Virtual Queue

This would totally work, but it has to be done ala "the preshow element"...every ride would need a 5-10 minute preshow that you would show up for with your virtual que...it gives the orderly queing a chance to work while not making you wait...

Waterparks have no preshows anywhere, so this is a tough one to make work...

EPCOT would actually have been a good test case park, since almost everything has a show area already (or could easily set one up)...
 
Although virtual queues have potential, I have doubts that they'll ever work well in existing parks. The current parks are designed and operated with the idea that, at any given time, a significant number of guests are physically standing in line. That's what they're "doing" (and if they're lucky, they get to enjoy an interactive queue).

If you replace the actual line with a virtual queue, the park should think about what all those guests are now going to do - and ideally provide options that improve their park experience. Leaving it up to guests to entertain themselves by eating, shopping or taking in the scenery while they wait will only go so far. Virtual queues require the park to think differently about the guest experience and plan/operate accordingly.

As a brand new park, Volcano Bay had the chance to be a park designed around the virtual queue concept. Instead, it seems they built a traditional water park with virtual queues that left guests with very little to do while waiting. It's a similar risk for other existing parks that adopt virtual queues without other changes.
 
Although virtual queues have potential, I have doubts that they'll ever work well in existing parks. The current parks are designed and operated with the idea that, at any given time, a significant number of guests are physically standing in line. That's what they're "doing" (and if they're lucky, they get to enjoy an interactive queue).

If you replace the actual line with a virtual queue, the park should think about what all those guests are now going to do - and ideally provide options that improve their park experience. Leaving it up to guests to entertain themselves by eating, shopping or taking in the scenery while they wait will only go so far. Virtual queues require the park to think differently about the guest experience and plan/operate accordingly.

As a brand new park, Volcano Bay had the chance to be a park designed around the virtual queue concept. Instead, it seems they built a traditional water park with virtual queues that left guests with very little to do while waiting. It's a similar risk for other existing parks that adopt virtual queues without other changes.


I agree that as the parks are now designed that virtual queues are not going to work well. To me, the big issue is ride capacity. Very few (if any) rides at the parks are capable of handling anywhere near park capacity. So most of the best rides have reached their limit of guests early in the day. If you arrive later, you won't be able to ride much of anything. Also, with the virtual queue, with more people choosing to get "in line," the overall number of rides a guest can ride goes down significantly. Isn't that what has been happening at VB? Some of the reviews complained that they only had time to ride two or three slides the entire day because of the length of the virtual queues.

I would love a park that had a lot of great rides that could handle park capacity. I would love to be able to schedule in my 10-12 attractions and spend the rest of the day enjoying my resort- still spending money at Disney, but relaxing while doing so. But the cost of that to the theme parks is probably too great, since roller coasters and other thrill attractions often cannot handle park capacity without having to be built with several separate tracks. And there isn't space or money for that.

I think the fastpass+ solution is probably the best of all possible solutions for the way the parks are built now. That system has generally worked very well for our family, given how we plan and tour.
 
Lose the standard line of just looking at really nothing. Flip the Disney script on doing things. Every one knows there is a themed gift shop at the end of the ride, make the pre ride line go through the gift shop and pick up your loot on the other side. No time wasted shopping, its now combined ! May slow the line some....though.
 


If we are all not in a line then park capacity needs to be reduced. Could you imagine thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve if all those people were not in line.
 
The crowd has to be distributed or the facilities would be overrun...yes...that means people have to be in lines.

There's a lot of gift shops...but but enough to handle 100,000 people...that would be a gridlocked nightmare

Not to mention, how many people want to shop and eat for 10+ hours a day. Lines are annoying, but that is when people should be talking with their travel mates and enjoying each others company. VQ one or two rides a day would be nice, but for every ride, everyday would get crazy boring.
 


If we are all not in a line then park capacity needs to be reduced. Could you imagine thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve if all those people were not in line.
Which is exactly what happened at Volcano Bay - reducing capacity to the point of closing the park to new entrants early in the day. Can you imagine the Disney parks hitting capacity and closing before noon? There'd be mass casualties at RD everyday - like the stampedes when they offer $20 electronics on Black Friday. I don't want to live in a world where someone's willing to risk their life to be first in a virtual line for 7DMT (or *shudder* Peter Pan).
 
Disney tested virtual queues at Typhoon Lagoon but it didn't catch on after the short test.
I think they also tried it with Anna and Elsa when they first appeared.
And, it didn't work.
 
Not to mention to me it barely worked on Race Through New York at Universal. Got packed into the room like sardines and I believe they did just let people on even if the color didn't match
 

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