While we frequently make recommendations and nudge you towards some of the better (in our opinion) things Disney World has to offer, occasionally we have strong pieces of advice that we believe you should absolutely take. This is one of those occasions.
Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom
In theory, planning a Disney World vacation should be the most stressful part of your trip. Once you get to the resort, that’s where the fun begins. We wish we could say it was all fun, but if plan on visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you should brace yourself for a possibly rocky experience with one particular attraction.
Avatar Flight of Passage in Pandora at Animal Kingdom is without a doubt one of Disney World’s most popular signature attractions. The immersive 3-D flight simulation ride is a phenomenal experience and one we recommend riding at least once. With that said, getting on the attraction can be a pain as wait times can be astronomical. If saving time is the name of the game when you’re on a Disney World vacation, you NEED to get an individual Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage each time you go. Let’s get into why this makes sense!
Flight of Passage (Yep, it’s in there)
When it comes to expenses, Avatar Flight of Passage is actually the second cheapest individual Lightning Lane you can purchase, only behind Magic Kingdom’s Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Holding an average high of $16 and a low of $13, the prices to skip the main line aren’t as bad as some other attractions across the resort and can be justified when you factor in how much time Lightning Lane access can save you.
Also, keep in mind that Genie+ does not offer access to Flight of Passage, so if you have Genie+ for the day and want to use a Lightning Lane for the ride, you still have to purchase a separate individual Lightning Lane pass.
Flight of Passage
Now, you may be thinking, “I don’t want to pay extra. I’ll just chance it or rope drop.” Rope dropping is the process of showing up to a park early and blitzing over to rides quickly once the gates open in an effort to skip the long lines. Admittedly, this is generally a useful tactic at most of the Disney Parks. At Animal Kingdom, however, the ride offerings are a bit limited compared to other parks (Animal Kingdom is in large part a zoo after all) and pretty much everyone rope-dropping is going to head over to Flight of Passage.
If you’re banking on a short queue at any point throughout the day, you may be making a losing bet. Easily the most popular ride in the park, even more so than traditional thrill rides like Expedition Everest, most people will rope drop Flight of Passage, making for a super stressful rope-dropping experience.
Pandora
So if rope-dropping guarantees you nothing and Genie+ omits Flight of Passage, where does that leave us? Well, you have three possible choices. You can skip the ride altogether, which is totally your call but could save you hours out of your day. You could wait in line, which historically averages over 90 minutes. Or — what we absolutely recommend — you could spend the extra $13-16 per person and skip the hassle, stress, and annoyance of a rope drop at Animal Kingdom while ensuring that you and your family get to ride one of Disney World’s best attractions. When it comes to Disney World, time is money and sometimes you have to spend a little bit extra to save a lot of time (avoid major stress).
Look at the beauty!
At the end of the day, we can only recommend what we feel is best but it always comes down to what you and your family want to do on your Disney World vacation. In any case, we’re here to help as best we can so be sure to stay tuned here at DFB for all the latest news, guides, and Disney World tips!
Every Disney World Ride That Will Have an Individual Lightning Lane in 2024
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Although we recommend purchasing individual Lightning Lanes for Flight of Passage, you may have other thoughts. Let us know if you feel getting on this ride quickly is worth the extra cash in the comments below!
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Totally agree! We always purchase this ILL! It makes even more sense if you want to go later in the day, giving you one day you can have a bit lazier morning.
Am I the only one who thinks that Disney didn’t do a particularly good job on the floating mountains in Pandora?