Let’s Talk Disney Genie+ at Hollywood Studios
The arrival of Disney Genie+ has thrown many park plans into chaos.
Everything we thought we knew about theme park visits and FastPass has turned useless.
Credit: Disney
Now, we’re all learning anew as we familiarize ourselves with the new system. And today, we’re evaluating the most puzzling Walt Disney World gate.
Let’s talk about Disney Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Which attractions should you pick for your eight reservations?
The No-Brainers
Let’s start with the one you MUST pick if you want to ride it. Of course, I’m referencing Slinky Dog Dash, the most likely of all Disney Genie+ selections to sell out.
Park officials surprised everyone by naming Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway as a Lightning Lane selection alongside Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Photo: Matt Stroshane
This decision allowed guests to schedule Slinky Dog Dash via Disney Genie+. As a result, it’s THE best value across the four parks.
However, the system behaves similarly to the old FastPass era. Slinky Dog Dash books quickly. In fact, it’s sold out in the morning several times thus far.
Photo: TheCoasterKings.com
So, you must act quickly when your booking window opens. As a reminder, that’s 7 a.m. when you stay at an official Disney resort. Otherwise, it’s when you enter the park.
Your FIRST choice should be Slinky Dog Dash. Even then, you still might not find an open reservation window until the late afternoon or evening. It goes fast, y’all.
Image Credit: Disney
The other no-brainer, at least for most, is Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. This selection comes with a bit of nuance, though.
As a reminder, this attraction offers Single Rider, which means you can skip the line if you don’t mind playing riding with strangers.
Photo: Richard Harbaugh
Those who don’t mind Single Rider can usually board the Millennium Falcon in 20-30 minutes, even less on slow days.
For this reason, you can save a Disney Genie+ reservation for something else if you’re okay with Single Rider here.
On the average date, Smugglers Run requires a 50-minute wait for guests who enter the standby queue.
For Slinky Dog Dash, the average is 65 minutes. So, I mean it when I say that you’ll want these reservations. But, unfortunately, most others will as well.
The Strong Possibilities
The next two attractions come with a bit of elevator behavior. Both come with waits that bounce up and down wildly depending on external factors.
In other words, you may find the lines hovering around 30 minutes one day and 75 minutes another.
As such, you should book reservations if you want to ride them just in case. Otherwise, Murphy’s Law dictates that you’ll visit on a 75-minute day.
These two attractions are Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
On an average day, guests wait 45 minutes for Tower of Terror, while the roller coaster hovers around 40 minutes.
That’s too long to wait if you want to do everything possible at Hollywood Studios on a given day.
However, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster offers Single Rider as well. So, you could save one of your eight reservations by entering Single Rider.
I actually suggest that to friends, as there’s literally no difference in the ride experience with Single Rider here.
Image Credit: Disney
That’s not true of Smugglers Run, where you have to join a crew with strangers.
The Definitely Maybes
Toy Story Land features one of the most popular attractions at Walt Disney World in Slinky Dog Dash.
Notably, another ride here also made the same claim for many years. Before Disney added a third track, Toy Story Mania! often had 80-minute waits.
These days, the average standby wait is 30 minutes.
That’s kind of a record scratch for me. For several years, if I’d noticed a 30-minute posted wait time here, I’d have knocked strangers out of the way to get here.
Still, the quality of the ride justifies a Disney Genie+ reservation. However, if we’re drawing that conclusion, I must mention another ride.
Alien Swirling Saucers, a divisive attraction, hovers around 28 minutes as well. So, there’s not a lot of difference between the two average waits.
Now, even as a diehard defender of Alien Swirling Saucers, I’d never argue that it’s as good as Toy Story Mania!.
So, if you’re picking one, take Toy Story Mania!. Those of you trying to minimize your wait times should select Alien Swirling Saucers as well, though.
The Why Not?
Now, the choices come down to math. I suspect that most people will pick at least five of the attractions I’ve listed. So, you have three or four left.
Photo: Matt Stroshane
These reservations provide less value since their lines are rarely long.
However, park visits at Hollywood Studios can go awry when you’re unlucky.
Photo credit: DisneyWorldVacationGuide.com
As such, you still might want to consider Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. Its average wait time is only about 24 minutes, though.
Also, you can almost always find a time when the standby queue is at 15 minutes or less. This happens either early in the day or near closing time.
So, the choice is yours. I suspect the answer depends on how you feel about…
The Shows
Hollywood Studios currently lists four shows on Disney Genie+ and will add a fourth in mid-December. Those selections are:
- Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
- Disney Junior Play & Dance!
- For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! – Reopens December 19th
- Muppet*Vision 3D
Before I provide advice, I’ll add this anecdote. I’m one of the blessed few internet content creators who doesn’t take much criticism. Thank you for that, by the way.
However, one of those rare instances occurred when I dismissed Disney Junior show and character dining options as poor value. Never again.
Parents get quite feisty about the characters their children adore. And this statement applies to Beauty and the Beast and Frozen as well.
So, here’s what I have to say about your final Disney Genie+ selections. The park only offers seven rides in this category.
You’ll find the other two in Lightning Lane, which is a different conversation.
Ergo, you probably have one, two, or three extra reservations you can make for shows. Personally, I wouldn’t do more than one.
Disney park veterans know the best times to catch a show, and we rarely wait in line to do so.
Credit: Disney
As such, I view these options as low value. Still, you must pick at least one if you want to use your full allotment of Disney Genie+ options.
Unfortunately, Disney doesn’t allow any duplicates yet. So, if even if you pick all seven rides, you’ve still got one reservation to burn.
Photo: Gene Duncan
Personally, I would rank Frozen as the best option, followed by Beauty and the Beast and Indiana Jones.
Those of you with small children should choose Disney Junior, though. As for Muppet*Vision, the lines are rarely long enough to justify a reservation.
A Note about Lightning Lane
I’ll do a whole article about this in a few days. For now, let me stress something vital.
If you want to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, you should strongly consider paying the Lightning Lane purchase of $15.
Photo: Matt Stroshane
However, those of you staying at official Disney resorts can save that money by using Early Theme Park Entry instead.
Rise of the Resistance utilizes a standby line now. Therefore, guests who show up early enough can ride it after a minimal wait.
For this reason, you really should speak to a MickeyTravels agent about booking a hotel stay at an official Disney resort.
Under the new system, this decision can save you money.
Image Credit: Disney
As for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the average wait so far is roughly 45 minutes. Is that worth $10 per person or so? That’s up to you.
My advice is that if you buy Disney Genie+, you may not need to spend additional money for the Lightning Lane at Runaway Railway.
