’s solid time-savings potential.

The Rest of Genie+ at Magic Kingdom

Barnstormer – This kiddie coaster can have long waits on the busiest days of the year, but so far, we’ve found Genie+ to offer almost no advantage here. Get it if you can, but don’t sweat standby.

Mad Tea Party – The iconic spinning teacup is fun, but averages wait times under 15 minutes. Again, use Genie+ if you can (because why not), but it’s not a huge deal otherwise.

Magic Carpets of Aladdin – This is like a knock-off county fair version of Dumbo. We don’t recommend doing it at all–we’d wait in a longer standby line for Astro Orbiter if truly needing our spinner fix.

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor – Using Genie+ here on busier days might get you in one show earlier than you otherwise would’ve making this a potential ‘sleeper pick’ for the Lightning Lane.

Tomorrowland Speedway – Unless vehicle exhaust-induced cognitive impairment and the loud putter of engines is your thing, you’ll want to be in and out of line as quickly as possible here. That also makes it a good sleeper pick for use of Genie+ and the Lightning Lane. Right now, that’s not necessary, but on a busier day, this could sneak into the top 10.

Ultimately, you should be able to knock out all 23 attractions via Genie+ using Lightning Lanes on a good day in Magic Kingdom. On a bad day, you might only be able to do the top 10. On an awful day, it might be the top 5. So plan accordingly based on the crowds when you’ll be visiting, and also give yourself as many other advantages as possible–like Early Entry, rope drop, or Extended Evening Hours.

Regardless of when you’re visiting, Genie+ will save you more time at Magic Kingdom–and allow you to have a more leisurely day–than at any other Walt Disney World park. This is what makes buying it our recommendation for most people and on most days of the year. Even if it requires a bit of a splurge, cut the cost out of your Walt Disney World vacation budget somewhere else.

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

How would you rank your ride priorities using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes in Magic Kingdom? Surprised to see Jungle Cruise at #1? Are you planning on buying Genie+ or skipping it? Do you agree or disagree with our rankings? 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!