How to Ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot

The newest attraction at Walt Disney World is Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in Epcot. This guide covers how to ride the popular attraction now that the virtual queue has been retired, strategy for successfully scoring an Individual Lightning Lane, and answers frequently asked questions about the Rat Ride in World Showcase’s France pavilion. (Updated February 7, 2022.)

For starters, some background about Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. The new attraction first debuted almost a decade ago in (real) France, and was brought to Florida for the kickoff of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, making it the newest attraction in any of the 4 parks. You can read thoughts and see photos in our Spoiler-Free Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Ride Review.

As with every other theme park at Walt Disney World, you’ll need to start by booking a Park Pass reservation before visiting Epcot. Most days, obtaining Park Pass reservations is easy. Nevertheless, we recommend booking Disney Park Passes in advance of your visit, as it’s one less thing to worry about when attempting to beat the 50th Anniversary crowds and riding Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure!

As of Winter 2022, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure no longer uses a virtual queue. While Walt Disney World hasn’t ruled out the possibility of bringing the boarding group system back should crowds or demand dictate, we view that scenario as highly unlikely. However, it is possible–if not probable–that Epcot’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will use a virtual queue.

Instead, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure now uses a traditional standby line and is one of Epcot’s two Individual Lightning Lane attractions. For advice on the latter, consult our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World and Lightning Lane FAQ. In general, we’re not fans of paying extra for this attraction.

Instead, we recommend using the standby line. In a perfect world, you’d be eligible for Early Entry and would enter Epcot from International Gateway, making it easy to experience Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure with minimal wait.

In reality, many guests either won’t be eligible for Early Entry or won’t be entering the park via International Gateway–or both. These guests should consult our 1-Day Epcot Itinerary for other step-by-step strategy for beating the crowds.

When it comes to other “sweet spots” for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, or times when wait times dip below average, we have two specific recommendations. First, we’ve observed a relative lull in wait times about an hour after park opening until around noon.

This gap is basically between when the early arrivers have already finished up with the attraction but before the guests who prioritized the front of the park arrive to World Showcase. It’s still early, so this trend could change, but it intuitively makes sense and our expectation is that it’ll continue.

Second, in the last hour of the day. This is pretty common at all attractions, and how early you should line up really depends upon whether you want to watch Harmonious or not. If so, get in line 60-90 minutes before showtime. If not, get in line a minute or so before park closing.

As noted above, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is an Individual Lightning Lane attraction, meaning line-skipping for it is purchased a la carte–it’s not part of the Genie+ system.

Another option is assessing morning wait times and then buying the Individual Lightning Lane option for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure if the wait time is too high for your liking. That’s a good way to hedge your bets and, as of right now, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure usually is not selling out of ILLs until early afternoon most days.

With all of that said, what follows is info about the now-defunct virtual queue for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, preserved for posterity–and just in case it returns…

A comprehensive ‘how to ride’ guide might seem excessive, after all, isn’t it just a matter of “sitting down and buckling up”?! However, protocol for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is going to be different from most attractions.

The procedure for getting a chance to ride is confusing even longtime Walt Disney World fans, so our goal here is to help you avoid similar frustrations. In short, don’t simply show up at park opening for Epcot and think you’re going to be able to ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. To the contrary, your odds are significantly worse if you only do that.

Hence this ride guide and FAQ. Reading this will help you plan accordingly, beat the crowds, and have an incredibly efficient day in World Showcase and Future World at Epcot.

Before we dig in, one final note: Walt Disney World tends to tinker with this virtual queue process. Policies change about every other week–something we expect to be particularly true during Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure’s first year. We’re diligent in keeping this updated, so be sure to check back for the latest info—or subscribe to our free Walt Disney World email newsletter for instant updates about all of the latest news, when discounts are released, etc.

Start by hitting the hamburger button on the lower right corner of the My Disney Experience app. From there, select “Virtual Queues” and then “Join Virtual Queue.”

At this point, you’ll see the following screen:

You’ll have the option of confirming your party starting at 6 am, or an hour before the virtual queue opens.

