According to new data, one ride at Walt Disney World Resort is even more popular lately.
Long lines are part of the package on every Disney World vacation. While there will always be the odd Disney ride that generates less demand (when was the last time you had to wait for Carousel of Progress?), peak periods typically tend to bring huge crowds for everything from old classics such as “it’s a small world” to thrill rides like Expedition Everest.
Related: Rise of the Resistance Is Bringing Back the Virtual Queue
Once upon a time, Disney mitigated this demand with FastPass. Then the pandemic happened. We live in the world of Genie+ – the paid alternative to FastPass that changes price depending on demand but averages about $20 per person per day (and has even reached $39 in the past).
This system has proven deeply unpopular with Disney World regulars, with some claiming that Genie+ and the sale of Individual Lightning Lines (which allow you to ‘skip the line’ for one Disney ride per purchase) have actually made the lines worse, not better.
What’s even more unpopular, however, is Disney’s virtual line system. This operates on a handful of Disney World rides – namely the newest, most popular E-ticket attractions.
As of June 2024, guests are required to log into the My Disney Experience app at 7 a.m. to try and snag a boarding group for three Disney World attractions: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (when it officially opens at Magic Kingdom on June 28), TRON Lightcycle / Run (also Magic Kingdom), and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (EPCOT).
Related: Park Chaos – Disney Reins in Guests With New Queue Mandate
Boarding groups are notoriously challenging to secure – especially when a Disney ride first opens. Over at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios, guests once had to join a virtual queue to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. However, as demand settled, this transitioned to a stand-by line after roughly two years.
Theoretically, that should mean that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is also due to shift to a standby line soon.
The attraction – which takes guests on an adventure back in time to the Big Bang – first opened in place of the Universe of Energy at EPCOT in May 2022. Two years (and one month) later, however, a standby line still seems like a far-off dream – especially considering just how popular its virtual queue has been lately.
According to Thrill Data, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has run out of boarding groups at an especially rapid rate this June – both at the initial 7 a.m. allocation slot and at the secondary 1 p.m. slot.
For example, on June 6, all 7 a.m. boarding groups were distributed within seconds, making it near-impossible to secure a spot. At 1 p.m., these groups ran out at 1.01 p.m. The same was true on June 7, June 8, and June 10, with June 9 being the only exception (when the midday boarding groups lasted a surprisingly long time, until 1.32 p.m.
With this in mind, we’re not holding our breath for a traditional standby line any time soon. Should Disney ditch the virtual queue too soon, the reality is that this line would span for several hours. In this case, the virtual queue really is the better of two evils.
Are you a fan of Disney’s virtual queue system? Let us know in the comments!
