If you plan to visit Epcot between May 27^th and August 7^th, you might want to update yourself on Genie+ and individual paid access attractions. Just when you thought you might know how to best use or not use Genie+, the addition of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind changes things. IN case you do not know, the Cosmic rewind attraction officially opens on May 27^th. DVC, Media, and annual passholder previews have been happening for some time. Yet, the first day for everyone happens to be a Friday of a big holiday weekend in the USA.

I will give you basic details. After that, I will make some educated guesses about good touring strategies for visiting Epcot starting May 27^th.

Starting May 27^th, guests may purchase individual lightning lanes for Cosmic Rewind. Based on historical patterns, if you are not staying on-site, then your chance of getting a paid one seems very unlikely. Also, starting May 27^th, guests will test their phone skills to get a virtual queue boarding pass. The virtual queues will drop at 7am and 1pm like the previous pattern used with other attractions. For those eligible for after-hours events at Epcot, you can try again later in the day. However, for this article, I will focus on day guests only.

Now, the procedure for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure takes a bit more time to explain procedures starting May 27^th. On that day, Remy’s continues as an attraction that you can purchase an individual paid access lightning lane. So, two attractions will be individual paid access from May 27^th through May 30^th. Those dates match the USA holiday weekend.

However, Tuesday May 31^st, Remy’s will drop from paid individual access to be a Genie+ attraction. Officially, Remy’s will be part of Genie+ attractions until at least August 7^th. August 7^th is the date that attractions like Frozen Ever After, that were moved from paid access to Genie+ might revert to paid access again. That means starting August 8^th, we could have three paid access lightning lane attractions at Epcot. I doubt that will happen, but it is possible. We will have to wait to see about that, however.

BASIC TOURING STRATEGIES/SUGGESTIONS:

In fairness, these rates as hard to predict. However, based on history, I can make a few suggestions.

1. Do not expect boarding passes/virtual queue access to be easy to get for Cosmic Rewind. If you are staying on-site and wanting to ride this attraction, buy some lightning lanes at 7am. Since all guests will be going to the virtual queues, use your advantage as an on-site guest. Based on historical data, the waits for the virtual queue even if you get one could be over an hour easily. Paid lightning lane access queue waits will be far shorter than that.
2. Starting May 31^st, make Remy’s your first Genie+ selection. After that follow standard suggestions found here.
3. Park reservations will be far tougher to get for Epcot now. Expect all other attractions besides Remy’s to be longer now. I realize those of you visiting Walt Disney World this year feel it could not get more crowded. However, history tells us that a new attraction will drive people to this park. If you want advice on rope-dropping strategies, click here.

I hope this helps. I will update when we have tangible data if these suggestions need to be adjusted. Good luck getting a virtual queue!