Hey there, hi there, ho there Shelby!
Thank you so much for sending your question over and welcome to planDisney! I absolutely love that you and your family will be spending time with your loved ones at The Most Magical Place on Earth. My Florida friends also love to meet up with me when I am visiting the parks on vacation, so I am thrilled to be helping you today.
To answer your question, you can absolutely spend time with your Floridian friend in the parks and make plans together! You would simply have to make sure that you each have your
My Disney Experience accounts and that you are linked to each other's Family & Friends Lists. To do so, you would go hover your cursor over the My Disney Experience tab and click on "My Family & Friends" if you are using the website, or click on the three lines at the bottom right of your screen and then click on "My Profile" in the mobile app. At the bottom of your Family & Friends List, you will click on "Add a Guest" and enter your friend's information. Make sure you are entering the email that is linked to their My Disney Experience account as they will then receive an invitation to connect with you. Once they accept your invitation, they will appear on your Family & Friends List. If you do not see their profile right away, try refreshing your page or app as I have found that there sometimes is a bit of a delay. Then, you will be able to link them to any dining reservations or Lightning Lane selections you might make.
Now, Shelby, I see you are a Disney pro! Since you already have your tickets and your
theme park reservations linked to your accounts, you will not have to do anything else to be able to enter the parks together. Making ride selections, however, will be a bit different than what you are used to. The new service
Disney Genie+ is similar to FastPass in the way that it lets you select a return time for select rides and that you need to use the one you already have to make new ones. However, Disney Genie+ is a service that must be purchased and that will only let you make one
Lightning Lane selection at a time and only on the day of your visit. You can add Disney Genie+ to your tickets in two ways: you can either add it when purchasing your tickets on purchase it on the
My Disney Experience mobile app on the day of your visit. As long as everyone in your party has purchased Disney Genie+ and is linked to your Family & Friends List, you will be able to make Lightning Lane selections for your whole party.
I hope this was helpful, Shelby, and that you and your loved ones have the best day ever at the Walt Disney World Resort. If you have any other questions in the time leading up to your magical vacation, don't hesitate to reach out. After all, you ain't never had a friend like us!
Have a magical day and may all your wishes come true,
Ariane