Haunted Mansion and the Virtual Queue

[brightlined]

If this continues, do you think they will start to allow joining both 7am and 12pm VQs?

I can't rule that out, but I think there might be a few challenges that might rub people the wrong way. For example, if they did that, there's a good chance that the morning folks could overrun the noon queue for their second ride, and a lot of the later arrivals wouldn't have a chance to ride at all - especially if the ride had an afternoon breakdown. I could make a better case for it if they limited the 7am drop to 11am callbacks, so that it's basically a "perk" of starting the day at DL.

If I had my choice, I wouldn't mind seeing a 6pm or 7pm "second chance" drop that everyone can join. By that point, they would have a good idea if they might end up having additional availability that night. I think it'd be a pretty quick drop - last night, it was maybe an hour of availability. They probably wouldn't be able to do that every night, too - I think there will be some busier days, especially in October - that the noon VQ will fill up. But that might be the easiest solve.

 

[Captain.Eeyore]

Any reports of anybody being turned away for (very) late boarding?

 

[Anal Annie]

Not sure if it was this way before - but they're only allowing DCA tickets to join the 12pm queue. You have to start at DL to have access to the 7am.

WDW vet / DL newbie here. This just really confused me. We'll be at DL the week of 8/24-9/01. We have 3-day hoppers and reservations for CA one day and DL on the other two (planning to hop parks later in the day). On our CA day do we try for the VQ at Noon regardless of which park we're in? We don't have to physically be in DL to try, right? And then on our DL days if we miss being able to grab the 7:00 VQ for it are you saying we're not allowed to try for the Noon queue because it's only for those who started in CA? I'm just confused.

Side question - other than Rise are there any other VQ's that we need to try for?

 

[brightlined]

WDW vet / DL newbie here. This just really confused me. We'll be at DL the week of 8/24-9/01. We have 3-day hoppers and reservations for CA one day and DL on the other two (planning to hop parks later in the day). On our CA day do we try for the VQ at Noon regardless of which park we're in? We don't have to physically be in DL to try, right? And then on our DL days if we miss being able to grab the 7:00 VQ for it are you saying we're not allowed to try for the Noon queue because it's only for those who started in CA? I'm just confused.

Just for clarity - anyone who has entered either DL or DCA is eligible for the noon drop. (That was a response to a question as to whether DCA folks could enter the 7am - they can't.)

It's basically the same as MK (TRON) and Epcot (GOTG), with the difference of noon instead of 1pm. If you have a DL start, you can join the 7am from anywhere, and you can try again at noon if you miss. If you have a DCA start, your first opportunity is the noon drop, which you can enter from anywhere, so long as you've entered your park at some point. (You don't have to physically enter DL on a DCA to join the queue - once you're in DCA, you're eligible.)

Side question - other than Rise are there any other VQ's that we need to try for?

Rise is just standby and ILL (or whatever they're calling that now). The only other VQ at DLR (outside of a rare merchandise opportunity) is for standing areas for World of Color. I think I've only done the World of Color VQ once, but if you were planning on devoting time to watching the show, it might be worth it.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

WDW vet / DL newbie here. This just really confused me. We'll be at DL the week of 8/24-9/01. We have 3-day hoppers and reservations for CA one day and DL on the other two (planning to hop parks later in the day). On our CA day do we try for the VQ at Noon regardless of which park we're in? We don't have to physically be in DL to try, right? And then on our DL days if we miss being able to grab the 7:00 VQ for it are you saying we're not allowed to try for the Noon queue because it's only for those who started in CA? I'm just confused.

Side question - other than Rise are there any other VQ's that we need to try for?

On your CA start day, you are not eligible to try for the VQ until the noon drop. As long as you (your whole party) have used your ticket to enter the park that day, then you can try to get a VQ from the noon drop regardless of where you are physically. You do not need to actually be in any park or at the resort at all as long as you have already been inside the park sometime that morning.

On your DL start days, you are eligible to try for the 7AM VQ drop. If you do not obtain a ride reservation from the 7AM drop whether or not you actually tried to obtain one, you are still eligible to try for the noon drop and again it does not matter where you are physically at that time so long as you have activated your party's tickets for the day by entering the park previous to attempting to obtain the noon VQ.

Also, there is no VQ for Rise. Rise is standby or individual lightning lane only. We are talking about the current VQ for Haunted Mansion Holiday.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Any reports of anybody being turned away for (very) late boarding?

On 7/29 we were admitted after being over 4 hours late (the CM did seem nervous when he saw how late we were, but checked with his lead, who told him to let us in). Then later on my wife along with my daughter (who had needed to work remotely from VGC) were over 6 hours late and were waved through without a second glance.

 

[crystal1313]

We got a VQ Monday and today. No issues. Today we scanned in and had no issues but just got a notice that we can no longer scan in. We have already ridden but one of our codes must not have gotten scanned. So I’m assuming we could have scanned in late, but after the noon VQ we no longer could?

On Monday we grabbed the VQ right at 7am but people ahead of us at rope drop were still able to get a VQ at 7:45am for around 1pm. They are lasting long.

 

[crystal1313]

Also they are only running one stretching room right now. A cast member said they are having an issue with the other stretching room having a gap between the elevator and the doors. We rode in the same elevator both days.

