Disney’s Virtual Queuing

A system offering theme park visitors an alternative to long waits in lines will begin officially this month at Animal Kingdom, one of four Walt Disney World parks in Florida.

The Fastpass system, also known as virtual queuing, assigns customers a designated time to visit popular rides, avoiding waits that can last more than an hour during busy times of year.

Kiosks at the park will read customers’ admission tickets, then spit out additional tickets specifying times to arrive at the attractions.

The company may also adopt the system at the original Disneyland in Anaheim.

The system will be in place by midmonth at Animal Kingdom’s most popular rides--Kilimanjaro Safaris, Countdown to Extinction and Kali River Rapids--Walt Disney Co. spokesman Dan Higgins said Thursday.

Higgins said the system also will be used later this summer at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, a new looping thrill ride at the Disney-MGM Studios park, and at the Space Mountain and Splash Mountain roller-coasters at Magic Kingdom, the Disneyland look-alike park in Florida.

In Anaheim, Disneyland is expected to begin testing the system at Space Mountain this month, with tryouts to follow at Indiana Jones Adventure, Splash Mountain and perhaps other attractions, employees said.

There is no additional cost for the service. Guests can only obtain one such ticket at a time, so each member of a group must obtain tickets individually.