This 1-day Animal Kingdom itinerary utilizing Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. This step-by-step Walt Disney World touring plan covers priorities, finest journey reservations, and explains how paid FastPass works at DAK with line-skipping entry. (Updated November 1, 2022.)
This is a theoretical day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (DAK) as a consequence of how a lot can differ on a each day foundation. Wait occasions have highs and lows, sights expertise downtime, and there are distinctive wrinkles to any day in DAK. Just like a standard touring plan, there’s lots right here that we will pull from previous precedent, historic wait time information, and intensive expertise with comparable methods.
In specific, crowd ranges have a huge impact on what you possibly can accomplish in a day at DAK. This is particularly the case when utilizing standby, because the journey roster is proscribed at Animal Kingdom, and crowds can simply overwhelm the park. As a consequence, Animal Kingdom has the bottom lows and highest highs, that means the vary in standby wait occasions is bigger than some other park at Walt Disney World relying upon crowd ranges.
However, that is much less true with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. So lengthy as you don’t go to on a peak season day, utilizing Lightning Lanes is easy and stress-free. On the busiest days of the 12 months, the variety of journey reservations you may make by way of Genie+ does drop, as there are extra individuals within the park competing for line-skipping entry to the preferred sights. Still, Animal Kingdom is a night-and-day distinction from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for instance.
As such, this itinerary works properly the overwhelming majority of the time, however not a lot in the course of the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. During these peak season, 10/10 crowd stage dates, you most likely will be unable to perform all the things right here. Or at the very least, not as effectively.
This is meant to complement our Lightning Lane and Genie+ at Walt Disney World FAQ. A whole lot of you could have had questions, and we’ve tried to reply a lot of the widespread ones there. However, many are about particular situations and that FAQ can be so long as a Tolstoy novel if we addressed every one there.
Instead, we’re going to clarify by exhibiting by way of a hypothetical day at Animal Kingdom as of Late 2022, which is able to hopefully deal with numerous considerations/questions/and so forth. If you’re a sort A trip planner, hopefully this provides you with some peace of thoughts about how Genie+ and Lightning Lanes will work in your Walt Disney World trip arising between now and 2023.
In basic, our recommendation for first-timers is to buy Genie+ on days of aggressive touring and in parks the place it’ll be most advantageous. Meaning it’ll be clever to purchase for sooner or later at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios every. Individual attraction alternatives (Magic Carpet Access) are a special story, as are Epcot and Animal Kingdom.
However, our suggestion is that the majority guests don’t buy Genie+ at Animal Kingdom if it’s not a busy day. There are a few causes for this, together with a few potential exceptions. The greatest cause for skipping Genie+ at Animal Kingdom is that it’s not more likely to save a lot time as in comparison with an environment friendly itinerary. Animal Kingdom has 11 Genie+ sights, however over half of these will provide negligible time financial savings on most days.
In addition to that, Animal Kingdom doesn’t have constant wait occasions all through the day. Due to leisure cuts, it’s as soon as once more a half-day park, and most visitors who arrive early are passed by mid-afternoon. Accordingly, lots might be achieved in the previous couple of working hours–actually each journey within the park–on a standard day.
Simply saving Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Na’vi River Journey for later within the afternoon goes to be pretty much as good of a method as shopping for Genie+ and utilizing that within the morning and noon.
If something, the very best use of spending extra cash on line-skipping at Animal Kingdom is for Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) entry to Avatar Flight of Passage. That’s the one attraction that usually maintains an extended wait time all through the day, and it’s excluded from the Genie+ service, as a substitute promoting a la carte Lightning Lane entry.
With that stated, even Flight of Passage’s lengthy traces might be “beaten” by benefiting from Early Entry, the lunch lull, or doing it within the final half-hour of the day. As with Animal Kingdom as an entire, that is largely manageable besides on the busiest days of the 12 months.
Again, none of that is one dimension suits all recommendation. During the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, or some other time when crowds are heavier, all the things at Animal Kingdom can have lengthy wait occasions. This downside is exacerbated at Animal Kingdom for the reason that park has so few rides, which is why its wait occasions on peak season days are greater (on common) than the opposite parks at Walt Disney World.
On days like these, saving time on the non-headliner sights will add as much as the purpose that it’d simply be well worth the $16 to $30 per individual. Time is cash at Walt Disney World, and if every waking hour of your day on trip prices $30 or so, saving a couple of hours for that value must be a no brainer.
Park Hopping presents one other state of affairs the place Genie+ may be helpful even on non-peak days. As we’ve beforehand mentioned, splitting a day between Animal Kingdom and Epcot is a greater choice for Genie+. This is particularly true given the sooner opening of Animal Kingdom and later closing of Epcot, which might help you prolong your day by a number of hours. (Again, trip time is cash!)
A mixed DAK and Epcot Genie+ itinerary is one thing we’ll discipline take a look at within the close to future and share within the coming weeks. With that intensive commentary out of the way in which, right here’s our 1-Day Animal Kingdom touring plan with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes…
7:00 am – Arrive at Animal Kingdom for Early Entry, accessible to on-site visitors. (See our Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World Info & Strategy Guide for suggestions & suggestions.)
