Hi Carol,
Welcome back to planDisney! I'm excited to hEAR you've answered the call to The World's Most Magical Celebration and am thrilled to see you're planning to visit the
EPCOT International Festival of the Arts. My friends are posting pictures of some
culinary masterpieces and the Orange Mousse with lemon cake and raspberry meringues looks
almost too good to eat!
Disney Genie+ service and the
Park Hopper option are a dynamic duo when it comes to maximizing the magic during your days at the Walt Disney World Resort
theme parks. The good news, Carol, is that the phenomenal cosmic power of Genie+ allows you to make Lightning Lane reservations at more than one park. Let's say you have a
Park Pass reservation for Disney's Hollywood Studios and plan to park hop to EPCOT in the afternoon. You can make your first Lightning Lane selection beginning at 7:00 a.m. in the
My Disney Experience mobile app. When making a reservation for a Lightning Lane attraction, you must select the arrival time that is currently available. Since park hopping begins at 2:00 p.m. for your
travel dates, your first Lightning Lane reservation would most likely be made for a Hollywood Studios attraction. Once arrival times for EPCOT attractions start appearing for 2:00 p.m. or after, they will be an option for you to book, in addition to Hollywood Studios attractions.
The intricacies of the new Genie+ system are complex, so let me give you one more scenario. Let's say you are in Hollywood Studios at 11:00 a.m. and make a Lightning Lane reservation for Test Track, located in EPCOT, for 6:00 p.m. You will then be given a time you may make an additional Lightning Lane reservation because the current time and Test Track reservation time are so far apart. That time will be two hours after you made the Test Track reservation, or 1:00 p.m. in this scenario. At 1:00 p.m., you would be able to make an additional Lightning Lane reservation at either a Hollywood Studios or EPCOT attraction, as long as the arrival time for the EPCOT attraction is after 2:00 p.m.
Knowledge of both of these scenarios should cover your Lighting Lane reservation needs when park hopping later this month. Individual Lightning Lane purchases are less complex since you can choose an arrival window for those reservations. When in doubt, don't hesitate to reach out to helpful members of the Guest Experience Team, conveniently located throughout the theme parks under big, blue umbrellas. The panelists at planDisney are also here to answer questions before, during, or after your stay.
Choose magic,
Jennifer