Animal Kingdom is my second favorite park, just behind Magic Kingdom. Out of all of the parks in Walt Disney World it probably has the least attractions to do. It is not loaded with thrill rides like Hollywood Studios, great culinary options like Epcot, or classic Disney themed attractions like Magic Kingdom. However, what it lacks in those departments, it makes up for in ambiance.
I love Animal Kingdom for the sole reason that I could walk around the park, taking in the sights, smells, and sounds for the entire day. Standing in the center hub of Animal Kingdom, near the Tree of Life, on a sunny day while an African drum band is playing and Flame Tree BBQ wafts through the air is a dream. Animal Kingdom is magical in its own way, but truly feels like its own little world while you are there. Joe Rohde, the lead imagineer that designed Animal Kingdom, is a true hero and deserves serious praise for all that he did in this park.
People say Animal Kingdom is a half-day park, and that could be true. You can knock out all of the attractions and sights fairly quickly and make your way to another park a little after lunch time without feeling like you missed out on anything in Animal Kingdom. However, you should still go into Animal Kingdom with a strategy, to make sure that you have ample time to take in the entire experience.
1) No Genie Plus
Animal Kingdom is the one park that I really don't recommend using Genie Plus. As I mentioned above, Animal Kingdom is the least attraction dense park, and with some strategy, you should be able to get onto all of the rides without the extra expense of purchasing Genie Plus.
Your success at Animal Kingdom strongly relies on your ability to rope drop Flight of Passage in Pandora. This is the case with or without Genie Plus, since Flight of Passage is not included in Genie Plus. In order to ride this ride, you are typically looking at a 75 minute or longer wait, which eats up way too much park time and is also extremely painful to endure. If you want to ride Flight of Passage for free (which you do) you need to plan on a very early morning. It not, you must purchase an individual lightening lane to skip the line, which costs around $15 per person. You would only be able to purchase one individual lightening lane per person per day for this ride.
Animal Kingdom opens at 9am and Extra Magic Hours begin at 8:30am for guests staying at a Walt Disney World resort. You should plan on being at the front entrance of Animal Kingdom by 7:45am at the latest. That means you should really be catching a bus from your resort to Animal Kingdom by 7:00am.
As soon as the front gates open, usually a little earlier than the start time of Extra Magic Hours, you need to speedwalk towards Pandora. Know the route ahead of time, even though you can basically just follow the masses, since everyone else is going to have the same idea as you. When I say speedwalk, I mean that your calves should be on FIRE by the time you reach the line for Flight of Passage. Even by doing this, you're probably still looking at a 30ish minute wait to get on Flight of Passage. This is still much better than the usual long wait that steadily maintains during the entire day.
If all goes according to plan, you will likely be getting off Flight of Passage around 9am, which is when the park opens to the general public. Since you are so close to the second ride that exists in Pandora, Na'vi River Journey, now is a good time to wipe this one out too. At this time of day, you shouldn't have to wait longer than 20-25 minutes, since the majority of guests are still in line for Flight of Passage (the people that you sped walked past during rope drop). If you're able to knock out both Pandora rides this early in the day, you are in amazing shape for the rest of Animal Kingdom.
The next ride I would advise heading to after Pandora is Kilimanjaro Safaris. This ride is fairly close and is directly across the bridge leading from Pandora into Africa. This is where you will experience your longest wait of the day. The safari ride is the most popular behind Flight of Passage, and without Genie Plus you could potentially have a 50–60-minute wait at this point in the day. Don't be deterred because this wait does not drop as the day goes on and could very likely continue climbing higher. It will be worth it because the safari ride lasts a good amount of time clocking in at 18 minutes long, and it is so cool to be up close and personal to the safari animals.
After Kilimanjaro Safaris, you really only have one more "major" ride that is going to present a possible long line: Expedition Everest. You should head there next. The wait for Everest never really gets longer than 45 minutes, but if you're lucky you may hit it with a wait time of only around 20 minutes. I actually enjoy waiting in the line for Everest, because the queue is lined with props and photos that add to the experience. I have found that it's actually disappointing when there is no line, and you have to quickly walk past it all. Everest is such a fun ride but since the addition of Pandora, it is not as popular as it was when it first opened. Even better for you because now it is very doable to ride this coaster multiple times in one day!
