Disney Parks’ shift to digital solutions has introduced a new task to your preparations: joining Virtual Queues. When rides are white hot, the company wants guests to obtain digital reservations so they can spend more time doing lucrative things (like spend money in shops) rather than dawdling in lines. The Virtual Queue system is typically for the newest, most-popular rides and, when in force, that ride will not have a regular Standby line, the only free way to line up for these rides. If you don’t sign up for the Virtual Queue for a ride that’s using it, the only other way to get on is to purchase an expensive Individual Lightning Lane booking for each person in your party.
If your trip is pre-planned, Disney may send you emails and push notifications to warn you which rides (and occasionally shows) will require Virtual Queue during your visit. The Virtual Queues option in the app shows what is using the system.
Drawings happen at 7am sharp on the day of your visit, when you vie for your spot at the attraction with your smartphone from wherever you are. (At 1pm, there’s a second and usually final daily drawing for which you must be inside the same park as your target ride.) Well before 7am, prepare to enter by making sure your ticket is in order and ensuring your entire party has been linked to you using the “Family & Friends” section of the Disney World app.
A few minutes before 7am, navigate to the Virtual Queue section. Keep refreshing by dragging downward or repeatedly tapping the button. When the clock strikes 7, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a “Boarding Group” (not a time). Click to join. It will all be over in a few seconds.
If you’re unlucky, you must try again for the second drawing.
If you’re really unlucky, you go home without getting a chance to ride, because often there’s no Standby line. (The ride might be selling Individual Lightning Lane reservations, which can be purchased via the attractions’ app page. But if you miss out on the 1pm lottery, the available slots may very well be unavailable by then.)
If you obtain a Boarding Group, you track the ride’s progress via the app. You’ll be able to check which group is boarding at any time, but you’ll also get a push notification when it’s your turn. You may then check in for the ride using your phone, MagicBand, or ticket, but there still may be a wait in the attraction’s real queue of up to an hour.
I must prepare you: It’s possible to get shut out, especially when rides are new. I have watched families from out of state console each other outside Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance when their second chance failed.
Another warning: Though you have an hour to get to the ride from the time your boarding group is called, if you miss your window, you miss your turn. It’ll be up to the discretion of the cast member at the ride entrance to decide to let you in late or not. We've never had trouble being a little late, but it's up to the cast member at the door.
The Virtual Queue system is unfair for a host of reasons. It favors the young and nimble. Not everyone has the reflexes to succeed at the Virtual Queue system, or they may lack the computer literacy, the visual or mental acuity. If you’re in a car driving to the park at 7am without a designated app-refreshing passenger, it’s not safe to do it. And because it depends on a smartphone, it also favors people who have more money.
The system is messy and complex—and that's a big reason why many people just bite the bullet and pay extra for Individual Lightning Lane instead.
Disney cast members say that if guests have disabilities or other impediments to attempting to join the Virtual Queue—such as owning a phone older than the iPhone 6, the poor things—then those visitors can wait in line at Guest Relations to plead their case for a spot in line. They’d rather you just purchase a place using Lightning Lane.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
