One of the biggest decisions you will make during your day at Disney World is whether you should buy Genie+ and which Lightning Lane attractions you should prioritize. In our Guide 2 Lightning Lane, we are sharing tips and strategies on what to do at each park, and today we’re visiting Epcot. With Disney World’s newest ride having just debuted for the 50th Anniversary and a Marvel roller coaster on the horizon, Epcot has a very interesting Lightning Lane lineup. Which rides are worth your money to skip the line? And who should just skip Genie+ at Epcot? Read on to find out.
If you need a refresher on Disney’s FastPass replacement, check out our 6 part Guide 2 Disney Genie, which explains how Lightning Lane and Genie+ work.
Update 5-31-22 – Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will be available via Individual Lightning Lane and Virtual Queue only. The guide has been updated to include it among our recommendation for Guardians of the Galaxy Lightning Lane. Disney has once again updated its Lightning Lane offerings, moving Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure from Individual Lightning Lane to Genie+.
Individual Lightning Lane Recommendations for Epcot
Individual Lightning Lane attractions are not included in Genie+ and are an extra fee. Since everyone has a different budget and sensitivity to pricing, I’m not going to say that you should definitely buy an Individual Lightning Lane or not. What I will say is if you should consider it. With some attractions, Individual Lightning Lane could represent a value as it will save you a ton of time in line. With others, you shouldn’t waste your money. Here are our Epcot Individual Lightning Lane recommendations.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – Strongly Consider Buying If You Can’t Join the Virtual Queue
There will be only two ways to ride Disney World’s newest ride: The Virtual Queue and Individual Lightning Lane. The Marvel-themed roller coaster will not open with a traditional standby queue. Early reviews indicate that it’s a great roller coaster and one of the best rides at Disney World, so you should strongly consider buying the Individual Lightning Lane in a few scenarios.
If you strike out on joining the Virtual Queue at 7 am (and at 1 pm if there’s a second opening), purchasing the Guardians of the Galaxy Individual Lightning Lane is your only other option to get on this ride at EPCOT. If you’re the type of person who wants to do everything new at Disney World, this may be worth the price.
There are two other reasons you may want to opt for the Individual Lightning Lane. First, the Lightning Lane line will move faster than the Virtual Queue line, most likely saving you anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Secondly, if you want to go on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind more than once in a day, getting in the Virtual Queue and purchasing an Individual Lightning Lane is your only option.
You may want to skip purchasing the Individual Lightning Lane for a few reasons. First, if you joined the Virtual Queue, the wait time most likely won’t be exceedingly long. Save that money for lunch at the nearby Connections Cafe & Eatery. Secondly, Guardians of the Galaxy has a height requirement of 42″, which may be too tall for some guests. Thirdly, the Guardians roller coaster has been reported to give some guests motion sickness. If you’re sensitive to motion sickness, you may want to skip this ride (or pack some Dramamine)!
Be sure to check out our tips and guide on how to join the Virtual Queue at Disney World.
Is Genie+ Worth It at Epcot?
Should you add $15 to your ticket at Epcot? The park currently offers 11 attractions with Genie+ Lightning Lane. If you just look at that number, you may think “Well, that’s not too bad.” But many of those attractions don’t need Lightning Lane. Here’s the full Epcot Genie+ Lightning Lane lineup.
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
- Frozen Ever After
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Living with the Land
- Mission: SPACE – Green / Orange
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Soarin’
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Turtle Talk with Crush
The Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival in particular just shows animated shorts that you can see on Disney+ and isn’t worth your time while inside the park, Lightning Lane or not. Journey Into Imagination, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, and Turtle Talk with Crush also don’t typically have too long of waits. Depending on the day, you can add The Seas with Nemo and Friends and Mission: SPACE to that list. That really makes Genie+ Lightning Lane worthwhile at four rides: Remy, Frozen, Test Track, and Soarin’.
Is it worth it to spend $15 to save time at 3-5 rides if you’re only visiting Epcot for the day? While our answer used to be a firm no, the inclusion of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure pushes it to a solid “maybe.” Considering Lightning Lane can save you at least an hour on that ride alone, the value proposition for Genie+ at EPCOT goes way up.
If you are going on a peak day, like Christmas or New Years, our recommendation would change to a solid yes, as wait times on even the less popular rides can get to over an hour. Our recommendation would also change to a yes if you’re park hopping, because you could knock out Epcot’s best rides within less than half the day.
