VIRTUAL QUEUE'S WHAT IS THE POINT?

[musicguy856]

Agreed. It’s a shame Disney doesn’t have the ride capacity to make every e ticket a virtual queue.

Simple reason: They would lose LL $$$.

 

[OpieDoodle]

When VQ is in place there is no standby option so no they can't have at it.

Also if the standby line is longer than 30mins how would you have done with the experience the OP had where they waited 40 mins and then over an hour? You wouldn't have known just how long your wait is for the length of time you enter the line for the VQ.

We've had it happen. It sucks but rides break down, guests get sick, various reasons for a delay. When it happened to us with Rise of the Resistance we stayed in line and waited our turn because it was really important for us to ride that particular ride.

It would have been 4+ hours if there wasn't an option of a virtual queue, that was my point. Things happen and can cause delays but usually VQ really helps keep you moving. When things happen its a bummer but often guest services can help you out if a delay like that causes you to miss anything due to the delay.

Its not the norm to wait a long time with VQ once its your boarding time.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We've had it happen. It sucks but rides break down, guests get sick, various reasons for a delay. When it happened to us with Rise of the Resistance we stayed in line and waited our turn because it was really important for us to ride that particular ride.

It would have been 4+ hours if there wasn't an option of a virtual queue, that was my point. Things happen and can cause delays but usually VQ really helps keep you moving. When things happen its a bummer but often guest services can help you out if a delay like that causes you to miss anything due to the delay.

Its not the norm to wait a long time with VQ once its your boarding time.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying.

You said your SB limit is 30 mins. With VQ you do not know what the wait will be once you Boarding Group is called and you enter it. It could be more than 30 mins. True with SB that can happen as well but if you have a hard limit of how long you're willing to wait a SB line at least alerts you to the anticipated wait and you can make that decision. With a VQ you are joining blind in that respects and entering a line blind in that respects.

None of what I was talking about was ride breakdowns, people getting sick or delays in general. None of what I was taking about was about the random guess as to what the wait would be without VQ. While they may be talking points for other things I was discussing your comment I quoted.

With VQ it's that or nothing or these days ILL. You don't have the option for SB even for those who would be willing to wait (a point I was clarifying based on your comments).

 

[mz-s]

Virtual queues, ILLs, and Genie+ gives the "influencer" crowd something to talk about on their TikTok pages. And lets the "boss babe" travel agents on Instagram provide a service.

Without them the lines would be long but it is what it is. Eventually as the novelty wears off of the ride the lines will die down a bit.

Personally I think we are well past the time for the VQ at GotG to go away, and the VQ for Tron should be gone shortly as well.

But nobody asks me! probably for good reason TBH...

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

well past the time for the VQ at GotG to go away,

It has been just over 11 months with it but I haven't been keeping track about the wait times, are they pretty bad or improving?

Seems like the VQ was lasting longer and longer generally speaking though for Guardians especially the 1pm slot.

 

[mz-s]

It has been just over 11 months with it but I haven't been keeping track about the wait times, are they pretty bad or improving?

Seems like the VQ was lasting longer and longer generally speaking though for Guardians especially the 1pm slot.

Wait times aren't published in the WDW app for VQ rides, and I don't really keep up with third party sites to be able to say with any confidence.

I do agree that anecdotally the VQs are open for longer, I noticed this morning the 7AM VQ for GotG was open for quite a while...vs Tron that went in seconds as usual. The 1PM queues for both rides are still open as of right now.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The 1PM queues for both rides are still open as of right now.

That's very interesting for Tron to be that way, totally expected IMO for Guardians just didn't expect it for Tron.

 

[OpieDoodle]

I think you misunderstood what I was saying.

You said your SB limit is 30 mins. With VQ you do not know what the wait will be once you Boarding Group is called and you enter it. It could be more than 30 mins. True with SB that can happen as well but if you have a hard limit of how long you're willing to wait a SB line at least alerts you to the anticipated wait and you can make that decision. With a VQ you are joining blind in that respects and entering a line blind in that respects.

None of what I was talking about was ride breakdowns, people getting sick or delays in general. None of what I was taking about was about the random guess as to what the wait would be without VQ. While they may be talking points for other things I was discussing your comment I quoted.

With VQ it's that or nothing or these days ILL. You don't have the option for SB even for those who would be willing to wait (a point I was clarifying based on your comments).

I don't think I misunderstood you, my point was most of the time the VQ doesn't have a wait like that once your boarding group is called. I've done them many times now and have only had ONE time where I had to wait which was related to a delay due to a ride breakdown. The rest of the time you get through the boarding group and you get on in a pretty reasonable amount of time.

