If I’m buying Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Animal Kingdom, my first three selections are usually Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. I try to schedule at least one of them fairly early so I can use it and unlock another Multi Pass selection while I’m still holding the other two.
Avatar Flight of Passage is the major exception. It is not included with Multi Pass. Disney currently sells it separately as a Lightning Lane Single Pass.
If you’re searching for an Animal Kingdom Genie Plus strategy, this is the current version of what you’re looking for. Genie+ was replaced by Lightning Lane Multi Pass, and the old 7:00 AM same-day booking and two-hour stacking system no longer applies.
The Three Animal Kingdom Lightning Lanes I’d Book First
| Selection | Why I’d book it | My priority |
|---|---|---|
| Na’vi River Journey | Standby waits can be difficult to justify for a relatively short ride | High |
| Kilimanjaro Safaris | One of the park’s essential experiences and a useful line to bypass later | High |
| Expedition Everest | Popular coaster with an easy fit into an Asia touring route | High |
| Zootopia: Better Zoogether! | Useful alternative if your top three aren’t available | Medium |
| Kali River Rapids | More useful in hot weather or when standby waits build | Medium |
| Festival of the Lion King | Helpful if a specific showtime matters to your day | Situational |
| Finding Nemo | Usually not where I’d spend one of my initial three choices | Lower |
| Feathered Friends in Flight! | Better chosen around your schedule than as a first priority | Lower |
Those priorities can change with your group. If you don’t ride coasters, Everest obviously drops out. If Festival of the Lion King is one of the main reasons you’re visiting, reserving the show can be more useful than following somebody else’s ride ranking.
If you’re still deciding what deserves your time in the park, my Animal Kingdom attractions guide compares the current rides, shows and animal experiences separately.
Animal Kingdom Does Not Have Lightning Lane Tiers
This is one of the easiest parts of planning Animal Kingdom.
Animal Kingdom currently does not divide its Multi Pass attractions into booking tiers. You can choose any three available Multi Pass experiences when making your advance selections.
That means you can prebook Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest together. You don’t have to choose one headliner and then fill the other two reservations from a lower group.
This makes Animal Kingdom simpler than parks where the initial Multi Pass selections are divided into groups.
Flight of Passage Is a Separate Single Pass
Avatar Flight of Passage is currently the only Lightning Lane Single Pass attraction at Animal Kingdom.
You can purchase a Flight of Passage Single Pass separately from Multi Pass, and Disney allows Multi Pass and eligible Single Pass purchases for the same park day.
So my ideal paid-access setup for someone who wants to minimize major waits could look like this:
- Flight of Passage: Single Pass
- Na’vi River Journey: Multi Pass
- Kilimanjaro Safaris: Multi Pass
- Expedition Everest: Multi Pass
That protects the four rides I’d be most concerned about without using the morning entirely around one standby queue.
When Can You Book Animal Kingdom Lightning Lanes?
The current system lets you make selections before your Animal Kingdom day.
Disney Resort hotel guests and guests at certain other eligible hotels can purchase Lightning Lane passes beginning 7 days before the first day of their stay at 7:00 AM Eastern Time. They can make plans for their eligible park days during the stay, up to Disney’s current limits.
Most other guests can begin purchasing passes 3 days in advance at 7:00 AM Eastern Time, subject to their admission type.
You choose the attraction and available arrival window before completing the purchase, which is a major improvement over buying first and hoping for good Genie+ return times later.
I would make those selections when your eligibility window opens if the trip is happening during a busy period. Availability is limited, and the best combination of rides and useful return times can become harder to find.
Why I Want One Early Multi Pass Return Time
I don’t necessarily want all three advance selections stacked late in the afternoon.
Disney currently lets you choose another Multi Pass experience after you redeem your first selection, subject to availability. You can keep making additional selections one at a time as you use them.
So if my initial reservations looked something like this:
- Expedition Everest at 9:00 AM
- Na’vi River Journey at 11:00 AM
- Kilimanjaro Safaris at 1:00 PM
I could use Everest in the morning and immediately check the app for another available Multi Pass attraction while keeping Na’vi River Journey and the Safari on my schedule.
The exact times above are only an example. I would choose the earliest useful reservation Disney actually offers rather than forcing a particular schedule.
There Is No Two-Hour Lightning Lane Rule Anymore
If you remember Genie+, this is one of the most important changes.
You no longer book one attraction at 7:00 AM and then wait for a two-hour timer to make another selection.
With Multi Pass, you arrive at Animal Kingdom with up to three advance selections already scheduled. After you redeem one of them, or after its arrival window passes, you can look for another available Multi Pass experience.
That means the old advice about setting alarms every two hours or building an afternoon Genie+ stack should be ignored when planning with the current system.
How I’d Combine Lightning Lane With Rope Drop
I don’t want Lightning Lane and rope drop solving the same problem.
