One of the biggest rumors before Walt Disney World officially announced its reopening plans was that the resort would be using virtual queues to manage lines and help guests continue to social distance. However, when the parks first opened, because so few guests showed up initially, this measure was not implemented, except on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which had been using virtual queueing prior to the shutdown.
However, as attendance continues to grow at Walt Disney World theme parks, queue lines are starting to grow beyond their usual attraction space, overflowing into walkways and running in to other guest areas. And in an effort to combat this, it looks like Disney is considering adding several attractions across its parks to its virtual queue lineup, including Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom, with more potentially on the way, according to WDWMagic.
Though demand for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance continues to be strong and “sells out” within seconds of becoming available, it seems unlikely that demand would be as high for these additional attractions, and because of the nature of these attractions, normal stand-by queue space may be available at some point, similar to how some attractions at Universal Orlando Resort use a hybrid virtual/stand-by queue system.
Right now, Disney has not released any official updates about the expansion of the virtual queue system at Walt Disney World, but hopefully we’ll learn more soon as the resort continues to adjust its strategy in response to growing attendance and continuing safety measures.
