This is your reminder that securing your virtual queue spot is a bit harder now!
TRON
So many changes recently hit Disney World, and it can be hard to keep up with what you need when planning a trip. Park passes are no longer needed for select ticket holders, park hopping has returned without restrictions, and the Disney dining plan is back. On top of all of that, there is one change that you’ll want to keep at the front of your mind each morning otherwise, it could throw off your entire day’s plans.
We know what you’re thinking, “Another BIG change at Disney World?” but believe us when we say, you’ll want to be sure you KNOW how this change will work once it rolls around, otherwise, it could spell disaster for your park plans.
Crowds in Magic Kingdom
Disney World bid park pass reservations goodbye on January 9th, 2024 for most visitors (except for annual passholders). This means that if you’re planning on visiting Disney World with a ticket that’s tied to a certain date, you no longer need to choose which park you’re visiting before you arrive…but wait, there’s more!
©Disney
Virtual Queues are free reservations that allow you to join the standby line for attractions without having to purchase an individual lightning lane to ride. Right now, there are two rides with virtual queues at Disney World — TRON Lightcycle / Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. There are certain times of day when the virtual queues open. At those times, you join the queue through the My Disney Experience app. And then, you wait — except you don’t have to go get in line! You can be doing other things around the parks while you wait in line virtually. Once your turn to join the actual line is “called” you’ll be notified in the My Disney Experience app with a time window for arrival.
TRON Lightcycle / Run
We LOVE virtual queues! You’re essentially waiting in line for the newest and most popular rides that have waits of multiple hours — WITHOUT standing in line. It’s one of the greatest things we’ve seen introduced at Disney World in the past few years!
Now, let’s talk a little bit about how the PREVIOUS virtual queue system worked. Before the changes that started on January 9th, 2024, those who were looking to ride either of these attractions needed to make a park pass reservation for the preferred attraction’s respective park for the morning and then attempt to secure a virtual queue to ride on the app starting at 7AM. If you had a park reservation for EPCOT, you could only try to get a virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy — you couldn’t try to get a virtual queue for TRON in Magic Kingdom, and vice versa. This process allowed you to only have to vie against those who were signed up to visit the same park that morning. Additionally, you could make a second attempt in the park after you had scanned in to visit for the day at 1PM, but again, only if you had already scanned into the park.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Here’s where this process has gotten a bit trickier! Once the park pass reservations went away, you are now able to try for either virtual queue … or both! Let’s say that on Wednesday of your vacation, you’re planning to go to Magic Kingdom. You are on your phone and ready to snag that virtual queue reservation right when they open up at 7AM on Wednesday morning. But, the virtual queue sells out in seconds! You could jump over to Guardians of the Galaxy and try for a virtual queue for it — because you can just change your plan and go to EPCOT on Wednesday if you get one. You don’t have to worry that you don’t have a park reservation for EPCOT anymore. See what we mean?
Cosmic Rewind queue
But the “extra chance” you gain at getting a virtual queue means lots of people have the same chance — so there could be MORE people trying for your desired virtual queue (there’s always a downside, amiright?). Keep in mind, though, that you’ll only be able to secure one virtual queue at a time. You can’t get in the virtual queue for both rides first thing in the morning.
From our experience, it does seem like these virtual queues are still filling up, and rather quickly at that. Especially when the parks are a little busier than normal. So, it is more important than ever to set an alarm and have a plan on which attraction you want to snag first. And also budget for an Individual Lightning Lane just in case those virtual queues do end up filling up. Remember though, if you aren’t staying at a Disney World hotel, you can’t snag those individual lightning lanes until the parks actually open, which can put you at another huge disadvantage.
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The thing I’ve hated about the current rule is that it screws Park Hoppers. We’ve never been able to get on Guardians because we always park hop to Epcot. But they won’t let us in until 2 so never could get in the queue at 1.
Hope this change helps.
What I want to know if you get a virtual cue for guardians and have Park Hoppers can you then go to magic Kingdom and wait for 1:00 and get a queue for Tron
What about Annual Passholders that still, mostly, require a park reservation? Do the new or old rules apply? Thank you!
What if you get a VQ for Tron and get called back in the morning, ride it, then head to Epcot and enter the park before 1pm. Could you then try to get the VQ for Guardians too?
Bleh!!!!!
Hi Alex! In that scenario, you could join the VQ for Guardians when queuing opens again at 1pm. The only rule is that you can’t hold both of the VQs at the same time and the VQ spots for Guardians before that 1pm release will probably all be gone.
Hi Kathryn! Yes, you should be able to do that if you have already used your VQ for Guardians. You can’t hold a VQ for both TRON and Guardians at the same time, however, so you’d have to ride one first.
I thought park reservations went away for everyone. No change for passholders ????
How will the Tron virtual queue work when attending the Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween party?
Hi Henry! When I went to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party last November we just had to join the virtual queue for TRON at 6pm and then we got a callback time that was around 8:45pm, but that time will vary based on your position in the queue and what your boarding group number is once you secure it.