The Ultimate Guide To Virtual Queues at Disneyland
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*As of January 2023, Disney is once again utilizing the virtual queue system for their newest attraction, ‘Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway’.
The images in this post are for Rise of the Resistance and WEB Slingers, both of which USED to utilize virtual queues. Now, it’s just Runaway Railway.
If you’re unsuccessful in obtaining a boarding group, your only other option is to purchase a premium Lighting Lane. There currently is no traditional stand-by queue.
You can read about how to use Disney Genie+ and purchasing premium Lighting Lanes by reading this post here.
When it came time to open the highly anticipated attractions, “Rise of the Resistence”, in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and, “WEB Slingers”, in Avenger’s Campus, Disney had something up their sleeves to help mitigate what would undoubtedly be an hours long wait; virtual queue.
The concept is simple. You secure yourself a spot in the virtual queue, you’re given a group number, and you go about your business enjoying the rest of the park while your spot in line is held.
When your group is called, you make your way to the attraction and enjoy! It offers guests little to no wait times (in a physical line), and helps ensure a great experience.
Overall, the premise is ideal. The execution, however, is anything but and despite what anyone may tell you, there is a science to getting it right. Since virtual queue is here to stay, it makes sense to learn everything you can about it.
During our most recent visit, we went for and received group numbers three days straight. Despite our success, it came at a price. The anxiety over the possibility of not getting in was horrible. That stress and anxiety inspired us to create this article.
We’re all about helping our readers. We want your vacation to be as smooth and stress free as it can get. In this article, we’re going to share with you the process of getting into the virtual queue, what you need to do to prepare, and some tips we picked up along the way.
Let’s get into it!
Things to Know About Virtual Queues
Your journey to secure a spot in the virtual queue begins and ends in the Disneyland app. If you haven’t already done so, download it, create an account, and link your tickets to your account (if you need help doing this, read our guide here).
Time is of the essence when trying to get in. Spots in the virtual queue (also referred to as “Boarding Groups”) are literally gone in seconds. You’ll need to have your finger on the pulse to pull this off.
Requirements
There are a few things you’ll need to make sure you have in order to take part in the virtual queue. They are:
You’ll need the Disneyland app downloaded and have an account.
A valid park ticket or Magic Key pass linked to your account (including ALL parties you’re with).
A corresponding reservation for the park in which the attraction is located in.
Lottery Times
Whereas before when you had only ONE opportunity per day to win a boarding group (and you HAD to already be inside the park), Disney now gives Guests two opportunities! One in the morning and one in the afternoon:
7:00am PST: This will be your first opportunity of the day to snag a boarding group and best of all, you do not need to be in the park to take part. Just your ticket and reservation. We did it from our hotel two of the three days.
12:00pm PST: If you didn’t wake up in time for the morning lottery or didn’t win, this is it. Your final opportunity for a boarding group. The major difference here is you MUST be scanned into either park to take part*
*NOTE - At noon, if you want Rise, you’ll either need to be in Disneyland Park OR be in DCA WITH a park hopper ticket or Magic Key. If you do NOT have a park hopper, you’ll need to be in the corresponding park in which the attraction is located in.
Park Hopping
While there may be two opportunities per day, the caveat is guests may only enter one successful lottery per day. So if you were able to get a morning time boarding group, you CANNOT go for the same attraction again at noon.
Notice I said same. Let’s say you scored a boarding group in the morning for Rise and you have a park hopper. After you’ve used your boarding pass for Rise, you can go for the virtual queue for WEB Slingers over in DCA (and vice versa).
Joining the Virtual Queue
As stated above, there are two enrollment times throughout the day; 7:00am and 12:00pm. As of September 8th, 2021, Disney decided to help make the process a bit easier by allowing guests to confirm their party one hour prior to each enrollment time.
Between 6:00am - 6:59am for morning
Between 11:00am - 11:59am for afternoon
It may not seem like much, but those precious few seconds you’re saving could very well mean the difference between joining the virtual queue and missing out. Note - You do not have to do it exactly one hour before. You have within that one hour period to do it.
Pre-Enrollment
Here’s the process of joining a virtual queue before enrollment begins:
Set an alarm for 10 minutes or sooner before.
Ensure your cell phone signal is strong. Go outside if necessary (If you’re in the parks, make sure you’re NOT on Disneyland’s Wifi).
Also be certain both your phone’s software and the app itself are both updated.
Open the app and go to the “Virtual Queue” section.
Tap, “Join Virtual Queue”.
The app will automatically default for Rise of the Resistance. If you want WEB Slingers, just tap on the DCA tab next to it
Now tap, “Confirm Your Party”, and make any necessary corrections.
If this is for the morning period, you can do this from your hotel. If it’s for the afternoon, all parties will need to be scanned into the park the attraction you’re going for is in.
Notice the new, “Refresh”, button at the bottom of the screen? Be ready….
At this stage, you have done all the pre-work. At this point, you’re sole focus should be on your phone. Don’t get distracted (unless it’s for something important, of course).
The Disneyland app runs on the world clock and thus, it’s what you’ll need to go off also. Most cell phones run on the world clock as well, but in case it’s off, here’s the one we used.
If you can, have someone else watch the world clock on their phone or computer while you keep the app open on yours. They or you will need to watch it by the second!
Enrollment Time!
