Walt Disney World guests have been divided on the topic of virtual queues, a digital method of joining a ride’s line using your phone. Most new rides debuting post-pandemic have utilized a virtual queue upon opening, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, TRON Lightcycle / Run, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
An upcoming Disney World attraction’s opening procedure indicates a shift from Disney’s recent virtual queue protocols. This newly reimagined attraction will not offer a virtual queue upon opening, marking a departure from Disney’s typical rollout of new attractions in recent years. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including what’s opening in 2027 at Disney World and a Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane update.
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Virtual Queue for New Hollywood Studios Ride During Previews Only
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on May 26, 2026. This reimagining of the former Aerosmith thrill ride will instead feature a soundtrack of tunes performed by the Muppets’ Electric Mayhem band and special guests Questlove, Kelly Clarkson, Def Leppard, and Jennifer Hudson.
Disney World annual passholders can preview Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets before the ride’s May 26 grand opening. See the ins and outs of the passholder and DVC preview here. The most relevant information about the passholder preview for this article is that Disney will utilize a virtual queue during the preview period.
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In describing the passholder virtual queue, Disney clarified that when Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets opens to all guests on May 26, a virtual queue will not be in place. A standby line and Lightning Lane will be offered instead.
This marks a departure from how Disney has opened new rides in recent years. Most of the new attractions debuting post-pandemic, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, TRON Lightcycle / Run, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, have utilized a virtual queue upon opening.
None of those attractions uses a virtual queue anymore, and all offer a standby line and Lightning Lane. The length of time the virtual queue stuck around varied among all three rides, from a few months to a few years. The point is, Disney felt it necessary to have a virtual queue in place at opening time. For whatever reason, it’s deemed that a virtual queue is unnecessary for the public opening of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets.
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This could be because the attraction’s previous version operated for over 25 years, and Disney knows how to manage its crowds. Then again, that was also the case for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which revamped the former Splash Mountain, and Tiana’s still used a virtual queue at first.
Pros and Cons of Virtual Queues
Virtual queues remain a hot topic among Disney theme park visitors. On the one hand, virtual queues allow Disney to control an attraction’s crowds and cap its line at a somewhat reasonable length, usually not admitting more than two hours’ worth of guests into a virtual queue at a time. This compares to the nightmare situations sometimes seen on theme park rides’ opening days, when guests wait all day in a line that stretches the length of the park.
Securing your spot in line ahead of time may also provide peace of mind for guests before they head to the park, provided they know how to obtain a virtual queue reservation.
Some guests arrive at the parks with minimal background information. If a virtual queue or a Lightning Lane is the only way to experience a ride, as it has been for most new ride openings the past few years when standby lines were not an option, you’re out of luck if you didn’t know about those intricate systems before visiting.
TikToks went viral during the opening weeks of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure as devastated guests learned, only after arriving at Magic Kingdom, that they couldn’t ride without a reservation and that reservations were all out for the day.
Even guests who know the complexities of these processes aren’t guaranteed a spot in the virtual queue if they’re not quick enough at the drop time.
The fact that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets won’t use a virtual queue for its public opening doesn’t necessarily mean Disney is done with virtual queues altogether. Hollywood Studios recently had a virtual queue for Star Wars merchandise. Many restaurants offer a mobile order option, basically its own form of a virtual queue for dining, but with fewer rules attached.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if Bluey’s Wild World utilizes a virtual queue when it opens at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on May 26, given the character’s extreme popularity at Disneyland. Then again, the setup of Bluey at Animal Kingdom has the advantage of guests needing to use the train to reach the attraction, so that might be enough to keep things under control without a Virtual Queue.
Disney wants to reduce phone use that takes away from the guest experience. Virtual queues are definitely a phone-focused offering, but does Disney view them as positive or negative toward the guest experience?
Ultimately, there may or may not be a bigger-picture strategy to glean from Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster straying from the norm, but its lack of a virtual queue compared to every other recent ride opening is notable nonetheless.
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