How To Enter Haunted Mansion Holiday Virtual Queue

Haunted Mansion Holiday is back for the 2024 Halloween and Christmas seasons at Disneyland. Unfortunately you can’t just hop in line to ride Haunted Mansion Holiday. Due to ongoing construction, this year there’s no standby queue. Instead, the only way you can ride is to get a Boarding Group via Disney’s Virtual Queue system. In this post we will walk you through the steps for how to obtain a Boarding Group and share some helpful tips.

What is a Haunted Mansion Holiday Boarding Group?

A Boarding Group is another name for a virtual queue, meaning it’s not a physical line you have to stand in all day. Your Boarding Group, aka a spot in a virtual queue, must be obtained through the official Disneyland app on iOS or Android phones.

Okay, so you grab a spot in line via the Boarding Group system and then wait for Disney to notify you when it’s your time to ride. Sounds easy, right? Unfortunately Boarding Groups for Haunted Mansion Holiday can run out by the time you realize you want to ride. Your chance to ride will quickly evaporate if you’re not aware of how the system works ahead of time.

What You Need to Get a Boarding Group:

1. The official Disneyland Resort app.
2. Valid theme park admission.
3. A park reservation for Disneyland for the day of your visit.
4. Any friends and family’s tickets scanned in to the app ahead of time.

Rules For Getting a Boarding Group:

Rule #1: Boarding Groups are only available to book TWICE per day. 

Currently Disney opens up Boarding Group reservations at 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

For the 7:00 a.m. opportunity, you can try for a Boarding Group no matter where you are located. You do not need to be in the park; all you need it a valid ticket and park reservation. Remember that to get a reservation in the 7:00 a.m. group you must have a valid reservation for Disneyland. If you have a park hopper with Disney California Adventure as your starting park, your only opportunity to obtain a Haunted Mansion Holiday Boarding Group will be at 12:00 p.m.

Rule #2: You can only get one Boarding Group for Haunted Mansion Holiday per day.

Unfortunately you’re unable to obtain two Boarding Groups for Haunted Mansion Holiday in the same day.

Rule #3: If your Boarding Group includes your family and friends, they must also have valid park admission and a park reservation for that day. 

All members of your party need to have valid theme park admission tickets and a park reservation for the day you are attempting to obtain a Boarding Group. Again, it is extremely important that you have your group’s tickets added in the app BEFORE it’s time to get a Boarding Group.

How to add friends and family tickets to your party:

1. In the Disneyland app, press the three bars icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.
2. Press “Tickets and Passes”
3. You should already see your own ticket if you’re logged in to the same account that you used to purchase the ticket. If not, contact Disney.
4. Press the blue button with the “+” sign in the top right corner of the screen.
5. Press “Link Tickets & Passes.”
6. Scan your friend’s/family member’s ticket and it will be added to the app.
7. Repeat these steps for the remaining members of your party.

Step-By-Step Guide To Get a Haunted Mansion Holiday Boarding Group

1. Open the Disneyland app before 7:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. On the main screen of the app, scroll down until you see the section labeled “Request Access With Virtual Queue” and press “Join Virtual Queues.”

 

2. On the next screen you’ll see tabs for Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Click on the Disneyland tab and you’ll see Haunted Mansion Holiday along with information like the time the next queue opens, and the current Boarding Groups being called. Before it’s time to make a Boarding Group you can also confirm your party. This a way to make sure that everyone in your party is accounted for in the app.

Press the “Confirm Your Party” button and you’ll be taken to the following screen.

Here you can add and remove members of your party. Press “Confirm Party” when you’re done.

3.  Stay on this page and be prepared to pull it down to refresh when it’s 2-3 seconds before 7:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m.

Be ready to click join exactly at 7 a.m. or 12 p.m. Just to be safe, do not try at 7:01. On busy days every minute counts if you want to ride. 

4. Once you’ve refreshed the screen at 7 or 12, click the “Join Virtual Queue” button.

 

5.  If you were fast enough (and your cell/Wi-Fi signal was good enough, or the Disneyland app didn’t crash, your battery didn’t die, and you didn’t get a phone call, etc.) you will be blessed with the following screen. A coveted Haunted Mansion Holiday Boarding Group.

Also on this screen is a rough estimate for when your group will be called. We’ve found this estimate to be fairly accurate, if the ride didn’t break down or open late. You have 70 minutes to return to Haunted Mansion Holiday after your group is called.

If you don’t see a Boarding Group confirmation page, you’ll see a messaging saying that all Boarding Groups are full.

One other tip I wanted to share is that you can have multiple people in your party trying to get Boarding Groups. This gives you more than one shot at obtaining Boarding Group in case something goes wrong on someone’s phone. All you have to do is follow these same steps on each person’s phone. Just be sure to add everyone’s tickets in the Disneyland app on each device.

When your time arrives you will receive a notification on your phone.

6. When you’re ready to ride, go to the virtual queue screen and press “View Entry Code.”

You will then be shown your Boarding Group ticket, which you can scan to enter the queue.

Good luck! Share any tips or strategies for booking a Boarding Group for Haunted Mansion Holiday in the comments!