BREAKING: Disney World Ending Digital Queues for Tiana’s Bayou Journey & Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind!

Walt Disney World is ending all digital queues, and will likely be with none for the primary time in years! Tiana’s Bayou Journey and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will each discontinue their boarding group methods and change to standby quickly. This put up shares official announcement particulars, plus our commentary about Magic Kingdom and EPCOT lastly dropping the final remaining VQs.

The final time Walt Disney World dropped a digital queue for a trip wasn’t that way back. It was again on September 9, 2024 when TRON Lightcycle Run switched to standby. We’ve achieved complete discipline testing then, and regardless of TRON nonetheless not collaborating in Early Entry, it’s going fairly nicely with out a digital queue.

Previous to that, it had been a very long time since Walt Disney World dropped a digital queue–a couple of months after the opening of Remy’s Ratatouille Journey. That change got here only some months after Disney’s Hollywood Studios “paused” the digital queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. That pause, fortunately, turned out to be everlasting.

Technically, there was about 1-week of no digital queues in any respect in Walt Disney World between the time in late September 2021 when Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance dropped its digital queue and when Remy’s Ratatouille Journey opened one week later. Provided that was one of many lowest crowd stretches at Walt Disney World within the final 5+ years, we’re guessing not a lot of you skilled it.

For the final significant stretch when Walt Disney World was with out a digital queue, you’d have to return even additional–all the best way to the halcyon days of December 2019, earlier than the closure and phased reopening, previous to the opening of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Again when free FastPass, night Additional Magic Hours, and many others. had been all nonetheless alive and nicely.

Quick ahead to at the moment and Walt Disney World has introduced that beginning February 25, 2025, standby queues will likely be accessible at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT and Tiana’s Bayou Journey at Magic Kingdom. Digital queues will likely be in place for each from now via February 24, 2025.

At present, there are 2 each day alternatives throughout common operations to request to affix the digital queues for Cosmic Rewind or Tiana’s Bayou Journey:

• 7:00 AM (Friends don’t must be in Magic Kingdom to affix the digital queue presently)
• 1:00 PM (Friends will need to have entered Magic Kingdom to affix the digital queue presently)

Please remember that as of February 25, 2025, these digital queues will not be accessible. This may included Prolonged Night Hours at EPCOT.

These modifications are lengthy overdue. Tiana’s Bayou Journey is nonetheless utilizing a digital queue for its “preliminary opening interval.” Whereas a standby queue won’t be accessible in the course of the attraction’s preliminary opening days, Walt Disney World expects to open a standby line quickly after the attraction’s opening.

The italicized above is what Walt Disney World stated when first asserting the opening date and particulars for Tiana’s Bayou Journey again in final Might. Disney’s language on the time strongly prompt Tiana’s Bayou Journey wouldn’t have a digital queue for almost so long as another trip at Walt Disney World. Actually, we predicted it might be dropped by July 8. That was over 7 months in the past!

What we didn’t predict–and what nobody may’ve predicted–was that the reimagined trip would have so many reliability and downtime woes. It’s someway a lot, a lot worse than Splash Mountain. Don’t even get me began on Tiana’s Bayou Journey’s points. After encountering repeated complications with that in the course of the course of discipline testing final week, I’m at my wits’ finish with that attraction. One other story for one more day, although.

The excellent news (until you’ve been visiting lately) is that Tiana’s Bayou Journey has been closing early on sure dates all through Winter 2025, which we’ve assumed was because of situations (low crowds and temperatures) conducive to prolonged in a single day upkeep. Based mostly on the event that Tiana’s Bayou Journey is ending its digital queue on February 25, that’s seemingly confirmed.

Then there’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which has grow to be the longest operating digital queue at Walt Disney World by a large margin.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened 2 years, 8 months and 21 days in the past. For the maths whizzes on the market, it’ll “rejoice” its thousandth day of getting a digital queue later this week. I’m actually shocked Cosmic Rewind’s digital queue has lasted so lengthy–we first predicted it’d be retired in August 2022 based mostly on demand and clean operations.

