1-Day Animal Kingdom Itinerary Using Genie+ & Lightning Lanes
This 1-day Animal Kingdom itinerary using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. This step-by-step Walt Disney World touring plan covers priorities, best ride reservations, and explains how paid FastPass works at DAK with line-skipping access. (Updated November 1, 2022.)
This is a theoretical day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (DAK) due to how much can vary on a day to day basis. Wait times have highs and lows, attractions experience downtime, and there are unique wrinkles to any day in DAK. Just like a normal touring plan, there’s a lot here that we can pull from past precedent, historical wait time data, and extensive experience with similar systems.
In particular, crowd levels have a big impact on what you can accomplish in a day at DAK. This is especially the case when using standby, as the ride roster is limited at Animal Kingdom, and crowds can easily overwhelm the park. As a result, Animal Kingdom has the lowest lows and highest highs, meaning the range in standby wait times is greater than any other park at Walt Disney World depending upon crowd levels.
However, this is less true with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. So long as you don’t visit on a peak season day, using Lightning Lanes is straightforward and stress-free. On the busiest days of the year, the number of ride reservations you can make via Genie+ does drop, as there are more people in the park competing for line-skipping access to the most popular attractions. Still, Animal Kingdom is a night-and-day difference from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for example.
As such, this itinerary works well the vast majority of the time, but not so much during the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. During those peak season, 10/10 crowd level dates, you probably will not be able to accomplish everything here. Or at least, not as efficiently.
This is intended to supplement our Lightning Lane and Genie+ at Walt Disney World FAQ. A lot of you have had questions, and we’ve tried to answer most of the common ones there. However, many are about specific scenarios and that FAQ would be as long as a Tolstoy novel if we addressed each one there.
Instead, we’re going to explain by showing via a hypothetical day at Animal Kingdom as of Late 2022, which will hopefully address a lot of concerns/questions/etc. If you’re a type A vacation planner, hopefully this will give you some peace of mind about how Genie+ and Lightning Lanes will work on your Walt Disney World vacation coming up between now and 2023.
In general, our advice for first-timers is to purchase Genie+ on days of aggressive touring and in parks where it’ll be most advantageous. Meaning it’ll be wise to buy for one day at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios each. Individual attraction selections (Magic Carpet Access) are a different story, as are Epcot and Animal Kingdom.
However, our recommendation is that most visitors do not purchase Genie+ at Animal Kingdom if it’s not a busy day. There are a couple of reasons for this, along with a couple of potential exceptions. The biggest reason for skipping Genie+ at Animal Kingdom is that it’s not likely to save much time as compared to an efficient itinerary. Animal Kingdom has 11 Genie+ attractions, but over half of those will offer negligible time savings on most days.
In addition to that, Animal Kingdom does not have consistent wait times throughout the day. Due to entertainment cuts, it’s once again a half-day park, and most guests who arrive early are gone by mid-afternoon. Accordingly, a lot can be accomplished in the last few operating hours–literally every ride in the park–on a normal day.
Simply saving Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Na’vi River Journey for later in the afternoon is going to be as good of a strategy as buying Genie+ and using that in the morning and midday.
If anything, the best use of spending extra money on line-skipping at Animal Kingdom is for Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) access to Avatar Flight of Passage. That’s the one attraction that typically maintains a longer wait time throughout the day, and it’s excluded from the Genie+ service, instead selling a la carte Lightning Lane access.
With that said, even Flight of Passage’s long lines can be “beaten” by taking advantage of Early Entry, the lunch lull, or doing it in the last half-hour of the day. As with Animal Kingdom as a whole, this is mostly manageable except on the busiest days of the year.
Again, none of this is one size fits all advice. During the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, or any other time when crowds are heavier, everything at Animal Kingdom can have long wait times. This problem is exacerbated at Animal Kingdom since the park has so few rides, which is why its wait times on peak season days are higher (on average) than the other parks at Walt Disney World.
On days like those, saving time at the non-headliner attractions will add up to the point that it might just be worth the $16 to $30 per person. Time is money at Walt Disney World, and if each waking hour of your day on vacation costs $30 or so, saving a few hours for that cost should be a no-brainer.
Park Hopping presents another scenario where Genie+ might be useful even on non-peak days. As we’ve previously discussed, splitting a day between Animal Kingdom and Epcot is a better option for Genie+. This is especially true given the earlier opening of Animal Kingdom and later closing of Epcot, which would allow you to extend your day by several hours. (Again, vacation time is money!)
A combined DAK and Epcot Genie+ itinerary is something we’ll field test in the near future and share in the coming weeks. With that extensive commentary out of the way, here’s our 1-Day Animal Kingdom touring plan with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes…
7:00 am – Arrive at Animal Kingdom for Early Entry, available to on-site guests. (See our Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World Info & Strategy Guide for tips & recommendations.)
7:00:01 am – Book Na’vi River Journey via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 8 am to 9 am.
OPTIONAL – 7:30 am – Do Avatar Flight of Passage via standby.
