PHOTOS: Lightning Lane vs Stand-By Use at Animal Kingdom

Today marked the launch of the most talked about addition to the Disney Parks in quite some time: Disney Genie. Disney Genie is meant to replace the FastPass+ system with a new, paid option that will allow guests to skip the stand-by lines of select attractions. The service also features a pay-per-attraction feature available for two attractions per Park.

I visited Animal Kingdom today in the hopes of getting a gauge of the popularity of the paid Disney Genie Lightning Lane system introduced today vs the traditional stand-by line. I took plenty of photo evidence to back-up my observations, and here’s what I learned: 

Lightning Lane vs. Stand-By

Kilimanjaro Safaris

Let’s kick things off at Kilimanjaro Safaris. This attraction is part of the Disney Genie $15 tier that allows access to multiple attractions- there is no individual attraction selection here. When I got into the stand-by queue, the posted wait was (an accurate) 40 minutes. Not too bad in my opinion. 

Or anyone else’s, because the entire time I was queuing next to the Lightning Lane (pictured right), I saw a total of 3 families utilize the service. 

Na’vi River Journey

Next, I visited Na’vi River Journey (also part of the $15 tier). The story was a bit different here. It was a few hours after I’d visited Kilimanjaro, and more folks were utilizing the Lightning Lane here…but in comparison to the stand-by line that extended far beyond the confines of the queue, Lightning Land usage was still very low. 

Na’vi River Journey extended stand-by queue

Expedition Everest

Onto the individually priced attractions! Expedition Everest (a $7/person charge for Lightning Lane) was by far the least-used Lightning Lane of all I visited today. With the stand-by hovering around 10-20 minutes all day, it wasn’t a surprise to see virtually no one scanning into the Lightning Lane here…

Flight of Passage

Flight of Passage boasts the most expensive pay-per attraction price at Animal Kingdom. At $11 a person, Flight of Passage’s long stand-by queue (a 65-minute wait at time of photos) proved too long for a good number of guests.

At Flight of Passage, I saw far more guests enter the Lightning Lane than the stand-by queue in the 15 minutes I was there. Once inside the interior queue, there were a good number of guests in the Lightning Lane throughout. Not a LOT by any stretch, but the most I’d seen all day.

Final Verdict

Of course, this was day 1 of Disney Genie, and we cannot jump to any conclusions yet. Today at Animal Kingdom wasn’t particularly crowded. And since today is only Day 1 of the service, I’d venture not EVERY guest was even aware of its existence.

Photo: Disney

As time goes on and Disney Genie becomes more integrated with the Park experience, we could see an increase in paid attraction Lightning Lane usage. Or…it may always be just like it was today. Those are my observations from today, but I want to know YOUR thoughts! What do you think of the Disney Genie? Leave me a comment and let me know! 

Now it’s time to start planning YOUR next Walt Disney World vacation! For my no-fee help planning, strategizing, and booking your next Disney vacation, contact: msalerno@mickeytravels.com! I am an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner (Platinum Level) and all of my services are ALWAYS free…see you in the parks!