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Ultimate Guide To Queueing In Orlando’s Theme Parks

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Back in the early days of theme parks, I’m talking the start of the millennium or earlier, there was only one way to queue for your favourite attractions. Turn up, get in line and wait. Over the last couple of decades, theme parks have become adept at getting us to pay for something we can still get for free. Navigating these hurdles can be daunting for first-time visitors. Welcome to your ultimate guide to queueing in Orlando’s theme parks.

Orlando theme park’s different queue systems

How you end up queueing, and how much that is going to cost you, depends on which park you are visiting. There are traditional ‘standby’ queues in use at the vast majority of attractions that let you get in line and wait with a sign indicating the approximate wait time. But, in Orlando, you also have to contend with premium queues and virtual queues.

Welcome to the age of virtual queueing

Originally introduced with the opening of Universal’s Volcano Bay water park in 2017, virtual queues have expanded to select attractions in Disney and Universal’s main parks.

Virtual queues are exactly as they sound. To gain entry to certain attractions you must first reserve your virtual space in line. This is a free service, you won’t need to pay anything extra. Virtual queues are usually reserved for the most popular attractions and attractions selection does vary. This allows theme park operators to manage expectations and demand for newer attractions that can be temperamental.

Current Disney World attractions with virtual queues

Disney has currently removed the virtual queue system from all attractions, including Star Wars: Rise Of The Resistance at Hollywood Studios and Remmy’s Ratatouille Adventure in EPCOT. They may, however, reinstate it at busier times or for new attractions such as the soon to open Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind storycoaster in EPCOT.

Check the My Disney Experience app prior to your visit to see if the virtual queue has been reinstated for any attractions.

Screenshot of a Virtual Queue return ticket for Fast And Furious: Supercharged
Universal has embraced virtual line technology more than Disney but the lineup can change daily so make sure you check the Universal Orlando app on your visit.

Current Universal Studios attractions with virtual queues

  • Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
  • Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon
  • Revenge Of The Mummy (closed January 7th 2022 until late summer)
  • Fast And Furious: Supercharged
  • Harry Potter And The Escape From Gringotts
  • Ollivanders Experience

Current Islands Of Adventure attractions with virtual queue lines

  • Skull Island: Reign Of Kong
  • Pteranadon Flyers
  • Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey
  • Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
  • Ollivanders Experience

Universal Orlando virtual ride availability

Universal is slowly adding attractions to its virtual queue program. Availability depends on predicted crowd levels and attraction popularity. Not all attractions are available at the same time. Attractions operating a virtual queue on the day of your visit can be found within the Universal Orlando app.

Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is one exception. This very popular attraction has only just been added to the virtual line and passes go very quickly. You need to reserve your space on a website page before being redirected back to the app for your QR code to show the ride attendant.

Reserving your place in a virtual queue

This is where the trusty park app comes into play. For Disney attractions, you need to visit My Disney Experience at 7 am on the day of your visit to reserve your space.

Virtual Queue totems outside Krakatau Water Coaster in Universal's Volcano Bay Water Park
Virtual reservations are handled differently in Volcano Bay compared to Universal’s main parks

Universal Orlando’s participating attractions are listed in the Universal Orlando app. Tap ‘Virtual Line’ in the navigation bar once you have set up an account. Participating attractions can be found within the Virtual Line Venues on this tab.

Unlike the main parks, all attractions in Volcano Bay Water Park require a virtual line reservation. Visit the attraction entrance and use your Tapu Tapu wrist device (issued free on entry) on a totem that gives you a return time. Places fill up fast on busy days so be quick if you don’t have an Express Pass (more on them in a bit).

Queueing in Disney World

Disney’s brand new Disney Genie app will suggest ways you can maximise your time within the parks based on real-world data about how the park is running that day. It will very likely suggest you upgrade to Disney Genie+. Disney Genie+ is a paid-for service allowing you to reserve a spot on some of Disney World’s attractions.

Reservation spots are limited and the service will initially cost $15 per person per day. This replaces Disney World’s free Fastpass+ service that allowed reservations into 3 initial attractions at 1 Disney World park per day.

Think about that cost a minute. For a family of 4, 2 adults with children, that’s an extra $60 per day on your already tight budget. The Disney Genie app will tell you what you could get done with your extra time by upgrading making Disney Genie a very powerful sales tool for Disney to the dismay of many long time Disney World visitors.

Is Disney Genie+ worth the money? The service has received a frosty reception in Florida compared to Disneyland in California which has been using a similar paid-for system for several years. For certain attractions at certain times but especially on busy days, Genie+ is absolutely worth the time you will save in normal standby lines which can be upwards of 2-4 hours for popular attractions. It’s important to realise that Genie+ does not grant you instant access to the attraction but access to a faster-moving queue. Go out of season and the lines are far more blurred. It will take time to sift through the information once the system has been in place for a full year. If you want to keep costs down you could use it for one or two days of your trip, not necessarily every day you are in Disney World.