So in a normal situation you don't have to worry about 30+ minute wait times once you enter. Its something that happens on occasion but is not the norm. On a one off occasion for a really cool ride, while its a bummer to wait that long I would do it but I wouldn't set myself up to wait in uber long lines all day on purpose. My view is if I'm waiting in line then I'm probably missing out on seeing/doing something else.

I'm also the person tho that gets the most bang for their buck out of my day. I scope out my plan MONTHS in advance. Watch the wait times in the weeks up to so I know which rides I need to hit when, which ones I should go for the fast pass for, and depending on the day when to grab that genie thing.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't think I misunderstood you, my point was most of the time the VQ doesn't have a wait like that once your boarding group is called. I've done them many times now and have only had ONE time where I had to wait which was related to a delay due to a ride breakdown. The rest of the time you get through the boarding group and you get on in a pretty reasonable amount of time.

So in a normal situation you don't have to worry about 30+ minute wait times once you enter. Its something that happens on occasion but is not the norm. On a one off occasion for a really cool ride, while its a bummer to wait that long I would do it but I wouldn't set myself up to wait in uber long lines all day on purpose. My view is if I'm waiting in line then I'm probably missing out on seeing/doing something else.

I'm also the person tho that gets the most bang for their buck out of my day. I scope out my plan MONTHS in advance. Watch the wait times in the weeks up to so I know which rides I need to hit when, which ones I should go for the fast pass for, and depending on the day when to grab that genie thing.

That's still all hypotheticals though. No one knows when they join a VQ line at 7am or at 1pm how long their wait in line will be or how long it will be once their boarding group is called and they actually join the line. In some ways you could end up with a longer than you wanted wait just because you entered the VQ line during a popular time for returns depending on the time of day and it's not your choice when your group is called.

According to the OP they waited 40 mins and then over an hour. Another poster said they waited 45 mins for Remy. Another poster said they've waited 50 mins. Another poster 45 mins.

Certainly for many they might say they got in lower than your personal threshold but I don't think it's also so completely unheard of waiting longer that it's inconsequential. I commented because you said "For me, if the standby line is longer than 30 minutes I won't ride it." Well at least you knew that if the sign said 30 mins for SB you weren't going to ride it, that is not the same option available via VQ.

Everyone is going to feel differently about would they or would they not wait in X attraction if the wait was Y if there was strictly SB. Generally the Board seems to think 20mins is the most quoted limit, but I digress. But I do think the OP has the valid point of consideration regarding the process for VQ regardless of whether anyone says they wouldn't want it without it.

As a person who also goes to Universal they do the reverse and only have SB on their newest attractions, despite what grabs the headlines it's not consistently hours and hours long wait for new attractions..key word consistently. You could not reasonably say what happens on opening day or week as to what the trends are for many months down the road.

 

[Leigh L]

VQs can be stressful trying to get one, but that beats looking forward to something all day and not being able to ride at all. Or, if not being able to ride, at least know ahead of time and going to do something else. We've never experienced the 45+ minute waits, in 7 times, maybe 20 or 30 at most, but I guess it happens, depending on if any breakdowns/delays occur and how high park attendance is that day.

Think back to when Universal opened Hagrids without a virtual queue. 8 hour waits. Without the VQ, that could be the line for GoTG and Tron. I'm also happy to have the longer wait time when your boarding group is called. I don't enjoy the wait, but the more people you have in that line means other lines are shorter.

Oh, that was awful. Even months after opening, Universal closed the standby line sometimes by 4 or 5 p.m. when we were there because the line was so long. We didn't get to try that ride on that trip.

I love the Virtual Queue. If has arrived at MK before park open with an early VQ I’m sure your wait would have been much less.

I have walked right on Cosmic Rewind with an early VQ. During the day it’s hit or miss on whether your wait is 5 minutes or 60 minutes.

If there was no VQ, there would also be no Genie+ as they use Paid ILL.

Somehow my fingers were fast enough to get group 2 once, lol. Morning VQs move very fast, and early morning is even faster. My group was called a few minutes before Early Entry started and had been just entering the park, so I scooted over.

I was the only person walking the queue, solo in the pre-show, and didn't see anyone that wasn't a CM during the whole experience. I think I spotted someone turning the corner at the exit that maybe rode before me, but that was it.

That was fun, but kinda eerie and quiet!

 

[DavidNYC]

Sounds like Disney could do a better job of communicating that you can still enter the line if your boarding time has passed. I'm not sure what the official amount of time is to still enter, but folks on disboards have confirmed you can still enter the line without issue (and as you found out).

First - that's not the rule and many many people have already reported being turned away at Tron for being late.

Second - they specifically do NOT want to communicate that because they want people to show up at the time they're given. Telling everyone you can show up whenever you want after your time messes with the system.

