Recently we visited all four Disney parks and used the Genie+ service to do it. Except for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we were able to get in and get on attractions with minimal wait times. I’m going to share with you how we did it.
Planning is key!
Gone are the days where you could find accurate crowd calendars and had “off times” where you would find smaller crowds. However, there are still days that tend to be a bit less crowded than others. For Animal Kingdom, Sunday was relatively slower by reports and we found that to mostly be the case when we went. “Slower” is relative, so keep that in mind.
We started off the day by make sure we all had our Genie+ purchased. You now have to purchase it on the day you are visiting the park and unless you got it purchased before the policy change, you will be able to add this after midnight on the day of your visit. Also, be sure you have your park pass reservation for the park you are visiting that day. At 7AM you can start to make Lightning Lane reservations. We grabbed one for the Kilimanjaro Safari for 9:15-10:15 AM.
If you are staying on property, which we were, you will get 30 minutes of extra time. Use it. We got to the park about twenty minutes before the extra 30 minutes, so about an hour ahead of official park opening.
From there were were scanned and allowed to go to the line for rope drop. Part of our party was headed for Flight of Passage, but all of us were going to the Avatar area. As soon as rope dropped those riding Flight of Passage were in line and that was the longest we waited for anything, even then, it was relatively short. You can also pay for quicker access, but we didn’t.
While they were riding that, my daughter and I went and rode Na’vi River Journey (with no line) and then got a Night Blossom at Pongu Pongu (also without a line) and then waiting in the store for the rest of our party.
When we all regrouped we headed over to the Na’vi River Journey for the rest of them to ride it. Then we stopped at Starbucks for much needed coffee.
At this point it was time to go to the safari and we got onto it right away. In line I booked a Lightning Lane for Dinosaur for 9:30-10:30 AM.
During the safari we did get held up and we were concerned that it would impact our reservation for Dinosaur, but the driver said that if we were late they would let us in because of the safari hold up.
We got off the safari and rushed to Dinosaur and made it just at 10:29. In line I booked a pass for Expedition Everest for 1:10-2:10.
After we rode Dinosaur we went to eat and then we walked the Maharaja Jungle Trek. It was then time to go to Expedition Everest.
Now at this point we decided to go back to the room for a break. The temperatures are very high that day and we needed to cool off for awhile. But if one wanted to do Rafiki’s Planet Watch or “It’s Tough To Be A Bug” now would be a good time. You could also check Genie+ to see if you can add something else.
Later in the evening, after dinner, our party returned and got right on Kali River Rapids and Dinosaur again. They also could have gotten in a shorter line for Expedition Everest or Flight of Passage.
Tip, if you don’t get Flight of Passage in the morning, wait till the last hour the park is open and you usually can get a shorter line for this one.
There are many ways to navigate the parks, but this is what we did and our longest wait was Flight of Passage, and even then it was no longer than 40 minutes.
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