Walt Disney World really wants Annual Passholders to have a chance at previewing Tiana’s Bayou Adventure before it opens to the public. Sometimes the details are lost in the shuffle, but I think it’s worth bringing to your attention that Disney World is making it easier than ever before to preview a new ride – and availability to do so will likely remain open for a while. In this article, we’ll cover some high-level details for the preview, and then drill down into just how unprecedented the Passholder preview opportunity is in the modern preview era.

To partake in the preview, Annual Passholders will need to join a Virtual Queue. That said, the opportunity to join the Virtual Queue is more relaxed than ever before, which is what we really want to underline in this article.

Of course, Annual Passholders also need a Disney Park Pass theme park reservation to join the Virtual Queue. For the 7am distribution time, Annual Passholders will be required to have a Magic Kingdom Disney Park Pass theme park reservation. Those are all sold out as of publish time. However, have no fear, because the rules for the 1pm distribution time are unprecedented, and limited to only the Annual Passholder preview.

For the 1pm distribution time, Disney World has said that Annual Passholders simply need a Disney Park Pass theme park reservation to any of the four Walt Disney World theme parks. Furthermore, Disney World says that Annual Passholders don’t even need to have tapped into any theme park to be eligible for the 1pm drop. Typically, guests will have to have at least tapped into the specific theme park where they’re trying to secure a Virtual Queue. Not only do Annual Passholders not need to have tapped into Magic Kingdom, they don’t even have to tap into any theme park before 1pm.

In other words, you can try to secure a Virtual Queue return time for both the 7am drop and the 1pm drop from the comfort of your couch, hotel room, restaurant, pool, etc. This is not normal and it will not be the standard moving forward, but as we said in the first sentence of this article Disney World really wants Annual Passholders to have a chance to preview Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

As of publish time, Magic Kingdom is the only theme park that is sold out of theme park reservations for the Annual Passholder preview dates, but you now know that really doesn’t matter unless you must ride before lunch on any given preview day. Also, if you do have a Magic Kingdom Park Pass, and you’re unsuccessful at the 7am drop, keep in mind that these eligibility rules apply to you too, and you don’t need to visit the park and tap in to have a shot at the 1pm distribution time.

Now, the caveat here is that you have to use the Virtual Queue system, which will likely function pretty close to a lottery during these high-demand preview periods. That said, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is using a proven ride system that can churn through guests. To that end, we hope that distribution numbers get as close to 100% of hourly capacity as possible, giving lots of Passholders a chance to preview the attraction before it opens to the public.

As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!