Fauna Kingdom Genie+ Lightning Lanes Rides and Strategy 2022

In this post we discuss how we plan to employ Genie+ successfully at Animal Kingdom in 2022, including our Animate being Kingdom Genie+ priorities and the all-time rides for Genie+ at Animal Kingdom. We also hash out individual Lightning Lane admission and how to make sense of virtual queues, Lightning Lanes, standby lines, single rider, and Genie+ at Beast Kingdom.

Wait, What about FastPass+ at Animal Kingdom?

FastPass+ at Animal Kingdom, and at all of Disney World, is gone. This post covers Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, the replacement for FastPass+ at Fauna Kingdom. And so if you were wondering what rides to FastPass at Animal Kingdom or how much FastPass costs at Brute Kingdom, etc., you're in the right identify.

THE Basics OF Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes

Again, you'll desire to cheque out our Walt Disney World Genie+ guide to brand sure you really empathise Genie+, but we want to give those of you who are merely looking for the nuts a quick intro.

Click hither to jump past the intro if you've read it before.

Genie+ Allows You lot To "Skip The Lines" At Walt Disney World

Genie+ is a paid ($15+taxation per person) skip-the-line system at Walt Disney Earth. By purchasing Genie+ for the day of your visit to a Disney Globe park, you'll be able to brand bookings to admission "Lightning Lanes" which are shorter lines than the regular "standby" lines that most rides accept.

We've put "skip the lines" in quotes because you lot'll ordinarily still have some wait with Genie+, information technology's just much shorter than the regular await. If FastPass+ and MaxPass etc. are whatsoever indication, a long wait with Genie+ might be a 20 minute wait for a ride that has standby waits of 100+ minutes.

Not all attractions are included in Genie+. Some attractions don't have Lightning Lanes and some attractions with Lightning Lanes aren't included in Genie+. At Animal Kingdom, Avatar Flight of Passage and Trek Everest accept Lightning Lanes merely are not be a function of Genie+. To access those Lightning Lanes y'all'll have to make a split up purchase. We discuss the included attractions at Animal Kingdom subsequently in this post.

Within Genie+, you can hold one Lightning Lane reservation at a fourth dimension—with one exception. That means if you have a reservation for Na'vi River Journey from 3PM to 4PM, you have to wait until yous use that reservation (during that window) before you can book another one.

The exception is that if yous volume a Lightning Lane via Genie+ that starts more than than two hours in the hereafter, you can volume some other Lightning Lane via Genie+ after waiting two hours. If yous make your get-go selection earlier the park opens, the two-hour clock starts running when the park opens.

You can't cull what time you book your Genie+ reservation for. Y'all take to grab the time that is available when you lot're booking, and these times will roll forrard every bit the day goes on until they run out.

This means when you open up Genie+ at 7AM for a 9AM park open, you lot'll probably see you can volume whatever ride for 9AM to 10AM. But when y'all check after using that reservation at, say, ix:30AM, yous might seem some rides bachelor from 10AM to 11AM, some rides bachelor from 12:05PM to 1:05PM, and perhaps even a ride might be sold out for the mean solar day.

There is some flexibility here, either due to Disney releasing more inventory or guests cancelling. You might refresh and encounter an bachelor time jump back from 2PM to 12PM, but for the nearly part, you need to program for these times to roll frontward.

Park Hopping With Genie+

You lot can park hop with Genie+, and the service is skilful at all four parks once you purchase information technology for a given twenty-four hour period. Just call back park hopping doesn't outset, every bit of this update, until 2PM daily. We have posts on two-day Disney Earth trips and three-day Disney Globe trips that will be updated soon with Lightning Lane content.

Purchasing Genie+ for Animal Kingdom

Before we get to strategy, let'due south talk about how you get Genie+ (and Lightning Lanes) to begin with.

When can I buy Genie+?

Genie+ will be available for buy at midnight the morn of your park visit, or you can purchase it in advance as role of your vacation parcel. If you lot purchase it in advance, you lot'll need to get it for the entire length of your ticket. In any case, you need to brand certain you've purchased it by 7AM because that is when Genie+ selections will open for all guests.

How much does Genie+ Toll?

Genie+ will cost $fifteen+tax (about $16) per person per mean solar day. Everyone in your group needs to have Genie+ if they plan to utilize the Lightning Lanes for the Genie+ attractions. If someone in your party isn't going on the rides via Genie+, and then of grade they don't demand Genie+.

Is Genie+ at Animal Kingdom Worth It?

So far, Creature Kingdom isn't seeing any huge additions as part of Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Celebrations. It's also not a huge function every bit far as vacation celebrations go.

In the near term, nosotros expect Genie+ will not be worth it at Animal Kingdom. The park has simply been besides easy to tour this past year, and has remained then fifty-fifty with the add-on of Lightning Lanes.

The terminal factor to highlight here is extra hours access—Early on Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours. If you have access to those perks (and will use them), you lot're less probable to need Genie+.

My current arroyo to the "is Genie+ worth information technology?" topic—before we can actually see it in activeness at the parks—is to rank the four parks past how much I expect Genie+ to help. I'd put Fauna Kingdom third out of the iv parks. Rides like Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, and DINOSAUR help justify the purchase more than at Epcot, simply from a touring perspective this park merely isn't as tough as Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom.