Click the blue button to confirm your party, ensuring that everyone visiting with you is selected for the virtual queue. So long as tickets are properly linked and everyone has a Disney Park Pass reservation for Epcot, this process should be smooth sailing and self-explanatory.

Once you confirm your party, you’ll see the above screen until 7 am.

Use the “fast finger” strategy below to get the timing right, and then either hit the refresh button or pull down to refresh at 7 am on the dot. You’ll then see the “Join Queue” button. Tap that and you’re done!

You’ll then receive confirmation that you’re in the virtual queue…or it’s already full.

Alternatively, if several members of your party were all trying and someone else was successful, you’ll see a “Not So Fast! Already in Boarding Group” error message or a red banner across an otherwise all-white screen.

Fast Fingers Strategy for Joining the Virtual Queue

Disney WiFi v. Cellular Data?

It really depends on your carrier and where you’re located in the park/resort/etc.

We’d recommend doing a quick speed test with both a few minutes before it’s time to join the virtual queue. Anything at or above 50 Mbps should be sufficient, but the higher the better. If necessary, move around to get away from other people or increase your speed to that threshold.

How should we prepare for joining the virtual queue?

This might sound like overkill, but milliseconds matter.

Make sure your phone is fully updated and force close all apps, including My Disney Experience shortly before it’s time to join the virtual queue. Double-check the time on your phone or watch against time.gov, which is what Walt Disney World uses for opening the Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure virtual queue.

What’s the best strategic approach for joining a boarding group? Should one person try for everyone, should we each try individually, or what?

Do not try individually—you won’t be in the same boarding groups, meaning you won’t ride together.

We recommend everyone try for everyone in your party. Launch the MDX app in advance of the virtual queue opening, confirm your party, and hit the “Join Boarding Group” button when the time comes (making sure you follow the above tests for better speed). You can either wait for the button to go live, or force refresh at the right time by pulling down “hard.”

The person in your party with the fastest fingers will score the boarding group, while everyone else will receive a “Not So Fast/Already in Boarding Group” message–or a big red error banner at the bottom of your screen. Again, be sure that anyone in your party who tries for boarding passes attempts to add everyone.

What if not everyone in my party is pre-selected?

During the process of joining the Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure virtual queue, everyone in your party who has a Park Pass reservation for Epcot and/or has tapped into the park (as applicable) should already appear in your party. However, you have the option to hit “Change Party” before tapping the “Join Virtual Queue” button.

If this needs to be adjusted or you’re having problems, be sure to address them before it’s time to join the virtual queue. If that’s not possible for whatever reason, just join anyway with part of your party. If, for some reason, someone in your party was not included, see a Cast Member at the Guest Experience Team stands (look for the blue umbrella) in Epcot or Cast Members in World Showcase’s France pavilion. Adding one person to an existing boarding group is a problem they can fix. No one in your party getting boarding groups because you hesitated or didn’t join due to an error is not a problem they can fix.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure FAQ

How does the virtual queue for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure work?

Let’s just start with the official explanation from Walt Disney World: When Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure initially opens, in order to experience the attraction, Guests will be required to join the virtual queue. A standby queue will not be available at opening. The virtual queue will be limited and subject to availability. Each guest can enter the virtual queue no more than once per day.

Guests with a valid ticket or pass and theme park reservation who will start their day at EPCOT can access the virtual queue system via the My Disney Experience app and check for an available boarding group starting at 7:00 AM on the day of their park reservation. This can be done before you arrive at the theme park. You’ll need to have park admission linked to your Disney account and applicable theme park reservations.

If you are unable to join the morning virtual queue opportunity, you may check for an available boarding group starting at 1:00 PM that day after you have entered the park.

What are boarding groups?

Boarding groups are the means of organizing guests into groups when it’s their turn to ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.

For example, rather than having a specified return time of 1 pm until 2 pm, you might be in boarding group 75. Your return time in minutes is estimated in advance, but you’re not given a window. Instead, you’re called back based upon how quickly the attraction cycles the guests through who are in front of you in the virtual queue.

Will guests who Park Hop to Epcot be eligible for boarding groups in the afternoon?

We don’t know yet. It is worth noting that Park Hopping doesn’t begin until 2 pm and the second entry time for the Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure virtual queue is 1 pm. As a practical matter, it might seem like that provides a conclusive answer.