 

[IndyToThere]

First - that's not the rule and many many people have already reported being turned away at Tron for being late.

Second - they specifically do NOT want to communicate that because they want people to show up at the time they're given. Telling everyone you can show up whenever you want after your time messes with the system.

Right, I agree - I'm sure they want people to show up during their boarding group to make the process work. In the OP's case, her boarding time was moved UP (the first I've heard of this, if anything I thought a boarding time could only be moved back). Since her family wasn't prepared for this based on where they were physically at, they had to scramble to make to the attraction in time.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Right, I agree - I'm sure they want people to show up during their boarding group to make the process work. In the OP's case, her boarding time was moved UP (the first I've heard of this, if anything I thought a boarding time could only be moved back). Since her family wasn't prepared for this based on where they were physically at, they had to scramble to make to the attraction in time.

Based on many experiences shared in this thread and the ‘Here Now’ thread, return times are often moved up and guests need to go to the ride earlier than originally anticipated.

 

[HopperFan]

VQ prevents LONG LONG LINES, the crush at park opening, the running to the rides and all the anger that comes with it. I'm sure they wished they had done it for Flight of Passage.

I get the frustration, I don't think all are aware you can still have a wait once inside just like any other popular ride. I do think perhaps Disney could fine tune this a bit and perhaps they shouldn't have called it a Virtual QUEUE. I think that misleads folks to think that it is some kind of an appointment like an ADR after waiting - rather than just a reservation to get "in a line" that by nature of the VQ is shorter than it would be if it were Standby.

Perhaps the problem is that they keep adjusting the time so more folks get to ride. Maybe each time they move the time sooner they should expand your return time to include your original. I mean what if you are sleeping in after booking VQ, or having breakfast or even in the Peter Pan or 7DMT line. Your day shouldn't be upset because they moved your time earlier. Tron def needs a firm 1 hour window but I do think that window should move the start time if they let folks in early while maintaining the original end time.

After just returning from Disney i am not sure what the point of these are.
Firstly we planned to do The Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot, after setting my alarm for 06:45 to join the queue I was happy to get boarding group 42 with estimated boarding time of 11:45. We decided to have a relaxed morning and take our time to get to Epcot, at 09:30 while having a leisurely breakfast our estimated boarding time dropped to 10:15, chaos ensued. We finally made it to the park at 10:45 after breaking a few speed limits enroute. With no clear indication of the whole process i was sure my children were going to be left disappointed when we were going to be told we were too late. Thankfully we weren't and were allowed on the ride. However there was still a 40 minute queue once inside the ride. It would appear boarding groups and timings are estimates!
The Ride was good but could have been made a lot better.
The day we decided to do Tron, same process ensued 06:45 wake up, made it on to boarding group 8, no estimated boarding time given. Decided to try and get to The Magic Kingdom at opening time. Traffic meant that we got to the parking area at 09:00. Queues for transport in to the park were very big while boarding the ferry the App flashed up that our boarding was now closed. By the time we had run across the park the time was now 09:45 sure we wouldn't be granted access we, to our surprise we were. While queueing which took over an hour as in Guardians of the Galaxy people were walking past in The Lightning Lane i enquired why? To be informed that these people had paid $30 for the privilege per rider. Wow i was already thinking Disney had gone beyond being acceptably expensive to being a rip off this was another blatant example of this.
After the long queue we finally got on The Tron ride, the start of it is very good but it's all over in about 30 secs. When you bear in mind the early start to get in the Virtual queue, the stress of attempting to get to the ride on time and then the very lengthy queue once in the ride is it worth it? A Big NO from me don't bother.

With the length of Queuing once inside the Virtual queue rides and The Lightning lane people still walking past what is the point of a Virtual Queue? For me it made the whole experience very stressful, think i would prefer to use The Genie+ system.

THIS

You waited 40 minutes rather than 4 hours. That's the point. It's listed as estimates and continually updates.

 

[ThornXBL]

Perhaps the problem is that they keep adjusting the time so more folks get to ride. Maybe each time they move the time sooner they should expand your return time to include your original. I mean what if you are sleeping in after booking VQ, or having breakfast or even in the Peter Pan or 7DMT line. Your day shouldn't be upset because they moved your time earlier. Tron def needs a firm 1 hour window but I do think that window should move the start time if they let folks in early while maintaining the original end time.

This would be an excellent improvement to the system.

 

[Pyxie]

Well the point is that if it weren't for the virtual queue, you'd wait the time you waited virtually PLUS the time you physically waited in line all in the actual line (or possibly even longer since the amount of people entering a queue wouldn't be limited like a virtual queue is).

