Haunted Mansion and the Virtual Queue

[XoxoAmy]

Hi all - looking for advice: I fly in to LAX on Wed 9/18 - landing around 10am. We plan to head straight to the DL hotel (we have carry ons), check in, drop off our bags, and head to DL. My flight is from Boston, so it takes off at 4am PST. Assuming I can join the 7am VQ while in the air (praying that Delta wifi works well), should I try to do that? I know we might get an early return time and miss our window. But the other option of waiting until the 12pm VQ seems too risky because I doubt we will be scanned into DL by 12pm (maybe, but that would be tight). What would you do?

Do all the 7am VQs return before 12pm, and then the 12pm VQ is for all times after that, or is it possible that we get a return time later in the day from the 7am VQ? (That would be ideal)

Are the 7am and 12pm VQs both filling up instantly? I'm more of a WDW person, and I know those VQs are full in less than 10 seconds at 7am, but not always as fast with the second drop later in the day.

Finally - is there really no Single LL available for purchase for HM right now? It's so weird to have a VQ and not have the option to buy the LL and pick our time (which is what I always do for the rides that have a VQ in WDW).

Thanks!

 

[dina444444]

Hi all - looking for advice: I fly in to LAX on Wed 9/18 - landing around 10am. We plan to head straight to the DL hotel (we have carry ons), check in, drop off our bags, and head to DL. My flight is from Boston, so it takes off at 4am PST. Assuming I can join the 7am VQ while in the air (praying that Delta wifi works well), should I try to do that? I know we might get an early return time and miss our window. But the other option of waiting until the 12pm VQ seems too risky because I doubt we will be scanned into DL by 12pm (maybe, but that would be tight). What would you do?

Do all the 7am VQs return before 12pm, and then the 12pm VQ is for all times after that, or is it possible that we get a return time later in the day from the 7am VQ? (That would be ideal)

Are the 7am and 12pm VQs both filling up instantly? I'm more of a WDW person, and I know those VQs are full in less than 10 seconds at 7am, but not always as fast with the second drop later in the day.

Finally - is there really no Single LL available for purchase for HM right now? It's so weird to have a VQ and not have the option to buy the LL and pick our time (which is what I always do for the rides that have a VQ in WDW).

Thanks!

It’s on VQ due to the situation with the queue construction. There’s not room for a LL at the moment. It will go back to regular LL no VQ when the construction is done. The ride has a late start today. My group 63 (got at 7:05 this morning) still hasn’t been called. I’m also not even at the parks yet. Enforcement for the most part is line guardians, if your late it’s fine.

 

[LKing]

They don't fill within seconds. There have been days when I've forgotten to do VQ until around 8 am and got group 100-130. Those don't usually get called until 1 pm or later. Yesterday I went on right at 7 and got group 20 which was called around 8:30 am

There is no LLSP or LLMP for Haunted Mansion at this time.

 

[XoxoAmy]

It’s on VQ due to the situation with the queue construction. There’s not room for a LL at the moment. It will go back to regular LL no VQ when the construction is done. The ride has a late start today. My group 63 (got at 7:05 this morning) still hasn’t been called. I’m also not even at the parks yet. Enforcement for the most part is line guardians, if your late it’s fine.

They don't fill within seconds. There have been days when I've forgotten to do VQ until around 8 am and got group 100-130. Those don't usually get called until 1 pm or later. Yesterday I went on right at 7 and got group 20 which was called around 8:30 am

There is no LLSP or LLMP for Haunted Mansion at this time.

Got it - thanks this is so helpful! So I think I will wait a few minutes after 7am and hope for a later group, and if we miss the window, hope the CM will let us in

 

[dina444444]

My group got called around 1:30 yesterday. I didn’t get in line until after fireworks and had no issues.

 

[mom2rtk]

Got it - thanks this is so helpful! So I think I will wait a few minutes after 7am and hope for a later group, and if we miss the window, hope the CM will let us in

This is my plan for arrival day on our early January trip.

 

[707MickeyGirl]

Hi all - looking for advice: I fly in to LAX on Wed 9/18 - landing around 10am. We plan to head straight to the DL hotel (we have carry ons), check in, drop off our bags, and head to DL. My flight is from Boston, so it takes off at 4am PST. Assuming I can join the 7am VQ while in the air (praying that Delta wifi works well), should I try to do that? I know we might get an early return time and miss our window. But the other option of waiting until the 12pm VQ seems too risky because I doubt we will be scanned into DL by 12pm (maybe, but that would be tight). What would you do?

Do all the 7am VQs return before 12pm, and then the 12pm VQ is for all times after that, or is it possible that we get a return time later in the day from the 7am VQ? (That would be ideal)

Are the 7am and 12pm VQs both filling up instantly? I'm more of a WDW person, and I know those VQs are full in less than 10 seconds at 7am, but not always as fast with the second drop later in the day.

