Earlier today, Disney announced that they will be demoting four Individual Lightning Lane attractions to the Genie+ service. Disney says that the change will be temporary, with the following attractions moving back to the Individual Lightning Lane offering on January 4, 2022.
- Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
- Frozen Ever After (EPCOT)
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
- Expedition Everest (Disney’s Animal Kingdom)
With the changes set to take place beginning this Sunday, December 19th, we wanted to take a look at how the changes could impact your priority selections at each park.
Magic Kingdom
Space Mountain is one of the attractions that we listed as overpriced as an Individual Lightning Lane attraction back in October.
The question now is: where does it fit into your priority list? Well, it’s one more “mountain” on the list, but perhaps it might not move the needle too much. Here’s how we would prioritize a day at Magic Kingdom with Space Mountain on the Genie+ list (based on Thanksgiving Week crowds):
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Haunted Mansion
- Splash Mountain
- Space Mountain
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Under the Sea with The Little Mermaid
- “it’s a small world”
From there, the rest of the attractions would be considered very low priority and something that you might just pick up for a quick ride if you’re in the area, or save for the end of the day as the rides listed above sell out.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Disney’s Hollywood Studios should see some mild relief from the craziness that is Genie+. During the busiest of days, you’re lucky to just make 3 or 4 Genie+ selections throughout the entire day. With the addition of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway to Genie+ for a limited time, the attraction might serve as a surprise and delight of sorts in the later parts of the day.
Here’s how we would prioritize a day at Hollywood Studios with Runaway Railway on the list (based on Thanksgiving Week crowds):
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Toy Story Mania
- Tower of Terror
- Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster
- Alien Swirling Saucers
EPCOT
We’ll head over to EPCOT next, where Frozen Ever After is a wonderful addition to the Genie+ lineup. Here’s how we’d prioritize a day at EPCOT with Frozen Ever After as a Genie+ offering (based on Thanksgiving Week crowds):
- Test Track
- Frozen Ever After
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Mission: SPACE
- Spaceship Earth
- Journey Into Imagination with Figment
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends
- Living with the Land
- Pixar Short Film Festival
- Turtle Talk with Crush
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
We’ll round out our guide with Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the addition of Expedition Everest to Genie+. Here’s how we’d prioritize a day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with Expedition Everest as a Genie+ offering (based on Thanksgiving Week crowds):
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Na’vi River Journey
- Dinosaur
- A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King
- Expedition Everest
- It’s Tough to be a Bug
- Feathered Friends in Flight
It will be interesting to see if these four attractions actually make it back onto the Individual Lightning Lane lineup in the new year, or if they stay as Genie+ offerings. In reality, the four attractions remaining on the Individual Lightning Lane lineup (Rise of the Resistance, Flight of Passage, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure) make sense and are worth paying for.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!