Disney World’s Virtual Queues Under Fire as Rides Continue To Operate Half Empty

One of the most irritating parts of a Walt Disney World vacation, and there can be many, is getting to one of the parks and immediately jumping onto your phone to get into a virtual queue. The hardest part is not knowing if your boarding group will get called or when you will have to arrive at the attraction.

Two people are enjoying a thrilling ride on a roller coaster at Walt Disney World, gripping the handlebars tightly and beaming with excitement. The vibrant, blue lighting around them accentuates the intensity and fun of the Disney After Hours event. — TRON (Credit: Disney)

Then, there is the possibility that your boarding group won’t get called at all, and your group will miss out on one of Disney World’s premiere attractions.

There is a simple way to avoid this problem: purchase a Lightning Lane single pass for that ride. However, a family of four could spend another $100 to get onto a single ride.

Disney World has seemingly fixed this problem for Tron Lightcycle/Run by eliminating the virtual queue. Starting tomorrow, September 9, guests will no longer have to enter the queue. Instead, the ride will operate by a single standby line.

Removing the virtual queue at this one attraction solves a problem for Disney World and its guests. Guests no longer have to worry about the stress of getting into the virtual queue.

Nighttime view of a futuristic, blue-lit pedestrian bridge bustling with people, featuring a distinctive arched design and glowing light spheres. — Credit: Becky Burkett, Inside the Magic

For Disney World, this alleviates the problem of Tron Lightcycle/Run operating with few guests on the ride. It lets guests get on a thrill ride and ensures that people will always be waiting in line.

However, with this change coming to Tron Lightcycle/Run, guests wonder why Disney is waiting so long to switch to Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind.

Cosmic Rewind has been open at the Walt Disney World Resort longer than Tron and remains one of its most popular rides. Guests have taken social media to show that the boarding groups aren’t working at the ride.

Cosmic Rewind Lightning Lane and virtual queue lines are currently empty all the way to the pre-show room. It’s time to get rid of all boarding groups. pic.twitter.com/g9b4Hn1z2R

— Diservations (@diservations) September 6, 2024

One guest showed that the entire staging area at Cosmic Rewind was completely empty, and they could walk right into the preshow area without waiting. When they entered the preshow staging area, it was virtually empty.

While this would alleviate that issue, it does not appear that The Walt Disney Company plans to turn Cosmic Rewind into a standby line anytime soon. Part of the reason for not making this change is the lack of other thrill rides at EPCOT.

With Test Track undergoing a year-long renovation, the standby line at Guardians would be overwhelming. When Test Track returns online next year, Cosmic Rewind may see the move away from the virtual queue system.

Guests descending the final drop on Tiana's Bayou Adventure. — Credit: Disney

The virtual queue system is also in place at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, but given that the ride is less than four months old, it also seems unlikely that Walt Disney World would make a change.

For now, at the two main attractions that still use boarding groups, guests must cross their fingers and hope they can get on to the rides. Even though some operate well below capacity, Disney doesn’t want to make the changes.

How long do you think the wait times would be if Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure had standby lines?