After all, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance afternoon boarding passes were usually gone before 1:01 pm. However, we’ve seen them last much longer in the last couple of months, including until after 2 pm on multiple occasions.

Initially, our expectation is that the virtual queue will fill well before 2 pm, so this likely won’t be a relevant question until early 2022. We’ll update accordingly if/when we find out what the policy is.

Will all new attractions at Walt Disney World use a virtual queue?

Some readers have expressed concern that “all new attractions are going to use virtual queues.” If you’re worried about virtual queues and being up at 7 am to score difficult boarding groups being “the future” of attractions, look no further than Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. This is the second-newest attraction at Walt Disney World, and it does not use them. That’s because it’s a high capacity, reliable attraction.

As we’ve reiterated time and time again, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance debuted with a virtual queue during normal operations because it was highly unreliable, inefficient, and prone to hour-plus breakdowns. It has made significant strides since then, but still has its operational woes. In other words, popularity and demand are not the sole reasons why it’s using a virtual queue.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is much more like Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway than it is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. In fact, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is the oldest of the bunch, being a ride that opened at the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris ~7 years ago.

It utilizes tried and true trackless technology, is not prone to breakdowns, and is incredibly efficient. There are tech and ride system differences between it and Runaway Railway, but none that are notable here. For our purposes, the two are very similar. It’s also noteworthy that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway has average wait times that are lower than a trio of other, older DHS rides. This isn’t due to lack of popularity–it’s due to efficiency.

So what gives–what is Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure using a virtual queue when Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway did not?

Let’s call it the blessing scourge of size.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is located at the dead-end of a cramped area behind the France pavilion. It’s accessible via only one narrow pathway, which guests will use to both enter and exit the Streets of Paris mini-area. It’s similar to Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure in this regard, which Disney also opted to build on a small parcel.

The only difference is that California has a shortage of space, whereas Disney owns approximately one bazillion acres of swampland in Florida. Speaking of which, expect a similar scenario when Tron Lightcycle Run opens at Magic Kingdom for the exact same reason. That walkway between the Tomorrowland Arcade and Speedway is narrow.

Will Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure still use a virtual queue in 2022?

It’s hard to say. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure should not have the same virtual queue woes as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance–at least not in the long term. This is due to its far superior ability to satisfy demand–it’s a people eater–and likely lack of problems.

It should more closely follow the pattern of the Spider-Man ride at DCA. The first couple of months that was open, boarding passes were gone in seconds due to it being the hot new thing. Now, they’re often available for hours. With that said, California and Florida have different guest demographics. The “new ride smell” usually burns off average attractions faster at Disneyland Resort, so don’t expect to score a boarding pass for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at 5 pm this December 23.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure could keep its virtual queue until sometime in 2022. Our guess would be it sticks around until the next big ride at Epcot–Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind–opens. That might be Summer 2022, it might be much later than that.

Ultimately, I’m not necessarily suggesting that demand for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will fizzle out quickly–Epcot is starved for attractions and almost everyone visiting the park will want to do this. Just that the virtual queue is more motivated by congestion constraints of where the ride was built than the problems that have plagued Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. (Even back when that opened, I predicted the virtual queue would be in use for years.)

As such, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure shouldn’t be unavailable in seconds for years or even many months. It’ll ease up much sooner. Beyond that, I don’t know how long a virtual queue will be needed for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, but I’m pretty confident in saying the time frame won’t be measured in years. In addition to all of the above, there’s the simple reality that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is not a revolutionary attraction like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. It’s a good addition to Epcot, but it’s not a great attraction that locals, Annual Passholders, and DVC members are going to want to re-ride every visit. That should also “help” with virtual queue demand (or lack thereof) as compared to Rise of the Resistance.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

Are you excited for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure? Disappointed that it’ll use a virtual queue, or think this one will go much better than the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance debacle? Any predictions about the ease or difficulty of scoring boarding passes for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure? Think the virtual queue will be short lived as compared to Rise of the Resistance? Do you agree or disagree with any of our thoughts? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!

45 Responses to “How to Ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot”
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