Should Disney look into Virtual Queues?

[NearTheEars]

Base on the furious one and a half star reviews that Volcano Bay is currently averaging on Yelp, I would say no. Not yet, Disney.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/volcano-bay-orlando

Yikes! Sounds like they have some kinks to work out. Remember how heavy handed WDW had to be when they first launched Magic bands and FP+? it took some time for people to learn for sure. Why are they so shocked about paying for a locker? I don't think I've been to a park that offered free all-day lockers.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Yikes! Sounds like they have some kinks to work out. Remember how heavy handed WDW had to be when they first launched Magic bands and FP+? it took some time for people to learn for sure. Why are they so shocked about paying for a locker? I don't think I've been to a park that offered free all-day lockers.

Yep, I agree, there are some wacky posts on there.

 

[tampabrad]

The challenge with virtual queue is that there is no stand by line. If you can't virtually queue up for an attraction, you are completely locked out of that experience. If you are on a couple hour wait, you can't to something else but wait in a shop or restaurant. Virtual queue is just having all FP and no stand by.

So no for the virtual queue.

 

[Disney Stine]

Universal is doing it with all their newer rides like Fallon and the new Fast and Furious ride. I just didn't see why it couldn't work at Disney too.

I rode the Fallon ride during it's soft opening. The "virtual queue" is similar to the dumbo queue area. You receive a card (not a pager) and wait around a room until the color of your card glows in the room, then you line up for the ride. No one left the building to go to restaurants or shops, instead they provided entertainment with touch screen games, the barber shop quartet performing every so often, and showing clips from the show.
A physical queue area is needed, but more interactive opportunities like what they did with the Fallon ride made the experience much better than simply standing in line. Having a feeling of being able to walk around, sit down on couches, or watch the entertainment was even better than the ride.

I would love for this to be the next direction...It eliminates the crowds from the parks by still keeping people in the area of their ride, but aids in the overall experience.

 

[GlassHalfFull]

Did I miss that a 100% VQ system is running flawlessly?

Also I can't be the only person who has left a FP(Virtual Queue) unused because simply put, I didn't want to just sit in a restaurant at a table for 2 hours for a ride that would eventually happen, so I waited standby for 15 minutes. There comes a point where VQ's are overused to the point that people no longer feel it is beneficial, and instead they feel like their whole day is dictated by a given schedule mixed around a lot of waiting around.

I could see water parks being successful with them due to the nature that usually Water Parks feature some degree of lounging around in the sun/wave pool, and then getting notification on Apple Watch "Your VQ for XXXXX is ready". Water parks by nature feature a lot more lazy down time. There are no major areas in WDW etc that feature something similar to a wave pool that can "entertain" a very large population of people for minutes or hours while they wait for a VQ. I think more VQ(than FP+) centered approaches can be very successful in water parks, but full VQ's everywhere else, not so much.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Space Mountain does that somewhat.

Yes but only for a short part of the queue, and the play isnt very immersive.

 

[djdan888]

You are all giving reasons for no no no. Just realize this, if Universal starts to have success with this, and they will in time, you better believe Disney will look at it. While a guest is 4 Hours in FoP line, they aren't spending any money. I just don't understand why people can't head over to World Showcase for example and enjoy a leisurely walk around the countries then return for their line time. What does Disney need to build extra? They have three stinking parks that people can walk around in, even if they only have access to one park. I often just wander around the parks myself. I don't need to be entertained like a child the whole time. Bottom line is, if it makes them more money by saving on having to build huge elaborate queues, and also allows guests to spend money when they would normally be in a line, then they will do it.

 

[danlb_2000]

The challenge with virtual queue is that there is no stand by line. If you can't virtually queue up for an attraction, you are completely locked out of that experience. If you are on a couple hour wait, you can't to something else but wait in a shop or restaurant. Virtual queue is just having all FP and no stand by.

So no for the virtual queue.

Any virtual queue system will have to provide a way for every guest to use it. If there is a couple hour wait for a ride, you could, depending on how the system is setup, virtual queue for a ride that has a shorter wait.

 

[larryz]

You are all giving reasons for no no no. Just realize this, if Universal starts to have success with this, and they will in time, you better believe Disney will look at it. While a guest is 4 Hours in FoP line, they aren't spending any money. I just don't understand why people can't head over to World Showcase for example and enjoy a leisurely walk around the countries then return for their line time. What does Disney need to build extra? They have three stinking parks that people can walk around in, even if they only have access to one park. I often just wander around the parks myself. I don't need to be entertained like a child the whole time. Bottom line is, if it makes them more money by saving on having to build huge elaborate queues, and also allows guests to spend money when they would normally be in a line, then they will do it.

Then how will they manage the stand-by line for the "Virtual Queue" for the FP+ line?

 

[djdan888]

Then how will they manage the stand-by line for the "Virtual Queue" for the FP+ line?

By simply making two essentially FP lines. One for VQ and one for FP. They could toy woth the Jimmy Fallon method of a room with chairs etc and waiting for your turn to be called into the ride or they could make two ques of FP size length.