Animal Kingdom is in an interesting state right now. Thanks to the construction of the upcoming Tropical Americas land, the park ride count has been temporarily cut, and wait times for its most popular rides have gone up.

©Disney

However, there’s a way to ensure a perfect ride day at Disney World’s most recently opened theme park in under five minutes, long before stepping through the entrance gates.

The key to ensuring a perfect ride at Animal Kingdom right now begins with Lightning Lane Selections for both Multi Pass and Single Pass, so let’s quickly run down how those systems work:

• Lightning Lane Multi Pass allows guests to plan ahead of their visit and choose up to 3 Multi Pass experiences and arrival windows in a theme park each day (7 days in advance of their stay for Disney hotel guests and 3 days in advance for non-hotel guests).
• Lightning Lane Single Pass allows guests to “Save time in line with a Lightning Lane Single Pass for one of our most in-demand attractions—those not available with Lightning Lane Multi Pass.” Single Passes are eligible to be purchased at the same time as their Multi Pass equivalents.

Kilimanjaro Safaris Lightning Lane

So, when you’re choosing your Animal Kingdom Lightning Lanes, you should log on to Disney’s website or the MyDisney App and ensure everything is set up with your account about 5-10 minutes before your window officially opens. Once it does, your first move should be securing a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Flight of Passage, the park’s busiest ride and its only Single Pass offering.

Line for Flight of Passage in Pandora

Next, purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass and shoot for the park’s three other currently operating premier attractions: N’aVi River Journey, Expedition Everest, and Kilimanjaro Safaris. During this construction period, Animal Kingdom has no Multi Pass Tier system, so you can use all three passes on these three attractions.

Expedition Everest

This will lock in all four of Animal Kingdom’s major attractions for your visit. Plus, if you plan on park hopping to another park once your time at Animal Kingdom is complete, you can start booking Lightning Lane Multi Passes for your park of choice as you use your Animal Kingdom ones.

Slinky Dog Dash Lightning Lane

If you’re making your way to Animal Kingdom while Tropical Americas is under construction, spending a few moments selecting Lightning Lanes days earlier could be your key to the perfect day at the park. Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney tips.

Disney World Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy for 2026

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