7:00:01 am – Book Na’vi River Journey by way of Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 8 am to 9 am.
OPTIONAL – 7:30 am – Do Avatar Flight of Passage by way of standby.
8:10 am – Finish Flight of Passage and head in the direction of Na’vi River Journey.
8:12 am – Do Na’vi River Journey by way of Lightning Lane (Genie+ journey reservation).
8:13 am – Book Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost by way of Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 9:30 am to 10:30 am.
Note: Your subsequent Lightning Lane choice might be made instantly upon tapping into Na’vi River Journey, which is why these steps happen just one minute aside.
8:35 am – Do Expedition Everest by way of the standby line.
8:50 am – Do Dinosaur by way of standby line.
9:25 am – Meet Minnie & Mickey Mouse of their explorer outfits at Adventurers Outpost by way of the Lightning Lane (Genie+ journey reservation). Arrive 5 minutes early, benefiting from grace interval (see FAQ).
9:26 am – Book Kilimanjaro Safaris by way of Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm.
9:40 am – Do It’s Tough to Be a Bug by way of standby.
10:30 am – Catch the primary efficiency of Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond! (Formerly Finding Nemo: The Musical) by way of standby.
11:15 am – Pit cease at Dino-Bite Snacks for a house-made ice cream cookie sandwich, which some say is the (fossil) gasoline that powers an environment friendly day at DAK.
11:26 am – Book Kali River Rapids by way of Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of two pm to three pm.
Note: 11:26 am is chosen as a result of it’s 120 minutes after 9:26 am, which is in keeping with How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Walt Disney World. This rule governs when you may make your subsequent Genie+ journey reservation, and is extremely necessary to know.
OPTIONAL – 11:30 am – If you weren’t eligible for Early Entry, do Flight of Passage now. Even if the posted wait time continues to be excessive, that is usually the “lunch lull,” and will probably be your finest guess except you wait till late afternoon. (In this state of affairs, push again your lunch at Flame Tree BBQ by nonetheless lengthy this takes.
11:30 am – Alternatively, kill a while earlier than lunch by heading to the Otter Grotto to look at some hilarious hijinks.
11:40 am – Enjoy the distinctly patriotic and carnivorous flavors of Flame Tree BBQ. Delicious smoked meats and a beautiful view makes this an nearly transcendent Walt Disney World expertise.
12:30 pm – Do Festival of the Lion King by way of standby.
1:15 pm – Do Kilimanjaro Safaris by way of Lightning Lane (Genie+ journey reservation).
1:31 pm – Book one other Genie+ reservation for…I dunno…Feathered Friends in Flight?
This is the place the wheels begin to fall off. If you’ve been in Animal Kingdom since Early Entry and have used Genie+ coupled with standby traces in an environment friendly method, you have to be performed (or near it) with all the things however the trails and animal displays. Those don’t actually require technique, so I’m not going to enumerate them one after the other right here.
At this level, you’ll both have to decide about whether or not you need to kill time and stick round Animal Kingdom till the night (by which case a desk service meal is nearly important–the truth is, you most likely ought to’ve performed a desk service lunch, too) or park hop elsewhere. We love Animal Kingdom, however it’s not essentially the most balanced park at Walt Disney World, and being fixated on effectivity early within the day creates issues later with an imbalance of trails and different outside choices, which can provide rise to animal fatigue.
If you do choose to Park Hop, take a look at our different Genie+ Plans for Walt Disney World:
Keep in thoughts that these are tailor-made in the direction of early arrivals, however the prioritization and basic concepts ought to present some worth.
As at all times, your day at Animal Kingdom will differ primarily based upon crowd ranges, capability allocation, Genie+ reservation occasions, and different decisions you make. It ought to go with out saying, however this isn’t what you’ll expertise, step for step. At the very least, it ought to illustrate how a day seems to be when utilizing Genie+ at Animal Kingdom for many who have but to purchase the paid FastPass service.
The level right here is as an instance how Genie+ might be advantageous–or not–on days you decide to buy the add-on. This day in Animal Kingdom is a test within the “or not” column for us. Frankly, there’s lots about today that I didn’t like–it’s imbalanced, featured Kilimanjaro Safaris sooner than I’d’ve appreciated, and didn’t permit sufficient time for exploration and spontaneity. Beyond Animal Kingdom having fewer rides than the opposite parks, it’s additionally a spot that lends itself to discovery and exploration moderately than a inflexible itinerary.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about accommodations on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To lower your expenses on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips put up takes a singular have a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the very best place to start out is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for all the things it is advisable to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Was this 1-Day Animal Kingdom Itinerary w/ Genie+ useful to know how paid FastPass works and what’s highest precedence in late 2022 or early 2023? Think you may accomplish all of this in a single day at Animal Kingdom (or half day, moderately) with out buying particular person attraction entry to Avatar Flight of Passage? Would you wish to see a mixed Epcot/Animal Kingdom day? Have any questions we didn’t reply with the above? Still confused by how Genie+ or Lightning Lanes will work? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Other ideas or considerations? Any questions we can assist you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!