As the world returns to normal more and more people are visiting the parks. Shortly after the service was launched, Disney reported that around a third of all visitors were booking Genie+. The parks are much busier now than they were at the end of last year so you should expect between 30% and 50% of visitors are adding Genie+ onto their bookings.

Guests queueing for Seven Dwarfes Mine Train Ride in Magic Kingdom
Some popular attractions, like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride in Magic Kingdom, can only be booked by getting a Lightning Lane ticket, they are not part of Genie+ and will cost extra to reserve.

Reserving Disney Genie+ places

Because Disney is so busy and to keep the service as fair as possible you will need to reserve your spot on a chosen attraction. Disney Genie+ places are limited. Places can be reserved, removed or edited through the My Disney Experience app using your mobile phone.
Giving you concrete figures on when and what attractions will get reserved first is very difficult because that will depend on who has purchased Genie+ on a given day along with the crowd levels for the park.

Lightning Lane: Top-level queueing at Disney World

Disney’s most popular rides will not even be a part of Disney Genie+. The most popular or newer attractions in each park will require a one time fee to guarantee a ride. This is called Lightning Lane.

The pricing of Lightning Lane attractions is very fluid. Disney bases the cost on predicted crowd levels on a daily basis. You should expect to pay between $10 and $20 per attraction and per person.

Availability for Lightning Lane attractions will be very limited and Disney World resort guests will get preference with tickets going up at 7am daily. Standard ticket holders will have to wait until the park opens to reserve their spot.

For a full list of participating attractions please visit my dedicated Genie+ & Lightning Lane Guide page. As the parks are now getting busier heading into summer season, 4 popular Lightning Lane attractions, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios, Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom, Frozen Ever After in EPCOT and Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom have been moved from Lightning Lane to Genie+ until 7th August when they will revert back to Lightning Lane only selections. You can expect Disney to do this at peak periods to absorb some of the extra guests that will be paying for Genie+.

Queueing at Universal Orlando

Other parks have a simpler offering. Universal Orlando calls their’s Express Pass. All rides in Universal Orlando have a traditional standby queue. Express Pass is the next tier. It is available in 3 levels depending on your preference and can be purchased through the Universal Orlando App, via the Universal Orlando website or in the parks on the day of your visit subject to availability.

  • Volcano Bay Express Pass: From $19.99
  • Volcano Bay Express PLUS Pass: From $39.99
  • Universal Express Pass: From $69.99
  • Universal Express Pass Unlimited: From $89.99

The different levels of Universal Express Pass explained

As you would expect, Volcano Bay Express Pass is just for use inside Volcano Bay, Universal’s water park. The price will depend on the date of your visit and can go as high as $100. Volcano Bay Express Plus Pass which includes 4 white knuckle thrill and drop slides on top of the standard pass can go as high as $129. The main difference with Volcano Bay passes is no matter which you choose they are still only valid for one skip the line access. There is no unlimited option for Volcano Bay.

Universal’s Standard Express Pass allows one visit to each Express Pass Attraction while Express Pass Unlimited will allow an unlimited amount of re-rides for the day. Again, the cost is dependent on the day of your visit and can go as high as $279 for standard or $329 for unlimited. Yes, you read those figures right!

Participating Universal Studios Express Pass Attractions

  • The Bourne Stuntacular
  • Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
  • E.T. Adventure
  • Fast & Furious – Supercharged
  • Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
  • Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
  • Hogwarts™ Express (Park-to-Park admission ticket required)
  • Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl
  • MEN IN BLACK™ Alien Attack
  • Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon
  • Revenge of the Mummy
  • The Simpsons Ride
  • TRANSFORMERS: The Ride – 3D
  • Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster

Participating Islands Of Adventure Express Pass attractions

  • The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
  • Caro-Seuss-el
  • Doctor Doom’s Fearfall
  • Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls
  • Flight of the Hippogriff
  • Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
  • The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride!
  • Hogwarts Express (Park-to-Park admission ticket required)
  • The Incredible Hulk Coaster
  • Jurassic Park River Adventure
  • Poseidon’s Fury
  • Skull Island: Reign of Kong
  • Storm Force Accelatron

Participating Volcano Bay Express Pass attractions

  • Honu of Honu ika Moana
  • ika Moana of Honu ika Moana
  • Krakatau Aqua Coaster
  • Maku of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides
  • Puihi of Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides
  • Punga Racers
  • Taniwha Tubes

Participating Volcano Bay Express Pass PLUS attractions

In addition to the above, the really thrilling slides are on their own separate Express Plus tier. You will need an Express Pass PLUS to get on the following slides:

  • Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides
  • Ko’okiri Body Plunge
  • Ohno of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides
  • Ohyah of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides

Reserving Express Pass places at Universal Orlando

You do not need to reserve a place at attractions in any Universal Studios park once the pass has been purchased. Simply head to your chosen attraction, show the attendant your QR code from the Universal Orlando app and they will let you through.

