Walt Disney World is ending all digital queues, and will probably be with none for the primary time in years! Tiana’s Bayou Journey and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will each discontinue their boarding group techniques and change to standby quickly. This publish shares official announcement particulars, plus our commentary about Magic Kingdom and EPCOT lastly dropping the final remaining VQs.
The final time Walt Disney World dropped a digital queue for a experience wasn’t that way back. It was again on September 9, 2024 when TRON Lightcycle Run switched to standby. We’ve carried out complete area testing then, and regardless of TRON nonetheless not taking part in Early Entry, it’s going fairly properly and not using a digital queue.
Previous to that, it had been a very long time since Walt Disney World dropped a digital queue–just a few months after the opening of Remy’s Ratatouille Journey. That change got here only some months after Disney’s Hollywood Studios “paused” the digital queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. That pause, fortunately, turned out to be everlasting.
Technically, there was about 1-week of no digital queues in any respect in Walt Disney World between the time in late September 2021 when Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance dropped its digital queue and when Remy’s Ratatouille Journey opened one week later. On condition that was one of many lowest crowd stretches at Walt Disney World within the final 5+ years, we’re guessing not lots of you skilled it.
For the final significant stretch when Walt Disney World was and not using a digital queue, you’d have to return even additional–all the best way to the halcyon days of December 2019, earlier than the closure and phased reopening, previous to the opening of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Again when free FastPass, night Additional Magic Hours, and so on. have been all nonetheless alive and properly.
Quick ahead to immediately and Walt Disney World has introduced that beginning February 25, 2025, standby queues will probably be accessible at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT and Tiana’s Bayou Journey at Magic Kingdom. Digital queues will probably be in place for each from now by way of February 24, 2025.
At present, there are 2 every day alternatives throughout common operations to request to hitch the digital queues for Cosmic Rewind or Tiana’s Bayou Journey:
- 7:00 AM (Company don’t have to be in Magic Kingdom to hitch the digital queue presently)
- 1:00 PM (Company should have entered Magic Kingdom to hitch the digital queue presently)
Please remember that as of February 25, 2025, these digital queues will not be accessible. This can included Prolonged Night Hours at EPCOT.
These adjustments are lengthy overdue. Tiana’s Bayou Journey is nonetheless utilizing a digital queue for its “preliminary opening interval.” Whereas a standby queue is not going to be accessible in the course of the attraction’s preliminary opening days, Walt Disney World expects to open a standby line quickly after the attraction’s opening.
The italicized above is what Walt Disney World mentioned when first saying the opening date and particulars for Tiana’s Bayou Journey again in final Might. Disney’s language on the time strongly steered Tiana’s Bayou Journey wouldn’t have a digital queue for practically so long as every other experience at Walt Disney World. In truth, we predicted it might be dropped by July 8. That was over 7 months in the past!
What we didn’t predict–and what nobody might’ve predicted–was that the reimagined experience would have so many reliability and downtime woes. It’s by some means a lot, a lot worse than Splash Mountain. Don’t even get me began on Tiana’s Bayou Journey’s points. After encountering repeated complications with that in the course of the course of area testing final week, I’m at my wits’ finish with that attraction. One other story for one more day, although.
The excellent news (except you’ve been visiting lately) is that Tiana’s Bayou Journey has been closing early on sure dates all through Winter 2025, which we’ve assumed was because of circumstances (low crowds and temperatures) conducive to prolonged in a single day upkeep. Primarily based on the event that Tiana’s Bayou Journey is ending its digital queue on February 25, that’s seemingly confirmed.
Then there’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which has change into the longest operating digital queue at Walt Disney World by a large margin.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened 2 years, 8 months and 21 days in the past. For the mathematics whizzes on the market, it’ll “rejoice” its thousandth day of getting a digital queue later this week. I’m truthfully shocked Cosmic Rewind’s digital queue has lasted so lengthy–we first predicted it’d be retired in August 2022 primarily based on demand and clean operations.
