RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[yulilin3]

Right but did the boarding time open also then, even though the ride wasn’t open yet? Just trying to figure so I know when to grab a boarding group first thing or later.

The ride opened a bit before 8. Bg opened at 7:20

 

[Boardwalk III]

I think what we learned today is if you are not an onsite guest, just stay away from HS on EMH days (at least when VQ is in)

Unfortunately for us EMH guests they let everyone in before they turned the virtual queue on so there was no advantage to being EMH today for ROTR. We weren’t expecting anything but did get here prior to 7:30 in hopes we’d have an advantage. We didn’t.

 

[kae11]

As a data point, we, off site guests, arrived at the gates shortly before 7. We noticed boarding groups starting before the tapstiles were open. Once we got in around 7:25 we got boarding group 60

 

[jimim]

The ride opened a bit before 8. Bg opened at 7:20

So boarding groups don’t open at parking opening. It’s a typical random thing also? So u got to be walking around the park refreshing and refreshing. Am I understanding this right? That’s all I’m trying to figure out.

 

[ForceIsStrongInMyFamily]

Oh I looked at that time opening page. The boarding groups opened when early morning hours opened. So what’s the point of not opening the ride early then?

My understanding from these posts is that it takes 2.5 hours to get the ride ready every morning. And we’ve seen that there are hiccups during the day. So I’d imagine it’s just not that sustainable to open it during EMH. Good news is that you can get through a lot of the other Tier 1s, get a BG and then be relatively open the rest of the day.

 

[jimim]

My understanding from these posts is that it takes 2.5 hours to get the ride ready every morning. And we’ve seen that there are hiccups during the day. So I’d imagine it’s just not that sustainable to open it during EMH. Good news is that you can get through a lot of the other Tier 1s, get a BG and then be relatively open the rest of the day.

Yes that would be the only good thing. But it would also be nice if there was a set time boarding groups opened so you didn’t have to love on ur phone. I hate the refreshing thing.

 

[Disneylover99]

So our morning was the antithesis of the other successful ones I’ve been reading about. I will report our experience just so people can see how things might not work out the way you want these to go!

We are staying at AKL and got up around 5:30 with the intention of leaving at around 6. We left the room around 6:05 and hightailed it to the bus stop (it’s just me and DS this trip). The DHS bus pulled away just as we rounded the corner at 6:10.

Frustratingly, the next bus did not arrive until 6:55. We waited for 45 minutes and lost valuable park time that way, thinking the bus would run about every twenty minutes or so as usual. I guess we learned that during EMH there is only one bus going back and forth and if you miss it, expect to wait the full route’s time to see it again.

We arrived at HS around 7:15 and sat and had a snack before heading in. I was refreshing the boarding group page constantly and suddenly saw it open a short time later, but of course we were not inside the park yet. We therefore had to wait to get through security as well as a crazy long line to enter, so I was surprised to get a boarding group at all. We were inside at 7:28 or so and got group 66, which sucks, as we have dinner plans tonight.

Headed to TSL and walked onto AS2, though the lines for TSMM and SDD were looking dire (40 and 85 minutes respectively at 7:35am). Heading to GE to try for single rider line at Falcon and it was backed up to the entrance, so we went to Star Tours (walk on) and are now on a bus back to AKL as we have nothing else to do at the park.

I guess the best-laid plans, right? Hopefully, we will be able to at least experience Rise later so it does not end up being a completely wasted morning. We will try SR at Falcon again when we come back, fingers crossed that line has become more manageable by the afternoon.

I have really appreciated the updates I read this morning as they showed me that we should actually have left around 5:15-5:30 latest to make this plan viable. Unfortunately, my kiddo is not that much of an early riser, so we did the best we could! I think that leaving at 6:00-ish was just too late to account for transportation hiccups, etc.

I think it was the snack you sat down and had outside of HS at 7:15 am that did you in.
As I read your report, I was yelling at you to enter the gates.

Thanks for sharing, and glad you got a boarding pass.

 

[SirBill]

Yes that would be the only good thing. But it would also be nice if there was a set time boarding groups opened so you didn’t have to love on ur phone. I hate the refreshing thing.

For that you could just hang out by a Main Street cast member with a pad doing boarding group checkins for people, have a snack and just watch until they start letting people sign up then go on your phone and sign up also. If they are not out early just wait around main street until you see them come out, you'll know the time is close. Would love to know if they started signing up people for boarding groups today before the official announcement, or only after... I was not there today.

 

[cloggedDrain]

It’s been on 1-13 for a long time now

 

[PolyRob]

Omg. Cookies, regular popcorn, and holiday caramel corn given out now:



CMs are walking around asking how we all are and are apologizing for the delay.

 

[PolyRob]

I may have to cancel my lunch ADR

 

[osufeth24]

I feel all the CMs working this ride deserve a raise.