Finally - is there really no Single LL available for purchase for HM right now? It's so weird to have a VQ and not have the option to buy the LL and pick our time (which is what I always do for the rides that have a VQ in WDW).

Thanks!

A couple things to think about - if you get a VQ in the first group and you miss it, and the cast member won't let you in, you can't get a VQ for the later group. Also, there's a very informational vlogger that I watch and he is in the parks doing recon every week. He keeps an eye on things like this. The VQs are not immediately getting taken, and the 12pm VQ is also much larger than the 7am VQ because they extend from noon until closing, where the 7am VQs are only from opening until noon.

Also, you can estimate your return time once you know your group number. It takes about 3 1/2 minutes per group.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

This morning at 8am I got boarding group 109 and it was called around 2pm.

 

[LKing]

I was at home this morning and tried at 7 am. I got #9. I received a notice to return at 8:15 am. We didn't go on the ride until close to noon. No one batted an eye.

 

[pineapplepalms]

When we were recently there for the runDisney Halloween race weekend, they were being strict and also inconsistent. We had joined the VQ along with another family and were called in the morning, but showed up in the afternoon after going to the expo and getting our bibs and merch. The CM scanning mine let us in no problem, but my friend’s family was denied entry by another CM and when she called over a supervisor to verify, he was very strict about it and said they can’t be more than 15 or so minutes late. Even though we said half of our group was already scanned in they still wouldn’t budge. I’m not sure if this was due to race weekend or that particular supervisor being on duty, but I wouldn’t necessarily count on being able to get in late, especially if coming from out of town.

 

[LKing]

Today I joined the VQ from home and got #12. I was notified that my boarding group was ready to board just as we entered the parking structure (at 8:15 am). It said to report to HMH by 9:15 am. We got in line around 10:20 am. The CM who scanned us in said, "You're a bit late but we'll still let you ride." He was a senior gentleman, probably in his late sixties. He didn't hesitate after telling me we were late or wait for a response from me. He just immediately said "but we'll still let you ride."

I've done VQ for this ride a dozen or so times and this is the first time someone commented. Most of the time, I'm hours late. This was actually the closest I've ever been to my scheduled boarding time.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I’d like to see the CM who tells a young child they cannot ride because their parents brought them to the ride more than 15 minutes late.
Mine would cry my eyes out. I wonder if that’s why no one has batted an eye every time I’ve been late, because I have little kids?

 

[LizzyS]

When we were there on the 14th (Saturday before last), I got group 30, but HM wasn't up and running until 10am, so our group was called right at our 12pm lunch reservation, lol. I just explained to the CM scanning the codes and she said ok and scanned our tickets instead.

 

[disneychrista]

I’d like to see the CM who tells a young child they cannot ride because their parents brought them to the ride more than 15 minutes late.
Mine would cry my eyes out. I wonder if that’s why no one has batted an eye every time I’ve been late, because I have little kids?

I understand what you are saying and how upset a child might be but honestly that would be on the parent for ignoring the return time and assuming they will be okay to go late. Unless one has a dining reservation that was during the window, I don't see any reason that they SHOULD be allowing late arrivals. If you have a return window you have an hour to make sure you get over to that area of the park. If you know you won't be in the parks until the afternoon, don't sign up for the 7am VQ. The reason the VQ line can be so much longer at certain of the day is because people are ignoring the VQ return window and going whenever they feel like it.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I understand what you are saying and how upset a child might be but honestly that would be on the parent for ignoring the return time and assuming they will be okay to go late. Unless one has a dining reservation that was during the window, I don't see any reason that they SHOULD be allowing late arrivals. If you have a return window you have an hour to make sure you get over to that area of the park. If you know you won't be in the parks until the afternoon, don't sign up for the 7am VQ. The reason the VQ line can be so much longer at certain of the day is because people are ignoring the VQ return window and going whenever they feel like it.

I mean, I don’t return late on purpose. And in fact, the last two times we rode we were right on time. But we don’t stay late enough to do the noon queue, and you have no choice about selecting a time when you do the VQ. I *try* to make it in time, but in reality that doesn’t always work out. We’re locals with Magic Keys and we drive in and there is often traffic and security lines and all that. This is one of my kids favorite rides and there is no standby line so we will for sure try for it every time we want to visit.

I just think it’s kind of unreasonable to be so strict with it when there’s no way to select a later return when you first try, and no way to switch to a later time. And no way to even really know when your boarding group will be called.

