All-Day Park Hopping is Coming Back to Disney World — Here’s a Refresher
In case you missed it, regular all-day Park Hopping is coming back to Disney World in 2024!
Photo: Disney
That’s right! Beginning January 9th, original all-day Park Hopping will be a thing once again for the first time since 2020. Since so much has changed in the world and in Disney Parks over the last few years, here’s a refresher on how Park Hopping works in Disney World!
What is Park Hopping and How Does it Work?
Since its inception, Park Hopping has allowed guests to visit more than one Disney Park per day. To do this, guests needed either a Park Hopper ticket (which costs more than a single-day ticket) or an Annual Pass.
Park Hopper sign
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, guests with Park Hopper access could visit as many parks as they wanted in one day, at whatever times they chose.
When Disney World reopened in July 2020, Park Hopping was suspended, but it was later reinstated in 2021 for after 2PM only. That means that guests with Park Hopper access could not visit another park until after 2PM daily — and only after first visiting whatever park they reserved via the Park Reservation system.
Magic Kingdom entrance
Combining 2PM Park Hopper access with the Park Reservation system limited guests from the same flexibility they had in the past, and many wondered whether all-day Park Hopper access would ever return.
So what’s changing in 2024?
All-Day Park Hopping
Beginning January 9th, 2024, all-day Park Hopping is BACK for date-based tickets and Annual Passholders, meaning (if you qualify) you can visit as many parks at whatever times you want in a single day.
Photo: Disney
Note that Park Reservations will still generally be required UNLESS you have date-based tickets, so keep that in mind when booking your visit!
Based on Disney’s language, it appears that Annual Passholders will still need to make Park Reservations except on “good-to-go” dates when they are not required.
You can read the fine print below.
Photo: Disney
Virtual Queues & Genie+
With the post-pandemic 2PM Park Hopping policy, virtual queues were complicated. For rides like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle Run, the virtual queue would open daily at 7AM, and then again at 1PM for guests inside the park.
This means that you could not Park Hop to get into a 1PM virtual queue.
Photo: Disney
With all-day Park Hopping, you will now have the opportunity to book multiple virtual queues! Book your first virtual queue at 7AM, and your boarding group will likely be called within a few hours.
Once you finish riding your first ride, head to the park where the second ride is located, and book your virtual queue at 1PM! (Note that you can’t book the same ride at 7AM and 1PM.)
TRON Lightcycle / Run
Also, Disney recently updated their website to say that “select admission types may also require a theme park reservation to join a virtual queue,” which means that Annual Passholders and others may still need to book Park Reservations to join virtual queues.
You can also only hold ONE virtual queue at a time. For example, if you book a 7AM virtual queue and your boarding group is not called until after 1PM, you will not be able to join a 1PM virtual queue.
You must be inside the park to request to join a 1PM virtual queue.
Virtual Queue info
And with Genie+, bookings have been somewhat limited due to 2PM Park Hopping, and guests have been unable to book rides before 2PM for second parks.
With all-day Park Hopping and a valid Park Hopper ticket, you will likely be able to book Genie+ rides at all parks throughout the day. Just make sure that you have enough time to travel between parks!
Lightning Lane
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