And a lot of time off lol

 

[OhhBother]

We just got back to our room at OKW and are about to take a nap. Here’s how our morning went:
- Alarm went off at 4:30. Had to convince myself this would be worth it since we didn’t go to bed until after midnight last night.
- DH and I left our room about 5:05. Easy drive to HS and easy parking in medical overflow (injured foot).
- Held until a little after 6 and then they turned us loose. We headed to TSL. Did SDD and TSM, both with manageable waits (29 and 15, respectively).
- By this time, it was 7, and we were hungry. Did mobile order at Woody’s and sat down to eat.
- I should mention I checked boarding groups status constantly from 6 am on. At about 7:19, I saw they were open. We were still at Woody’s. I grabbed our group and got 3. I turned around the the people behind me, and they logged in immediately and got 17.
- We left Woody’s and started making our way to SWGE. The back way from TSL wasn’t open, so we had to go back to the front and around.
- By the time we got to ROTR, they were boarding 1-6. We hopped in line and moved steadily through the entire experience. No real waits anywhere.
- The ride was amazing and worth the early, early wake up call!
- While we were inside the caves before boarding, I noticed all boarding groups were full (about 7:55).
- After ROTR, we wandered over to MFSR, but single rider was closed. So we decided to head back here and nap.

All in all, a fun morning. I’m very grateful we got an early group. I really didn’t want to hang around the park all morning or have to leave and come back.

Good luck to all who are heading to try and ride in the coming days. We may go back one more morning during our trip - haven’t decided. We are NOT morning people.

 

[PolyRob]

I feel all the CMs working this ride deserve a raise.

And a lot of time off lol

Very true. These frontline CMs are working very hard and with a smile. I give them a lot of credit!

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

We have a quick two day trip planned for next weekend (Saturday and Sunday). Staying on site. Currently HS is opening at 8:00 a.m. both days with Sunday being EMH at 8:00. Wondering if they’ll change the EMH to the earlier time like today? We’re coming in flexible....not like I could score that Cali Grill Sunday brunch anyway ...so at this point do you think there’s an advantage to Saturday over Sunday? Would we be getting up at the same time either day? Forgot to say THANK YOU to everyone here for all this great information!! I am addicted to this thread!

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Boarding groups all full.

Yet again, boarding groups fill up before Disney says they will even be available, and before their posted park opening time. This is such a guest relations fail. They need to be honest.

 

[ksromack]

So our morning was the antithesis of the other successful ones I’ve been reading about. I will report our experience just so people can see how things might not work out the way you want these to go!

We are staying at AKL and got up around 5:30 with the intention of leaving at around 6. We left the room around 6:05 and hightailed it to the bus stop (it’s just me and DS this trip). The DHS bus pulled away just as we rounded the corner at 6:10.

Frustratingly, the next bus did not arrive until 6:55. We waited for 45 minutes and lost valuable park time that way, thinking the bus would run about every twenty minutes or so as usual. I guess we learned that during EMH there is only one bus going back and forth and if you miss it, expect to wait the full route’s time to see it again.

We arrived at HS around 7:15 and sat and had a snack before heading in. I was refreshing the boarding group page constantly and suddenly saw it open a short time later, but of course we were not inside the park yet. We therefore had to wait to get through security as well as a crazy long line to enter, so I was surprised to get a boarding group at all. We were inside at 7:28 or so and got group 66, which sucks, as we have dinner plans tonight.

Headed to TSL and walked onto AS2, though the lines for TSMM and SDD were looking dire (40 and 85 minutes respectively at 7:35am). Heading to GE to try for single rider line at Falcon and it was backed up to the entrance, so we went to Star Tours (walk on) and are now on a bus back to AKL as we have nothing else to do at the park.

I guess the best-laid plans, right? Hopefully, we will be able to at least experience Rise later so it does not end up being a completely wasted morning. We will try SR at Falcon again when we come back, fingers crossed that line has become more manageable by the afternoon.

I have really appreciated the updates I read this morning as they showed me that we should actually have left around 5:15-5:30 latest to make this plan viable. Unfortunately, my kiddo is not that much of an early riser, so we did the best we could! I think that leaving at 6:00-ish was just too late to account for transportation hiccups, etc.

Oh, that snack! It looks like the BG started closer to 0720 so if you had only entered a few minutes sooner you *may* have had an earlier BG......I think for a while now, at least, getting to DHS several hours ahead of time is the safest bet in getting an early BG. I am really paying attention and learning from everyone else. We arrive tomorrow and I'm sure BG will be long gone before we are able to enter at 10:00 am. Our plan was to head straight to GE as soon as we arrived but I'm going to be monitoring the morning wave tomorrow as soon as we land and adjust our plans accordingly. If BGs are all gone for the day at that time (and I'm pretty confident they WILL be), then maybe we'll skip DHS and ease into our vacation a little. I hope your BG allows you to ride today! If not, you should get a FP for tomorrow....go to bed early tonight and explain to ds that he must be up early

 

[Bobbob]

Do you guys suppose these are about the same level of crowds in the morning to expect for Xmas week? Based on this data I’m pretty comfortable with arriving by 7am on non-EMH day, hoping that week doesn’t take it to a whole new level

 

[PolyRob]

Officially been an hour waiting and I’ve decided to sit on the ground of the queue. I don’t have a FP+ until 11:00am so I really have nothing to do.

 

[hiroMYhero]

We therefore had to wait to get through security as well as a crazy long line to enter,

There were 3 dedicated EMH entrances and the rest were for offsite guests.

It sounds like the snack and incorrect entrance line set you back.