Walt Disney World FAQ: Virtual Queues

Suppose your next Walt Disney World trip focuses on riding as many popular attractions as possible, including recent additions like Tron Lightcycle Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. In that case, you must familiarize yourself with Disney World virtual queues and Individual Lightning Lanes. Learning about both is essential if you and your family want to ride the most popular rides in Walt Disney World.

For this post, I will focus on virtual queues over Individual Lightning Lanes, but I will talk about some differences later in this post.

Before we start, one term you should understand is the standby line. This is the regular line for an attraction at Disney World, where anyone can walk up to the attraction and wait to ride it. The standby line uses a "first-in, first-out" (FIFO) method of allowing people to ride an attraction.

Virtual Queues

A virtual queue replaces the standby line for certain attractions at Walt Disney World (as of February 6, 2024, those attractions are Tron Lightcycle Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind). With virtual queues, you use the My Disney Experience App to request a boarding group for an attraction. Virtual queues allow guests to enjoy other attractions throughout the park while waiting for their turn to ride.

Joining a virtual queue is easy; a quick online search will include many articles and videos on the necessary steps. I like this video because it provides an excellent step-by-step tutorial, and it's under a minute. Joining a virtual queue can be done in less than a second if you know what to do, but they can also fill up in seconds and leave you without a boarding group if you don't understand what to do.

If you need help understanding how to join a virtual queue, click here.

Virtual Queue vs. Individual Lightning Lane

You may be asking whether you should purchase an Individual Lightning Lane instead of, or perhaps in addition to, joining the virtual queue. As of the date this post was published, both rides with a virtual queue also allow the purchase of an Individual Lightning Lane (ILL).

Unlike virtual queues, an ILL is an added cost, separate from the cost of Genie+, and has a variable price structure. This means the cost of an ILL will vary based on the ride's popularity and how busy the park is on that day. During my last visit, the cost of an individual lightning lane varied from $12 to $25 per ticket. Specifically, Guardians was $14, while Tron was $20 on the day I purchased ILLs for those rides. While reasonable, the cost can quickly escalate for a family, reaching up to $100 before taxes, for a family of 4 to skip the line at one attraction. These costs add up.

While I do not have confirmed data, based on my questions to cast members and other peoples' experiences, it seems like Disney tries to keep virtual queue wait times to approximately 45 minutes. Individual Lightning Lane wait times can be much shorter, as I feel Disney does a terrific job ensuring people who pay extra experience reduced wait times.

Individual Lightning Lanes also have the added benefit of allowing the purchaser to select a return time, dependent on available times. With the virtual queue, you are told a specific window where the attraction is available for you to ride.

While there is an added cost to Individual Lightning Lanes, that added cost gives you flexibility when you ride the attraction and shorter wait times. Should you prioritize joining the virtual queue or buying an Individual Lightning Lane? As with many Disney topics, it depends, but see my recommendation at the end of this post.

When to Join a Virtual Queue

To join a virtual queue, you must have a valid park ticket for that day. Virtual queues open at specific times.

• 7:00 am: This virtual queue is open to everyone with a valid ticket for that day. Since the parks are not open, you do not need to be in the theme park to join the queue. You also do not need to stay at a Disney resort, which is a common misunderstanding (You do need a room at a Disney resort to buy Individual Lightning Lanes at this time). Joining this queue is highly competitive and can sell out in seconds.
• 1:00 pm: Everyone in your party who wants to join the queue must have entered the park where the ride is located to join this queue. Due to this restriction, I have been told this queue stays open longer than the 7 am queue, but the difference is only in minutes. It is still imperative to join the queue as soon as possible.
• 6:00 pm: On nights when extended evening hours are available for guests staying at a deluxe Disney resort, a third virtual queue is available.

You can only join the 7:00 am or 1:00 pm queue. In other words, if you can get a boarding group at 7:00 am, you are prohibited from joining the virtual queue at 1:00 pm. If you wish to ride a second time, riders must buy an Individual Lightning Lane unless they can take part in extended evening hours.

If you are eligible for extended evening hours, you may join the 6:00 pm queue even if you had previously received a boarding group in the 7:00 am or 1:00 pm group. It's a great way to ride a second time without paying the additional cost of an Individual Lightning Lane.

My Recommendation

In most cases, I recommend joining the virtual queue over prioritizing an Individual Lightning Lane. The virtual queue is free, and a 45-minute wait is not long enough where the added cost of an ILL is worth the time savings. Cost vs. time savings can be subjective, and you may believe a 45-minute wait is too long and worth the added cost. I can't argue because the threshold of an acceptable wait time differs for everyone. One of my sons told me anything over a 20-minute wait requires a solution. But he wasn't paying; the additional cost can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars, and virtual queues are a great way to balance wait times and costs.

I have a 100% success rate in receiving a boarding group when joining a virtual queue, and the key to success is joining the queue as close as possible to the exact second the queue opens. That means joining the 7 am queue at 7:00:00. Most smartphones are synced to the correct time, but you can also visit a website like Time.is to get the exact time, which is what I do.

The downsides of the virtual queue may pose problems in some circumstances, such as the inability to pick your boarding time. Therefore, I sometimes recommend Individual Lightning Lanes over the virtual queue in a couple of circumstances. An ILL is preferred if you need to ride an attraction at a particular time. An example would be if you are park hopping and will only be in a specific park for part of the day. Since you cannot pick a particular time to ride an attraction, joining the virtual queue could mess up your plans if you get a time that does not work for your schedule. I will also buy an ILL if I want to ride an attraction a second time in one day and have already ridden through the virtual queue.