Genie+ and Lightning Lane debuted at Walt Disney World today and we got a taste of what the pricing will be like for individual attractions. While we’ll tackle the Genie+ package as a whole in the future, each park’s two most popular attractions will be offered a la carte. Essentially, if you want to skip the line on these attraction via Lightning Lane then you will need to pay extra just for that singular experience. In this post, we’ll take a look at the attractions offered, the cost of what it is to use Lightning Lane for those attractions and whether it’s worth it.

A prominent place to start is that if money isn’t much of an object then paying to skip lines is probably a good move. It is objectively more fun to ride attractions than stand in line for them. As usual, we’re trying to use this post as a way to balance the amount of fun you can have with saving money. What we’re not saying is that if you choose to splurge for Lightning Lane when we don’t recommend it then it was a waste of money. On the contrary, it’s probably a nice way to treat yo’ self!

For those unaware, Lightning Lane basically took over for FastPass. Without having much experience with it, I’d hazard a guess that Lightning Lane is faster than FastPass. Lightning strikes really quick while fast is a relative term, you know? (I’m just spitballing here.) Guests will pay inside of the app for the option to use Lightning Lane, receive a return window and then, ka-chow(!), they’ll get to the front of the line once it’s time for that return window. Resort guests can start paying for these at 7 AM while others wait until park opening. You will want to have your tickets linked to the account and a park reservation already made. That’s the bare bones of this particular system, if you have more questions then please let us know.

On opening day of Genie+, here were the prices for each individual attraction offered, sorted by park:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – $10
• Space Mountain – $7
• Frozen Ever After – $9
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – $9
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – $8
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – $15
• Avatar Flight of Passage – $11
• Expedition Everest – $7

Since then, the attractions and prices offered have changed. Here is what’s available as of May 28th, 2022:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – $10
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – $17
• Rise of the Resistance – $15
• Flight of Passage – $11

We’ll see if more attractions are added to Individual Lightning Lanes or if they’ll keep them as one attraction per park. For now, it seems as if that’s the case.

These attractions are all individually priced, so if you’re in a group of 4 then you will pay 4 times that amount for your group. The price doesn’t include sales tax. We should also note that the price is dynamic and will change depending on the demand for each day. For example, prices during holidays will be higher. All other Lightning Lane attractions are included with the purchase of Genie+, which we will cover at a different time.

Looking at each attraction and if they’re worth the price is the easiest way to do this. We’ll include some strategy on when to do each attraction if you choose not to pay. A general note would be that, since there’s only two attractions at each park, doing one at park opening and the other at park closing would lead to the least amount of wait times without paying. That said, we know that’s not a viable option for everyone.

In Magic Kingdom, we have Mine Train and I’m slightly surprised that it’s the cheapest attraction on the list. No, it’s not as good as others on the list but it is the most popular ride at the most popular park. Knocking out this ride midday by spending a few extra dollar makes some sense and I think might be the best value out of the entire list. That said, I don’t think I’ll ever personally pay extra to go on Mine Train. If this is a once in a lifetime trip then consider it or make this the very last ride of the night, right before closing.

Moving to Epcot, we have the park’s newest attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at $17. This is the best, and only, option if you aren’t able to get a spot in the virtual queue. I’d recommend going the virtual queue route though as that line won’t be overly long relative to some other standbys you’ll encounter at WDW. For now, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure moves over to Genie+ and makes purchasing that a more interesting option than an individual lightning lane.

Hollywood Studios has the second most expensive option. Rise of the Resistance will be one of the most popular rides to pay for as it’s one of the best and newest attractions in Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, it is priced accordingly. Paying $15 each for a family of four adds up to about half the cost of a 1-day ticket. It’s also a decent meal somewhere. This is ultimately the issue with Lightning Lane. You can do the attraction either way, so balancing whether it’s worth your time or worth your money is hard. If the ride is a 2 hour wait then that price tag is probably worth your money. But, we prefer to ride Rise of the Resistance late at night, right before close and have encountered low wait times because of that.

Finally, we arrive at Animal Kingdom and maybe the hardest choice out of all of these. Avatar Flight of Passage is very similar to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It’s slightly more expensive but the wait times here can be drastic throughout the day. Again, we recommend staying until park close and doing this right before instead of paying. If that’s not an option though then I think paying here is a tempting option.

Ultimately, this all comes down to how you value your time. After paying so much for park tickets, it’s hard for me to fathom paying extra for all of these rides but there is a time and place for it. If you only have a select few days, then your time becomes more valuable meaning you should pay more for attractions. Likewise, if you’re going over a holiday or a busy season then paying should be a consideration. Otherwise, we recommend that you stick to the itineraries and try to avoid having to pay extra!

What do you think of paying extra to skip the line at individual attractions? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! Planning at trip to Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide. If you enjoy what you’re reading here on Wandering in Disney, please subscribe to the blog on the right side of this page. That’s where you can find links to our social media accounts, as well. Thank you for reading!