Clearly, that was very fallacious. One potential complicating issue with Cosmic Rewind is much less bodily queue house, however they put in overflow exterior (full with umbrellas!) over a yr in the past, and it’s simply been sitting there since. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see the extent to which that is wanted as soon as Spring Break crowds arrive in full drive.

As is well-documented in our many posts, our perspective on digital queues has developed over time. Largely, this was motivated by Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance enhancing its reliability and uptime, which means friends within the standby queue had been much less more likely to endure a breakdown.

The shift to a standby line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was largely vindicated. Though it nonetheless has an excessive amount of downtime, it’s kind of on the outer bounds of what’s acceptable. Similar goes for Remy’s Ratatouille Journey and TRON Lightcycle Run, each of that are beneath common when it comes to trip breakdowns. (They do occur, simply not as typically as RotR or TBA.)

Suffice to say, it’s arduous to see any motive why these rides nonetheless “wants” digital queues so lengthy after their preliminary launch season–particularly if Tiana’s Bayou Journey has mounted what was causing it so unreliable.

In our view, digital queues are visitor unfriendly and will solely be used when completely vital. Every time they are often dropped, they need to be dropped. It’s patently apparent to me that the VQ might be dropped at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Tiana’s Bayou Journey would possibly be a special story given its historical past of reliability issues, but when Disney is shifting ahead with this resolution I assume it’s as a result of they’re assured they’ve discovered a repair.

As Walt Disney World has undertaken initiatives to simplify and enhance the visitor expertise, eliminating the remaining digital queues looks as if an apparent next-step. And I say all of this as somebody who selfishly likes digital queues as a result of they provide me (and different educated, frequent friends) a bonus over the typical guests. However I additionally acknowledge that what’s good for me just isn’t at all times good for the park-going public.

The factor is that trip capability is a zero-sum sport. If the digital queue is filling up with a bunch of APs and locals who would skip a triple-digit standby wait, these spots are coming on the expense of another person. The losers on this situation are seemingly disproportionately first-timers and different low-knowledge or technology-averse friends.

Whereas these folks typically are oblivious to digital queues or are unsuccessful at becoming a member of, a lot of them are ready or extra inclined to attend in an extended standby line. The balking level is greater for them–they’ve by no means achieved the trip, so their tolerance for strains or threshold for ready is greater than the typical AP who skips any standby line that’s over half-hour.

First-timers or rare guests are the very demographics that, in my view whilst a biased and self-interested AP, Walt Disney World needs to be favoring. It’s higher for the sake of visitor satisfaction and creating new followers to make issues simpler for these folks, and eradicating one layer of friction.

That is doubly true in terms of newer points of interest which might be the main target of selling campaigns. There are individuals who have booked journeys after seeing adverts for Cosmic Rewind or Tiana’s Bayou Journey…who haven’t been in a position to trip as a result of they failed on the digital queue, or didn’t perceive how one can ‘play’ within the first place. Or possibly these are simply the rides they actually, actually wish to expertise over and over–through which case, they need to have the option to take action in the event that they’re keen to endure a number of 100+ minute waits. That needs to be their alternative!

As most of us have complained in regards to the quantity of display time and overreliance on know-how in visiting Walt Disney World, we should always likewise proceed to assist the retirement of digital queues. They could profit us on a person degree, however are unhealthy on a holistic degree.

Total and in mixture, digital queues are a unfavourable for the visitor expertise–and one which results in extra complaints and alternatives for disappointment that has no potential decision. Digital queues add yet one more pointless layer of friction and make issues overwhelming and intimidating for inexperienced and older friends.

As such, we applaud the tip of the digital queue at TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom. It ought to’ve occurred a full yr in the past, however higher late than by no means. Subsequent up, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. I don’t care what the operational excuse is for protecting that 2 years longer than vital–it’s a foul one and likewise must go.

Provided that that is the primary time that Walt Disney World has ever retired two digital queues concurrently, and is successfully ending boarding teams for the foreseeable future (the subsequent “likelihood” at them returning for rides isn’t till 2027 when Tropical Americas opens), it’s pure to query the “why” of this transfer.

