How to Get a Boarding Group for TRON and Cosmic Rewind in the Same Day

Do you want to ride both TRON Lightcycle/Run and Cosmic Rewind in the same day without buying an Individual Lightning Lane? Then you’re in the right place!

There are a few things you need to know if you want to score Boarding Groups for two different rides in one day. We’ll talk about the general situation here; things you need to know no matter which rides you’re looking at. But we’ll use TRON and Cosmic Rewind as our walkthrough example because let’s face it – that’s what everyone wants to try right now!

First we’re going to take a super-fast spin through the workflow to join a Virtual Queue. We have more detailed walkthroughs elsewhere; this one is just a step-by-step of the joining process in case it’s been a while. If you’re good to go, click here to skip ahead. Tap into any gallery or image in this article to see it at a larger size.

How to Join a Disney World Virtual Queue

Remember, this is the super-skimpy overview. Start in the My Disney Experience app, and click the hamburger button on the bottom right. Select the Virtual Queues tile. On the next screen, select “Join Virtual Queue” – you may need to select the queue you want first.

Tap confirm your party, and make any needed changes. The button at the bottom of the screen should say Refresh if the Virtual Queue is not open yet. It will not activate to join the queue on its own; a few seconds prior to the opening time begin repeatedly clicking to refresh. As soon as the button says “Join Virtual Queue”, tap it.

If you’re successful, you’ll be rewarded with a screen like the one below that shows your boarding group number and estimated wait.

What’s On the Playing Field?

The rest of this article assumes that you’re already familiar with the basics of Virtual Queues and the lingo (Boarding Groups, drops) used to describe them. If not, see Answering All Your Questions About Virtual Queues before continuing.

You aren’t able to be in a Boarding Group for more than one attraction at a time. To do Boarding Groups for TRON and Cosmic Rewind on the same day, you have to do them one after the other. You’ll probably need low to medium crowd levels; you’ll definitely need fast fingers and a bit of luck.

1. You need to be successful getting a Boarding Group for the first attraction
2. You need to be finished riding the first attraction before you try to get a Boarding Group for the second attraction
3. You need to be successful getting a Boarding Group for the second attraction

That might sound like the “no duh!” list, but here’s what’s going to get in your way.

First, in most cases you will only have one shot (at 7 a.m.) to get into the Virtual Queue for the first attraction. If you miss then, you might get it at 1 p.m. … but then you probably won’t be able to get into the queue for the second ride. It could happen, if the 1 p.m. drop for the second ride stays open for many hours. But it’s unlikely.

Second, you need to get a reasonably early return time for TRON. Even if the Cosmic Rewind queue is open, you can’t enter it if you’re still in the TRON queue.

Don’t forget that you can try entering the Virtual Queue while you’re still at home. As long as you don’t enter the park, it won’t use up your admission. If you’ve never done it before, a little practice can be the difference between success and failure.

Third, you need to be able to hop to the park with the second attraction in time to get there while the queue is still open. To get a Boarding Group in the 1 p.m. drop, you need to enter the park where the ride is located. But park hopping at Disney World doesn’t start until 2 p.m., so if the 1 o’clock drop doesn’t stay open long enough you’ll be done before you even got started.

That last bit tells you which attraction to try at 7 a.m. — it’s TRON. For the first several months, it’s very unlikely that the second drop for TRON will stay open for more than a few seconds or minutes. On low to medium crowd days, the 1 p.m. drop for Cosmic Rewind often does remain open until 2, so you’ve got a shot.

If you’re eligible for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours (EETPH), this gets a lot easier. You can try to get the 2nd attraction in the 6 p.m. drop. This gives you a lot more time for your Boarding Group from the first attraction to be called, and if you miss at 7 a.m. you can try again at 1 p.m. and all is not lost.

Getting a Boarding Group for Tron and Cosmic Rewind on the Same Day

To keep things simple-ish, the steps below assume you’re not eligible for Extended Evening Hours, or that it isn’t offered on the day of your visit.

1. Start by making a Park Reservation for Magic Kingdom. You’ll also need a Park Hopper ticket or an Annual Pass.

2. At 7 a.m. on the appointed day, try to enter the Virtual Queue for TRON. If you’re successful and your estimated return time is before 2 p.m., you’re good to go. You could still get bumbled up if your estimated return time shifts later, but for now the lights are all green.

3. Ride TRON when your Boarding Group is called.

4. As quickly as you can after 2 p.m., enter EPCOT and check to see if the Virtual Queue for Cosmic Rewind is still open. Join it if possible.

If you don’t get an early return time at step 2, you’ll need to make some decisions. You can switch strategies at this point and decide to ride Cosmic Rewind using Individual Lightning Lane (ILL). But it might be good to wait, because it’s not uncommon for estimated return times to adjust rapidly within the first half hour after park opening. Your picture could be looking a lot rosier then, but if it isn’t then you might find that ILLs for Cosmic Rewind have sold out. Keep an eye on those ILL return times.

If you don’t get a Boarding Group, then you’re out of the race. If you still want to ride both, you’ll need to decide what combination of additional Virtual Queue attempts and ILLs is most likely to get it done.

Wrapping Up

You’ll need some luck, but it can be possible to get Boarding Groups for both TRON and Cosmic Rewind in the same day. You’re most likely to be successful on days with low and medium crowds. This is because you’ll need the 1 p.m. queue for Cosmic Rewind to stay open long enough for you to enter EPCOT at 2 p.m. and get a Boarding Group. And you’ll need to have an early Boarding Group for TRON in order to be done by that time.

If you’re eligible for Extended Theme Park Evening Hours, you’ll have more flexibility and options in trying to get both Boarding Groups. If not, and things don’t go as planned, you can still try to ride both coasters by using Individual Lightning Lane.

Will you try to get Boarding Groups for both attractions in one day? Does it seem like it’s too chancy? If you tried it, how did it go? Let us know in the comments!