Welcome to Famvia’s guide that explains everything you need to know about Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom. If you are here, it means you are interested in knowing more about this service, and if it’s worth it to buy for this theme park that celebrates everything related to nature.
So, should you buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass for Animal Kingdom?
It depends, honestly. We would definitely say yes, if this is your first time here. Lightning Lane Multi Pass is amazing for saving time and optimizing your time, and this might come in handy if you want to spend less time in queues and more time walking around the World of Pandora and taking pictures of cute gorillas and giraffes.
You also get the chance to use this service on some popular rides, like Expedition Everest and Na’vi River Journey. Want even more perks? Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom is almost always the cheapest one in all Disney Parks, costing around $15 per person on most days. That’s a pretty good deal when you want to experience rides as fast as possible.
Other than that, one small problem with Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom is that there isn't much to see. Sure, you can enter Expedition Everest faster than usual and try to save a spot early for Kilimanjaro Safaris, but that’s about it. Na’vi River Journey might be another good option, but the problem is that… Na’vi River Journey just isn’t that good.
With that said, buy one if you are coming to Animal Kingdom for the first time ever. It might also be a good choice if you have children that are big fans of live shows, since there are three shows in Animal Kingdom and Lightning Lane Multi Pass can get you closer to the main stage.
What is the Lightning Lane Multi Pass?
Disney decided to rename Disney Genie+ and the individual Lightning Lanes to the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass on July 24, 2024. This change also affected how these fastpass options work, at least for Walt Disney World. Interestingly, while the fastpass names changed for Disneyland as well, their functionality remained the same. However, this is not the case for Disney World.
The Lightning Lane Multi Pass is a fastpass service designed to help you save time in line. You can purchase it through the My Disney Experience app. This optional, paid service aims to enhance your park experience by reducing wait times. Can you still enjoy Disney World without using it? Absolutely. But will the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass make your visit even better? Definitely.
Let’s take a closer look at them!
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
This is the main fastpass option at Disney. The cost varies depending on the date of your visit and the theme park, typically ranging from $20 to $35 in addition to your standard theme park ticket. If you're staying at a Disney hotel, you can book express lines for up to three attractions up to seven days before your visit. All other guests can book three attractions up to three days in advance.
Attractions are categorized into two different tiers, with the more popular rides in the first tier and others in the second tier. You can book in advance only one ride from the first tier and up to two (or all three) from the second tier. You can also choose your preferred timeslots (subject to availability) to better plan your park strategy!
Once you’re in the park and have used your first Multi Pass selection, you may be able to make additional selections.
Lightning Lane Single Pass
Let’s not forget about the Lightning Lane Single Pass, which is simpler and more straightforward. This pass is specifically for the most popular rides at Disney World, such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. These rides are not included in the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, and with the Lightning Lane Single Pass, you pay for a single express line access. Prices vary but typically range from $10 to $20. You can also purchase the Lightning Lane Single Pass in advance, just like the Multi Pass.
Advice for Lightning Lane Multi Pass on Animal Kingdom
Here is some extra info and general advices you should follow if you plan on buying Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom:
- If you're staying at a Disney hotel, you can start booking your Lightning Lanes up to seven days before your visit. All other guests can book their favorite attractions up to three days in advance. Be sure to purchase it through the My Disney Experience app on your phone and book up to three rides in advance.
- You can book another Lightning Lane after you use your first reservation, or after waiting two hours since the time of your reservation. If you made your first reservation at 7am, though, the time starts counting once the park opens.
- There are no Virtual Queues available in Animal Kingdom. Depending on how busy a park is, Avatar Flight of Passage might use this system, but that’s not the rule.
- Animal Kingdom doesn't divide rides into different tiers when you are making selections for your Lightning Lane Multi Pass. You just pick the three you want from a single list, making everything easier.
- Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom is almost always the cheapest one in all Disney World. Expect to pay anything from $15 all the way to $30, depending on the time of year you are visiting.
- Avatar Flight of Passage is not included in Lightning Lane Multi Pass. You have to either buy a Lightning Lane Single Pass for it or enter the regular queue.
Great, we know a little more about Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom. Now, let’s check out which attractions are available for you once you buy this service.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass Rides in Animal Kingdom
When purchasing a Lightning Lane Multi Pass for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you’ll be prompted to choose up to 3 of the following multi pass experiences:
- DINOSAUR
- Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
- Feathered Friends in Flight!
- Festival of the Lion King
- Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond!
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
- Kali River Rapids
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Naʻvi River Journey
That’s not a lot of rides, especially when compared to Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. That’s also one of the reasons that Lightning Lane Multi Pass is cheaper in Animal Kingdom. With that said, you can definitely save time on Expedition Everest and get an early spot aboard the well known Kilimanjaro Safaris if you wish. Na’vi River Journey is also a very popular ride with 40-50 minute waiting times and you can cut that down by a lot with Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
Kids will probably enjoy this service more than anyone else, since a lot of shows and kid friendly rides are included in Lightning Lane Multi Pass. We are talking about Festival of the Lion King, Feathered Friends in Flight and the Finding Nemo musical. Other than that, kids will probably enjoy It’s Tough to be a Bug and DINOSAUR as well. Just keep in mind that DINOSAUR can be rather scary for young children.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom
Time to talk a little bit more about how you are going to use Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Animal Kingdom. This is, after all, why this guide was made, but it was important to give you a heads up first of what to expect when buying this service.
We are going to create two different groups for Lightning Lane Multi Pass on Animal Kingdom. The first group is for guests that want to experience every attraction that the park has to offer. The second group focuses mostly on what toddlers and kids want to see.
