Am I the only one who's not a fan of VQ only?

[hsmamato2]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not paying super close attention to the new upcoming changes, except it's clear the new lightning lane stuff is just paid fastpass. What I'm starting to see tho is bothering me a lot, how can a ride have a VQ only option? What about people who don't have the technology to try for this? It just seems so unbalanced, that there isn't a standby option at all.... I guess Guardians has been like this for quite a while, but it seems so unfair in general. I don't mind trying for a VQ, but why not provide a standby option if that failed and I didn't mind waiting in a line?

 

[Lewisc]

ut why not provide a standby option if that failed and I didn't mind waiting in a line?

Disney has evidently decided the long FoP lines isn't good show.

 

[focusondisney]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not paying super close attention to the new upcoming changes, except it's clear the new lightning lane stuff is just paid fastpass. What I'm starting to see tho is bothering me a lot, how can a ride have a VQ only option? What about people who don't have the technology to try for this? It just seems so unbalanced, that there isn't a standby option at all.... I guess Guardians has been like this for quite a while, but it seems so unfair in general. I don't mind trying for a VQ, but why not provide a standby option if that failed and I didn't mind waiting in a line?

Because the VQ line is the stand by line. When the Frozen ride opened, people were waiting in 6 hour lines. For 1 ride. This gives an opportunity to ride the new, popular ride plus still be able to do other things in the park. As for the question about people not having technology, I don’t buy that applies to many people. To those it does, they could have a family member or friend try for them. I think they could also have guest services at the front desk or the blue umbrellas try for them at 7 am or 1 pm. And when demand levels off, the VQ will go away & become just stand by.

 

[reddog21]

I'm a fan of the VQ, save my spot while I can go do tother things.

 

[BrianL]

I really dislike VQ's too, though they do rowk a little better now than they did when they first statred doing them. I would at lease like the option of getting in a line. I also dislike when you return for your Boarding Group and the line is still an hour long, though, again, I haven't seen that in a while.

The problem though is that they are a necessity because people will wait so long for these things now. It used to be that lines kind of capped out at an hour, maybe 90 minutes on a very busy day for the tip-top rides. Now, people will wait six hours to ride something on the first day, just to say they did it - every blogger has to do it, you know? This is again a symptom of Disney's own success and popularity. More bandwidth park wide is the only real solution. The problem is that anything new will suffer the same thing.

 

[cmbr]

I like VQs in theory, I think it's good that I can have a guaranteed spot on a popular new ride but not spend my whole day physically standing in the line. I don't like Disney's VQ process though. I've only had to do it for RotR, but I remember my family being sooo stressed trying to nab our spot in that queue. Unsure exactly how much the process has changed since I was last there in '21, but I think the main problem for me was that everyone going to the park that day could try to get in the queue at the same time no matter when they were getting to the park. That just seemed like a strange way to do it to me, I felt you should have to at least be physically IN the park to join the queue. In my opinion, if you get to the park early for a shorter wait in a stand by line, the same principal should apply for a virtual line since it IS the stand by line, even if the amount of spots is still limited. And that's coming from someone who never, ever rope drops.

That could be my bitterness toward the current system talking, though

 

[traveler9]

I like VQ because it keeps DAS holders from being able to re-ride all day on the rides that have it.

 

[Hubalorian]

I am fine with VQs, however with the new system, I would prefer if you could book VQs in advance. I will still have to get up at 7 AM to try for a VQ

 

[scrappinginontario]

I will take trying for a VQ and knowing in seconds if I'm successful or not over standing in line for multiple hours, any day.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Yea, VQs have been temporary (perhaps a couple years temporary!) and are actually a controlled standby line for the really popular and new attractions. No issue with that, especially since they will also have either an ILL or G+/LL option to pay and avoid the VQ.

 

[reddog21]

I also dislike when you return for your Boarding Group and the line is still an hour long, though, again

Everyone's experience is different however I have been in multiple vq's and only once did I wait longer than 30 minutes to ride.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

One thing that VQ-only takes away is the ability to jump in a short line in the evening for a couple of late night re-rides.

 

[focusondisney]

One thing that VQ-only takes away is the ability to jump in a short line in the evening for a couple of late night re-rides.

Except the rides with VQ are unlikely to have short lines you could jump in at the end of the night. If I remember right, those ride lines (like Frozen when it 1st opened) were cut off well before official park closing to clear all the people already in the stand by line.

 

[neverlandsky]

Didn't even know what VQ was until we went to Universal Studios Hollywood and had a cast member tell us how for It's a Pet's Life ride.
Heartbroken that our beloved Disneyland Haunted Mansion is going VQ only. No more multiple rides. Part of the fun at theme parks is re-riding a ride. Now it's becoming you're lucky if you get one ride in.

 

[pens4821]

I don’t love or hate it. I don’t like that it goes in seconds (both the 7 and 1 did when we were there in March). Also don’t like not being able to get in line at opening/closing for a short wait or being spontaneous with it.

However I got a vq every time we tried so it worked out well for us. The waits also weren’t bad at all. Early in the morning I’d say 20-30 minutes. Even mid day we only waited about 45.

Another issue now is with the option to purchase ILL in advance. Hopefully they leave enough selection that if you don’t get vq you can still buy an ILL.

 

[Disneylover99]

I have a love/hate relationship with VQ.
I love when I get a VQ, but hate it when I don’t.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Except the rides with VQ are unlikely to have short lines you could jump in at the end of the night. If I remember right, those ride lines (like Frozen when it 1st opened) were cut off well before official park closing to clear all the people already in the stand by line.

You can always jump in a short line at the end of the night, you just have to know that the wait times are intentionally inflated to discourage late riders.

The last attraction that they cut off the line in advance was Flight of Passage, and that only lasted for a few weeks. We did that one a couple of months after it opened with a 17 minute actual wait about 10 minutes before closing time. The posted wait was 130 minutes.

On a more recent visit, we did the same on Rise of the Resistance just after it added a standby line. The posted wait was 100 minutes an hour and 20 minutes before closing time, but we were able to ride three times.

That's what you miss with VQ only.

 

[ftbaker1313]

I will use VQ to my advantage when possible, but I will wish for its early and painful demise.

 

[focusondisney]

You can always jump in a short line at the end of the night, you just have to know that the wait times are intentionally inflated to discourage late riders.

The last attraction that they cut off the line in advance was Flight of Passage, and that only lasted for a few weeks. We did that one a couple of months after it opened with a 17 minute actual wait about 10 minutes before closing time. The posted wait was 130 minutes.

On a more recent visit, we did the same on Rise of the Resistance just after it added a standby line. The posted wait was 100 minutes an hour and 20 minutes before closing time, but we were able to ride three times.

That's what you miss with VQ only.

That’s not what I said…..I said rides with VQ only wouldn’t let you do that because the lines would be too long otherwise & would get cut off. Like FOP was. And ROTR was sometimes cut off early after VQ was dropped. When rides had 6 hour lines…they were not letting you “jump in line” right at closing.

 

[jimmymc]

The story behind VQ is from a quote by Bob Chapek: "If you build in enough capacity, the rides don’t go down and it operates at 99% efficiency, you shouldn’t have 10-hour lines. So, 10-hour lines are not a sign of success. It should be seen as a sign of, frankly, failure." He was referring to Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure at Universal, which on day 1 did show a 600 minute wait. They didn't want something similar happening to Rise of the Resistance, so they made it VQ only. Personally, I think it's great for when an attraction launches, but after a month or two, you should change back to a normal queue. Let people who love the ride go twice without needing to pay, while people who don't care as much can skip it.