Let's talk Queues, Cars, and Criminals
Let's talk about Tron queue changes and the closing of a Hollywood Studios attraction to make room for something villainous
Cars and Criminals in Walt Disney World
Some Walt Disney World news dropped this week about Cars and villains. “Tony, the Disney Dad, are you still talking about the D23 news from a month ago?” No, I’m not, but it’s semi-related.
On Tuesday, September 3rd, Disney Parks Blog announced that a new villains show will be coming to Hollywood Studios in the summer of 2025. Here are the details we have:
The creative minds at Disney Live Entertainment will transform Sunset Showcase into the mysterious, reflective realm of the Magic Mirror. The show will feature appearances by dozens of the most infamous evildoers, with fiendish foes Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook and Maleficent each breaking through the glass to take the stage in live production numbers.
I predict this theater will only be this crowded on opening day.
This new villain show will replace Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy show, which will close on October 7th, 2024. Losing this show is not a significant loss for Hollywood Studios. From what I understand, this show was never heavily attended and was a one-and-done type of thing. My family and I have never done this show, and we never will. The location and draw of other attractions made us skip this every time. This show is hidden behind Rock' n” Roller Coaster, and the only way to find it is because you are looking for it. You would never stumble across it.
Making this a villain show is brilliant. 1) As we have seen with the recent reaction to the new villain's landing in Magic Kingdom, people love villains. and 2) this allows Disney to see what type of entertainment and villains people want to see before they dedicate a whole land to something.
I bet they will use the Lightning McQueen animatronic in the new Frontier Land Cars land.
Did you know there was already a Villians experience at this location? In January 2016, Disney had a special ticketed event for “Club Villain at Disney's Hollywood Studios.” Disney described this as a frightfully fun dance-and-dine event. Food, drink, a stage show, and up-close encounters with Maleficent, Queen of Hearts, Evil Queen, and Cruella De Vil were there. This event lasted until May and returned in September 2016 to January 2017.
Some elements from this event may be incorporated into his new show.
Queue or How You Learned to Love the Standby Queue for Tron
The Internet was all about Tron Lightcycle: Run on September 4th. Why? Because the Virtual Queue for Tron is going away on September 9th! It's a big deal. After September 8th, there is no need to wake up early to try and get a Virtual Queue for Tron; the options will now be Standby or Lightning Lane Single pass, which can be purchased 3 or 7 days before your vacation. Having Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Tron using Virtual Queue was a pain because you can’t have two VQs simultaneously.
If Tiana’s was running well and didn’t have as much downtime as it does, I think they would have removed its Virtual Queue first, but issues persist, and one of the VQs needed to go. This change will probably allow Disney to make more money selling Lightning Lane Single Passes. What’s impressive is that Guardians still has its Virtual Queue.
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Have a great big Beautiful Tomorrow because today is almost over.
I think the Racing Academy is a great show, but to say I'd miss it is going a bit far. It's not something I found irreplaceable.