Just keep in mind one thing: creating a Lightning Lane Multi Pass guide is really, really hard. If you opt to go to the best, most popular rides, there is a chance that you will use Lightning Lane Multi Pass on fewer rides throughout the day, but you will at least enjoy the best attractions. If you choose to use it on less popular rides, you will use Lightning Lane Multi Pass a lot, but then you will need to wait in the regular queue for the most popular attractions.
That’s not all, by the way. Let’s not forget that it’s hard to predict the exact time slot of your Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservations, how long you are going to spend in lane for Lightning Lanes and regular queues, if you want to re-ride an attraction you really loved, and even if a ride decides to break down while you are waiting in line. Yeah, it’s not easy, but we are going to try our best.
That’s why we are focusing mostly on ride priority based on Lightning Lane Multi Pass, instead of writing down a guide that you should always follow. Trust us, it’s impossible to create a step by step guide for Lightning Lane Multi Pass since time slots can be so unpredictable.
We are also dividing the Lightning Lane Multi Pass priority in two groups, as we told you already. Later on, we are going to talk a little bit about each ride and why they should be included in your Lightning Lane Multi Pass strategy or not.
Ride Priority A - You want to see Everything
Your ride priority should be:
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Na’vi River Journey
- Expedition Everest
- Kali River Rapids
- DINOSAUR
Ride Priority B - You want to focus on what the little ones want to see
Your ride priority should be:
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Na’vi River Journey
- Kali River Rapids
- DINOSAUR (might be scary for children, though)
My three pre-booked Lightning Lane rides would be:
- Expedition Everest
- Na’vi River Journey
- DINOSAUR
Only get Lightning Lane Multi Pass for Kilimanjaro Safaris if you can grab a timeslot before 12pm. It’s during the morning that most animals are active and walking around, giving you the opportunity to take amazing pictures. You can also opt to go to Na’vi River Journey or Expedition Everest first and then head to the regular queue for Kilimanjaro Safaris, as long as it's before noon.
Note: If you are staying at a Disney Hotel, there are days when you can enter the park half an hour before everyone else. We recommend waking up early and getting there as soon as possible for the so-called “Rope Drop”. If that’s the case, head straight to the World of Pandora and ride Avatar Flight of Passage. You can also buy an individual Lightning Lane to ride it again later and never deal with mid-afternoon regular queue times that take 100 minutes or more.
Explaining Lightning Lane Multi Pass Priorities
Now it’s time to talk a little bit about some of our choices when it comes to priorities for your Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
Kilimanjaro Safaris: We said this before and we will say it again: try to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris before noon. You can always get to Animal Kingdom and make this ride your top priority before Flight of Passage, which saves you a Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Since there aren’t many rides for Lightning Lane Multi Pass on Animal Kingdom, it’s also worth it to grab one early for Kilimanjaro Safaris, as long as you get a good time slot. It will also save you precious time in the queue.
Na’vi River Journey: A recent addition to Animal Kingdom and a very popular one. Regular queues are almost always around 40 minutes, so Lightning Lane Multi Pass saves a lot of time. This ride doesn’t have any height requirements and is good for the entire family, which also explains why it gets easily crowded.
Expedition Everest: One of the best rides in Animal Kingdom, and one of the few steel roller coasters in Disney World. You should get Lightning Lane Multi Pass for this one to both save time and enjoy one of the best rides in the entire park. Queue times aren’t even that bad in the afternoon (30 minutes), which makes it easier to ride it again and again.
Kali River Rapids: This ride usually doesn’t get too packed, since a lot of guests don’t want to get soaked. It’s also almost always closed down during winter. It can experience increased waiting times during the Summer or very warm days, which can then be a good choice for a Lightning Lane Multi Pass. With that said, regular queues are rarely that long and you shouldn’t wait more than 20-30 minutes.
DINOSAUR: This one can have increased waiting times during the mornings (40 min), but gets less and less crowded after 2pm (with waiting times around 20 min). A good option for Lightning Lane Multi Pass, especially since Dinoland USA will probably shut down sometime in 2024. There is a good chance that queues for DINOSAUR will get longer and longer when Disney announces an official date for this attraction to go extinct.
Shows: There are three main live shows in Animal Kingdom: Feathered Friends in Flight, Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond! Yeah, that’s a lot! Lightning Lane Multi Pass is hardly useful for those shows, though. It gives you preferred seating near the main stage, but you can also get great seats if you arrive early. I can see Lightning Lane Multi Pass being valuable for Feathered Friends in Flight if you have small children and they want to see the animals up close.
Closing thoughts
We hope you enjoyed your time learning about how to optimize your time. If a ride wasn’t listed there, it’s because Lightning Lane Multi Pass rarely runs out or there are better options for you.
This guide is very useful, but don’t get too attached to it. Visit the rides you want to visit and spend Lightning Lane Multi Pass with whatever you want. Not a fan of roller coasters at all? Skip Expedition Everest and grab a pass for one of the live shows. You kids (or you) love meet & greets? Get Lightning Lane Multi Pass to meet Mickey & Minnie in Safari gear. It all depends on what you want and your personal preferences.
Don’t stress out too much if Lightning Lane Multi Pass runs out for some of your favorite rides. You can always enter the regular queue, like you will do for Avatar Flight of Passage, even if you already bought a Lightning Lane. Also don’t stress out about the perfect strategy to min-max your Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Use it on your favorite, most popular rides and enjoy the moment.
Seriously, it doesn’t matter if you only used Lightning Lane Multi Pass on two or three attractions or even if you forgot to set up a new ride. You are in Disney World! Take in the atmosphere, relax and, above all, have fun.
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