Space 220 Restaurant Now Using “Virtual Queue”

After opening day crowds and chaos, Space 220 Restaurant is using a “virtual queue” at Epcot today. This post will cover how this works, what happened yesterday, and why this system is being used instead of the total free-for-all “strategy” of the first day.

As a reminder, Walt Disney World announced that Space 220 Restaurant would only be available for walk-ins from September 20 to September 26, 2021. We suspected this would be the case, but dreaded Space 220 Restaurant going the route of Takumi-Tei and doing a walk-up only “soft opening” period given the years of hype and anticipation for this outer space themed eatery.

Separately, Advance Dining Reservations became available yesterday, for seatings beginning September 27, 2021. That had its own slew of issues, with the ADRs dropping early and then being difficult to book–due both to tech issues and higher-than-sky demand. Locals being shut out of reservations also could contribute to heavier crowds for the next week at Space 220…

Even knowing Space 220 would draw huge opening day turnout, we were not fully prepared for the colossal crowd that greeted us outside Mission: Space upon rope dropping Epcot yesterday. Well before official park opening time, there was already a huge sea of people waiting for Space 220, with no organization and seemingly no plan for how seatings would work.

Further compounding the problem was that Patina opted to hold its media preview the same day that the restaurant opened to the public, which was not the savviest strategy if smooth first-day operations was the goal. But maybe it wasn’t–crowds can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and FOMO could “inspire” those who saw photos of the huge opening day line to do Space 220 so they didn’t miss out.

After our own lengthy wait in line for Space 220, we left the restaurant at 2 pm and found some friends still in line who also rope dropped Epcot, arriving at approximately 10 am. Their total wait ended up before around 4.5 hours. We heard indirect stories of others waiting 5 hours.

We had other pressing things to do in Epcot (photographing Figment + monorail, finally trying the new drinks at Club Cool–you know, important obligations), but by the time we left around 4 pm, the line was significantly shorter. Of course, guests in line at that point would be doing the more expensive dinner menu as opposed to lunch.

The good news is that Space 220 will now be using a “virtual queue” (their words) for the remainder of the walk-up only soft opening period between now and September 26, 2021.

To join the “virtual queue,” guests will line up for a sign-up outside the restaurant, and will be able to choose from available time slots at lunch or dinner. (Hence the air quotes–this is not really a virtual queue since it has fixed time slots. I’m guessing they’re using the term virtual queue due to the term’s overwhelming popularity among Walt Disney World visitors.)

This means that the earlier you arrive to book a same-day reservation, the more time slots you’ll have to choose among. Go first thing in the morning, and pretty much any window will be available. Wait until early afternoon and you’ll be “stuck” with dinner. Since it’s more expensive, it’s in lower demand right now.

While you might not want to “waste” rope drop on a dining reservation, we’d encourage you to do exactly that if you’re visiting Epcot through September 26. Wait times are low across the board, with Test Track literally drawing a larger crowd at park opening than in the hours after.

Additionally, there is a physical line for the Space 220 lounge, which is walk-up only right now and seats guests on a first-come, first-served basis.

In addition to the bar pictured above, there is a ton of lounge seating–although we didn’t see much of it in use yesterday, likely as Space 220 ramps up for a smooth blast-off during the soft opening.

At some point, the lounge will be a good alternative to ADRs, as it offers appetizers and drinks and doesn’t require committing to the full prix fixe menu.

Many of you have questions about lounge logistics, and we don’t have answers for most of those yet. Even if we did, it’s likely that policies and procedures will continue to evolve over the next few weeks as Space 220 launches.

At present, Space 220 Restaurant is not available via the Walk-Up Waitlist feature in the My Disney Experience app–which actually would be a virtual queue. We’ve reached out to Patina Group to see whether it’ll be added in the coming days, and will update this story when we hear back.

Ultimately, this is definitely a positive change for Space 220 Restaurant after a rough opening day that was easily foreseeable. Even as variations of this same scenario play out almost every time Walt Disney World opens something new, management still seems caught by surprise when history repeats itself. (But hey, if Space 220 were run by Disney IT, Centauri Space Station would’ve crashed before being eaten by Stitch! So it could’ve been worse.) Setting aside these day-one “hiccups,” this is an awesome experience, which you can read/see in Photos & Video: Inside Space 220 Restaurant at Epcot!

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YOUR THOUGHTS

Are you pleased that Space 220 Restaurant is now offering a virtual queue/same-day reservations at Epcot? More inclined to eat there during the coming week now that you won’t have to waste valuable vacation time standing in line? Did you wait in line for hours on opening day? Other feedback about Space 220 ADRs, walk-up lounge availability, or anything else? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? 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!