We’re officially eight days out from the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World. I’ve written twice about the impending opening, first to discuss some park strategy surrounding the debut, and then to talk about why you might need some luck to get on the ride in its first few days/weeks. With Annual Passholder previews in full force, now seems a good time to provide some updates…
The Latest With…Everything Else
For starters, Disney hasn’t announced any other changes to Lightning Lanes / Virtual Queues at Magic Kingdom. Tiana’s will join the Magic Kingdom Genie+ Lightning Lane lineup, and it will debut with a virtual queue, but we’ll have to see if anything else happens (particularly pertaining to the TRON virtual queue or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Individual Lightning Lane).
I mention this first because these changes would probably have a bigger impact on touring Magic Kingdom than anything related directly to Tiana’s itself. Within a few weeks—maybe even days—of its opening, we expect Tiana’s to basically slide into the old touring spot of Splash Mountain, just a little more popular (of course…this is pending some of the issues we’ll discuss in the rest of this post).
The Latest on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
But there have been two big stories from passholder previews. The first is virtual queue availability. The pattern has generally been that the 7AM virtual queue drop has not run out instantly, whereas the 1PM drop is running out quickly or instantly.
This is in contrast to the general trend of virtual queues, where the 7AM drop runs out immediately and the 1PM drop sometimes stays open a little longer. But what makes this change most notable is how it ties into the other big story—Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’s extensive downtime.
The ride has experienced much downtime during most preview days, including downtime so extensive one day that the 1PM virtual queue drop was cancelled entirely (I mean, kudos to Disney for at least being honest about that fact and not just saying it ran out quickly, I guess).
While issues with ride operations are unfortunately common these days, it’s definitely more stressful with a ride that hasn’t debuted yet because we don’t know how reliability will impact, in this case, Virtual Queue and Genie+ space.
For example, if on June 28 the ride is still facing operational issues as the sun rises, will the 7AM virtual queue drop have fewer slots? Or will it be the 1PM drop that suffers more?
Will Genie+ space be more limited at 7AM? And how could those impact whether you should try first for Genie+ or the virtual queue at 7AM?
We still expect that, in any case, the 7AM virtual queue will be fully booked very quickly on June 28. We don’t think you’ll have time to check Genie+ availability first and then try for the virtual queue.
What Will I Do June 28?
When I originally considered this issue, I decided I’d just focus my efforts on Genie+ at 7AM, the assumption being that more people would be starting with the virtual queue. Genie+ is an all-day affair, after all, so I get why people would just plan to check for Genie+ availability throughout the day if they don’t luck into a virtual queue spot.
Now, I confess to being a bit more on the fence. While I’m not aware of any fixed patterns, rides with reliability issues tend to have a bit more variability in Genie+ availability. Genie+ might not be offered for the ride while it’s down and then it will open up when ride reopens, for example. This means it could be comparatively easier to grab a Genie+ Lightning Lane time for Tiana’s on June 28, which means it’s maybe better to try for the virtual queue at 7AM…
But the problem with the virtual queue is that you’re at the mercy of the boarding group you get. If you get a late boarding group and the ride isn’t up long enough to make it to that boarding group, you’ll miss out (unless you also book the ride Genie+).
Yes, with Genie+ you’re also subject to an hourlong window to ride, but there’s two big differences. First, you can modify Genie+ times. Second, a Genie+ time will always get “called” as long as the ride is operational sometime after that time.
So, let’s say Amy has boarding group 50 and Beth has a Lightning Lane from 2:30PM to 3:30PM. If Tiana’s Bayou Adventure goes down at 11AM having only called group 30, neither has had a chance to ride yet.
But if the ride comes back up 15 minutes before park close (9:45PM, for example), then Beth can use the Lightning Lane (she’ll get a Multiple Experiences pass when the ride is still down at 2:30PM), but Amy probably won’t get to ride since there won’t be 20 groups called in those last 15 minutes.
Now, I don’t love trying for both the virtual queue and Lightning Lane when I’m at the parks. I get to visit a lot and I don’t personally like the idea of taking an extra spot someone else could have. That said, I’m maybe open to the idea given how unreliable the ride has been.
As for 7AM, I’m probably still going to go for Genie+. My hope is that by trying quickly, I’ll luck into an early time that greatly improves my chances at riding. I still fear that the 7AM virtual queue might go so quickly that plenty of late boarding groups will be handed out to people who tapped right at 7:00:00.
Will you be trying to get on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure right on June 28?
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
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Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
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