If I plan to rope drop at Animal Kingdom and not use any lightning lanes that are Genie+ included, when will I be able to begin booking LLs at Epcot for after 2pm when park hopping begins? How does that work with needing park reservations?”

Hi, Allison, and welcome to planDisney!

You ain't never had a friend like Disney Genie!  I think you will find that purchasing Disney Genie+ service really helps you to maximize the magic during your theme park visit.  It would be my pleasure to grant your wish to better understand how Disney Genie+ service works when you're planning to park hop.

First, if you're hoping to visit more than one park per day, you will need to make sure that you have added the Park Hopper option to your theme park tickets.  You will then need to make a theme park reservation for the park you plan to enter first for each day of your ticket.  So in the scenario you mentioned, you would need to make your theme park reservation for Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park.  You do not need to make a theme park reservation for any other parks you plan to visit later that day.  If you are planning to hop to EPCOT, you will be able to do so anytime after 2:00 P.M., as long as the park has not reached capacity.  To double-check on park hopping availability, open your My Disney Experience mobile app and click on the house icon at the bottom of the screen.  Once you are on the home screen, scroll down and click "All Hours."  You can then view Park Hopper availability for each park.

If you purchase Disney Genie+ service for this day but prefer to save your Lightning Lane selections for the second park you will be visiting, you can certainly do this.  One thing to keep in mind, however, is that at 7:00 A.M. when you can begin booking your Lightning Lane experiences, the Disney Genie Tip Board will begin by offering the earliest times in the day.  Unfortunately, there is no way to enter the time you are hoping to schedule (although you can do this when purchasing an à la carte Individual Lightning Lane experience).  You will need to just keep checking the Tip Board to see when those later Lightning Lane return times that will work with your schedule begin to be available.  Once the parks are open for the day, you can make additional Lightning Lane selections every two hours or once you use your current selection, whichever comes first.  So you should be able to stack up multiple Lightning Lane return times to use when you hop to EPCOT later in the day.

Allison, if you have any additional questions as you get ready for your trip, please visit us again.  Wishing you the most magical vacation ever!

Samantha