Also, consider what you’ll be doing while at Epcot. If rides are your priority, then Genie+ could be worth it even with the thin (but improved!) attraction lineup.
But if you are going to spend most of your time eating and drinking around the world, save your money for an extra large pretzel from Germany.
If you don’t buy Genie+ at EPCOT, utilize Single Rider and the mornings and evenings to take advantage of shorter waits on Test Track, Soarin’, Remy, and Frozen Ever After.
Epcot Genie+ Lightning Lane Recommendations
If you have Genie+, you still will want to prioritize which rides you choose for Epcot. I explained a little bit about the relative wait times in our Genie+ buying recommendation, but here I’ll go a bit deeper as to which attractions you should pick first for your Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations.
Biggest Priorities: Will Save You The Most Time / The Best Rides
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
- Frozen Ever After
- Test Track
- Soarin’
Since moving to a traditional standby queue, wait times on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure are typically the longest in the park. This makes it easily our number one priority, as it’s also our favorite family friendly ride at EPCOT.
Frozen Ever After can easily get lines over 60 minutes, so your time savings will be huge with this popular boat ride. Make this your second priority, unless you have a family member who is still singing “Let It Go” non-stop. Then you should go for this ride first when Lightning Lane slots open up at 7 am.
As Epcot’s sole thrill ride, Test Track is currently the third biggest time-saver. As I mentioned before, Test Track offers Single Rider, which will split you up from your party, so that may not be advisable for certain groups.
Soarin’ is not quite the multi-hour draw that it used to be, but it’s still one of the best rides at Epcot and can draw a lengthy wait time. It’s still one of the best uses of Lightning Lane at Epcot currently.
Middle Priorities: Will Save You Moderate Amount of Time
- Mission: SPACE
- Spaceship Earth
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends
- Living with the Land
Moderate could be a stretch for any of these rides, to be honest. There have been plenty of times when I’ve visited Epcot, and each of these attractions have had waits under 30 minutes. But wait times can creep up at these attractions, especially on busy days. Spaceship Earth is one of the best rides at Disney World, in my opinion, and Living with the Land is another personal favorite ride to relax on.
Lowest Priorities: Lightning Lane Might Only Save You A Little Time
- Journey Into Imagination with Figment
- Turtle Talk with Crush
Turtle Talk with Crush is a cute show, and very enjoyable for kids, but it’s very easy to walk up to the entrance 10-15 minutes before showtime and get into the theater. Journey Into Imagination holds a lot of nostalgic sway because of people’s love for Figment, but the ride can be a walk-on for most of the day. These are both “might as well grab them” Lightning Lanes, but not your biggest priority by a long stretch.
Don’t Even Bother Unless You Really Need a Break
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
The shorts shown here are delightful. But you can also watch them at home. Unless you are a huge animation fan and want a chance to see these on a big screen, don’t bother with this attraction. The other caveat to this recommendation is if you are in desperate need of an air conditioning break, then this would be a fine option, but I would point you toward The American Adventure for a lengthier show and better attraction.
Epcot Lightning Lane Tips
- If you are interested in Mission: SPACE, be sure to choose the right version of the attraction. Mission: SPACE Green is the mild version of the attraction, with the simulated liftoff and strong g-forces turned off. Mission: SPACE Orange is very intense, as it spins you at high speeds to simulate a journey into space.
- Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations open up at 7 am for all guests. Individual Lightning Lane reservations open up at 7 am for resort guests, and park opening for all other guests.
- When you’re making your first pick, try to get a Genie+ Lightning Lane time slot for one of your priority rides as early as possible. You can make another reservation either 2 hours after you make your reservation, or once you use your Lightning Lane reservation, whichever is first. Grabbing your first Lightning Lane reservation for sometime in the first 2 hours of park opening gives you the best chance of getting another high priority Lightning Lane reservation early. Check out our in-depth guide for maximizing Genie+ Lightning Lane to find out more about how often you can get Lightning Lane reservations.
- Lightning Lane reservations are a limited pool and are first come, first served. The rides in our “Biggest Priorities” section of the list above will typically sell out first, so try to get Lightning Lane reservations for those as soon as you can.
- If you can’t find a reservation, pull to refresh on the Tip Board section of Disney Genie. Return times fluctuate, and it’s possible for somebody else’s cancellation to open up a time slot for a ride you are going for.
Be sure to check out our entire Guide 2 Lightning Lane at Disney World:
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