Hollywood Studios Genie+ Priorities & Lightning Lane Ride Ranks
Hollywood Studios is the second-best park for buying Walt Disney World’s Genie+ service. Lightning Lane line-skipping access is available at 15 attractions in DHS, and many are headliners or popular thrill rides. This guide ranks all in terms of time-saved and how quickly they book up as of Spring Break 2022. (Updated April 15, 2022.)
The goal is to give you the tools and info you need to create your own DHS itinerary with Genie+, rather than relying on our 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes Plan. Or, you can utilize “a best of both worlds” approach, consulting that pre-made plan and the rankings here so you understand the why of it, and can adjust the itinerary to account for your Advance Dining Reservations, preferred showtimes, whether you want to minimize walking distances, etc.
It’s also probably a good idea to point out that crowds, weather, ride closures, stage showtimes, and much more can all heavily impact how an actual day at Walt Disney World plays out. As such, a sample itinerary cannot be replicated step-for-step with the exact same Lightning Lane time slots, etc. This equips you to put together your own dynamic plan of attack for using Genie+ in DHS…
Of course, this assumes that you want to ‘pay to play’ and will use the Genie+ paid FastPass option rather than simply doing standby lines. In Disney’s Hollywood Studios, that’s our recommendation. If you want to know the basis for that suggestion, see My Day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Using Genie+ with Peak Season Spring Break 2022 Crowds. That illustrates just how tough DHS can be even with strong strategy–it’s a brutal park no matter what your approach.
Additionally, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for all of the foundational need-to-know info about this replacement for free FastPass+. This whole system is confusing and convoluted, so you might have a question or two-dozen. That answers all of the most common ones we’ve been receiving from readers.
Alternatively, if you’re thinking about skipping Genie+ at DHS, that’s possible, too. Our 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary covers how you can accomplish everything even if you’re staying off-site and don’t want to spend anything extra on Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes.
If you are staying on-site, the one thing we highly recommend is Early Entry at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you can’t swing getting up and out the door before park opening, see Evening at DHS with Standby & Genie+ (scroll to the second half if you’re not doing Genie+). Lots of great strategy in those posts!
Before we get started, we should note that this offers ride priorities for Lightning Lanes via Genie+ and not Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL), which are pay-per-ride. At present, the only ILL attractions is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Previously, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway was also an Individual Lightning Lane ride, but that’s not the case through August 7, 2022. (We expect it to remain a Genie+ attraction permanently.)
We are not keen on buying a la carte front of line access, so we recommend doing both of those attractions either first thing in the morning (if you’re eligible for Early Entry) or towards the end of the night. On busy days, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is potentially worth paying for ILL access–it’s the only ride at Walt Disney World we’d even consider paying for that, and even that depends upon crowd levels and wait times.
Now, on with the show & ride rankings for Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios…
The Best of Genie+ at DHS
1. Slinky Dog Dash – The obvious choice for your #1 Genie+ Lightning Lane selection and not just in DHS, but all of Walt Disney World. (It probably should’ve been the second Individual Lightning Lane, but we’re not complaining!) Whether you’re starting at DHS or Park Hopping later, you’ll want to prioritize this early in the day, as this one books up fast–often within minutes of 7 am. For Slinky Dog Dash, we strongly recommend following our Speed Strategy for Genie+ Selections.
2. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – This moves up significantly through at least early Summer 2022 for the time being because it’s currently receiving a “stealth” refurbishment, with one elevator shaft down. This is expected to be ongoing for several months, at which point it’s possible the other side will go down for the same. The whole process could last through Summer 2022, perhaps beyond. This means Tower of Terror is effectively operating at half-capacity.
As a result, Tower of Terror currently has a higher average daily wait time (119 minutes) in April 2022 than Slinky Dog Dash (111 minutes). With that said, Tower of Terror has Lightning Lane availability longer than Slinky Dog Dash, so it falls into the #2 slot here. (Note: prior to this refurbishment, Tower of Terror was the #5 priority at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you’re visiting in July 2022 or later, expect it to fall back to that slot.)
3. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – This is the secondary attraction in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but it still averages a top 5 wait time in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and is the third-fastest booking Lightning Lane ride reservation via Genie+. It shouldn’t be too difficult to secure this into the afternoon, so you have a little flexibility in booking this strategically depending upon your preferred return time and personal priorities.
4. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – Through at least August 7, 2022, this attraction moves over from the Individual Lightning Lane a la carte upcharge to the Genie+ lineup. Its wait times have actually been dropping in the last few months, and as of April 2022, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway has the 7th longest wait time in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Its family-friendly and all ages (and heights) nature makes it more appealing for a lot of Genie+ guests, so it tends to be the #4 Lightning Lane of the day at DHS.
5. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – Those of you who booked FastPass+ reservations in the past should be unsurprised by the top picks thus far. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster extends that, thanks to wait times regularly exceeding an hour. Its Lightning Lane reservations have yet to book up early in the day, but it’s still a savvy third selection.
6. Toy Story Mania – Every park has one attraction that “soaks up” Genie+ ride reservations, allocating a significant portion of its capacity to line-skipping. Toy Story Mania is definitely that for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Its standby wait time has spiked since Genie+ launched (making this a good use of the Lightning Lane), but there’s typically easy availability via Genie+ for Toy Story Mania throughout the day.
7. Alien Swirling Saucers – Based on average standby wait times alone, this is a smart sixth pick. Subjectively, most people are probably good to skip the Toy Story Land flat ride.
The Rest of Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Star Tours — The Adventures Continue – This excellent Star Wars simulator can have decently long waits on the busiest days of the year, but most normal days, we’ve found Genie+ to offer almost no advantage here. Get it if you can, but don’t sweat standby.
See Disney Stars at Red Carpet Dreams – The character encounter for Minnie & Mickey Mouse currently isn’t that popular. However, traditional character meet & greets with hugs, autographs, Top Gun high-fives, etc. return on April 18, at which point wait times will likely increase significantly–potentially enough to bump this into the #7 slot above Alien Swirling Saucers.
See Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight – Same deal with Olaf, albeit to a lesser degree. When this transforms into a traditional meet & greet, it might be worth booking via Genie+ Lightning Lanes. For now, there just isn’t much guest demand and standby waits are short.
Stage Shows – Everything else at Disney’s Hollywood Studios–Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage, Disney Jr. Play & Dance, Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, MuppetVision 3D–is a show of some sort, or at least not a ride.
While Genie+ offers priority seating, which can amount to a better view, it’s typically not all that advantageous for shows. If you’re not going to Park Hop, you might consider using it for these shows, but there’s not a good way to put Lightning Lane reservations for these into your itinerary during the middle of the day. The opportunity cost of not booking one of the top 6 rides is too high. The vast majority of guests should simply do shows via the standby lines.
Ultimately, you should be able to knock out most attractions via Genie+ using Lightning Lanes on a good day in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The biggest obstacle might be your first pick, as Slinky Dog Dash goes fast every single morning, especially during peak season.
You will miss out entirely on it if you’re not up and ready to make your first selection at 7 am. Other than that, you shouldn’t have much of a problem scoring slots for the remaining top 5 picks (except maybe Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run), so long as you’re willing to stay all day and don’t mind reservations in the afternoon.
On a bad day, you might not only miss out on Slinky Dog Dash, but also on another headliner or two in the top 5. 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 staying late when crowds tend to die down at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Regardless of when you’re visiting, Genie+ will save you the second-most time at DHS, behind only Magic Kingdom, which earns that distinction because of its higher eligible attraction count. This is what makes buying Genie+ our recommendation for most people and on most days of the year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 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 Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Surprised by any of the rankings in our top 5, or that Slinky Dog Dash takes the #1 spot? 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!
Hi there. I wanted to thank you for all this great info! We just came back from a 4 day stay during busy Easter weekend. Our main goals were to get on the RTR as we had never been on it, been a few years since we came to WDW and also Pandora rides at AK. I spent a lot of time here reading up on what is new and strategies to maximize our time and heavy investment on this trip. We did pay for Genie +, stayed on site and took advantage of early entry and rope drop at MK, DHS, and DAK and it was so worth it. We went on all the rides at DHS including Slinky Dog and got to go on RTR twice! We also got a recovery ticket that was used on Rockin Rollercoaster twice due to a breakdown in the Runway Railway ( only ride we missed). All in all your tips made this a memorable trip. We were able to book simultaneous at times and took advantage of the genie time rules, much easier while doing than reading about it. Rope dropping was fun and worth it to ride, eat, and take pics with low crowds early in the AM. We even went back to hotel two of the days and back to parks at night. I don’t think our trip would have been half as successful without your blog!
My daughter and I will be in Orlando from May 25 to June 4 (25th and 4th are non park days for sure). Because we are AKL from May 28th to June 4th, I was assuming we should do our 4 Disney park days in that window (we are Univeral pass holders this year so doing those, too). We don’t usually hop at WDW but between possible Cosmic Rewind opening, Memorial Day holidsy crowds, extended evening hours for deluxe guests (AKL qualifies), etc., I’m wondering if it makes sense in this case. Do you think it’s worth bigger crowds on Memorial Day at Epcot. For example, for the extended evening hours? This is not our first trip and universe-dependent, hopefully not our last.
