Hi Lorraine!
Welcome to planDisney! Theme park tickets, park hopper option, and Disney Genie+. . .oh my! When planning a visit to the parks, there are many great tools to help you get the most out of your visit. Let's break down those options and get you ready for your trip!
Lorraine, I love that you're planning to add the
park hopper option to your theme park tickets. With the park hopper option, you can enter and leave each of the four theme parks throughout your day. The former FastPass system has been replaced with
Disney Genie+, a paid service allowing access to Lightning Lane entries for some of your favorite rides and attractions. Pricing for Genie+ varies per day and is only available to purchase after midnight each day in your
My Disney Experience Mobile App. There is a multi-park option available for Genie+ so just make sure you select that you choose that option to have it available in each of the parks that you plan to visit.
With Genie+, you can make your first Lightning Lane selection at 7:00 AM and then again two hours after park opening or once you redeem your first selection. This pattern continues throughout the day, allowing one selection every two hours or after redeeming the previous entry. Lightning Lane entries are based on availability throughout the day so I recommend choosing your must-do rides first! There is no official minimum or maximum number of Lightning Lane entries you access during your day, but I've never had a problem grabbing at least three each day and on one very lucky day at Magic Kingdom Park, I was able to use 14 Lightning Lane entrances!
Disney Genie+ isn't the only tool available though to help you save time in line and maximize your day in the park.
Virtual Queues are currently available for TRON Lightcycle/Run at Magic Kingdom Park and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. In addition, we recently heard that Tiana's Bayou Adventure will have a Virtual Queue option and will also be available on Disney Genie+ when it opens at Magic Kingdom later this month. Virtual Queues are free to join and incredibly popular. If you want to try and join one, you'll want to be on your app at 7:00 AM for that first selection. I would recommend trying to join a Virtual Queue before making any other selections in Genie+. If you miss the Virtual Queue at 7:00 AM, there is another chance to join at 1:00 PM, but you do have to be inside the park of the attraction you are trying to access to join at that time. You may only hold one Virtual Queue at a time and cannot join the afternoon queue for the same attraction you used a Virtual Queue entrance for in the morning.
Finally,
Individual Lightning Lanes are available for purchase as well. These are for select rides (usually one or two per park) and are separate purchases from Genie+. If you are staying at a Disney Resorts Collection hotel, you can purchase Individual Lightning Lanes starting at 7:00 AM while all other guests will need to wait until the park opens to make their purchase. You are allowed to purchase a maximum of two Individual Lightning Lanes per day and both can be purchased first thing in the morning!
Lorraine, I hope this helps to answer your question and that you have a wonderful time on your upcoming visit! Please stop by to see us again at planDisney with any other questions you have in the future!
Cheers,
Kristi