Hi Stacy! Thanks for stopping by planDisney!
You are in for such a wonderful vacation when you spend it at a
Walt Disney World Resort and
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge! I was lucky enough to stay at this Resort in December and was completely blown away by the massive lobby, the friendly Cast Members, and the beautiful flamingos right below my balcony! Even without a specified "Savanna View Guest room" I was able to see and hear these pink feathered friends, which was such a fun treat!
Stacy, did you know that when you stay at a
Disney Resorts Collection hotel like Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge you have the ability to enter every Theme Park 30 minutes early each day? With
Early Theme Park Entry, you and your party can beat the crowds and jump on some of your favorite (and the most popular) attractions in the Parks even before the general public is allowed in! This is my favorite time of day to stroll the empty pathways or speed-walk to my absolute favorite attraction,
Peter Pan's Flight.
If you and your party choose to let the Genie out of the bottle and purchase
Disney Genie+ Service for the duration of your stay you are welcome to use the service on over 40 rides and attractions throughout all four Theme Parks every day if you have a
Park Hopper Option Ticket. If you have a Standard Theme Park Ticket you'll still be able to use as many "
Lightning Lanes" as you can grab and fit into your day!
Genie+ works like a placeholder for you in line. When you log on to your Disney Genie+ in your
My Disney Experience mobile app you'll be able to reserve a time to return to the rides you wish to experience. When you return at that time you'll use the Lightning Lane to essentially skip the line! This means more free time for snacking, riding other attractions, or watching incredible shows like
Mickey's Magical Friendship Faire. You and your party will each get to use a Lightning Lane once per ride per day, after that you can certainly ride again by waiting in the standby line!
You'll find that when using Genie+ most Guests are able to experience going through the Lightning Lanes for 2-3 attractions per day. Guests are able to make their first Lightning Lane selections at 7 a.m. and then again after they've scanned into their first attraction or when their Tip Board on Disney Genie+ tells them they are available to make another selection.
You may also want to look into purchasing Individual Lightning Lane selections. A few of the most popular rides in each Park, like the new
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, are able to be purchased separately so that you know you'll be able to ride without waiting in lines!
I think you'll find that the Genie+ is worth it for you and your party, as I've heard a lot of Guests are having success with the new system. Enjoy your magical vacation!
Ashley M