Hi Robin!
I'm so glad you stopped by planDisney with this question. I think
Disney Genie+ Service and
Park Hopper Option tickets are the perfect magical match for a visit to Walt Disney World Resort. I'd love to share my experience combining both for an epic park day!
When purchasing Disney Genie+ Service you'll have access to
Lightning Lane entries for select attractions across the theme parks. Couple that with Park Hopping and you can really tailor your day to fit in all your favorite experiences. When I visited with my daughter last year we began our day at
Magic Kingdom Park and made our first Lightning Lane selection right at 7 a.m. We received a late morning return window for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and used the standby line for many of our favorite Fantasyland attractions before heading over. Once we tapped our bands for entry to the wildest ride in the wilderness we immediately booked a return window for Pirates of the Caribbean. You'll be able to make new Lightning Lane selections beginning two hours after park opening, or once you've scanned in for your reserved attraction, whichever comes first.
We spent the morning enjoying Magic Kingdom Park before hopping to
EPCOT for an afternoon of fun. We were able to book a Lightning Lane entry for Soarin' Around the World right from the Monorail as we made our way over, and continued alternating rides via standby queue and utilizing Genie+. We later scheduled a few evening return windows back at Magic Kingdom Park where we ended our evening.
Disney Genie+ Service allowed us to experience attractions across both parks with minimal waits, for one fee per person. You will not need to pay a second fee to use Genie+ at your second park. Had we decided to hop to a third or fourth park that day, we would have been able to reserve return windows for attractions and experiences there as well, subject to availability. Keep in mind Park Hopping is currently available after 2 p.m, but you must enter your reserved park prior to hopping to another.
On our other park day, we began at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park but used Genie+ to schedule afternoon return windows for our favorite attractions at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Though we were automatically assigned return windows after 2 p.m., timing capabilities within the
My Disney Experience App have changed since our visit. You can certainly schedule afternoon Lightning Lane entries at another park, but you'll need to monitor the current return windows per attraction vs. automatically being assigned a slot after 2 p.m. I believe this change was implemented to ensure guests with theme park reservations didn't have a different experience than guests hopping from another park.
One last tip- you have the option to purchase two
Individual Lightning Lanes per day in addition to attraction entries reserved using Genie+ or via
Virtual Queue. Whatever you choose, you're sure to have a magical experience!
I hope this helps clear up any confusion. If I can be of further assistance please don't hesitate to
reach out to me again.
Magic and memories,
Amy