Where Should You Buy Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane in December?

The holiday season is upon us.

At Walt Disney World, December brings near-infinite joy as the parks and resorts decorate everywhere.

Vacationers know this and head to Orlando in droves. And the sudden influx of tourists raises a question.

Where should you buy Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane in December?

About Disney Genie+ Pricing in December

Park officials employ date-based pricing at Walt Disney World.

What does this mean to you as a guest? You’ll pay more for Disney’s digital line-jumping services on holidays and weekends.

While we don’t have a direct comparison from December 2022 to December 2023, we can make some assumptions.

Even though Disney introduced the Park Hopper option for Disney Genie+, the basics remain the same.

For example, the old version of Disney Genie+ proved cheaper during the first week of December than the rest of the month.

Prices increased slightly during the second, but the real pricing bump occurred on December 19^th, which was the Monday of Christmas Week.

So, I would expect similar behavior this month. You’ll pay less from December 1^st through the 19^th, but Disney Genie+ will cost the least through December 9^th.

Guests visiting on those dates will pay less for the service, but Disney doesn’t view it as an imperative purchase.

Notably, Disney Genie+ pricing foreshadows expected park attendance on that date.

When the price increases from the previous date, you should expect crowds to grow larger as well.

Once December 20^th arrives, you should expect the most expensive prices of the year.

The Park Hopper version will either match or surpass Thanksgiving Week’s $35 daily cost. As a reminder, Disney Genie+ sold out twice at that price.

Holiday guests increase their budgets to ensure themselves the opportunity to experience more at the parks.

You can save money by choosing a park-specific version of Disney Genie+, though.

About Lightning Lane Pricing in December

With Lightning Lane, the conversation is a bit more nuanced.

The same general rules apply, but I’ll point out some exceptions as well.

For example, Tron Lightcycle / Run has sold its Lightning Lane for $20 every day we’ve tracked the ride in 2023.

You can safely presume that the Lightning Lane will cost $20 during Christmas Week since it did during Thanksgiving Week…I think.

With Disney, we never really know for sure, but current CEO Bob Iger appears substantially more cost-conscious than He Who Must Not Be Employed at Disney.

Similar logic applies to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Avatar Flight of Passage as well.

These older attractions available on Lightning Lane hover in the same range.

You’ll pay $10-12 for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and $14-$16 for Avatar Flight of Passage.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has a bit more pricing elasticity. Its range varies from $20-$25.

You should expect the lower side of the range earlier in the month and then a hard $25 for two straight weeks, give or take a day or two.

Guardians of the Galaxy; Cosmic Rewind reliably remained in the $14-$15 range on most 2023 dates until the Thanksgiving holiday.

I’d expect similar behavior from now until December 20^th. Then, from that point forward, the daily pricing should hit $17.

Again, I’m basing this on recent Disney history, but park officials might surprise us all.

So, please monitor the pricing before your visit to decide how accurate my projections are.

I don’t want to make you feel like you’ve been caught flat-footed.

Where Should You Buy Lightning Lane in December?

Whenever we have these discussions, I emphasize one simple truth.

You’re in complete control of your vacation budget. Vacationers can ride all of Walt Disney World’s top attractions without paying for them.

In a couple of instances, you must get lucky with the virtual queue, which will be a bit more challenging later in December. But the point remains.

Your Lightning Lane decisions are ultimately your own. For a family of four, even a ride on Seven Dwarfs Mine costs about $50.

That’s a lot of money to spend on an attraction. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it for any of the older rides.

So, I would suggest that you pass on Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Avatar Flight of Passage.

You’re simply not getting great value on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train by paying for it, and I say it as one of the attraction’s most dedicated evangelists.

With Avatar Flight of Passage, I’d expect you to have ridden it by now.

If you haven’t, my advice changes, as it’s one of the greatest Disney rides ever. Otherwise, you should save your money.

Similarly, while I love and admire Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, I think it’s okay to skip. You’ll have two cracks at the virtual queue.

Lately, guests haven’t had a problem booking it. Could that change in late December? Absolutely.

For this reason, you should play this one by ear. On the one hand, demand for the roller coaster has slipped since Tron’s debut.

Where Should You Buy Lightning Lane in December?

Conversely, Christmas Week crowds are usually the largest of the entire year.

For this reason, I’d suggest that if you’re visiting on any date after December 14^th, you should pay for Tron, presuming you want to ride it.

Otherwise, you’ll miss Disney’s new theme park alpha, which will probably disappoint your traveling party.

When you visit Disney during the holidays, you don’t want to miss out on anything, right?

This same logic applies to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the other attraction in the conversation for Disney’s alpha.

Since this attraction breaks down a lot, the waiting process can be a bit chaotic anyway.

When you pay for the ride, you know you’ll get to experience it. And that knowledge should reduce your stress.

The Quirk of Disney Genie+

If I didn’t make the inference clear earlier, Disney Genie+ works a bit counterintuitively.

When the price is higher, you need it that much more. That’s because Disney is telling you that the parks will be quite crowded.

When you don’t buy Disney Genie+ — which is a perfectly viable choice – you’ll experience less.

That’s perfectly okay in early December, though. In fact, here are MickeyBlog’s wonderful reporters proving the counterintuitive nature:

You really don’t need Disney Genie+ during any day during the first two weeks. I tend to buy it anyway, but I’m a freak. Don’t be like me.

As we advance later into the month, the conversation changes. As Disney Genie+ creeps up in price, it somehow provides better value.

Attraction wait times increase significantly during holiday weeks.

For example, during Thanksgiving Week, the average attraction required a 20 percent longer wait.

Meanwhile, here were the Disney Genie+ prices for those dates:

 

• Park Hopper/Magic Kingdom — $35
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios — $32
• EPCOT — $28
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom — $25

I’d expect similar prices from December 20^th through January 2^nd, albeit with some fluctuations.

Where Should You Buy Disney Genie+?

 

The one thing I’ll say here is that you just don’t need Disney Genie+ at Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. You’re unlikely to get enough for your money.

An EPCOT purchase makes a bit more sense in that it has more E-ticket attractions.

At Animal Kingdom, you’re paying a lot for Na’vi Journey and a handful of other substantially older attractions.

Conversely, I consider Hollywood Studios a must. Your mileage may vary, but I’ve studied the wait times at this park for years.

At Hollywood Studios, seven attractions will probably require waits in excess of an hour during late December.

When you buy Lightning Lane here, you’ll get much more. And if you’re gonna spend that much, you might as well get Park Hopper, too.

So, when you’re visiting Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios during the second half of December, buy Disney Genie+ Park Hopper. That’s my advice.

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