Hello Amy,
Thanks for stopping by
planDisney with your question. May will be here before you know it, and it looks like you are ready to start planning dining and all of the little details that will make your trip extra special!
With the added
Park Hopper Option, you only need to make a
reservation at the FIRST park you plan to visit each day. In your case, you just need to reserve
Disney's Animal Kingdom. Then, on the day of your visit, you can hop over to
EPCOT at 2:00 PM (or whenever park hopping is allowed) without a reservation.
You'll still be able to make your dining reservations to any of the amazing restaurants at EPCOT. When you are making the reservation you'll just be reminded that you have to have a valid park admission to dine there.
It sounds like you are planning on adding
Disney Genie+ to your ticket, at least for that day. If you haven't already done that, it can be added beginning at midnight on the day you want to use it. Don't feel like you have to be a night owl, however. It only takes a minute to purchase, you'll just want to purchase it before 7:00 AM when you can select your first Lightning Lane.
In your
My Disney Experience app, you'll be able to let Genie know that you are park hopping. When you are using the
FREE Disney Genie planning service, you'll see a link at the bottom of the screen that says "Plan for Your Next Park." You can click that and select your second park of the day. Even if you don't have Genie+, Disney Genie will use that information to give you touring suggestions throughout the day. It's a pretty fun feature!
Hope this helps. Have a magical vacation!
Diane