Hey, howdy, hey Caroline! Welcome to planDisney!
Thanks for bringing us your great question today, and I'm so excited for you to be planning some details for your upcoming Disney World vacation.
If you have date based 1-day or multi-day Disney Park admission tickets - you do not need a theme park reservation. You can just show up at the entrance gate. I recommend taking a peek at the
Disney Park Pass Reservation requirements to make extra sure you will not need to make a theme park reservation, based on your ticket type.
Now let's talk about rides... yeeee-haw! If a ride is not currently using a
Virtual Queue... yes, you can definitely just queue up in the stand by line, without any pre-booking. This is the case for 98% of the attractions! If a ride is using a virtual queue, there will not be a stand by queue available.
At this time, there are two (AMAZING!) attractions at Walt Disney World that require either joining a virtual queue, or purchasing a Lightning Lane pass.
- At Magic Kingdom: Tiana's Bayou Adventure. This newly reimaged, thrilling log ride is a delightful combination of music, animatronics, a fun story line involving talented critters in the bayou, and an exciting ride that journeys you through the whole experience. I highly recommend it, this is a fan favorite!
- At EPCOT: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. This adventure is truly not to be missed, and is an out of this world experience unlike any other. Trust me on this!
Let's talk about how to join a Virtual Queue... because it's easy and FREE! You can join a virtual queue from the
My Disney Experience app on the morning of your park visit. Availability opens promptly at 7:00 a.m., and you can join without physically being in the park (with valid theme park admission). I'd encourage you to log on a few minutes before 7:00 a.m., as these go fast! If that first queue runs out of availability, there will be another opportunity to obtain a virtual queue pass at 1:00 p.m.
And one last option to enjoy these two attractions is by using a
Lightning Lane pass. Tiana's Bayou is currently available as a selection when using the Lightning Lane Multi Pass (LLMP) for Magic Kingdom. And Guardians of the Galaxy is available as a Lightning Lane Single Pass (LLSP). Using Lightning Lane is wonderful, as it allows you to skip the stand by line and saves a significant amount of your park time.
I have to tell you... Guardians is my favorite ride in all of Disney World! It leaves a smile on my face for at least 20 minutes afterwards! So. Very. Exciting. My family literally daydreams about this ride when we are back home in Colorado, and when we are visiting EPCOT... we join the virtual queue AND purchase a LLSP, in order to ride it twice!
I hope this answers your question, Caroline. If I can help in any way, or give you more information about Lightning Lane, dining options, or more...
please send me another question! I'm very happy to help.
You've got a friend in me,
Tami