Virtual Queues - A Necessary System
Let me start off by saying that the Virtual Queue system has its place. It's probably the only feasible way Disney can manage the demand for new attractions. We saw the scenes over at Universal Islands of Adventure with the 12-hour queue for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, with the line of people weaving all the way down to the entrance of the park, or when Flight of Passage opened at Disney's Animal Kingdom with its 3+ hour wait to get into Pandora: The World of Avatar and then another 5+ hour wait for the attraction. I don't think Disney has any other choice than to run a system like this to manage the crowds when a hot new ride debuts. And in regards to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, it is a phenomenal attraction that will have high demand for years to come. It's worth the ticket price to EPCOT alone! Virtual Queues, in my opinion, from what I have seen, can lead to a bad experience for some guests.
Entering The Lottery
While myself and probably many of you have no issues getting a Virtual Queue, they're generally not fair. First, there's the getting up at 6:55 a.m. and then having the glare of your phone screen hitting your tired eyes as you open the My Disney Experience app. You then frantically pull down and refresh and hope you can get a spot in the queue. Heaven forbid you shut your eyes for a second and it's suddenly 7:01 a.m. and they're all gone.
What's not fair is that all guests have paid for their park tickets but only a portion who wake up at 7 a.m. can go on one of the attractions. Disney tried to work around this a little and later added the afternoon batch to be accessible from 1 pm, but it's tough plan your day around maybe getting a Virtual Queue entry.
Sorry, Sir, No
More than once while hanging out around the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, we've witnessed families try to enter the attraction. They've had no idea they had to get a Virtual queue and just thought they could walk in and get in line. A cast member - and bless them for the way they have to let these people down - told them they needed to join the virtual queue at 7 a.m. to get to ride. The family looked confused and then asked, "We can't go on then?" and then were told, "You can check the app to see if there are any Lightning Lanes available," which I then thought, "Wow, it's either pay another $100 or they don't get to go on." I can't even fathom the feeling that family had being told that after spending probably thousands of dollars on the trip to even be there.
Sure, you can argue every guest should fully research every single part of the Disney holiday and should know better, but Disney's marketing largely excludes any mention saying you need to set your alarm and join a lottery to get on an attraction; you can't blame guests for not knowing. Just think for a second if that was you and you turned up for an attraction after paying your ticket just like everyone else to be told this.
Your Time Is Currency
Like I said, Virtual queues have their place when demand is too high, and nobody blames Disney for this. And while demand for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is still high, guests can choose if they want to experience the attraction and wait for the 1-3 hours to go on it or go do other things. What's funny is that the majority of times I had a Virtual Queue for an attraction I ended up waiting over an hour anyway. It shouldn't be a lottery if you get to experience something when everyone has paid for their tickets. We are all given the hours the park is open that day to spend on what we want to do, and that's how it should be.
"Not All Guests Can Ride It Anyway"
Each attraction has a maximum daily capacity, and that's on the assumption it doesn't go down during the day. So it is true that, virtual queue or not, not every guest can always ride every attraction in any given day. However, joining a virtual queue on the My Disney Experience app when you're in bed doesn't negate demand like standing in a standby queue for a period of time. Some people might happily join at one hour, a lot less would be okay with no going on it and doing other things if it was two hours. But with a standby system, the high majority of guests who want to ride the attraction can.
VQ's Will Return
Virtual queues will return when the next new attraction opens. What maybe would make them more fair is to have it so you cannot join a Virtual queue until you're scanned into the park; that way, it's less of a lottery, and if there is only limited capacity for a ride, and if you are determined, you will get there on opening to secure your place.
