Ahh, Disney Genie+, the new paid version of FastPass that is taking Disneyland Resort and Disney World by storm, leaving some guests overwhelmed and confused.

The new system has multiple parts, different prices for different options, and a set of rules that you’ll have to learn in order to use it effectively. However, when used properly, it could likely save you a good bit of time during your day at the parks. So how is it on the most crowded days of the year? Does it still work? Is it worth it? We tested it out in Disney World.

What Days Qualify As “Busy?”

Okay, first we need to discuss what qualifies as a “busy” day in Disney World. (It can honestly feel like every day is a busy day if you plan it wrong!) For the purposes of this post, we’re discussing those massive crowd days that you get during the holiday season. The last two weeks of the year tend to be the most crowded time to visit the parks.

So for our experiment, we tested out Genie+ a few days before Christmas, as well as on in the days following Christmas. The day after Christmas was a little bit busier crowd-wise, so that posed a few more challenges, but in general, they’re both days where you may consider spending the $15 per ticket per day, JUST to avoid some of the ridiculously high wait times.

What Should You Know When Buying Genie+?

On busy days throughout the year (could also include holiday weekends and Spring Break), you should know the basics of buying Genie+ ahead of time so that you’re prepared. Before your trip, you can add Genie+ to your entire ticket at once. If you wish to purchase it for individual days (and not all of them), you can buy it in the My Disney Experience app starting at midnight on that day.

If you’re purchasing day-of, we recommend purchasing well before 7AM. Why? Because that 7AM time window is important and you’ll want to be ready to knock out your tasks ASAP.

Why is 7AM Important?

If you’re coming to Disney World on one of those particularly busy days, you’ll definitely want to be on top of things for Genie+. At 7AM, Disney Resort hotel guests can purchase their Individual Attraction Selections (IAS) for the day and ALL guests can make their first Genie+ selection of the day. And those things go FAST!

Off-site guests will have to wait until park opening time to purchase Individual Attraction Selection rides, which gives hotel guests a distinct advantage. On busy days, we’ve seen options like Rise of the Resistance sell out before off-site guests even got the chance to buy. As soon as 7AM hits, people start booking up those popular rides. If you wait even a few minutes, you might get stuck with that 6PM pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train instead of the 10AM one.

But for Genie+ attractions, it’s a bit more of a free-for-all. Since all guests can make their first choice at 7AM, you’ll want to go into that time with a plan. Know exactly what you want to prioritize — is it a certain ride or do you want to get the earliest pass possible? We recommend listing your favorite rides in order of importance and booking them that way. And remember, you’ve got to be quick: there were sometimes where we’d click on a Genie+ Lightning Lane time of 9:35AM but by the time the app loaded, it was backed up to 11AM. Seconds make a big difference!

In the case of the app glitching at 7AM, we were still able to get our first selections in. For example, the app glitched on us first thing in the morning, but we were able to book Kilimanjaro Safaris with a return time of 9AM-10AM instead of 8AM-9PM.

Which Rides Are Most Popular?

There are some rides and attractions that you’ll definitely want to prioritize when booking your Genie+ selections. At Hollywood Studios, we noticed that Slinky Dog Dash was the first to go, while options like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway followed shortly after. (Keep in mind that Runaway Railway is usually an IAS, but has been moved temporarily to the Genie+ category for the holiday season.)

Over at Magic Kingdom, Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan’s Flight have been pretty popular because both have incredibly high average wait times during the holidays. The “Magic Kingdom Mountains” will also likely be harder to book because they’re popular, along with Haunted Mansion. At EPCOT, you’ll want to prioritize Frozen Ever After (which is usually an IAS but is on Genie+ for the holidays) and Soarin. Animal Kingdom’s most popular options are Expedition Everest (also usually an IAS), Na’vi River Journey, and Kilimanjaro Safaris.

For those popular rides, it may be helpful to toggle back and forth between screens when searching for return times for those popular rides. For example, Expedition Everest was showing a return time of 3:30PM at around 11AM the day we visited the parks. After toggling between screens, we were able to find a return time for 12PM.

So is it Worth it to Use Genie+ During the Holidays?

First, you’ll need to note the cost of Genie+ and make sure that it’s in your budget. Keep in mind that it’s $15 per ticket, per day, so a family of four would pay $300 extra to have Genie+ over the course of 5 days. In the non-busy season, we typically recommend buying Genie+ day by day since it’s not as necessary for EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. However, during the holidays, it may be beneficial to use Genie+ at all four parks — the wait times are high everywhere!

If you decide to pay for Genie+, you’ll need to be diligent about using the system properly. Make sure that you’re up at 7AM to do your first bookings, and as soon as you scan into your Lightning Lane, hop on your phone and work on booking the next one. You’ll also want to be well-versed in the 120-minute rule (click here if you don’t know what that is!).

During the holidays, it’s likely that the popular rides will be gone quickly, but you’ll want to keep refreshing. Throughout the day, we saw several fan-favorite options come back to Genie+, likely because other guests canceled their selections. If something you want isn’t available, just keep checking!

All in all, Genie+ seemed to save us time since the lines were so long, but it will take up some of your time. You’ll need to be up early and you’ll spend some time on your phone throughout the day, finagling to get your next reservation.

So there’s our full report of Genie+ during the holidays! We’ll keep testing out the system as they make changes, and we’ll keep you updated on everything happening in Disney World, so stay tuned to DFB!

Click Here to See What Christmas Break Crowds Were Like!

Have you used Genie+ in Disney World yet? Tell us in the comments!

The post Should You Get Genie+ Around the Holidays in Disney World? We Experiment. first appeared on the disney food blog.