Hiya Hannah! Welcome to planDisney!
Thanks for stopping by with this great question! With some changes coming to the
Walt Disney World Resort at the beginning of next year, now is the perfect time to get answers to help you plan for an amazing trip!
As you stated, beginning on January 9th, theme park reservations will no longer be required for Guests with date-based tickets for entry into the parks each day. However, Park Hopping rules will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. For Guests who purchased the
Park Hopper Option, you can visit any of the three remaining parks beginning at 2 PM each day. If you visit one of the parks before 2 PM, you'll then need to wait until this time to hop over to another one.
Since theme park reservations will not be required, you can enter the 7 AM
Virtual Queue each day for any attraction that is currently using this system. However, if you do not plan to visit the park that the attraction is located in first, there is a great chance that your boarding group will be called before you are able to hop to this park. For the 1 PM Virtual Queue opening, you do need to physically be inside the park to obtain a boarding group. Using your example, if you visit Disney's Hollywood Studios first, you'll be unable to enter EPCOT in time to join the Virtual Queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
Your best bet will be to purchase an
Individual Lightning Lane for an attraction located at a park you are hopping to. You can select a time later in the day (if it is available) to ride the attraction that will fit best for your schedule. Otherwise, I suggest switching up the order of the parks and visiting EPCOT first before heading over to Hollywood Studios. This way you can take advantage of the Virtual Queue in the morning.
Hannah, I highly recommend following along with the
Disney Parks Blog and staying up to date on any news and announcements. I hope you have a magical stay!
See ya real soon!
Greg