Why You Shouldn't Pay to Skip Disney World's Longest Wait

Disney World is full of magic, sunshine, and lines.

Genie+

Genie+ was introduced as a way to avoid waiting in long lines for rides at Disney World. We know that depending on the time of year, there are major crowds and wait times can get long. It can be tough to know when you should purchase Genie+ or an Individual Lightning Lane — especially now that the Genie system has changed to have different pricing depending on the park you’re doing to.

We’re here to make a case for why you should save your money and rope-drop one particular ride — the one that often has the longest standby waits.

But first, let’s review what an Individual Lightning Lane is. It’s different than Genie+ — the service you pay for to “skip the line” on many Disney World attractions. Disney World’s five most popular rides are not a part of Genie+. Instead, you can buy a reservation — an Individual Lightning Lane — to ride them. Those rides are Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, TRON: Lightcycle/Run and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT, and Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

TRON Lighting Lane

The price of Individual Lightning Lanes can vary depending on the ride and the crowds. But imagine if you are spending $20 for Genie+ and purchasing a $15 Lightning Lane for every person in a party of 4, this can add up. There is one ride we recommend trying to rope-drop instead of purchasing the extra service.

Rise of the Resistance Entrance

Flight of Passage can have high wait times during the day and usually can sit around 95 minutes. While the queue for the ride is unique, who actually wants to wait over an hour? Instead, you’re going to want to head straight to the ride as soon as the park opens. This is going to save you some cash, and shouldn’t have much impact on your day at Animal Kingdom — one of the Disney World parks where you often don’t need to use Lightning Lanes to get on all the attractions you want in a day.

Flight of Passage

The key here IS starting early! If you are staying at a Disney hotel, you can take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry. This allows hotel guests to enter the park 30 minutes early. While that doesn’t sound like a lot of time, it can give you a big leg up! Let’s say Animal Kingdom is scheduled for park opening at 8 AM — hotel guests can get in at 7:30 AM.

Entrance of Animal Kingdom

However, we recommend getting to the park about 15-30 minutes BEFORE the start of Early Entry. You’ll want to factor in time to park your car or get off the bus, go through security, and scan in, all of which can be done before Early Entry actually begins. This allows you to be fully ready to head straight to the rides as soon as Cast Members start letting you in.

Security at Animal Kingdom

If you are not staying at a Disney hotel, don’t worry — we still believe rope-dropping Flight of Passage is the way to go! You will also want to arrive before the actual park open time in order to be inside the park once they allow all guests to enter. You’ll want to head straight to the ride because the line will still grow pretty quickly. But you are likely to wait a much shorter amount of time by doing this!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

To get to Flight of Passage, you’ll want to enter Animal Kingdom and head on the left path. Once at the Tree of Life, you’ll continue left, passing Tiffins and Nomad Lounge on your right. You’ll go over the bridge and into the Valley of Moara. Once inside Pandora, you’ll begin heading to the right. Follow the signs and the cast members directing guests.

Pandora

When you’re done, you’ll have a full day ahead of you at Animal Kingdom and have plenty of time to see so much more. This also allows keeps you from having to wait in the heat of the day in the queue, which is partially outside.