Clearly, that was very incorrect. One potential complicating issue with Cosmic Rewind is much less bodily queue house, however they put in overflow outdoors (full with umbrellas!) over a yr in the past, and it’s simply been sitting there since. It’ll be fascinating to see the extent to which that is wanted as soon as Spring Break crowds arrive in full power.
As is well-documented in our many posts, our perspective on digital queues has developed over time. Largely, this was motivated by Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance enhancing its reliability and uptime, that means visitors within the standby queue have been much less more likely to endure a breakdown.
The shift to a standby line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was largely vindicated. Though it nonetheless has an excessive amount of downtime, it’s roughly on the outer bounds of what’s acceptable. Similar goes for Remy’s Ratatouille Journey and TRON Lightcycle Run, each of that are beneath common by way of experience breakdowns. (They do occur, simply not as usually as RotR or TBA.)
Suffice to say, it’s laborious to see any motive why these rides nonetheless “wants” digital queues so lengthy after their preliminary launch season–particularly if Tiana’s Bayou Journey has fastened what should be blamed for it so unreliable.
In our view, digital queues are visitor unfriendly and may solely be used when completely essential. Each time they are often dropped, they need to be dropped. It’s patently apparent to me that the VQ will be dropped at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Tiana’s Bayou Journey may be a special story given its historical past of reliability issues, but when Disney is transferring ahead with this choice I assume it’s as a result of they’re assured they’ve discovered a repair.
As Walt Disney World has undertaken initiatives to simplify and enhance the visitor expertise, eliminating the remaining digital queues looks like an apparent next-step. And I say all of this as somebody who selfishly likes digital queues as a result of they provide me (and different educated, frequent visitors) a bonus over the typical guests. However I additionally acknowledge that what’s good for me isn’t at all times good for the park-going public.
The factor is that experience capability is a zero-sum recreation. If the digital queue is filling up with a bunch of APs and locals who would skip a triple-digit standby wait, these spots are coming on the expense of another person. The losers on this situation are possible disproportionately first-timers and different low-knowledge or technology-averse visitors.
Whereas these folks usually are oblivious to digital queues or are unsuccessful at becoming a member of, lots of them are ready or extra inclined to attend in an extended standby line. The balking level is greater for them–they’ve by no means carried out the experience, so their tolerance for strains or threshold for ready is greater than the typical AP who skips any standby line that’s over half-hour.
First-timers or rare guests are the very demographics that, for my part whilst a biased and self-interested AP, Walt Disney World ought to be favoring. It’s higher for the sake of visitor satisfaction and creating new followers to make issues simpler for these folks, and eradicating one layer of friction.
That is doubly true in terms of newer sights which can be the main focus of promoting campaigns. There are individuals who have booked journeys after seeing adverts for Cosmic Rewind or Tiana’s Bayou Journey…who haven’t been in a position to experience as a result of they failed on the digital queue, or didn’t perceive methods to ‘play’ within the first place. Or perhaps these are simply the rides they actually, actually wish to expertise time and again–through which case, they need to find a way to take action in the event that they’re prepared to endure a number of 100+ minute waits. That ought to be their alternative!
As most of us have complained concerning the quantity of display screen time and overreliance on know-how in visiting Walt Disney World, we should always likewise proceed to help the retirement of digital queues. They could profit us on a person stage, however are unhealthy on a holistic stage.
General and in mixture, digital queues are a unfavorable for the visitor expertise–and one which results in extra complaints and alternatives for disappointment that has no potential decision. Digital queues add yet one more pointless layer of friction and make issues overwhelming and intimidating for inexperienced and older visitors.
As such, we applaud the top of the digital queue at TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom. It ought to’ve occurred a full yr in the past, however higher late than by no means. Subsequent up, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. I don’t care what the operational excuse is for preserving that 2 years longer than essential–it’s a nasty one and in addition must go.
On condition that that is the primary time that Walt Disney World has ever retired two digital queues concurrently, and is successfully ending boarding teams for the foreseeable future (the following “likelihood” at them returning for rides isn’t till 2027 when Tropical Americas opens), it’s pure to query the “why” of this transfer.
