Today is just full of rumors and this time we have one that kind of makes you go “hmmm.” According to several blogs, Disney is allegedly considering expanding the Virtual Queue idea to attractions beyond the Rise of the Resistance attraction at Walt Disney World.
Funny thing, Disney did have a program that already did this called “FastPass+” where you could get a spot at a set time and ride the attraction.
If you are familiar with the Virtual Queuing system that is used for ‘Rise of the Resistance’ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, then you know that now, at 25% capacity, the spots are usually gone in seconds. Now I’m sure social distancing is partly to blame, but they now have plexiglass partitions in place, so hopefully people will get more time than ten-twenty seconds to grab a spot.
Now, with all those issues, Disney wants to take this system and apply it to other attractions, with ‘Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run’ and ‘The Jungle Cruise’ coming up the most.
Again, they had a system like this called FastPass+. It was free for guests. Now Universal Orlando is still offering their Express Pass however it costs money. So of course the cynic in me, knowing how Disney needs to make money, is wondering if this is what they will use until the FastPass+ program returns with a price tag.
Of course it’s just a rumor about the Virtual Queue, but I could see Disney doing this for attractions with long lines that need better social distancing to accommodate the demand, but it’s been long rumored that Disney wanted to move to a paid FastPass+ system and guests didn’t care for the idea, but now this gives them a way to just do it and say it’s because of the pandemic.
What do you think? Comment and let us know.
Sources: Friends, WDWMagic,
Pirates & Princesses (PNP) is an independent, opinionated fan-powered news blog that covers Disney and Universal Theme Parks, Themed Entertainment and related Pop Culture from a consumer's point of view. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of PNP, its editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. PNP is an unofficial news source and has no connection to The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal or any other company that we may cover.