8:10 am – Finish Flight of Passage and head towards Na’vi River Journey.
8:12 am – Do Na’vi River Journey via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
8:13 am – Book Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 9:30 am to 10:30 am.
Note: Your next Lightning Lane selection can be made immediately upon tapping into Na’vi River Journey, which is why these steps occur only one minute apart.
8:35 am – Do Expedition Everest via the standby line.
8:50 am – Do Dinosaur via standby line.
9:25 am – Meet Minnie & Mickey Mouse in their explorer outfits at Adventurers Outpost via the Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation). Arrive 5 minutes early, taking advantage of grace period (see FAQ).
9:26 am – Book Kilimanjaro Safaris via 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 via standby.
10:30 am – Catch the first performance of Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond! (Formerly Finding Nemo: The Musical) via standby.
11:15 am – Pit stop at Dino-Bite Snacks for a house-made ice cream cookie sandwich, which some say is the (fossil) fuel that powers an efficient day at DAK.
11:26 am – Book Kali River Rapids via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 2 pm to 3 pm.
Note: 11:26 am is chosen because it’s 120 minutes after 9:26 am, which is consistent with How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Walt Disney World. This rule governs when you can make your next Genie+ ride reservation, and is incredibly important to understand.
OPTIONAL – 11:30 am – If you weren’t eligible for Early Entry, do Flight of Passage now. Even if the posted wait time is still high, this is typically the “lunch lull,” and will be your best bet unless you wait until late afternoon. (In this scenario, push back your lunch at Flame Tree BBQ by however long this takes.
11:30 am – Alternatively, kill some time before lunch by heading to the Otter Grotto to watch some hilarious hijinks.
11:40 am – Enjoy the distinctly patriotic and carnivorous flavors of Flame Tree BBQ. Delicious smoked meats and a wonderful view makes this an almost transcendent Walt Disney World experience.
12:30 pm – Do Festival of the Lion King via standby.
1:15 pm – Do Kilimanjaro Safaris via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
1:31 pm – Book another Genie+ reservation for…I dunno…Feathered Friends in Flight?
This is where the wheels start to fall off. If you’ve been in Animal Kingdom since Early Entry and have used Genie+ coupled with standby lines in an efficient manner, you should be done (or close to it) with everything but the trails and animal exhibits. Those don’t really require strategy, so I’m not going to enumerate them one by one here.
At this point, you’ll either need to make a decision about whether you want to kill time and stick around Animal Kingdom until the evening (in which case a table service meal is almost essential–in fact, you probably should’ve done a table service lunch, too) or park hop elsewhere. We love Animal Kingdom, but it’s not the most balanced park at Walt Disney World, and being fixated on efficiency early in the day creates problems later with an imbalance of trails and other outdoor options, which can give rise to animal fatigue.
If you do opt to Park Hop, check out our other Genie+ Plans for Walt Disney World:
- 1-Day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios with Lightning Lanes & Genie+
- 1-Day at Magic Kingdom with Lightning Lanes & Genie+
- 1-Day at Epcot with Lightning Lanes & Genie+
Keep in mind that those are tailored towards early arrivals, but the prioritization and general ideas should provide some value.
As always, your day at Animal Kingdom will vary based upon crowd levels, capacity allocation, Genie+ reservation times, and other choices you make. It should go without saying, but this is not what you’ll experience, step for step. At the very least, it should illustrate how a day looks when using Genie+ at Animal Kingdom for those who have yet to buy the paid FastPass service.
The point here is to illustrate how Genie+ could be advantageous–or not–on days you opt to purchase the add-on. This day in Animal Kingdom is a check in the “or not” column for us. Frankly, there’s a lot about this day that I didn’t like–it’s imbalanced, featured Kilimanjaro Safaris earlier than I would’ve liked, and didn’t allow enough time for exploration and spontaneity. Beyond Animal Kingdom having fewer rides than the other parks, it’s also a place that lends itself to discovery and exploration rather than a rigid itinerary.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Was this 1-Day Animal Kingdom Itinerary w/ Genie+ helpful to understand how paid FastPass works and what’s highest priority in late 2022 or early 2023? Think you could accomplish all of this in a single day at Animal Kingdom (or half day, rather) without purchasing individual attraction access to Avatar Flight of Passage? Would you like to see a combined Epcot/Animal Kingdom day? Have any questions we didn’t answer with the above? Still confused by how Genie+ or Lightning Lanes will work? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
How would you switch this up if you are planning to arrive at DAK after lunch? Thanks!
What about repeating rides? We like to ride our favorites multiple times in a day. With the old FP, we were able to keep selecting EE after our first 3 passes were used. Or get a FP for FOP 60 days out early in the day and another FP for FOP when they dropped more at 3 pm the day of.
I see 2 main problems with the paid system (not including any technical problems with the system.) First, Genie+ will be frustrating if you can’t get an immediate reservation at the ride you want throughout the day. If you have to wait several more hours than you wanted your two choices are to (possibly) get a reservation for another ride at your next available window, leading to lots of extra walking (I notice your theoretical day assumes you can get a reservation for nearby rides when needed, thus minimizing walking); or kill time somewhere waiting for your later reservation time to arrive.