But why is it OK to miss your return window for a dining reservation but not OK to miss it because there are huge lines in the parking structure or at security? Those are not in anyone’s control. In theory you can even change your dining reservation more easily than you can deal with many other scenarios. I’m just playing devils advocate, I’m not directing this question to the quoted poster.

 

[pineapplepalms]

I’d like to see the CM who tells a young child they cannot ride because their parents brought them to the ride more than 15 minutes late.
Mine would cry my eyes out. I wonder if that’s why no one has batted an eye every time I’ve been late, because I have little kids?

Our friends that got denied when they were late have 5 and 8yo kids. We were with them but scanned in by a different CM for our family and had no issues (our kids are 3, 5, and 8). I really think it depends on the CM who scans you in. Luckily our friends had one more day booked at DL so were able to ride it the next day.

 

[disneychrista]

I mean, I don’t return late on purpose. And in fact, the last two times we rode we were right on time. But we don’t stay late enough to do the noon queue, and you have no choice about selecting a time when you do the VQ. I *try* to make it in time, but in reality that doesn’t always work out. We’re locals with Magic Keys and we drive in and there is often traffic and security lines and all that. This is one of my kids favorite rides and there is no standby line so we will for sure try for it every time we want to visit.

I just think it’s kind of unreasonable to be so strict with it when there’s no way to select a later return when you first try, and no way to switch to a later time. And no way to even really know when your boarding group will be called.

But why is it OK to miss your return window for a dining reservation but not OK to miss it because there are huge lines in the parking structure or at security? Those are not in anyone’s control. In theory you can even change your dining reservation more easily than you can deal with many other scenarios. I’m just playing devils advocate, I’m not directing this question to the quoted poster.

To me being a MK and local means that you'll have other opportunities to ride. I get there can be traffic and back-ups at the parking lot/structures and those things are mostly beyond the persons control. But I also feel it is more likely a MK or frequent guest that will try to go late "just because" not because of a dining reservation or other more legitimate reasons. They may join right at 7am knowing they weren't going to be in the parks until 3, so are just going to go late because they know they will likely let them in even though their boarding group was 7 hours ago. Not say this is what you are doing @SOCALMouseMommy .

The VQ isn't a perfect system. It would be nice to be able to join the VQ and select a window or be shown a time frame that the boarding group will be called so you can plan.

 

[LKing]

We are similar to SoCalMouseMommy. If we are arriving in the morning, we don't stay past 1 pm. If we are going for entertainment, we don't arrive until after 3 pm, or later.

For previous VQ (ROTR, MMRR, etc), we would try for VQ at 7 am from home. If we got it, we would leave and arrive at the structure around 8 am. It takes a good 45 min to pay, park, tram to the entrance and then make our way to the attraction. With ROTR and MMRR, most of the time we did not get a VQ slot. On those days, we would head to the parks later. With HMH, it is very easy to get in the VQ. I've played around with waiting until 7:15 or 7:30 am to try to get a call back around 11 or noon. Somehow I can't seem to make it work.

 

[disneychrista]

I've played around with waiting until 7:15 or 7:30 am to try to get a call back around 11 or noon. Somehow I can't seem to make it work.

It would be handy for someone to figure out what the likelihood of a boarding group based on time joining the VQ.

This will be my first experience with a VQ (other than WoC) and it is very likely that there will be two of them (HMH & Tiana's) I am trying to coordinate.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We are similar to SoCalMouseMommy. If we are arriving in the morning, we don't stay past 1 pm. If we are going for entertainment, we don't arrive until after 3 pm, or later.

For previous VQ (ROTR, MMRR, etc), we would try for VQ at 7 am from home. If we got it, we would leave and arrive at the structure around 8 am. It takes a good 45 min to pay, park, tram to the entrance and then make our way to the attraction. With ROTR and MMRR, most of the time we did not get a VQ slot. On those days, we would head to the parks later. With HMH, it is very easy to get in the VQ. I've played around with waiting until 7:15 or 7:30 am to try to get a call back around 11 or noon. Somehow I can't seem to make it work.

In the past, when I tried at 7am I got a really early BG (too early). Yesterday I waited until 7:55 and got group 55, which was called around noon. But it doesn't always work that way, it can be so unpredictable. Hence the reason we are sometimes late.

To me being a MK and local means that you'll have other opportunities to ride.

This is true and this is how we approach our visits to the park in general. We usually don't get on a lot of rides if it's very busy as we don't pay for the Genie+/LL Multi Pass. So we ride what has reasonable wait times, or sometimes bite the bullet and wait in 60+ lines. But at the same time, we pay a thousands of dollars a year for our Magic Keys and we would like to chance to go on some of our favorite rides when we visit, even if we get to visit more frequently than out-of-town visitors. We've been trying our best with the VQ and personally have never been turned away, even when we have been late.