We headed to "Star Wars Galaxy's Edge" (Star Wars Land) since my friend's main reason for booking Disneyland was to experience the lastest ride: "Rise of the Resistance". The disruption in the force was that we were now required to use the Disneyland app, specifically, The "VIRTUAL QUEUE" which had thousands of guests setting their alarms for 6:45 am and hoping for awesome wi-fi and a good amount of luck.

Just as my phone hit 7:00 am, I was hoping for something to pop up, or happen. I've never felt so much anxiety because it wasn't entirely clear if I should refresh the screen, if a button would pop up or if my connection was fast enough?

Within 2 seconds, I had NOT "won" a spot!

(Wow).

My travel partner was asleep so I had to share the bad news with him as I cooked breakfast. This was his main reason for coming to Disneyland and now we would have to give it one final chance at 12:00 pm Noon. This time guests must be in the park to earn a spot. My friend was not happy since he'd be pretty disappointed if we didn't make the cut. I suggested we use BOTH phones and I would try a hack from a tip I read online. The idea was to get off the Disney Wi-Fi since everyone is using it at the same time. Obviously, you must have good service with your cell phone provider to try this!

AVOIDING THE MORNING DISNEYLAND RUSH:

We left WORLDMARK ANAHEIM at around 9:30 am which is just after Disney's 9:00 am opening (as of June 08, 2021). We took the ART Bus which leaves from right outside the entrance. I paid $16.00 for a 3-Day pass and my friend paid $4.50 as a senior. The Anaheim Resort Transportation Bus system can be a bit confusing since (as of this writing) they run to Disneyland every 20-minutes from 7:30 am to 10:30 am and resume 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. You can use the TOKEN TRANSIT app to buy your bus ticket, but between regular service hours, you have to use another app: TRIPSHOT to arrange a bus pick-up.

A car is completely unnecessary if you are staying within a 20-minute walk of Disney.

The ART Bus system or Uber / LYFT make it inexpensive to get around the few blocks to Disneyland and the many restaurants in the area.

My friend and I breezed through the temperature check and metal detectors and used our E-Ticket from the Disney App to enter

"The Happiest Place on Earth".

Of course, we headed to "Galaxy's Edge" so we could ride The Star Wars Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run (A motion simulator ride). My friend bragged about Disney only being at 35% capacity so that we would not have any wait more than 15-20 minutes. We entered Galaxy's Edge only to find a 50-minute wait !!

I knew everything would be OK since we were greeted by "Chewy" who appears to be watching over travelers:

We waited in line for 45 minutes and just as we were about to get to the boarding area, my friend was nervous that we would not have good internet. It was almost noon so he stepped out of line to wait 10-minutes so we could focus on "The Virtual Queue" to earn a spot in a boarding group for "Rise of the Resistance". I wasn't thrilled to wait another 15-minutes, but OK, let's prepare. I confirmed with a cast member that it is a good idea to use your cell provider's wi-fi instead of Disney's. As my friend counted down the minutes, another cast member clarified to me that "if you do not see the JOIN button pop up exactly at 12:00 pm, refresh your screen quickly". We now had the advantage of both our phones: my friend's phone on Disney's Wi-Fi and my phone on T-Mobile's network.

My phone showed 12:00 pm !!

No Join button. I quickly refreshed. "JOIN" appeared. I pressed the button and then had to confirm two guests. Now I wait...

My friend failed his mission !!

I watched my phone. It read: "You are boarding group 168" (approximately 360 minutes). We did it. The force was with us. I heard a few cheers from the crowd so I decided to run with it and begain to "Whoop and Holler" as I made my way toward boarding the "Millennium Falcon". I was now being Hi-Fived from other successful freedom fighters who were now part of the "Resistance"... at least in three to six hours!

The positive side of the virtual queue is it certainly created excitement and drama - BUT - it would be far less stressful to be able to "opt in" to the lottery the day before and be notified of your boarding time when entering the park. I had talked to a number of people who got up early and were shocked that their chance vanished within 1 to 2 seconds, only to miss it again at noon.

Tomorrow, we would have a chance to try our luck with getting a group number for the new Spider Man attraction: "Webslinger's" at "Avenger's Campus" in California Adventure, the park across the way. For now, we were about to experience Smuggler's Run!

SPOILER ALERT: Here's video of the ride at Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland (without masks):

We now could relax and enjoy exploring Disneyland at our own pace (sort of). We joined the virtual queue for "Indiana Jones" ride which was about the same time as "Resistance". A cast member confirmed that we are allowed up to an hour to join the ride after our boarding time. My friend decided to return to Worldmark for lunch so I headed to "Star Tours" to continue my journey. The wait was 45-minutes. LOL. Of course.

Although the park was at 35% capacity, the longer waits were due to COVID protocols as illustrated in this picture inside "Star Tours" which shows the middle row entirely empty and each "group" is seated separately. I was now riding solo so my entire row on the left side was empty!

It dawned on me that Disney could have implemented a VAX PASS so vaccinated guests could have used the "Fast Pass" lane and filled in all the empty seats. A digital picture of your vaccine card and the app would could have verified validity. Voila, wait times down to 15-20 minutes!

Of course, they'd probably be guests complaining about fairness, or simply, still be intensely afraid, even though the research shows vaccinated people are well protected.

2020 and 2021 will hopefully be the last time that fear and paranoia ruled the world!

Here's a song I wrote for my upcoming album "Rock Star Delusion" that pokes fun at the insanity of our fear-driven news cycle: