Hey Howdy Hey Jason and welcome to planDisney!
Thank you so much for your question on Genie+ and Lightning Lane return times. I will be happy to provide a little more insight into this process.
First off, with regards to the
Park Hopper Option, you will be allowed to hop to another park beginning at 2:00 PM. As long as you have purchased your
Genie+ and Park Hopper option with your ticket, you can make your
Lightning Lane return times for any park of your choosing. There is a strategy that might make your day a little more efficient so let's review this next.
With Genie+, you can make your first Lightning Lane reservation starting at 7:00 AM on the day of your park visit. Make sure you get up a little early to get your first attraction booked! As long as you are staying at a Disney Resorts Collection hotel, you will be able to enter the park 30 minutes before the park officially opens to the general public with the
Early Theme Park Entry perk. Check on the
park hours during your stay and make sure to take advantage of this perk for the park you are starting in.
On the day of your park visit, you can make your 7 AM Lightning Lane reservation for the park you will be hopping to later in the day. 2 hours after the parks officially open, you can make your next selection for around a similar time of the first. This process can continue every 2 hours or until you make the hop over to your second park and start redeeming these experiences. This is the process of stacking the Lightning Lane selections you are referring to. As long as you get to your first park early to take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry, you will have the opportunity to experience many of your "Must-Do" attractions early and as the parks are reaching their busy times of the day during the late morning to early afternoon, you are thinking about heading to your second park to cruise in for your Lightning Lane reservations!
One minor detail when you are making your Lightning Lane return times, you will have a selection of times to pick from but Genie+ will only give you a certain amount of times filling up early to later. So if you get on at 7 AM to reserve a time for later in the afternoon around 3 PM, you might have to wait a bit for the earlier times to be taken up before your opportunity at 3 PM. The more popular attractions go quickly so try to book them first and the lesser ones for later. If you do have specific attractions such as
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT that you are wanting to experience but will be hopping to this park, consider the purchase of
Individual Lightning Lane options. This will ensure you have a specific time and reservation to experience this attraction and takes a lot of the uncertainty out of this experience.
Best of luck as you continue to plan and strategize for your upcoming trip. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out and let us know, we would be happy to help!
Have a Magical Day,
Nick