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The 3 Tiers Of Queueing At Disney World

Written by Ryan

28th July 2021

the 3 tiers of queueing at disney world

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Way back in the day, we’re talking early noughties there was only one way to get on your favourite ride. Get in a queue and wait it out. Disney’s latest mega-budget attraction has also introduced us to a new way to queue. Welcome to the 3 tiers of queueing at Disney World.

The COVID pandemic brought the world to a standstill throughout 2020. Before that Disney has been quietly, ever so quietly, trialling a new way to queue for attractions.

The Evolution Of Queues

First, we had standard queues. Then paid, but faster queues, in various guises. Fastpass is Disney’s version, it’s called Quick Queue in SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. Universal calls their’s Express Pass.

With the exception of Fastpass+ at Disney World, these systems all aim to do the same thing, get more money out of visitors for something that used to be, and still is, free.

For a “modest” fee you can breeze past the normal line into, er, another line. But this line moves quicker! Whether you consider this value for money on top of your normal entrance fee is another matter. Especially considering, depending on the date of your visit, they can double the cost for the day.

Up until now, Fastpass+ has been a free perk for anyone going to Disney World. Free is great and kudos to Disney for not charging for it. The fact it is free though means everybody is using it and some attractions are practically impossible to book.

There have been rumours for a number of years of replacing Fastpass+ at Disney World with a system much like Disneyland’s chargeable MAXpass system.

There’s one problem with both these systems and the standard queues. We are still standing in queues. When we’re standing in queues we generally aren’t spending any money. Or at least as much as park operators would like us to be spending.

New Attraction, New Way To Queue

With Star Wars: Rise Of The Resistance Disney has introduced another queueing mechanism to get your head around. Welcome to Virtual Queueing.

Virtual queues do exactly what it sounds like. You are placed inside a virtual queue and get notified on the app when it is time for your boarding group to head for the attraction. The wait time is more modest. It’s a win for us as well as the park operators who hope we spend that time spending money in shops and concessions.

No more standing in 2+ hour queues sounds great. This system, though, in its current form, does have some drawbacks. The biggest of which is that there is no guarantee that you will get to ride the latest and greatest attraction.

Some die-hard (and much more local) Disney World visitors, with annual passes, have been 5 times since Rise Of The Resistance opened. How many times have they managed to ride it? 0!

Rise Of The Resistance is the single hardest attraction to get on within Disney World. Various factors are at play to make this so. But at least with other attractions, we are given the option to queue, for multiple hours if we so wish. Rise Of The Resistance has no such luxury. We are at the mercy of the virtual queue.

Fastpass return queue for Na'vi River Journey
Virtual queueing will likely replace at least part of the current Fastpass+ system.

How would you feel about visiting a park but not being able to guarantee that you could even get on the latest attraction? It would, and does, leave a bad taste in people’s mouths.

Could Disney be using Rise Of The Resistance as a testbed for the future of Fastpass+ at Disney World?

We don’t know for sure but the system has already been expanded to the popular Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland park on the west coast. Not to mention Disneyland Paris just announced Disney Premier Pass, a paid-for alternative to their free Fastpass system which has been retired with immediate effect.

Will virtual queues eventually replace all types of queues? Over at Universal’s Volcano Bay water park, this is already a reality. Universal has also introduced its own virtual queuing system at Universal Studios. Disney, most likely, has been working on a virtual queuing system for many months. Will virtual queues come to every attraction? It’s unlikely but certainly to the more popular ones, yes. As new attractions open we should expect that they will be able to at least accommodate a virtual queue. As virtual queues get more mainstream, how we plan our trips to Disney will need to fundamentally change. Watch this space!

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