The other problem is for us hyper-planners, you don’t really know what’s going to happen until you try to book each reservation. We like to be in control, or at least know in advance where the problems are in our schedule!
100% agree that AK is a half day park!!
Everything I’ve seen suggested for all park strategies involves “rope dropping”. Disney has taken that away forever for guests that stay off-site. There are many legitimate reasons for not staying at an on-site hotel, the least of which is affordability. What about help for those guests who, when finally allowed into the park after waiting at the turnstiles for over an hour to get near the front of the line for off-site guests only to face 60 to 150 minute wait times?
For the most part, wait times are remaining extremely high through the afternoon and evening hours. At least with the previous early entry system, the days and parks rotated. Now it’s EVERY park EVERY day.
I don’t understand the half of day park thing for Animal Kingdom, it’s also a zoo, go around and enjoy the scenery and animals
Does Geani+ work at all parks or do you have to pay 15.00 at each park (park hopping of course)
Can you use Genie+ in more than one park a day?
The lack of attractions problem is about to be compounded when EE goes down for that long refurbishment in January, and most days it’s too cold for Kali River Rapids that time of year. Basically after the holiday crowds go away, you can stand in a 3 hour standby queue for FoP and still get everything else done without Genie+.
Tom, slight typo here: “Note: 11:31 am is chosen because it’s 120 minutes after 9:01 am”
I think you meant 9:31 am. 🙂
I find it so interesting that AK is thought of as a half a day park… we usually spend a full day, leave exhausted and have never made it back to the conservation station and animation experience .
How bad will thanksgiving week be? Even if my party utilizes genie+, will I regret going to WDW?
Are we able to select our Lightning Lane time or is that provided by the Genie+ app?
In the tech demo you had, are you able to see ALL Lightning Lane ride options and their current times?
Well the itinerary doesn’t include things without lines, like the walk through animal attractions. Protip: wear a hat in the bird room.
Wish Disney hadn’t jacked the drink prices up. Animal Kingdom is a great place to just sit and people watch.
What is this Magic Carpet Access?
Yeti discotheque!!! Love it! I know when I drop in all I can think of is Staying Alive. I love AK and am a huge fan of the safari ride. I would suggest that people who like Kilimanjaro Safari try the ride in the am and close to closing. There’s a good chance you’ll see different animals and the one’s you saw earlier usually will be doing something different.
Will be at WDW 1st week of December. Got 2 days at MK, 2 at Epcot, 1 each for AK and HS. Only plan on purchasing G+ for MK and HS days. Feel confident enough we can get everything done (and then some) in the other parks.
Oh for sure. You could probably even sleep in on your AK day, arrive late, and still accomplish it all with a back-loaded plan.
Excellent analysis, but these plans do miss another possible upside to Genie+ at all the parks: More freedom to skip ropedrop and get another hour of sleep.
For example, instead of rushing to get to Animal Kingdom at 7am for knock-out FOP…
At 7am, casually get out of bed, select G+ for the 8-9am window. Purchase a Magic Carpet to FOP for the 9-10am window.
Then arrive at AK around 8:40am…. more than an hour and a half later than necessary for rope drop FOP.
At 8:55, do Navi and book Safari G+, hopefully no later than 11am-ish.
9:01-9:20, do FOP with your Magic Carpet
9:20 until Safari return time: Expedition Everest in standby, followed by trails, maybe the early showing of Lion King.
Hopefully no later than 11am, do Safari. Book G+ for Dinosaur or River Rapids..
After Safari, do a sit-down lunch, more trails or entertainment. Up till your Dinosaur/River Rapids return time.
By 2pm, still be pretty much all done with the park, without having done any rope drop madness. Or put another way, the use of G+ for off-site guests who can’t do early entry anyway. So no point rushing to the park early.
There’s definite upside for visitors who want to tour the parks in a “natural” way and are willing to buy their way out of problems and lines when encountering them.
These posts aren’t really “missing” those guests–more tacitly acknowledging that they largely are not reading.
What is the 120 minute rule?
The post should illustrate it in practice, but more info is available here: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/lightning-lanes-genie-plus-disney-world-faq-guide/
I’ve been planning out our park days for our upcoming trip, and I’m in agreement on Genie+ not being necessary for Animal Kingdom and probably not for Epcot.
Seems to make a lot more sense to spend the money on Magic Carpet Access to whatever rides you want to do at those parks and wait in standby lines for the other rides. Particularly since you can only do each ride once with Genie+ (though I wouldn’t be surprised to see this change once Disney gets a handle on how many people actually end up purchasing Genie+).
“though I wouldn’t be surprised to see this change once Disney gets a handle on how many people actually end up purchasing Genie+”
Definitely. In conversations I’ve had, the plan very much seems to be start conservatively/cautiously and tweak as operations allows for it.