If I’ve purchased a Flight of Passage Single Pass for later, I don’t need to join the Flight of Passage standby rush first thing in the morning. I can use the lower morning waits somewhere else.
If I’m not buying Flight of Passage Single Pass and I’m eligible for Early Theme Park Entry, Flight of Passage becomes a much stronger rope-drop target.
My updated guide to Animal Kingdom rope drop explains the current Early Entry timing and why the best first attraction changes depending on whether you’re eligible for that 30-minute hotel benefit.
Strategy 1: Multi Pass Plus a Flight of Passage Single Pass
This is the easiest Animal Kingdom day to plan if the extra cost fits your budget.
- Prebook Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest with Multi Pass.
- Purchase a Flight of Passage Single Pass at a useful time.
- At rope drop, use standby for an attraction you haven’t already protected with Lightning Lane.
- Redeem the earliest Multi Pass selection and immediately check for another useful attraction.
- Use animal trails, meals and shows around your fixed Lightning Lane windows instead of crossing the park unnecessarily.
I like this because it lets Lightning Lane absorb most of the major ride waits while leaving the rest of Animal Kingdom flexible.
Strategy 2: Multi Pass Without Paying for Flight of Passage
If I don’t want to buy the separate Flight of Passage Single Pass, I would use the morning to solve that problem instead.
For an eligible Early Entry guest, I would consider heading to Flight of Passage first while keeping my three Multi Pass reservations for Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest.
That effectively gives me four major attractions covered by two different strategies: standby during the quietest part of the day for Flight of Passage and Lightning Lane for the other three.
If Flight of Passage opens with a much longer wait than expected or isn’t operating normally, I would change course rather than sacrifice a huge chunk of the morning standing around Pandora.
Strategy 3: Arriving at Animal Kingdom in the Afternoon
A late arrival works much better with Multi Pass than it did under the old Genie+ system because you can arrive with three attraction windows already scheduled.
If I were planning an Animal Kingdom half-day that began after lunch, I would try to arrange the initial reservations so they create a logical route rather than three random rides at scattered times.
For example, I might build the afternoon around Pandora, Africa and Asia rather than walking from Na’vi River Journey to Everest, back to Kilimanjaro Safaris, and then back across the park again.
My updated Animal Kingdom half-day itinerary can help with the underlying route if you only have four or five hours.
Don’t Ignore the Animal Kingdom Map When Booking
Lightning Lane can save you time in queues and still cost you time if your reservations send you back and forth across Animal Kingdom.
Pandora, Africa and Asia form a useful touring flow. I prefer working through those areas logically rather than treating each Lightning Lane return time as an order to immediately cross the park.
The current Animal Kingdom map is worth looking at before choosing your arrival windows, especially now that DinoLand U.S.A. has closed and the Tropical Americas area is under construction.
When I Would Skip Multi Pass at Animal Kingdom
I don’t think Lightning Lane Multi Pass is automatically necessary at Animal Kingdom.
The park currently has a relatively small group of eligible Multi Pass attractions, and several of them are shows that I wouldn’t normally need paid access for.
I would be more willing to skip Multi Pass when:
- I’m eligible for Early Theme Park Entry and comfortable arriving early.
- I’m spending a full day in Animal Kingdom rather than trying to compress the park.
- Na’vi River Journey isn’t important to me.
- I’m willing to use the Expedition Everest single-rider line when available.
- The current Multi Pass price feels too high for the amount of time I realistically expect it to save.
I would be more inclined to buy it during a busy period, on a short visit, or when I want a less stressful day rather than spending the morning constantly watching standby times.
Using Multi Pass While Park Hopping
If your ticket includes Park Hopper benefits, Multi Pass can become more valuable.
Your initial three advance Multi Pass selections must be in the same park. After you redeem your first Multi Pass selection on the day of your visit, Disney currently allows you to choose another available Multi Pass experience in another Walt Disney World theme park, provided your admission includes Park Hopper benefits.
That means you could begin at Animal Kingdom, use an early selection, and then start looking for an available Lightning Lane at the park you’re visiting later.
I still wouldn’t let a Lightning Lane reservation force an inefficient park-hopping schedule. Animal Kingdom often closes earlier than the other Disney World parks, so I check the current Animal Kingdom hours before deciding which park should come first.
The Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Plan I’d Start With
If I were planning a normal full Animal Kingdom day today, this would be my starting point:
- Book Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as my three advance Multi Pass selections.
- Make one of those return times reasonably early so I can unlock another selection.
- Decide separately whether Flight of Passage is worth purchasing as a Single Pass.
- If I’m skipping the Flight of Passage Single Pass, consider using Early Entry or the early morning standby window instead.
- After redeeming my first Multi Pass reservation, immediately check what useful attraction is available next.
- Keep the rest of the day geographically sensible instead of chasing every available Lightning Lane across the park.
Before buying anything, I would also check the current attraction lineup in my Animal Kingdom attractions guide and Disney’s official Lightning Lane page. Participating attractions, prices and availability can change.