If you have the standard Express Pass allowing one ride in each attraction it may be better to wait until later in the day to make it worthwhile. Ask a ride attendant at the entry if you would like to know the approximate wait time for the express pass queue.

Queueing at Seaworld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa

Seaworld and Busch Gardens also offer standard queues for all their attractions. Being owned by the same operator, Merlin Entertainments, famous in the UK for Alton Towers, their queue systems are identical in name, Quick Queue.

Quick Queue at Seaworld

  • Seaworld Reserved Seats: From $14.99
  • Quick Queue Unlimited: From $14.99
  • Reserved Seating & Quick Queue Unlimited: From $19.99

The different levels of Seaworld Quick Queue explained

Reserved seats do exactly what you expect. You can get preferred seats at all of Seaworld’s biggest shows. I generally wouldn’t recommend this though because, with some planning, getting seats in every show shouldn’t be a problem.

The next level up is Quick Queue unlimited. Yes, unlike Universal, you can get unlimited Quick Queue passes at all the top Seaworld attractions for a pretty reasonable price. The choice of attractions isn’t anywhere near the level of Disney World or Universal. On busy days at Seaworld, you can save a ton of time by snagging one of these passes. Other times you can still probably get most of what the park offers done.

Book your Seaworld Quick Queue passes directly on the Seaworld Orlando website.

Participating Seaworld Quick Queue attractions

  • Kraken
  • Mako
  • Manta
  • Journey to Atlantis
  • Antarctica: Empire Of The Penguin
  • Infinity Falls

Quick Queue at Busch Gardens Tampa

  • Quick Queue: From $14.99
  • Quick Queue Unlimited: From $19.99
  • Quick Queue Junior: From $14.99

The different levels of Busch Gardens Quick Queue explained

Quick Queue standard is a one time only deal for all Busch Gardens’ top attractions. If you like roller coasters this is the ticket for you!
For a moderate price jump out of peak season, you can go unlimited for the day. With a lot more attractions than sister park Seaworld, the price does ramp up in busier periods. On busy days it’s definitely worth the investment. Out of peak season, if you’re driving yourself you can probably get the bigger rides done but not all the animal habitats.

If you opt for the Busch Gardens Express return coach from Orlando you will struggle to get everything done in a day. The return coach to Orlando leaves Busch Gardens quite early even on days when the park is open later.

A new level is Quick Queue Junior. If you have a budding adrenaline junkie who’s just a little too short for the really big roller coasters this ticket gets you front of line access on some family favourite thrill rides. You just need to make sure your budding adventurer is between 48″ and 52″ to ride them all.

Book your Quick Queue passes for Busch Gardens directly on the Busch Gardens website.

Participating Busch Gardens Quick Queue attractions

  • Cobra’s Curse
  • Falcon’s Fury
  • Cheetah Hunt
  • SheiKra
  • Montu
  • Kumba
  • Stanley Falls Flume
  • Congo River Rapids
  • Scorpion

Participating Busch Gardens Quick Queue junior attractions

  • Cobra’s Curse
  • Stanley Falls Flume
  • Congo River Rapids
  • Scorpion
  • Wild Surge

Reserving places in Quick Queue attractions at Seaworld and Busch Gardens

The process here is much the same as Universal. There is no need to reserve your attraction time. Just head to your chosen attraction, present the QR code displayed in the Seaworld or Busch Gardens app and enjoy the ride.

Conclusion

As you can see it is very easy to get confused with all the queueing options. My best advice, if it is within your budget and you are travelling at peak times you should consider a premium queue option for the park that offers the most attractions for everyone. Travelling at quieter times, outside of school holidays and traditional breaks such as Easter and Christmas you can probably hold off booking until the day when you see what the queues are like.

The most expensive option here is Universal’s Express Pass, but it does what it says. the not inconsiderate sum of money they are asking you will get on the attractions quicker, sometimes a lot quicker than the standard queue. Disney’s Genie+ service is far more nuanced and with a lower price point, there has been a phenomenal take up of the service leading to long queues and frustrated guests. Disney has even re-worded the terms on their website and now suggests Genie+ will allow you, on average, to get on another 3 attractions compared to using traditional standby lines.

With Disney, if you are happy to plan your stay with almost military-like precision and you’re prepared to get up early and stay late you can probably get most of what you want done without Genie+ but the queues, like the days, will be very long on occasion.

What these services provide is a perceived value and if the cost they are asking for provides value to you and your family then go for it.

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