You might think you’ve got Disney “figured out.” You’re a Disney expert, right? You’ve been dozens of times and can walk the parks with a blindfold on. But, whether you’re a new visitor or repeat guest, there are some NEW PROBLEMS you need to be prepared for.

No, it’s not the Park Pass system (though that will be changing in 2024). And it’s not Mobile Order struggles (though some of the system has changed recently in a way that can make things easier). Today we’re tackling 2 other things that could throw you off if you’re not totally ready for them.

1 — Virtual Queue Stress

If you were hoping to sleep in late on your Disney World days, you might need to rethink that plan. Rope dropping (getting to the parks before they even open) and getting to the parks early in general can often help you get on the popular rides with shorter waits. But there’s another reason why you’ll want to wake up EXTRA early in Disney World — virtual queues.

Virtual queues are currently in place for both Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (EPCOT) and TRON Lightcycle / Run (Magic Kingdom).

For either/both of these rides, you’ll join the virtual queue using the My Disney Experience app. Make sure you have that app downloaded and fully set up AHEAD of your trip. You’ll want to make sure you’ve set up your account, linked your tickets/hotel reservations, and that ALL of the members of your party have either set up their accounts and linked their information or you’ve set up the friends and family accounts for them.

You want to make sure you can access EVERYONE’s information so one person can make virtual queue selections for the whole party.

Here are the basic rules for the Guardians of the Galaxy virtual queue:

• The first sign-up time opens at 7AM — you don’t need to be in the park at that time to join but you do need an EPCOT park pass
• The second sign-up time opens at 1PM — you NEED to be in EPCOT at that time to join the virtual queue
• There may be an additional sign-up time at 6PM on days when Extended Evening Hours is offered at EPCOT — you don’t need to be in EPCOT to join at that time but you must qualify for Extended Evening Hours (staying at a Disney deluxe hotel, deluxe villa, or one of the other qualifying hotels)

Here are the basic rules for the TRON virtual queue:

• The first sign-up time opens at 7AM — you don’t need to be in the park at that time to join but you do need a Magic Kingdom park pass
• The second sign-up time opens at 1PM — you NEED to be in Magic Kingdom at that time to join the virtual queue
• There may be an additional sign-up time at 6PM on days when Extended Evening Hours is offered at Magic Kingdom — you don’t need to be in Magic Kingdom to join at that time but you must qualify for Extended Evening Hours (staying at a Disney deluxe hotel, deluxe villa, or one of the other qualifying hotels)

These are both really popular rides and they do NOT offer standby queues. So if you’re hoping to get on them, the virtual queue is one of your only options (your other option is to buy an Individual Lightning Lane for the rides).

So here are a few tips. First, be aware that these virtual queues exist and review those rules a dozen times before your trip arrives. If you’re aware of the rules and know what to do to sign up for the virtual queues, it’ll make life a LOT easier.

Second, know that the virtual queue spots can fill up FAST at that 7AM drop for both rides. You’ll need to decide which ride you want to prioritize, get a Park Pass for the appropriate park (do this well in advance of your trip), and then be ready to join that queue as soon as the 7AM sign-up time drops.

If you don’t get a spot, then you can try again at 1PM. We’ve found that the virtual queue spots for BOTH rides have (at times) been available for much longer periods of time at the 1PM drop time. Sometimes the virtual queue spots have even been available well past the 2PM park hopping time.

That means that you could (theoretically) join the virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind at the 7AM spot, ride the attraction, hop to Magic Kingdom, and (if they’re still available) get a virtual queue spot for TRON and ride it that afternoon/evening. (Or do the reverse, riding TRON first and then hopping to ride Cosmic Rewind.)

If you want to tackle both rides in one day, another option is to purchase the Individual Lightning Lane option for one or both rides. You could buy the option for both rides to “guarantee” a spot (rather than chance it with the virtual queues). Or perhaps just buy the Individual Lightning Lane for one ride and use the virtual queue for the other.

If you only buy it for one ride, we recommend buying the Individual Lightning Lane for the ride located in the park you’ll be hopping to at 2PM. If not, you run the risk that you hop to that park and the virtual queue has already filled up by the time you arrive.

