Genie+ is a service guests can pay for to skip the line at different Disney Parks. Select attractions use the system, allowing guests to get past most of the standby line once Genie+ is purchased. The process of skipping the line is called Lightning Lane, replacing FastPasses. In this post, we’ll rank which attractions are the best and worst to use Genie+ on in Epcot.

In case you missed it, we’re on the fence about Genie+. Without a doubt, you can complete an entire park without utilizing the system but it does make things go faster. Not being able to repeat rides and the cost per person ultimately have us not recommend purchasing Genie+, especially at a park like Epcot where the attraction roster is somewhat lacking. There is certainly a time and place for it though, especially if you’re on an abbreviated trip and want to hit the headline rides. I think Genie+ could be a nice treat that everyday park guests should consider splurging on every now and then. But there are other and, in my opinion, more interesting things to splurge on. For those of you that do partake in Lightning Lanes, you’ll want to know which attractions are the best to get first and that’s where this post comes in. To see other posts in this series, click here.

A quick rundown on how to use Genie+: After purchasing, you can select one of the attractions available at whatever park you’re in. All of the attractions will have a return window, essentially acting as a time that guests can go to the ride and use the Lightning Lane. This process is repeated throughout the day, as guests can get access to another Lightning Lane once they’ve scanned their pass inside of the previous attraction or 120 minutes after reserving a return window, whichever comes first. Typically, this will be once you tap into the attraction unless it’s a busy day. All of this is done within the resort app.

These rankings, which don’t include the individual Lightning Lanes that you have to pay extra for, take into account the quality of the attraction, how much of the queue the Lightning Lane skips and how popular each ride is. The attraction that ranks at number one would be the one that we recommend getting a return window for first, second would be the one to get second and so on and so on.

The lone individual Lightning Lane at Epcot is Guardians of Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Cosmic Rewind has both an individual lightning land and a virtual queue. I would recommend going for the virtual queue instead of paying 20 plus dollars to ride the attraction. Here’s how to get in on the virtual queue for the attraction!

When every attraction is open, Epcot offers 11 different Genie+ attractions. On one hand, that isn’t as many as Hollywood Studios but it is all of the rides Epcot has to offer aside from the World Showcase movies and Gran Fiesta Tour. You certainly don’t need Lightning Lane for all of these and may be better served park hopping on a day when you’ve purchased Genie+ after finishing the headliners here, as you can use the system in multiple parks. For the lowest ranked rides on the list, standby shouldn’t be much more of a wait unless it’s an exceptionally busy day. Epcot is about even with Animal Kingdom for using Genie+ in that it’s not as necessary as it is in Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom. Let’s get to the rankings, from worst to first!

11. Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival

I trash on this already in the Epcot Attraction Rankings so I’ll lay off here. Most of these short films are on Disney+ or easily accessible online. Having it as a theme park attraction is somewhat frustrating when they could put in something original. Even if you want to see it, a Lightning Lane isn’t needed as you can get in via standby easily.

10. Turtle Talk with Crush

Similar to the last place attraction, a Lightning Lane just isn’t needed here. This is a quasi-show where guests gather around a screen to talk to Crush. As such, it can house quite a few people and the line won’t get backed up. Using the standby will probably be easier than pulling your phone out and going into the app.

9. The Seas with Nemo & Friends

We’re into actual rides now but The Seas doesn’t run out of windows throughout the day and the standby never gets very long. Maybe if you’ve completed everything else on the list and the standby here is over 20 minutes then it’s worth it. But I don’t think the chances of those happening on the same day is very likely.

8. Living with the Land

I’m a Living with the Land fan and part of the allure is that the slow boat ride is usually a short wait. There are a few busy days out of the year where this will get backed up, and if that’s the case then by all means use a Lightning Lane. A few of those days are usually around Christmas time, when the attraction has a great overlay.

7. Journey into Imagination with Figment

I’m tempted to move this down into the eighth spot as Living with the Land is far superior to the current version of Figment. But wait times on busy days are longer here than Living with the Land, so I’ll keep the opinion out of the decision. It’s likely that you won’t need a Lightning Lane here though.

6. Spaceship Earth

This attraction sees the wait times vary the most of any in Epcot. At times they can reach upwards of an hour and then a bit later in the day it can be down to 10 minutes. I’d focus on the top four on this list and then hit Spaceship Earth a little later in the day via standby or Lightning Lane if they are available. Being in the very front of the park, Spaceship Earth sees the most foot traffic in the early part of the day.

5. Mission: Space

Another situation where the previous attraction, Spaceship Earth, is better than what’s ahead of it. That said, Mission: Space has a strange loading system and is a thrill ride of sorts so it earns the fourth spot on the list based on those merits. Technically, Mission: Space could count as two Lightning Lanes on this list as there’s an intense and less intense version of the ride.

4. Soarin’ Around the World

The top four for these rankings are pretty clear, with Soarin’ being the obvious choice or number four. If you’re able to grab windows for the top three then getting a Soarin’ Lightning Lane for early afternoon is doable. The standby advice for Soarin’ is to wait until the end of the day when the line clears out a few hours before closing.

3. Test Track

Test Track could make a case for first or second, depending on how late the park is open. The ride will run out of Lightning Lane windows at some point in the day but they will likely last longer than our top two picks. Either way, if you get Genie+ make sure you use a Lightning Lane at Test Track because the standby queue is not enjoyable at all.

2. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

The newest addition to Genie+ finds itself in second place on this list but could easily be moved up or down a slot. Being new will have this as a very popular pick and I expect the selections to run out here first. But the capacity is higher than our number one pick and the standby line can really clear out at night if you miss it all together with Genie+. It will be an interesting battle as to what animated film will have the most popular attraction in the coming years. For now, Ratatouille is in second.

1. Frozen Ever After

Frozen Ever After was listed as an individual Lightning Lane for a while but has since moved to Genie+. The wait times are long here and it’s an obvious choice for number one. An alternative to this being number one is getting a Test Track Lightning Lane first thing and shooting for a Frozen Ever After window in the later afternoon or early evening when you’re more likely to be in World Showcase. That does run the risk of the attraction running out of windows though, as it will likely be the first one to go.

What do you think of our Genie+ rankings for Epcot? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below. Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out our WDW Trip Planning Guide to help you out. Looking for discount tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends and like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!