Individual Lightning Lane Purchases

Now, in example you forgot, at that place are two rides at each park that will not exist a part of Genie+ and that will crave you to buy admission to their Lightning Lanes Individually. At Animal Kingdom, information technology's expected those rides will exist Avatar Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest, both of which take regular standby lines (i.e. no virtual queues to worry almost) if you don't want to pay. Everest also has single rider.

If you determine to buy individual Lightning Lane access at Creature Kingdom, you'll make your purchases at:

  • 7AM if you're a guest of a Disney resort (select partner resorts possibly included, we don't know yet) or

  • At the fourth dimension the park opens if you're non a invitee of a Disney resort.

Is it worth it to buy a Lightning Lane for Avatar Flying of Passage?

If y'all have Early Entry at Animal Kingdom, you probably don't demand to buy a Lightning Lane for Avatar Flying of Passage. If you don't have Early Entry, but do have a full day, y'all probably don't need to purchase a Lightning Lane for Avatar Flying of Passage.

If you're only spending part of your day at Brute Kingdom and y'all don't have early entry, the best style to get as much washed equally possible is going to be to buy a Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage.

Is information technology worth information technology to buy a Lightning Lane for Expedition Everest?

No. Expedition Everest is arguably the all-time roller coaster in Disney Word, but as it offers single rider, you have a backup if you can't get on it via Lightning Lane. I don't expect we'll be supporting this purchase someday soon.

7AM Priorities at Animate being Kingdom

Since Fauna Kingdom doesn't have whatever virtual queues, you lot don't have besides many things to juggle at 7AM. If you're a Disney resort invitee, yous'll have to do both your commencement Genie+ booking and your individual Lightning Lane purchases at that time. (If you've got two people in your party who can use their phones, you should each be able to handle one of these).

There's trivial force per unit area on either task, but we still adopt making our start Genie+ booking before moving on to purchasing private Lightning Lanes.

Fauna Kingdom Genie+ Attractions

In that location are eight attractions or experiences that are a part of Genie+ at Brute Kingdom (alphabetical order):

  1. Celebration of Festival of the King of beasts King*

  2. DINOSAUR

  3. Feathered Friends in Flight*

  4. It'south Tough to be a Problems

  5. Kali River Rapids

  6. Kilimanjaro Safaris

  7. Na'vi River Journey

  8. The Blitheness Feel*

Scheduled Shows & Activities at Beast Kingdom

I put asterisks on three of the 8 attractions because they occur on stock-still schedules, and the Lightning Lanes just guarantee you seating if you arrive within the arrival window. This means their Genie+ times won't "roll" forward slowly, they'll jump to the next showtime. If you meet one of these and it fits your schedule, fine, grab information technology. But in that location's no demand to strategize in accelerate about them.

Low Priorities for Genie+ at Animal Kingdom

"It's Tough to be a Issues" won't require much of your attending on Genie+. Might you utilize Genie+ to go on it? Sure! If the timing works out and you can apply Genie+ to skip even a fifteen minute await, do information technology! But this volition probably exist afterward in the day afterward y'all've addressed higher priority rides.

Best Rides to Genie+ At Creature Kingdom

That leaves 4 rides—DINOSAUR, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Na'vi River Journey. Let's address these one by ane earlier trying to rank them.

DINOSAUR is probably the least popular of the 4, and specially belatedly in the twenty-four hours information technology's common to run across its waits drib to below 15 minutes. Information technology'southward also relatively secluded in the park, so waits to tend to move up as early on as more fundamental rides.

Kali River Rapids will vary in popularity with the weather (more than popular on hotter days). Crucially—if you're a hardcore planning nerd, which you are since you're still reading this post—Kali River Rapids ofttimes opens an hour later than the rest of the park. If you tin plan to exist there when it opens, yous'll avert the need for Genie+ on this ride.

Kilimanjaro Safaris is very popular, but information technology's a long slow ride that can have a chunk of time out of your forenoon if you ride it likewise soon. For that reason, you probably don't want it to exist your first Genie+ choice of the mean solar day. It likewise opens at the aforementioned time every bit the park opens to all guests (i.due east. it isn't in Early Entry), which makes it pretty piece of cake to go on early in the day. It if its your first selection, merely endeavour and time your window and arrival so you have 30-hr before you get on it. Importantly, Kilimanjaro Safaris often closes earlier than the balance of the park, meaning information technology will take fewer Lightning Lane return times than the other rides.

Na'six River Journey is likewise popular, merely it's much shorter than Kilimanjaro Safaris and located near where many of you lot will be starting your solar day anyways, at Flight of Passage. It'll be our highest priority Genie+ allure at Animal Kingdom.

So I'd currently rank the Genie+ priorities at Animal Kingdom equally follows:

  1. Na'vi River Journey

  2. Kilimanjaro Safaris

  3. Kali River Rapids (hot days or if you can't get there virtually its opening time)

  4. DINOSAUR

  5. Kali River Rapids (cool days or if you tin can get there near its opening time)

With the priorities in our listen, allow'due south motion onto how this might play out when you lot visit the park.

