Disney continues to expand the roster of Genie+ Lightning Lane attractions. This time, a fantastical parade is being added to Magic Kingdom’s already impressive lineup of Lightning Lane attractions.

Festival of Fantasy will be available for Lightning Lane through Genie+ starting tomorrow, March 11. The parade just returned earlier this week after a two year absence.

This isn’t the first time Disney World has changed its Lightning Lane Lineup. Here’s a brief recap of the changes so far:

And that’s all just since the Genie+ debuted in October. Needless to say, the Lightning Lane lineup will continue to be updated, hopefully with the attraction lineup being expanded at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom next.

How will this new addition to Genie+ affect your day at Magic Kingdom? Should you make Festival of Fantasy one of your Lightning Lane priorities?

I have a few ideas, including a way to possibly pick this up as a quick bonus Lightning Lane.

Festival of Fantasy Lightning Lane Strategy

Festival of Fantasy - Dragon - Disney World Parade

As the parade runs twice daily, guests who purchase Genie+ for $15 will have two chances to pickup a Lightning Lane for Festival of Fantasy. The showtimes are either 11:30 am / 2:30 pm or 12 pm / 3 pm, depending on the day.

As of this writing, it’s not entirely clear where the Lightning Lane viewing area will be. In the past with FastPass, Disney World has reserved some of the best viewing areas for guests with a line skipping reservation. I would anticipate this area would be in the hub, as it’s an easy place for Disney to section off in Magic Kingdom. Whatever the area is, I would expect it to have a good view.

Is Festival of Fantasy a good pickup for Genie+ Lightning Lane? I’m currently considering this for when I update our Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Guide. If you’re a big fan of parades, being able to jump into a great viewing area 15-30 minutes before Festival of Fantasy is awesome. However, shows, parades, and fireworks have been a little tricky when it comes to FastPass / Lightning Lane. They aren’t always great time savers, and if you want the best possible front row view, you’ll still need to show up early.

Ariel - Festival of Fantasy - Magic Kingdom Parade

Also, the Magic Kingdom parade route is long, running all the way from Frontierland to the front of the park. There are plenty of opportunities to find a good spot to watch the parade without having to use one of your Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations. We have a few recommendations for where to watch the parade from in our Magic Kingdom Tips & Tricks.

However, Festival of Fantasy could be an awesome last minute pickup. As I explain in How to Maximize Lightning Lane with Genie+, there is a 120-minute rule for Genie+ reservations. Starting at park opening, once you make a Genie+ reservation, you can make your next reservation either 120 minutes later or immediately after you redeem that reservation.

So, if Magic Kingdom opens up at 8 am, you definitely shouldn’t make Festival of Fantasy your first Genie+ pick. That’s because you wouldn’t be able to make any other Genie+ reservations until 10 am due to the 120-minute rule. The earliest you could scan your ticket to redeem a Festival of Fantasy reservation would be most likely 11 am, when they would open up the Lightning Lane viewing area for the 11:30 am parade.

Instead, the best thing to do is to try to see if you can grab a Lightning Lane for Festival of Fantasy any time within the hour before the parade starting. The closer to the start of the parade, the better. That way, you could get that reservation, then check into the viewing area and immediately make your next Genie+ reservation. If you time it right, you could grab a Lightning Lane 15-30 minutes before showtime, redeem it, and immediately grab a new Lightning Lane reservation.

Save time and maximize Genie+. That’s what we’re all about.

If Lightning Lane is sold out for the first showing, you could try the same strategy for the second showing. And if you can’t get a Lightning Lane, you can always snag a spot for Festival of Fantasy anywhere along the parade route. It might not be as great of a view, but you also won’t have to spend too much time waiting.

What do you think?

What’s your favorite Magic Kingdom parade viewing spot? What would your Festival of Fantasy Lightning Lane strategy be? Let me know in the comments below?