The Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Virtual Queue process is now easier than ever has been before as we find ourselves in the middle of the slow season at Walt Disney World. The 7am drop has lasted for more than 90 minutes for three days in a row now, and the 1pm drop has been open effectively all day for two days in a row now. To be more specific, the 1pm drop has lasted past 7:45pm the past two days in a row, which is the breakeven point for how long the estimated callback time is (75 minutes) versus how many operating hours are left at EPCOT. All that is to say that the Virtual Queue is pointless right now. So will Disney announce an end to the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Virtual Queue soon? Maybe.
We are now nearly 100 days past the opening date of Cosmic Rewind, and if we look at recent historical precedent, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure also dropped the virtual queue a few days past the 100-day mark. With crowds at the lowest point they’ll be at all year, now seems like a wonderful time for Disney to drop the virtual queue and open up standby for Cosmic Rewind. The attraction is extremely efficient, and only experiences about 3% downtime during an average operating day, according to data from thrill-data.com. Cosmic Rewind really doesn’t need a Virtual Queue, but that has been the case for some time now. Earlier this summer, we penned an article about how the Virtual Queue system is pointless and unnecessary…but that we were fans of it.
We imagine that the park revenue execs are chomping at the bit to open up standby too, which could increase the value proposition for an Individual Lightning Lane purchase. Right now, guests can simply ride other attractions while they wait for their Virtual Queue window to open. Once the Boarding Group is called, a typical wait of 20-30 minutes is hardly a friction point when considering that you could wait longer for Living with the Land during busier times of the year. If the standby is opened and guests see a posted wait north of 100 minutes, a Lightning Lane purchase makes a lot more sense. Right now, Individual Lightning Lane return windows aren’t flying off the shelf, so to speak.
The only thing that is working against Disney with Cosmic Rewind is how small the interior queue is. It can only hold about 30-40 minutes worth of guests, and we anticipate that the wait time will be more than an hour for most, if not all, of the operating day. As we transition out of the rainy summer season and into fall, perhaps an outdoor overflow queue will be easier to implement.
Disney hasn’t tipped their hand on when the Virtual Queue will end, and maybe it’ll stick around through the end of the year in anticipation of larger crowds and higher demand as we approach the holiday season. It is obvious that a Virtual Queue isn’t needed right now, and with Disney announcing the end of the Virtual Queue system for Remy at the same point we’re at with Cosmic Rewind, we hope to hear an announcement that standby will open soon for Cosmic Rewind.
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!