Tiana’s Bayou Adventure WILL Offer Virtual Queue

Well, in news that surprises no one, Disney has announced today that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World will be utilizing a virtual queue. The attraction opens officially on June 28 and at first, Guest will only have two options to ride – either the Virtual Queue or Lightning Lane.

To access the Virtual Queue, Guests can request to join via the My Disney Experience app at one of two times: 7:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.

While a standby queue will not be available during the attraction’s initial opening days, there is some good news at least for people like me who don’t particularly like the Virtual Queue. Disney is not expected to use the Virtual Queue long. They actually expect to open a standby queue soon after the attraction’s opening.  

How does the Virtual Queue Work?

When a Virtual Queue is being used for an attraction, Guests are able to request the opportunity for a virtual spot in line ahead of time. This means that you won’t have to physically wait in, say a 4 hour line. Instead, you’ll be able to enjoy other experiences while you wait. When it’s your time to ride the attraction, you’ll enter the queue, and yes, you will still need to wait, but your wait will be much shorter than it would have been, without the virtual queue in place. When the virtual queue is in place, a standby queue will not be available.

Guests will want to be on the My Disney Experience app IMMEDIATELY at 7:00 a.m. in order to be able to obtain a Virtual Queue slot originally. These Virtual Queue slots will be taken up quickly by Guests. And by quickly, I mean expect all the slots to be filled up within seconds.

For the 1:00 p.m. drop, sometimes there will be availability that opens up and sometimes there won’t. It will really depend on how the attraction is functioning that day, as well as how many Guests have taken advantage of the Virtual Queue and Lightning Lane earlier that day. Speaking of Lightning Lane….

Or you Can Use Genie+ and the Lightning Lane

Say you don’t want to use the Virtual Queue to ride the attraction. What if you’d just rather use Lightning Lane? What’s Lightning Lane? Well, Lightning Lane entry lets you bypass the standby queue (or in this case, Virtual Queue) and join a separate queue for select attraction and entertainment experiences. Some Lightning Lane entrances are offered through Disney Genie+ service. Other Lightning Lane entrances may be purchased individually (à la carte). You may buy either or both options.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be a part of the regular Disney Genie+. It won’t be an option for Individual Lightning Lane purchase.

Final Thoughts

While I mentioned before that I personally hate Virtual Queues, I did suspect that this attraction would be offering it. There was just no way around it with all the hype around the attraction. People are going to want to see it, especially after it first opens.

I AM, however very pleased to hear that Disney is planning to only keep the Virtual Queue around for a limited amount of time and eventually (sooner, rather than later) offer a standby queue. This is how Virtual Queues should work.

What do you think? Are you happy to see a Virtual Queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure? Or are you like me and happy that it will offer a standby line eventually? You can share with me in the comments or on social! Find me on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.

Book Your Next Trip!

Want to book a Walt Disney World vacation to experience this attraction? Jocelyn Martins at The Magic For Less Travel specializes in the art of personalized vacation planning. She provides a guest-driven, concierge level planning service. Best of all, Jocelyn’s service is provided free of charge. Click here to get your free, no-obligation quote today!