As lined in Walt Disney World is Fearful About Its Excessive Costs, the corporate has inside considerations about Disney alienating the center class, with rising fears about how worth will increase and unpopular choices are angering followers and dropping visitor goodwill. That is not simply worth will increase. It’s these coupled with corresponding cuts, nickel and diming, and different methods the visitor expertise has been diminished. Worth isn’t the one concern. It’s the worth proposition, which has taken hits in each instructions.
That has been a scorching subject making main headlines for the final week-plus because of a report within the Wall Avenue Journal, and it even necessitated a ham-fisted response from Disney. As we predicted in Disney Responds to Rising Prices Criticism, we totally anticipate substantive motion as a “we’re listening” response from the corporate.
The final time one thing like this occurred, somewhat over a month later Walt Disney World made 3 massive adjustments to revive worth and enhance flexibility, together with the return of free in a single day parking on the inns. Mere months after that, the corporate introduced 5 main enhancements to make your go to simpler. Extra lately, there was the change from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Go together with different queueing adjustments aimed toward higher balancing the pursuits of all visitors.
In any other case, not a complete lot has occurred to enhance the visitor expertise within the final 365+ days. This may very well be the opening salvo in Walt Disney World’s try to enhance visitor satisfaction and cut back the quantity of friction in visiting its parks. Or it may very well be completely coincidental.
It’s doable that the reason right here is just that upkeep groups discovered a repair to the issues plaguing Tiana’s Bayou Journey, to the purpose that park operations is happy that it might run reliably and doesn’t want a digital queue. From there, administration may’ve thought it’s a good suggestion to eradicated each remaining digital queues in a single fell swoop, because the one at Cosmic Rewind has likewise outlived its usefulness. Personally, I’d desire to consider that that is Act One in a “we’re listening” marketing campaign. However I suppose we will see.
As for adjustments to Lightning Lanes, there are not any adjustments to Lightning Lanes.
Tiana’s Bayou Journey continues to be a part of the Lightning Lane Multi-Go experience roster, whereas Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind sells the a la carte Lightning Lane Single Go. See our Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World for every part it’s essential know.
For no matter it’s value, Lightning Lane Single Go is Promoting Out Sooner than it used to, and Cosmic Rewind is the most well-liked LLSP. It’s usually gone a number of days prematurely. For its half, Tiana’s Bayou Journey is the agency #1 decide on our checklist of the High 10 Hardest Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.
To that time, each time Walt Disney World has eliminated digital queues up to now, a subset of followers has complained that they’ve carried out so out of “greed” and as a approach to push Lightning Lane gross sales. Sarcastically, one other subset has complained that that is what digital queues do. There actually is not any pleasing everybody.
We’re extremely skeptical that Lightning Lane gross sales have any bearing on digital queues. In the event that they did, extra sights would add or take away them, because the case could also be. With the good thing about hindsight from the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance change, it’s protected to say that was/isn’t the driving motivation.
Lightning Lanes promote out for many sights every day, regardless–it doesn’t seem that the digital queue adjustments the calculus for potential consumers by some means. That is doubly true for these two sights as a result of, as mentioned above, they’re each the #1 hottest rides on LLMP and LLSP. You can’t promote extra of that which is already offered out. (Effectively, they may by growing provide…however that’s already an possibility.)
As for the motivations of transferring it from a digital queue to standby, my guess is that that is as soon as once more a matter of visitor satisfaction. Digital queues are exceedingly unpopular with visitors, who discover them counterintuitive and are stunned to reach and discover they don’t have the choice of standing in line.
Not every part is a conspiracy or carried out by Disney with ulterior motives to make much more cash. That’s not only a cynical perspective, however one which makes our collective voice as followers simpler to disregard. If we complain about every part, there’s no level within the firm listening to us.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider this information that Walt Disney World will finish the Tiana’s Bayou Journey and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind digital queues on February 25, 2025? Do you agree or disagree with this modification? Any questions we may help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