As coated in Walt Disney World is Apprehensive About Its Excessive Costs, the corporate has inside considerations about Disney alienating the center class, with rising fears about how worth will increase and unpopular choices are angering followers and shedding visitor goodwill. That is not simply worth will increase. It’s these coupled with corresponding cuts, nickel and diming, and different methods the visitor expertise has been diminished. Worth isn’t the one concern. It’s the worth proposition, which has taken hits in each instructions.

That has been a sizzling subject making main headlines for the final week-plus because of a report within the Wall Avenue Journal, and it even necessitated a ham-fisted response from Disney. As we predicted in Disney Responds to Rising Prices Criticism, we totally count on substantive motion as a “we’re listening” response from the corporate.

The final time one thing like this occurred, a bit of over a month later Walt Disney World made 3 large modifications to revive worth and enhance flexibility, together with the return of free in a single day parking on the inns. Mere months after that, the corporate introduced 5 main enhancements to make your go to simpler. Extra lately, there was the change from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross together with different queueing modifications geared toward higher balancing the pursuits of all friends.

In any other case, not an entire lot has occurred to enhance the visitor expertise within the final 365+ days. This may very well be the opening salvo in Walt Disney World’s try to enhance visitor satisfaction and scale back the quantity of friction in visiting its parks. Or it may very well be fully coincidental.

It’s attainable that the reason right here is just that upkeep groups discovered a repair to the issues plaguing Tiana’s Bayou Journey, to the purpose that park operations is glad that it could run reliably and doesn’t want a digital queue. From there, administration would possibly’ve thought it’s a good suggestion to eradicated each remaining digital queues in a single fell swoop, because the one at Cosmic Rewind has likewise outlived its usefulness. Personally, I’d favor to imagine that that is Act One in a “we’re listening” marketing campaign. However I suppose we will see.

As for modifications to Lightning Lanes, there are not any modifications to Lightning Lanes. 

Tiana’s Bayou Journey continues to be a part of the Lightning Lane Multi-Cross trip roster, whereas Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind sells the a la carte Lightning Lane Single Cross. See our Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World for every part it’s good to know.

For no matter it’s value, Lightning Lane Single Cross is Promoting Out Quicker than it used to, and Cosmic Rewind is the most well-liked LLSP. It’s typically gone a number of days upfront. For its half, Tiana’s Bayou Journey is the agency #1 decide on our listing of the High 10 Hardest Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.

To that time, each time Walt Disney World has eliminated digital queues previously, a subset of followers has complained that they’ve achieved so out of “greed” and as a option to push Lightning Lane gross sales. Sarcastically, one other subset has complained that that is what digital queues do. There actually is not any pleasing everybody.

We’re extremely skeptical that Lightning Lane gross sales have any bearing on digital queues. In the event that they did, extra points of interest would add or take away them, because the case could also be. With the good thing about hindsight from the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance change, it’s secure to say that was/just isn’t the driving motivation.

Lightning Lanes promote out for many points of interest each day, regardless–it doesn’t seem that the digital queue modifications the calculus for potential consumers somehow. That is doubly true for these two points of interest as a result of, as mentioned above, they’re each the #1 hottest rides on LLMP and LLSP. You can’t promote extra of that which is already bought out. (Nicely, they may by rising provide…however that’s already an possibility.)

As for the motivations of shifting it from a digital queue to standby, my guess is that that is as soon as once more a matter of visitor satisfaction. Digital queues are exceedingly unpopular with friends, who discover them counterintuitive and are shocked to reach and discover they don’t have the choice of standing in line.

Not every part is a conspiracy or achieved by Disney with ulterior motives to make much more cash. That’s not only a cynical perspective, however one which makes our collective voice as followers simpler to disregard. If we complain about every part, there’s no level within the firm listening to us.

Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Find out about inns on our Walt Disney World Resorts Opinions web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Opinions. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a singular take a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Experience Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the very best place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for every part it’s good to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you consider this information that Walt Disney World will finish the Tiana’s Bayou Journey and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind digital queues on February 25, 2025? Do you agree or disagree with this modification? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!