 

[parasail_of_congress]

That's still all hypotheticals though. No one knows when they join a VQ line at 7am or at 1pm how long their wait in line will be or how long it will be once their boarding group is called and they actually join the line. In some ways you could end up with a longer than you wanted wait just because you entered the VQ line during a popular time for returns depending on the time of day and it's not your choice when your group is called.

The SB posted wait time is also a hypothetical too. The one difference (and maybe this is the point you are making) is that guests don't have to do anything ahead of time for SB.

But having a VQ (theoretically) gives everyone one chance to ride the ride, regardless of when the guest arrives at the park. If there's only SB, guests who arrive at the park first will have the opportunity to ride first and multiple times. Yes, you could just argue that if you want to ride SB, you should get to the park earlier. WDW is trying to cater as many types of touring options as possible while also making extra money with the ILL.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The SB posted wait time is also a hypothetical too.

Yup see below quote..already accounted for that reality in a prior quote. And the conversation was about a hard limit of how long someone is willing to wait for an attraction.

True with SB that can happen as well but if you have a hard limit of how long you're willing to wait a SB line at least alerts you to the anticipated wait and you can make that decision.

But having a VQ (theoretically) gives everyone one chance to ride the ride, regardless of when the guest arrives at the park.

Actually that is the opposite of what VQ does. With SB every guest has the opportunity to join the line up to the time the parks close. It happens on rare occassions they cut off the line a tad earlier than right up to parks close. With VQ if you don't get a Boarding Group OR your Boarding Group wasn't called you don't get to ride. Disney notifies you when you join the VQ that your Boarding Group may not be called.

7am going in seconds...yeah no hope there..oh 1pm drop that's gone as well. Oh they had a ride breakdown and you were lucky enough to get a Boarding Group. And I'm coming at this from looking at people not on these Boards, the average everyday guest. Here on the Boards we have access to a lot more information than the average guest going down for a big trip who is excited about riding Guardians for example.

If you want the best opportunity for riding a SB option is the way you want to go. Everyone may not choose to enter the line but everyone gets to make that choice rather than relying on the fastest fingers and hoping their Boarding Group is called. Now of course we can talk about how now the 1pm slot is lasting longer and longer true true but doesn't remove the crux. And FWIW I had this same feelings (and expressed it on the Boards) when USO opted to utilize VQ for a while for Jimmy Fallon. A ride breakdown when there's only SB may exasperate a guest but a guest who crankily woke up before 7am to secure that Boarding Group may be even more annoyed.

**And I'm not going to even get into ILL purchases as those also run out and also require the fast fingers and $$$.

 

[georgina]

My relatively few GOTG VQ experiences have been much longer lines than when I bought ILL. Last trip after I scanned in for VQ the line did not move AT ALL for 10 minutes. I decided not to wait. It happens. I agree generally it is a better system than stand-by though.

 

[HerzerHerrick]

After just returning from Disney i am not sure what the point of these are.
Firstly we planned to do The Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot, after setting my alarm for 06:45 to join the queue I was happy to get boarding group 42 with estimated boarding time of 11:45. We decided to have a relaxed morning and take our time to get to Epcot, at 09:30 while having a leisurely breakfast our estimated boarding time dropped to 10:15, chaos ensued. We finally made it to the park at 10:45 after breaking a few speed limits enroute. With no clear indication of the whole process i was sure my children were going to be left disappointed when we were going to be told we were too late. Thankfully we weren't and were allowed on the ride. However there was still a 40 minute queue once inside the ride. It would appear boarding groups and timings are estimates!
The Ride was good but could have been made a lot better.
The day we decided to do Tron, same process ensued 06:45 wake up, made it on to boarding group 8, no estimated boarding time given. Decided to try and get to The Magic Kingdom at opening time. Traffic meant that we got to the parking area at 09:00. Queues for transport in to the park were very big while boarding the ferry the App flashed up that our boarding was now closed. By the time we had run across the park the time was now 09:45 sure we wouldn't be granted access we, to our surprise we were. While queueing which took over an hour as in Guardians of the Galaxy people were walking past in The Lightning Lane i enquired why? To be informed that these people had paid $30 for the privilege per rider. Wow i was already thinking Disney had gone beyond being acceptably expensive to being a rip off this was another blatant example of this.
After the long queue we finally got on The Tron ride, the start of it is very good but it's all over in about 30 secs. When you bear in mind the early start to get in the Virtual queue, the stress of attempting to get to the ride on time and then the very lengthy queue once in the ride is it worth it? A Big NO from me don't bother.

With the length of Queuing once inside the Virtual queue rides and The Lightning lane people still walking past what is the point of a Virtual Queue? For me it made the whole experience very stressful, think i would prefer to use The Genie+ system.

Would you rather wait in line 3 hours?