Animal Kingdom Genie+ Planning

Now that nosotros've covered the Animal Kingdom Genie+ priorities, we need to talk about how to actually put together a day at the park.

A Note About Animal Kingdom

As of early November, visiting Animal Kingdom with Genie+ is incredibly like shooting fish in a barrel. Kilimanjaro Safaris and Na'six River Journey are somewhat pop, but you could basically randomly pick from the five rides throughout the 24-hour interval and you lot'd do fine.

Paradoxically, this makes information technology a little challenging to write almost, because there's only no existent reward to most any arroyo. I try to give reasoning that will concur water once the park gets busier, but of course we'll have to see how things really shape up when that happens.

What Genie+ Reservation should I grab first at Fauna Kingdom?

If y'all have Early Theme Park Entry, catch Kilimanjaro Safaris equally your first Genie+ reservation. You'll be able to start with Flight of Passage and hopefully a curt wait for Na'vi River Journeying. So you'll head to Trek Everest, since that's a paid individual Lightning Lane (that you lot don't want to pay for) earlier using your Genie+ Lightning Lane at Kilimanjaro Safaris.

If you don't have Early on Theme Park Entry, grab Na'vi River Journey. Yous'll start with Kilimanjaro Safaris and and then maybe have time to clasp Trek Everest in earlier making a long trek back to the other side of the park. Personally, I'd try and time my Genie+ selection to get Na'half-dozen River Journey with a window from xxx-xc minutes later park open up to allow me to ride Everest after Kilimanjaro Safaris.

What Genie+ reservation should I grab 2nd, tertiary, etc. at Animal Kingdom?

Remember, we're basically talking about four rides here, and you've already done one of the two most popular. Permit's assume y'all've ridden Na'vi River Journey and demand to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris afterward (the reasoning hither is unchanged if you flip those).

At that place'southward basically two approaches. Start, you could just grab the adjacent render time for Kilimanjaro Safaris, reasoning you'll have little problem fitting in Kali River Rapids and DINOSAUR the rest of the day.

Alternatively, you lot can try and quickly go quick Genie+ Lightning Lane bookings for DINOSAUR and Kali River Rapids. And then y'all'll probably have a few hours before your Kilimanjaro time, just you tin can fill that with other attractions / shows / zoological paths / etc.

Most days it won't matter. If you told me in advance it would exist the busiest day of the yr and I had to pick a strategy, I'd try and get through DINOSAUR and Kali River Rapids ASAP so I get out myself only ane of these three to worry virtually the remainder of the mean solar day. Ultimately, though, your determination will be informed greatly by the return times y'all see in the app when it comes time to book.

Example Day At Creature Kingdom with Genie+

Here's an example morning Emily and I spent at Creature Kingdom with Genie+ (Lightning Lane activity bolded). Since nosotros had Zoe with united states, we had to ride some rides separately:

  • six:30 Purchase Genie+

  • 7AM Select Kilimanjaro Safaris Genie+ LL

  • vii:44 Arrive

  • 8AM Park Opens

  • 8:fifteen Everest (Kenny, walk on)

  • 8:21 Everest (Emily, walk on)

  • 8:36 Kilimanjaro Safaris (posted 15, 6 LL)

  • viii:40 Grab DINOSAUR LL (8:45 - 9:45)

  • 9:16 DINOSAUR (Kenny, walk on / used LL)

  • ix:33 DINOSAUR (Emily, same)

  • 9:35 Grab Kali River Rapids LL (9:l - 10:l)

  • 9:50 TriceraTop Spin (posted five, actual 3)

  • 10:10 Kali River Rapids (E, walk on / used LL)

  • 10:18 Kali River Rapids (K, same)

  • 10:18 Grab Na'vi River Journey LL (12:20 - 1:20)

  • 12:20 Avatar Flight of Passage (Kenny, posted 70, bodily 89)

  • 12:41 Navi River Journey (posted 50, ii LL)

  • 12:54 Lunch at Satuli Canteen

  • 2PM Lion Rex Testify (infinite available at ane:45, used LL)

Yous can see nosotros took the approach of getting through DINOSAUR and Kali River Rapids before booking Na'vi River Journey. This left us a two-hour gap, which we used to await in line for Avatar Flight of Passage.

All Your Other Disney Earth Planning Questions Answered

Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Have a second to check out our almost important content and you lot'll not simply be an expert, but yous'll save big $$$ along the way.

Just starting out? Cheque out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney Globe crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, cheque out our Walt Disney Earth hotels guide.

When it comes time to book nosotros'll help y'all find discount Disney Earth tickets. Decide whether you need a dining program in our Complete Guide to Disney Earth Dining Plans! And at 180 days out it's time to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!

Don't forget to master your Disney World FastPass+ strategy a few months in accelerate. We'll go on y'all out of long lines so you tin maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides besides: Magic Kingdom FastPass, Epcot FastPass, Animal Kingdom FastPass, and Hollywood Studios FastPass.

Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus larn most the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Draft Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney Earth.

Finally, before yous head out, be certain to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you lot forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.