These Disneyland virtual queue tips will help you get the most out of your Disneyland visit.
The Disneyland virtual queue
Planning a trip to Disneyland California and want to experience two of the newest attractions?
Want to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland and WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure in California Adventure?
It’s not as simple as going up to the front of the line and getting in. Disney Parks have begun utilizing a new “virtual queue” system to manage crowds. The virtual queue is, essentially, a reservations system built into the official Disneyland app. We recommend having the app downloaded on your phone at least a few days before your visit. Because these are two of Disneyland Resort’s newest attractions, using the “virtual queue” is critical to your trip.
Be aware that the virtual queues fill up extremely quickly. Often within minutes of the park opening or once during the day. If we Nerds hadn’t used a virtual queue, we would have missed our opportunity to see these new attractions . At first it’s easy to worry that the virtual queues won’t work but don’t fret! We were successful with the virtual queue each time and I’m about to share with you Disneyland’s best-kept secret on how we did it…
RELATED: Disneyland vs Disney World Cost
How to use the virtual queue at Disneyland
1. First, download the official Disneyland app
You may get the full Disney experience by downloading the Disneyland app as soon after you buy your tickets online. The app will allow you to do everything from joining virtual queues and store your park tickets to making dining reservations, ordering quick service food, checking wait times for attractions throughout the park, and much more.
2. Set up the official Disneyland app
Go to the Tickets and Passes area of the app, and connect each person’s ticket number. Make this as soon as possible.
Essentially, you may connect numerous accounts to one account, allowing you to include tickets from multiple accounts into a single one. We use Nerds to link the members of our family to individual accounts so that each of us may attempt to join the virtual line. As soon as one person gets in, everyone else receives a notification informing them they’re in line!
Just so you know, Rise of the Resistance is in Disneyland, while Web Slingers is in Disney’s California Adventure. You must have a Park Hopper ticket to ride both on the same day.
At the moment, you’re allowed to virtually stand in line for each ride only once a day. So, if you have tickets for both Disneyland and California Adventure, plan on riding one amusement park in the morning and the other come afternoon.
RELATED: Disneyland Virtual Queue FAQ: Your questions answered
3. Set an alarm for 5 minutes before the queue opens
The third set of these Disneyland virtual queue tips is to set your alarm! You’ll probably be busy getting into the park the day of. We recommend setting an alarm on your phone a few minutes before the virtual queue opens. Otherwise you might miss your chance as it fills up literally in minutes.
Currently, Rise of the Resistance and Web Slingers both open at 7:00 AM and 12:00 noon on the same day. Unfortunately, you cannot make reservations before the queues open.
NOTE: You don’t have to be inside the park or at the attraction itself to join a virtual queue. The only thing you need is a ticket already purchased for the park. Also, if you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can’t get into the secondary park until 1 PM.
Basically, if you’re primary ticket is for California Adventure, you can’t get into Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (in Disneyland) in the morning if your reservation is for California Adventure that day.
4. Find the boarding group screen
You may join a virtual queue boarding group by using the Disneyland app’s home screen or menu as follows: Select your desired ride and decide whether you want to board at Disneyland Anaheim or Disney California Adventure. Remember that you may need to reload the page on a regular basis by selecting “Refresh” near the bottom of the screen.
5. Countdown starts! With one minute to go, refresh and repeat
Pay close attention because hundreds of people will be doing this at the same time virtually. When your phone notifies you that there is one minute left right before the virtual queue opens (6:59 or 11:59), get started refreshing your screen again and again until you see the “Join” button that will appear.
Once you see the “Join” button click it!
NOTE: Double check that each person in your group has a checkmark by their name.
Then click the next “Join” button.
You’re DONE with these Disneyland virtual queue tips!
If successful, you’ll see a confirmation screen letting you know what your boarding group number is and how long you have to wait until your group can enter the attraction.
No rush, as soon as your group is called, you’ll have an entire hour to get there.
However, once you get to the attraction you’ll still probably have a wait. This can range anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes.
How are the new attractions?
Awesome! Both Rise of the Resistance and Web Slingers are worth experiencing.
Here’s what to expect:
WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure is perfect for all ages. If you’re familiar with Toy Story Midway Mania (also in Disney California Adventure) then you’ll like WEB SLINGERS. Rather than using a ray gun to hit things, you use your regular old hands just like Spiderman!
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is a mini-world. Not like other attractions where you get on a ride and it’s over in just a few minutes. Just know, kids have to be at least 40 inches tall to ride.
Final thoughts on these Disneyland virtual queue tips
If you’ve been to Disneyland more than a few times, you start to learn about all the different tips and tricks to get the most out of your experience. These Disneyland virtual queue tips are no different. Honestly, at first we were a little confused about how to use the virtual queues.
But after going through the process once, it’s pretty easy to get used to.
Bottom line, you have to be prepared and savvy about using the Disneyland app. It just makes your visit so much better. Using virtual queues are the only way to make it happen.
So we hope you enjoyed these Disneyland virtual queue tips!