At this point in your day you have already gotten on all the major rides. The one problem with this strategy is you did not leave yourself any time for breakfast. It seems like every time I go to Animal Kingdom, come 11am I am STARVING and there is no time to grab a bite to eat. I guess that is the sacrifice you make in order to knock out all of the attractions. At this point, you may want to consider grabbing lunch- I highly recommend the Flame Tree BBQ, which is conveniently located fairly close to Everest.
Now there are still some attractions left to do after lunch that can usually be done in any order that sounds good to you. There are a few shows- Nemo, Festival of the Lion King, and Flight of Passage which have showings every hour. The only one that you should show up to about 20-30 minutes prior to is Festival of Lion King. This is a very popular show and if it is a busy day you may encounter a sold out show for one or two of the showings. There is also Dinosaur, which is a fun but outdated ride. It is also extremely far removed from the rest of Animal Kingdom, so the wait time over there is usually not longer than 20 minutes. Once Animal Kingdom revamps Dinoland USA, it is sure to bring more crowds to the backside of Animal Kingdom.
As you can see, Animal Kingdom is manageable to get done without Genie Plus. I absolutely would recommend this strategy if you don't have a park hopper pass, and you plan on leisurely spending the entire day in Animal Kingdom. I also think this plan is doable if you do have park hopper but aren't planning on hopping to a different park until mid-afternoon.
1) With Genie Plus
If you're either completely against waiting in any lines or you want to spend the least amount of time possible in Animal Kingdom, then maybe you will choose to use Genie Plus. This is not the recommended strategy, but if you happen to find yourself with Genie Plus while in Animal Kingdom, here is the best way to go about your day.
Come 7:00am, you are able to book your first lightening lane of the day. If you are planning on rope dropping, which you should be, you will likely be trying to book this while waiting for the bus at the bus station at your resort. The first lightening lane for Animal Kingdom that you should book, is Kilimanjaro Safaris. This ride is extremely popular, behind Flight of Passage. But unfortunately, Flight of Passage is not a participant in Genie Plus.
Your day will start off in the same way as if you did not have Genie Plus. You MUST rope drop Flight of Passage if you hope to ride it with less than a 75 minute or longer wait. The wait time posted outside the entrance of this ride is not exaggerated and this queue is particularly frustrating because it is mostly all inside, is very twisty, echoes loudly, and is difficult to tell how far you are from the start of the ride at any given point. Trust me- you really need to rope drop this ride.
Then, after de-boarding Flight of Passage, you will hopefully be able to head over to Kilimanjaro Safaris for your first lightening lane of the day. You might even have a free minute to pop into the Starbucks located right outside the Safari and grab a quick breakfast and coffee. After tapping into the ride, I would advise booking Na'vi River Journey as your next lightening lane. The Pandora rides are very popular and wait times for the two rides (Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey) only go up as the day goes on.
Note that the strategy with Genie Plus does involve more zigzagging around the park, based on what ride has the next lightening lane time slot rather than the smoother path taken without Genie Plus. Also, note that with Genie Plus, you will have more time to grab breakfast/snacks while waiting for your next lightening lane time. It does offer a more relaxed and laid-back approach.
With Genie Plus, you only receive one lightening lane per ride per day. That means you cannot use Genie Plus to keep booking lightening lanes for the same ride over and over. You will need to monitor the My Disney Experience App to see which lightening lane has the most convenient time to book next and circulate yourself through all of the attractions in Animal Kingdom. Keep in mind that you can use Lightening Lane for the shows as well, so it could be beneficial to get a better seat or be guaranteed entry to Festival of the Lion King.
If using Genie Plus, you may end up being disappointed by how quickly you accomplished everything Animal Kingdom had to offer. You were so proficient that you did not have the time to take in the ambiance and appreciate the park for what it is. If you follow this Genie Plus strategy, it is more likely than not that you will be done with Animal Kingdom by 11am. Now that park hopping rules have changed and you can hop before 2pm, that could truly benefit you. However, for non-park hoppers, you will have to figure out what to do for the rest of the day, which seems like a waste of a full day park ticket to me.
I hope these strategies will help you make the most of your Animal Kingdom day. Take it all in and remember there is so much more to this park than just the attractions. By following these tips, you should be able to experience everything that Animal Kingdom has to offer, smoothly and stress free!
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