There are a lot of decisions these days about the parks that “Walt Disney wouldn’t have wanted” or would have him “rolling in his grave” according to fans. The list of such things is long, ranging from replacing the Rivers of America to monetizing FastPass to getting rid of the good waffle sandwiches to Storytime with Deadpool’s existence.
If there’s a thing fans don’t like, you can be sure that some of them will also project their opinions onto Walt to give them more gravitas. Virtual queues are perhaps the most notable instance of this over the last 5+ years, since first debuting with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. According to some fans, Walt would’ve never approved of the marquee Star Wars ride not having a standby line. Ditto all of the virtual queues since.
Ironically enough, Walt also would’ve been visibly shook when his company retired the virtual queues, according to fans. This is because the company allegedly has only gotten rid of virtual queues to better monetize paid line-skipping. (Hopefully these are two distinct groups of fans making these contradictory complaints.) Well, good or bad (or both?) news, depending upon your/Walt’s perspective: Disney is adding a virtual queue to Walt Disney. Here’s the latest…
Beginning July 17, 2025, a virtual queue will be in place for Walt Disney – A Magical Life, a new attraction on Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland that explores the life and legacy of Walt Disney.
Guests will need to use the Disneyland app to request to join the queue. A standby queue will not be available while the virtual queue is in use. Each Guest can request to enter this virtual queue no more than once per day.
There are 2 daily opportunities to request to join the virtual queue for Walt Disney – A Magical Life:
- 7:00 AM – Guests must have a park reservation for Disneyland Park with a one-park ticket or a park reservation for Disneyland Park with a Park Hopper ticket
- 12:00 PM (Noon) – Guests in Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park with a Park Hopper ticket
Joining the virtual queue does not guarantee the ability to experience Walt Disney – A Magical Life. Showtimes are subject to change or cancellation.
“Walt Disney – A Magical Life” will share the incredible story of Walt Disney’s life. Through remastered footage and audio recordings, you’ll be taken on a cinematic journey that leads from Walt’s early endeavors to the bright lights of Los Angeles and beyond. And when the curtain rises, guests will be transported to Walt’s office.
Through the magic of Audio-Animatronics storytelling that he helped pioneer, Walt Disney will come to life and share heartfelt stories and words of wisdom. I had a chance to visit Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale for a sneak peek at the Walt Disney figure, and the attention to detail is remarkable. I cannot wait to see the finished version in the actual show, which should be a huge asset to Disneyland and introduce new generations into Walt, the man, instead of just Walt, the Disney Corporate mascot.
After its initial run, “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” will play in rotation with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.”
I cannot speak to whether this virtual queue is what Walt Disney would’ve wanted. Or if this show, period, is what he would’ve wanted. Much digital ink is being spilled about all of that, as it’s a controversy to some people. For those who are unfamiliar with this saga, most of the Disney family grandkids (and others) have given their seal of approval to this project, but one has not.
Frankly, I don’t view the opinions of the Disney descendents–whether in favor or against–as all that important to public perception of this project. They’re obviously sincerely held opinions and important to those family members. It’s not my intention to be dismissive of their concerns, but they just don’t color my opinion of the Walt AA one way or the other.
That’s for the exact same reasons I don’t consider descendent sentiment when it comes to Hall of Presidents, American Adventure, Spaceship Earth, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and other attractions that use the actual likenesses of historical figures.
There’s also the fact that Walt Disney himself created an Audio Animatronics figure of Abraham Lincoln to give a feel of who the living man was and pay tribute to someone important to American history.
In the years since, Walt Disney Imagineering has brought to life countless other presidents (literally all of them!) and other historical figures. To my knowledge, there has not been much fanfare or controversy from their families, just as there isn’t about biopics or books about history.
The real controversy, in my view, will be if the company takes advantage of the Walt Disney Audio Animatronics figure by putting words into his mouth or having him say something self-serving. But all signs point to that not being the case, and this project being a true love letter from Imagineering to Walt, honoring the man and his life.
Whether Walt Disney wanted a stage show about himself (as a threshold matter) or a virtual queue to access said stage show is also impossible to ascertain. When it was suggested during my visit to Glendale that Walt did not want such a stage show, the Imagineering leads on the project indicated that they could find no such record of Walt Disney ever saying that during his life.
Even assuming he did say something to that effect decades ago (and again, there’s no record that he did!), so much has changed since. Generally speaking, this is the danger of using Walt’s words as the basis for precedent–and that goes for fans trying the wield them as a sword to fight changes or the company as a shield to defend them.
Walt’s contemporaneous statements were made based on his perspective on circumstances at the time (obviously), not how things would evolve over time. As someone with both a foot in the past and eyes on the future, and one of the most visionary American minds who was also nostalgic, it is literally impossible to project how Walt’s opinions would’ve changed over time. How he would’ve reacted to things that didn’t even exist while he was alive (“what’s a Star War?”) or the evolution of his parks (“we have one in Japan now? And we don’t even own it?!?”).
Whatever Walt Disney might’ve thought about the depiction of Walt Disney as a robot or statue or whatever in his parks, he necessarily did in the 1950s and 1960s. At a time when he was one of the most recognizable and famous faces in America who came into the living rooms of most American families via television sets each weekend.
Genius and visionary as he most definitely was, he wasn’t forecasting out public perceptions and awareness of Walt Disney in 2025. At a time when he’s not on TV each weekend, and when a subset of Americans are very dumb, consuming heaping helpings of misinformation via social media. Most young people don’t know who Walt Disney was or, worse yet, believe a lot of awful things about him. In such a scenario, would Walt welcome the opportunity to correct the record? That’s unknowable.
So I say bring on Walt Disney – A Magical Life, without much regard for how Walt might’ve felt in the 1960s (for or against) or how his descendents (for or against) feel about it today. If it was okay for Walt Disney to offer his own love letter to Abraham Lincoln decades after Lincoln’s death because the underlying motivations were pure of heart, so too is it for Imagineers to do the same with Walt Disney.
As for the virtual queue, ostensibly the point of this post, that’s simply a practical reality. The Main Street Opera House is very small, there’s no room for a physical queue, and the venue is at the very front of Disneyland. There’s plenty of room for Indiana Jones Adventure to have a standby line that snakes through Adventureland and spills out onto Main Street. It’s probably not a good idea for Walt Disney – A Magical Life to have a life that clogs up the entrance and stretches back to Buena Vista Street.
Nevertheless, we also wouldn’t expect this virtual queue to last long. We’re talking a utilization period closer to Moana’s Journey of Water than we are Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. On the actual anniversary (July 17, 2025), there’s going to be an influx of Disneyland diehards, and more demand than there is capacity for Walt Disney – A Magical Life. That’ll likely last into the weekend, but our guess is that by Monday, July 21, demand will start to die down. We wouldn’t be surprised if the VQ is gone by then. The virtual queue probably won’t last into August 2025.
Honestly, I’d love to be wrong about this. Nothing would make me happier than for Walt Disney – A Magical Life to be absolutely slammed for months on end, playing to packed houses. Have the famed FOMO machine drive even more demand for Walt Disney – A Magical Life among tourists and first-timers who otherwise might have skipped it. So even as someone who is generally anti-virtual queue, I am wholly on board with it in this case…and hope that it creates and sustains even more demand for seeing Walt Disney speak.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” using a virtual queue? Is it what Walt would’ve wanted, or is he rolling in his grave over this news? What do you think of it? Excited to finally see Walt Disney honored with a show and first-ever Audio Animatronics figure? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