How many people would pre pay for genie + for their whole trip if they could book their first ride at a normal time. Like when they buy them or 24 hours ahead at noon.
If it was fast plus I would.
I just returned from a trip to WDW (1/23 – 1/28). Monday, 1/24 was a 10/10 day at MK — ride times rivaled New Years times — I have no idea why. I can firmly say Genie+ worked for us for MK, DHS, and even EPCOT one day. I closely followed the strategies identified on this site and created a spreadsheet that I followed closely. My daughter and I worked the Genie+ / ILL at 7:00AM every morning. Yes, Genie+ costs more money, and yes it takes planning — but I was willing to pay-to-play (including ILL’s) because the amount of money we were already spending just staying at WDW was more than justified to me. For those of you curious, I spent an extra $419 over 6 days in the parks on Genie+ and ILL’s for 3 people — but, this preserved my sanity and tremendously maximized our rides by following the strategy I created from the many blogs on this site. We talked to a wonderful mother from Alberta Canada while at DHS, and she described the same crazy 1/24 Monday at MK, where she rode a *maximum* of 4 rides spending an average of 2 hours at each ride. That is 8+ hours waiting in line doing nothing else!!! For us, this saved us time (not money) by maximizing our time on rides — we rode 12+ rides including most “headliner” rides. On the crazy Monday at MK, we did many rides and ILL’ed Seven Dwarfs. Unexpectedly, Seven Dwarfs was down when we went to the LL but were rewarded with a return time of *all day* — we kept that in our back pocket so that worked out to our advantage as we rode this ride when it suited our schedule. Bonus! We did Jungle Cruise Genie+ and that ride reached a crazy 125 minutes.
All of this to say something to think about when deciding on whether to buy Genie+ and/or ILL’s. I did use Genie+ pass stacking and pass-and-ride strategies. For all parks we did early entry rope drops (we were Disney resort guests) and closed many of the parks. For DHS on 1/25, at early opening we did Tower of Terror x 2 (one after another), followed by Rockin’ Roller Coaster. 3 rides without spending a dime by getting there early. Granted we don’t mind getting up early and staying to closing — we averaged 24,000 steps per day with a high of 26,800 steps on a park hop day (we park hopped and continued to use Genie+ in the other parks — by the way, don’t discount the use of Genie+ with a park hop option — this is often overlooked but yields many late rides).
Money aside, Genie+ works *with* a strategy. This blog site helped immensely with creating a strategy in a spreadsheet. We also packed plenty of patience with the crowds. And for those who think there is no downtime, there is plenty of time to shop and rest (we had reservations for table service at all parks, and did the MK After Party and EPCOT Rose & Crown Dinner Fireworks combining both — this was my favorite meal / fireworks after a long day of cold and rain).
One other point — this was perhaps the best trip we have taken over 20 years where the crowds were well behaved. Seriously! I only saw several gaming the system attempts — the newest example is people taking “service dogs” to the parks. One service dog vest was so fake you just had to laugh at the brazenness coupled with the breed. But this was minor — I experienced no bad line cutting attempts at all — even with the high crowds. It was an unexpectedly good experience.
Sorry for the long post, but having a solid strategy for Disneyworld makes ALL the difference in maximizing your time and experiences.
Hi Matt,
I hope this doesn’t sound too forward, but I’d love a copy of the spreadsheet you made for your WDW trip. I am taking my family for the first time in June and am a big believer in planning ahead!
Thanks so much,
Christi Budge
[email protected]
Thank you for this field report post. Appreciate the detail. A couple things do stand out for my situation is that I have a family of 5 not 3 so I’d be looking at even more dough spent on genie and also we like to enjoy the pool in the late afternoon and not just go to the parks early to close.
Hi Matt
Same as Chriti. I’d love to see your spreadsheet as I try and do things like that myself. We have a trip coming up with 6 and we will have to pay if we are doing any Geni+.
My daughter is old enough so this would be the 1st time she would have her own account.
So at 7am we can both try and get that 1st LL for the 6 of us and whoever gets it then it will work for all 6 of us correct?
[email protected]
Hi Matt,
Do you mind sharing your spreadsheet. We are going to WDW in June for the first time with our daughter and I like to plan ahead of time. Thank you so much in advance!
Regards,
Mitzy
[email protected]
Just got back and bought Genie+ for DHS not sure it was worth it. Park was Packed on a rainy cold Tuesday and while we did score SDD for midday almost every other ride only had after 3pm available when we became eligible at 11am for a second pass. By 1pm half the rides were sold out or 6pm or later returns. Rope drop continues to be the best strategy here I’ll buy ROTR usually the same price as Genie+ and continue to make this a half day park.