Now, when the world clock reaches the five-second mark prior to start time (so for morning, 6:59:55am), here’s what you do:
At the 5-second mark, start repeatedly hitting that refresh button.
If nothing happens or that button isn’t there, pull down on the screen with your finger to refresh the screen manually.
The millisecond you see the blue, “Join Virtual Queue”, button on your screen - TAP IT!
Hopefully, you will now see your group number and estimated wait time. If not, refresh the screen again.
There’s also the possibility you weren’t fast enough and didn’t get one, but let’s stay positive!
You can have multiple people trying this at once on different phones, but once one of you wins a boarding group, the rest will receive an error message.
If You Were Successful
Time to celebrate! You’ve managed to score a seat on one of the park’s most coveted attractions. Now that you have your boarding group, here’s a few things you need to know:
Winning a boarding group doesn’t guarantee you access to either attraction. Both are subject to capacity. Essentially, the lower your group number, the better your chances.
You may be assigned to a backup boarding group. If this happens, you’ll only be called to ride if all other boarding groups have gone through and there’s room for more.
Depending on hours of operation, break-downs, and other issues, you may receive a push notification that your group will not be boarding. This is mostly for those who entered into the 2nd enrollment period and received a particularly high group number.
If you use Disability Access Service (DAS) you STILL need to enter into the virtual queue. Once you arrive at the attraction, report to the Cast Member for further instruction.
If you have a small child who cannot ride in your party, you can ask about a rider switch, but it isn’t guaranteed.
Multiple boarding groups are called at a time, not one just one. Once you’re summoned, you’ll see something like, “Now boarding groups 20-40”.
Once summoned, you have ONE hour from the time you were called to get to the attraction.
Don’t take the estimated wait time as gospel. Our first day, we were given an estimated wait time of almost 3 hours for the first enrollment. The park opened at 8:00am that day so we figured we had plenty of time. NOPE! We were notified to head over by 9:30am. It can happen fast!
We have heard of the “Please Arrive By” time varying. Most get one hour, but others have gotten different times. Look at it closely.
Take screenshots of both your confirmation and each person’s boarding passes in case the app decides to act up (trust us, it happens often).
Send those screenshots to each other in case one person’s phone dies. This way you have proof.
If you weren’t successful at the first enrollment , you can try again at the second one.
What to Expect
Once you’re given notification that your group number is now boarding, make sure you get to the attraction before the deadline. I have heard of people arriving late and still being allowed on, but it’s best not to push your luck.
The first Cast Member will both verbally and visually verify that you indeed have a boarding pass and direct you to the right queue. Have your boarding passes ready to be scanned as the next set of Cast Members you come across will be scanning them.
At Rise of the Resistance, they didn’t scan our passes until we were close to the interior section of the queue. At WEB Slingers, they scanned it before we reached the queue proper.
Keep in mind that you’re still not guaranteed to ride. If you’re in line and the ride breaks down (Rise does this often) and won’t come back online, you’re not riding. If it comes back up later, they will likely honor your boarding pass. Just ask a CM.
Our Experiences
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, our most recent trip was our first time trying to navigate the virtual queue process and we were successful all three days.
Day One - Rise of the Resistance
We were going to be spending the day at Disneyland this day and I desperately wanted to experience Rise. I woke up an hour before enrollment began to make sure everything was good. At 7:00am, I quickly shot through the buttons and to my delight, won boarding passes.
We were assigned group 18 with an estimated wait time of 165 minutes. By the time we left Starbucks, we received notification that our group was boarding and were told to be there by 9:30am. Cool!
We arrived, scanned in, and practically walked onto the ride from there. The only wait was the outside queue before being scanned.
Day Two - WEB Slingers
This day, we were going for WEB Slingers at DCA. Again, I woke up early, did everything I did the day before, and got a boarding pass. Again, we were given a fairly high wait time but it went quick as we were summoned as we walked through the gates.
This time, our passes were scanned on arrival and we had to wait in the outside queue area. Neither of us timed it, but I’m fairly certain it was around 30-minutes or so. Not bad.
Day Three - Rise…again
We’ve just spent two exhausting days in the parks, open to close, and wanted to sleep in a bit. So no morning enrollment for me. We were going to skip it but decided to go for the noon enrollment because that ride is way too epic to miss.
We were in the seating area of Bengal BBQ waiting for our mobile order and wouldn’t you know it, my food was ready for pick-up right as noon approached. So with my phone in one hand and a tray of delicious meat sticks in the other, I went all in and got it!
Fast forward four hours and our boarding group was called right as my dining reservation time came. Total bummer! I didn’t want to pay the no-show fee, so off to DTD we went.
At dinner, I was given a tip that, while not guaranteed, I could screenshot my boarding passes and my dining reservation (to prove there was a conflict), show them, and they might let me on. Knowing we would be writing this article we figured worst case, it would be a good to know either way.
Well, we arrived back at Rise (well over an hour past our given deadline), explained the situation to the Cast Member and guess what? He sent us through! Super cool.
I won’t promise they’ll do the same for you but if something similar does happen, take your screenshots, ask the Cast Member nicely, and they may be able to make some magic happen for you as well.
Conclusion
There you have it! All the information and tips you’ll need to (hopefully) successfully win in the virtual queue lottery for Rise of the Resistance and WEB Slingers. Do you know of any tips or tricks we didn’t mention that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!
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