When to Ride Flight of Passage

Welcome back to our new When To Ride series, where we use data to take the guesswork out of planning your day at Walt Disney World. In these posts, we break down a single headliner attraction – when to ride it, whether it’s worth buying Lightning Lane, and what to expect if something goes wrong.

Today we’re talking about a headliner that’s nearing its 10-year anniversary and is still as popular as ever: Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom.

Flight of Passage Attraction Overview

Flight of Passage is the signature attraction in Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a 3D flying simulator that pairs motion seating with wind, scent, and visual effects to let you ride on the back of a banshee through the breathtaking landscapes of Pandora. If you’ve been on Soarin’ at EPCOT, it’s a similar concept, but on a different planet, and with a more interactive seat. Since its debut in 2017, it’s been one of the most in-demand rides at Walt Disney World, topping Animal Kingdom’s wait time charts and holding its own as one of the most consistently praised attractions across all four parks.

As of Summer 2025, Flight of Passage is the 5th-highest-rated attraction at Walt Disney World according to our post-visit surveys, with an average satisfaction rating of 4.76 on our scale from 1 to 5. It rates best with teens, young adults, and adults under the age of 65, who rank it 3rd, 5th, and 7th, respectively.

If you’re interested in learning more about Flight of Passage, check out our Ride Chicken’s Review and 5 Things To Know.

Flight of Passage Standby Wait Time Patterns

This is the most important thing to understand about Flight of Passage: the line builds fast, but eases back down throughout the day.

Posted wait times typically ramp up quickly during Early Entry and immediately after the park opens. The dip that you see around 8:30 is because Animal Kingdom doesn’t always open at the same time. On days when Early Entry starts at 7:30, the wait time is already high by 8:30. But sometimes Early Entry starts at 8:30 am, and so the average decreases a bit there. But don’t be fooled – wait times keep climbing until about 11:30 am. After that, the posted wait generally goes steadily down until the park closes.

Actual standby wait times show a very similar curve, but generally stay slightly below what is posted. So the big summary here is you’ll see increasing waits throughout the morning, and then they’ll slowly go down throughout the rest of the day. That’s because typically people hop away from Animal Kingdom after lunch and the park as a whole gets less crowded.

Best Standby Strategy

• Early Entry: If you’re staying onsite and eligible, use Early Entry and make this your first stop. In fact, you’ll definitely want to show up about 30 minutes before early entry even starts, because 90% of people who show up early to Animal Kingdom will get in line for Flight of Passage.

• No Early Entry? If you’re only spending the morning at Animal Kingdom, be through the tapstiles before official park opening and head straight to the line. The line will be long, but it’ll only get longer before lunch.

• The Afternoon Opportunity: Animal Kingdom is always less crowded in the afternoon and early evening compared to the morning. Spend the whole day in the park, or arrive after lunch. Tour the park and get into line for Flight of Passage as late in the day as possible.

Flight of Passage Lightning Lane Strategy

Flight of Passage is a Lightning Lane Single Pass (LLSP) attraction. And based on our data, it can be a decent value, especially if you need to ride in the middle of the day.

Here’s why. LLSP for Flight of Passage will cost you between $15 and $18 per person, on average. And it will save you an average of 35 minutes compared to waiting in standby instead. That means you’re paying $26-$31 for every hour of time you’re saving. That’s not the best cost-per-hour-saved option in any park, but it’s not terrible.

Bonus! At an average 20-minute wait, it guarantees you a lower wait than any standby users at any point during the day, except for maybe the very first guests during early entry. That means in the middle of most days, LLSP is saving you almost an hour of wait time. It’s just less worthwhile early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

Lightning Lane Availability

If you want to use Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage, you’re in luck. It doesn’t usually sell out far in advance at all. It books into the middle of the afternoon about 3 days in advance in average crowd conditions, so if that’s too late for your plans, you may need to stay onsite so that you can book at the 7-day mark.

But the really good news is that there’s almost no need to book an LLSP for Flight of Passage in advance. Why? Refills. You can plan to rope drop Flight of Passage and avoid the wait that way. But if you wake up late, or you decide you want to go again, Flight of Passage has plenty of same-day availability. That’s thanks to refills of Lightning Lane reservations at 45 minutes after the hour, every hour throughout the day. Those refills almost always happen, and almost always have immediate availability. Just set an alarm on your phone and purchase a refill if you end up deciding you need a reservation.

Flight of Passage Reliability and Downtime

Good news! As of Summer 2025, Flight of Passage is a remarkably reliable attraction. It only averages approximately 6 minutes of downtime a day. That’s less than 1% of its overall capacity. And most days have no downtime at all – as an example, 28 out of the last 30 days have been downtime-free.

Touring Plans Tips and Tricks for Flight of Passage

• Staying at a Deluxe resort? Animal Kingdom rarely has Extended Evening Hours, but it will occasionally pop on the schedule during party season in the fall and winter. Flight of Passage is typically a walk-on for the second hour of Extended Hours.

• Want to ride twice? Book an LLSP and also head to Flight of Passage first thing in the morning for standby.

• No LLSP? Get in line as late in the day as possible – just before the park closes.

• Skip the morning rush: Don’t get in line after 8:45 am on any day. Your time is better spent at other Animal Kingdom attractions, and you can wait until wait times go lower for Flight of Passage.

Flight of Passage is one of the best-reviewed attractions at Walt Disney World. It is a great example of how to blend new engineering ideas with excellent artistry and storytelling. But it’s also one of the highest-wait attractions in any WDW theme park. Don’t expect very short waits unless you show up significantly before early entry begins, or you get lucky and get to attend Extended Evening Hours. Go early or late, or purchase LLSP (especially via same-day refill).

Have questions about Flight of Passage that this data didn’t cover? Drop them in the comments below.