There are some considerations you’ll want to keep in mind. One of our reporters shared that they recently used the virtual queue for TRON and bought an Individual Lightning Lane for Cosmic Rewind and had ZERO regrets. While the virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind was still open when they hopped to the park at 2PM, the callback time was an estimated 6.5 HOURS. Since they had purchased a Lightning Lane, however, they already had selected a time that worked for them so they weren’t tied to that.

We have found that the return line for Cosmic Rewind can get longer the later you get called back, so an Individual Lightning Lane can be particularly helpful

Another tip is to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane for TRON if you want to make sure you can ride the attraction at night, which is when it has those EPIC light effects. You could wait until the 1PM sign-up time to join the virtual queue for that day, but you’d run the risk that you won’t be able to get a spot at that time and thus are totally unable to ride the attraction.

But remember, Individual Lightning Lanes go on sale to all Disney World hotel guests EARLIER than everyone else. Individual Lightning Lanes are available to purchase at 7AM for Disney World hotel guests, but not until park open for all others.

So you may want to consider staying at a Disney World hotel for that added perk if buying an Individual Lightning Lane for one of these particular rides is important to you.

Is it necessary to stay at a hotel and get this early access? Not necessarily, but it can help. For TRON in particular, if you want to make sure you can select an Individual Lightning Lane time for the evening, you may want to stay at a qualifying hotel to give yourself the best chance of snagging one of those.

Most of the time, you’ll still find that the Cosmic Rewind and TRON Individual Lightning Lanes are available to buy at park open, but TRON did start to sell out before that (sometimes) around Spring Break, so if you’ll be visiting during a busy season, staying at a hotel could give you an advantage there too.

The key here is to know the virtual queue rules, set up a plan of attack for the rides you want to get on that have virtual queues, and be prepared to make your selections/purchases as soon as those times drop!

Click here for our full page on virtual queues

2 — Genie+ Surge Pricing

The other problem you want to prepare for is Genie+ pricing. Individual Lightning Lanes have always been subject to surge pricing, but starting in October of 2022, the “standard” Genie+ service became subject to surge pricing too.

As a reminder, the “standard” Genie+ service lets you pay one price per day (that price varies each day) to make Lightning Lane selections at many of Disney World’s rides one ride at a time. Select popular rides are NOT available via the standard Genie+ service — for those, you need to buy an Individual Lightning Lane to skip the standby line.

The “standard” Genie+ service used to be a set $15 per person per day. Now, that price varies depending on the date you’ll be visiting — meaning it can be MUCH more expensive on peak busy days. We’ve seen the price rise to as high as $35 per person.

So if you’ll be visiting Disney World soon, don’t expect Genie+ to be the same price each day of your trip. It may be $22 one day, $25 the next, and up to $30 by the end of your trip. To be extra safe, you may want to budget around $35 (or $40) per person per day for each day you plan to use Genie+ on your trip. If it ends up being cheaper, then that’s money back to your budget (or wallet). But if it ends up being around that price, then you’re mentally and fiscally prepared.

Some of the months with the MOST expensive Genie+ days have been November (particularly around Thanksgiving), December (especially around Christmas and New Year’s Eve), and March/April (with Spring Break in full force).

Of course, other months can have expensive Genie+ days too, particularly around holiday periods. So if you’ll be planning a trip to Disney World in the future, be sure to check and see if it falls around a holiday. If it does, expect Genie+ surge pricing to be in effect. If you can, consider rearranging the dates of your trip to be away from holiday periods so as to take advantage of (likely) lower Genie+ prices.

And those are just 2 of the big problems you’ll need to prepare for in Disney World. Whether they impact your wake-up time, budget, or other plans, you’ll want to take these into account so you’re as prepared for your trip as possible.

Want more Disney trip planning advice? Check out our ULTIMATE guide to planning a Disney World vacation. And don’t forget to pick up our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining.

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What are some big problems you’ve encountered in Disney World? Tell us in the comments.