guide to animal kingdom genie plus usage. entrance sign to animal kingdom

Guide To Using Genie+ At Animal Kingdom

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Genie+ is here as a replacement for Disney World’s FastPass+ system. There are some big differences and some hacks to using Genie Plus that you may want to know! Here’s a guide for using Genie Plus at Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

Guide For Using Genie+ At Animal Kingdom

We used the new Genie+ system on our last trip.

Here’s a guide with some best practices, tips, and options for using Genie+ at Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

First, we’re answering some basic questions that you might have about using the Genie Plus service.

FAQs For Using Genie Plus

What Is Genie+ and how do we use it?

Start here. Check out this Disney Genie+ 101 to get the basic definitions and pricing for Genie+.

Can I buy Genie+ in advance?

Short answer: no. Not after June 8, 2022, anyway.

Until then, you may be able to add Genie+ in advance in some cases.

You can add Genie+ if you have a Disney World resort package with tickets and want to buy the service every day. This is something your travel agent can help you with should you decide to add the service for the length of stay until June 8, 2022.

If you only want to use the service for certain days, you’ll want to buy Genie before 7 am on the day you wish to use it.

If you are an annual passholder or have discounted tickets you cannot purchase in advance. You WILL be able to buy Genie each day you wish to use it.

disney world annual pass 50th annivesary

Can you choose return times with Genie+?

No. It’s just like FastPass of old- you get what you get!

Is there a grace period with Genie+?

Yes.

You can arrive 5 minutes early or up to 15 minutes late and still use the Lightning Lane (LL) selection you booked.

No need to ask a CM about it or point it out; just scan in and go!

What if there’s an ADR or previous ride conflict?

Genie will allow you to book overlapping plans, so keep this in mind when you accept your LL selection.

If you have a meal planned during the suggested LL time, we suggest waiting a few minutes or dragging the screen on your app to refresh the options.

Hopefully, something that works better will be offered!

festival-of-the-lion-king on Lightning Lane Genie Plus at Animal Kingdom

What Attractions Are Included As Genie+ Lightning Lanes At Animal Kingdom?

All of these attractions will be available for the Genie+ purchase starting at $15+ tax per person per day at Animal Kingdom. Variable pricing has been instituted by Disney, meaning each day may have a different price level for the service.

  • Dinosaur
  • A Celebration of the Festival of the Lion King
  • It’s Tough to Be a Bug
  • The Animation Experience at Conservation Station
  • Kali River Rapids
  • Na’vi River Journey
  • Feathered Friends in Flight
  • Kilimanjaro Safaris
  • Expedition Everest
kali river rapids at animal kingdom is on lightning lane genie plus guide.

Magic Kingdom is where you can really get the biggest bang for your Genie+ buck with Hollywood Studios coming in at a close 2nd.

Animal Kingdom, however, doesn’t seem to offer as much value for the price of Genie+, especially if you have the ability to do single rider on Expedition Everest.

We don’t recommend purchasing Genie+ for this park unless you are park hopping later.

Guide For Using Genie+: Individual Lightning Lane Options In Animal Kingdom

Two rides at every park cost an additional amount if you’d like to “skip the line” at Disney World.

In Animal Kingdom, the current Individual Lightning Lane options are:

  • Avatar Flight of Passage

You do NOT have to pay the Genie+ pricing in order to access these ILL (Individual Lightning Lane) purchases.

In fact, we actually think the best place to spend money at Animal Kingdom is on Flight of Passage ILL.

You probably do not need to purchase Everest as the line is typically fairly short, and there is a Single Rider option if you are ok splitting up.

You can just pay for these rides alone, and simply do standby lines for the other rides in the park.

And unlike the Genie+ Lightning Lane selections, the Individual Lightning Lane selections DO allow you to choose a time window based on availability.

Prices for these attractions in Animal Kingdom start at $9.

Expedition Everest on ride POV
Expedition Everest is an individual lightning lane purchase at Animal Kingdom.

What’s The Best Practice For Using Genie+ In Animal Kingdom?

While each day will be different depending on crowd levels and when you plan to visit, there are some trends we see.

Here are a few suggestions as far as tips and best practices for Animal Kingdom Genie+ usage.

Resort Guests Should Use Early Magic Hours

We know, we know- groan! It’s so early!

But if you are staying onsite, taking advantage of the Early Magic Hours can be key to skipping lines and potentially saving money.

If a park shows an opening time of 9 am, resort guests are officially allowed in at 8:30 am.

But the secret here is that 8:30 is sometimes even earlier- so go ahead and plan to rope drop at 7:45 am. That means you want to be through the security line by 7:45 am.

This time is not guaranteed, but the trend is that Disney is allowing guests in even earlier than advertised and this can really help you get a jump on the lines!

room key at disney world resort hotel. guide to using genie plus at magic kingdom use early magic hours

At Animal Kingdom, if you choose to arrive early we suggest immediately getting in line for Pandora Flight of Passage in order to save that added cost.

You will be allowed through as a resort guest and then held at the bridge before you get into Pandora.

At the appropriate time, they will walk you to Flight of Passage.

If you are not an early riser, go ahead and book this one with ILL, however.

What Lightning Lane Should You Choose First at 7 am: Guide For Using Genie+

If you are using Genie+, the two attractions that “book up” the quickest at Animal Kingdom will be Navi River and the Safari.

Safari does not open for “extra magic hours”.

They will allow you to get in line, but the attraction will not start running until the official park opening. So getting a LL for this one is a good idea.

If either of these attractions is on your “must-do” list at Animal Kingdom, you will want to prioritize them for your Lightning Lane selections.

Can You Skip Genie+ At Animal Kingdom?

Yes. We think you can.

Bottom line: as we said above, we think Flight of Passage is the best place to spend your money with Genie at Animal Kingdom.

You can skip the $15/a day option and just buy the ILL for FoP and plan to do standby for Everest since that wait is typically much shorter.

And the rest of the park is very doable through standby options.

simba kitetails
Kite Tails is NOT on the Lightning Lane selections at this time. But it’s a must-see adventure!

CAVEAT: Park Hoppers May Want Genie+ at Animal Kingdom

We do think if you plan to park hop, then you can and should go ahead and purchase Genie+ for Animal Kingdom to allow your party to speed through the lines and hit all the attractions before hopping to another park.

It’s doable.

Guide To Animal Kingdom Genie+ Use: Hit That Refresh Button!

If you are not seeing the attraction or the time window you are looking for, go ahead and keep refreshing the app.

Drag your finger down on the screen and it will reset and show you additional options if they are available.

This seems to be the most overlooked tip when using Genie+.

Guests assume what Disney shows first is their final offer. Not true!

Other guests are looking at options at the same time and if they bounce off and choose a different attraction, the time they were looking at will go back into the pool of choices.

So go ahead and use Refresh while checking your LL selections in Genie+!

More Disney Tips You May Need

Guide to Genie Plus At Magic Kingdom

Guide to Genie Plus at Hollywood Studios

Guide to Genie Plus at Epcot

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