 

[LarsoftheJungle]

Thanks so much to folks up thread who are helping me understand this!

Now…I could have sworn when I looked at the app the other day it was telling me what the approx wait time (as opposed to a return time, which would have been far more convenient - don’t make me do math on vacation!) would be but now it just says “enrolling new guests”. Did they take away the ability to watch the queue & join when the approx wait time would be convenient? I can’t ride until I go put my kid to bed, so I’m trying to figure out a strategy for night boarding group.

 

[brightlined]

You definitely weren't imagining things. I think they removed it either yesterday or today. This was Monday:

 

[brightlined]

I can’t ride until I go put my kid to bed, so I’m trying to figure out a strategy for night boarding group.

Depending on how soon you're going - earlier this week, the afternoon was running about three or four hours ahead of callback. If you hopped into the queue between 5:00pm and 7:00pm, you'd probably be fine. Honestly, most of this week, they ran out of riders around 11pm - so anything after 8:00pm, and you'd almost certainly get to ride before close. And, if they were only running one elevator, then capacity would have been gently lower than normal. (I couldn't rule out that they might be hiding the fact that the queue is essentially empty after 11pm to dodge people asking to ride again.)

But, honestly, it's really hard to tell, and this just makes it harder (assuming it was accurate). Some days will be busier than others - I still think it might "sell out" in the late afternoon / early evening on some days once we get into October.

 

[soniam]

Are they still letting late arrivals in? I'm talking 2+ hours late.

 

[Captain.Eeyore]

We got a VQ Monday and today. No issues. Today we scanned in and had no issues but just got a notice that we can no longer scan in. We have already ridden but one of our codes must not have gotten scanned. So I’m assuming we could have scanned in late, but after the noon VQ we no longer could?

On Monday we grabbed the VQ right at 7am but people ahead of us at rope drop were still able to get a VQ at 7:45am for around 1pm. They are lasting long.

Do you remember what was your return time and what time you got the notice that you can no longer scan in?

 

[mamccall]

Are they still letting late arrivals in? I'm talking 2+ hours late.

In one of my other chats a poster joined the queue in the AM and wasn’t heading to the parks till after work. She did her VQ 13 hours after her time for callback and had no problem! I’m also hearing after around 11pm they are doing standby riders.

 

[crystal1313]

Do you remember what was your return time and what time you got the notice that you can no longer scan in?

Our return time was 9:40am. I believe we got the notice we couldn’t scan in anymore around 1:30pm. I posted in this thread pretty much right after we got the notice.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

I’ll be in the park tomorrow and was trying to look at return times yesterday and today. Yesterday, the “tip board” would show wait times, but today all I get is “Enrolling New Guests.” What does that mean? Immediate return times? We were hoping to ride in the afternoon, so we can catch the shorter standby lines if our other favorite rides in the morning. TIA for any advice & thoughts.

 

[Riss]

My family was there this past week and we got the VQ every day. The first day, the Monday it was first back, we tried at 7am simply because we weren’t sure what it was going to be like and got boarding group 4. Every day after that, I would go on and look out of curiosity and I think only once it was closed in the morning when I looked at like 11am, but I could always get on in the afternoon, even if it were like 5pm.

My brother and best friend even went hours after they were called one night and they let them right on, no questions.

 

[brightlined]

I’ll be in the park tomorrow and was trying to look at return times yesterday and today. Yesterday, the “tip board” would show wait times, but today all I get is “Enrolling New Guests.” What does that mean? Immediate return times? We were hoping to ride in the afternoon, so we can catch the shorter standby lines if our other favorite rides in the morning. TIA for any advice & thoughts.

No - they decided to obscure the expected wait, for unknown reasons. But there's still a multi-hour delay (unless you hit it right at 7am or at the end of the night).

I think the best advice I can give you is - maybe skip the 7am drop and try exactly at noon. Last week, they were only dropping up to about 12:30pm/1:00pm during the 7am drop. However, if that's good enough, you could try jumping in the VQ at like 9:30am (if it's still available) and would probably be fine.

 

[LarsoftheJungle]

Does anyone know if you can join the VQ, cancel, and re-try?

 

[PigletPal41]

Not sure if this will be lucky or not. I will be in Disneyland/DCA the week HA is supposed to open on the 23rd. If it opens then and also if it doesn't open early. Technically that Friday I will be starting my day in DCA because I'm staying at the Grand so that's the early entry day. Anyone have a clue at Disneyland how the virtual queue works for rides? I know in Disney World you get like a number and your time to show up could vary based on how far into the queue you are and if the ride breaks down or whatever. Assuming things aren't flooded by content creators, does the app account at all for the fact that I wouldn't technically be able to get to DL until 11:00AM? Also does the queue work like my understanding at Disney World? Also do you have to be checked into the or a park to do the virtual queue?

Thanks

JR

We were just there Saturday.
We went on the app at 6:58 and when it’s 7am you hit the refresh button on the app.
We got group 21 and headed out to the park.
You keep checking what number Que is up and when yours opens up you can head over to the attraction.
We had friends arrive around 11:15 and they got in the afternoon Que.