READ POST 1 & 2 FIRST-Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group Planning and Information-*No Spoilers*

[CAPSLOCK]

...if Monday doesn't work out we can try, try again.

Do. There is no try.

 

[Laura's Dad]

12 hours from now, I will be at the airport, heading off to WDW. THANK YOU to all the awesome folks in this thread, thank you for the tips and on-the-ground reports and of course The Chart! Monday is my big day. Thanks to you, I feel as prepared for this adventure as I can be.

I am one with the Dis; the Dis is with me.

Best of luck.

 

[maryj11]

We were in the park around 8:30 this morning and I was able to get backup group 120 and we were called around 4 pm! I couldn't believe it! We rode once earlier in the week so we didn't bother getting here early today. Also experienced only about a 10 min wait to get on too.

Wow great!

 

[maryj11]

My trip isn't until July, and things will possibly change by then, but I am still glued to this board and check it at least 3 times a day. I feel like my mood goes up and down based on the boarding group numbers people get and the status of the ride!

My trip is not until August and I’m here too !

 

[2vets]

Tomorrow is our day. Alarm set for stupid early. Walking over from YC. No matter what, come victory or tech failure, thank you to all who have posted here and helped give us the best chance possible. Let’s do this!

 

[giocco]

Hey all, this thread is awesome, thanks to everyone for all the information. Wanted some feedback on whether a plan I was thinking about doing will work. I will be there Feb 26 and 27 and was going to try and ride both mornings. I’m going to do it normal way everyone is describing on first day but second day, the 27th, is an Epcot EMH from 8-9. So my question is, can I tap in HS say at 7:30 am (assuming opening stays at 8am) then walk over to EPCOT at 8 and still attempt to get a BG over there? How early could I tap in at HS so I can get over to EPCOT to make most of that EMH. Thanks!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hey all, this thread is awesome, thanks to everyone for all the information. Wanted some feedback on whether a plan I was thinking about doing will work. I will be there Feb 26 and 27 and was going to try and ride both mornings. I’m going to do it normal way everyone is describing on first day but second day, the 27th, is an Epcot EMH from 8-9. So my question is, can I tap in HS say at 7:30 am (assuming opening stays at 8am) then walk over to EPCOT at 8 and still attempt to get a BG over there? How early could I tap in at HS so I can get over to EPCOT to make most of that EMH. Thanks!

People have tapped into DHS and then left right away and secured BGs from outside of the park - so you should be fine to do that

 

[Helen Gregson]

Well, we’re all tucked into our beds at POFQ. Tomorrow is the big day! I’m nervous!!

 

[Anthony Vito]

We’re making our first attempt tomorrow too - staying at Riviera. We’re in a bit of a weird spot for tomorrow. Two months ago when we made our fastpasses and daily park plans, we obviously did not know or consider boarding groups playing into this. We only have one park-opening day planned for DHS. Tomorrow’s an Animal Kingdom day, but first FP not until almost 10 (was supposed to be a start slow morning - that’s out the window now), and our FOP FP is at 12:45. So we’re in a situation where we’re actually kind of hoping for one of the last regular BGs, so we can come back later in the day. If we got one of the lowest #s that would be good (although obviously difficult to put any stock in), but otherwise we’re stuck in no man’s land. Also seriously sucks that Skyliner’s not running that early.

 

[kpd6901]

Hey all, this thread is awesome, thanks to everyone for all the information. Wanted some feedback on whether a plan I was thinking about doing will work. I will be there Feb 26 and 27 and was going to try and ride both mornings. I’m going to do it normal way everyone is describing on first day but second day, the 27th, is an Epcot EMH from 8-9. So my question is, can I tap in HS say at 7:30 am (assuming opening stays at 8am) then walk over to EPCOT at 8 and still attempt to get a BG over there? How early could I tap in at HS so I can get over to EPCOT to make most of that EMH. Thanks!

People have tapped into DHS and then left right away and secured BGs from outside of the park - so you should be fine to do that

Those are exactly our 2 days at WDW, although just DHS for the 27th. We fly in and go straight to MK after we land and check in on the 26th. So 1 shot only for us.

Anyway, keep in mind that Epcot *might*(?) open their tapstiles a tick earlier than 8 am for the EMH, maybe(?) So, be sure that even though you would have already tapped into DHS to be eligible for the BG process, you might want to make sure you actually have your BG before you tap into Epcot. Also, while not currently being strongly enforced, if you get an early BG with a 1 hour return time, 25-26 days from now may bring stricter enforcement, so that 1 hour EMH at Epcot might shrink quickly. Just some thoughts.

ETA: FWIW, we will also be in Epcot on the 27th, too. Just hopping over for Epcot Forever and dinner...and maybe TT and Figment. Plan on leaving DHS around 5

 

[pangyal]

We’re making our first attempt tomorrow too - staying at Riviera. We’re in a bit of a weird spot for tomorrow. Two months ago when we made our fastpasses and daily park plans, we obviously did not know or consider boarding groups playing into this. We only have one park-opening day planned for DHS. Tomorrow’s an Animal Kingdom day, but first FP not until almost 10 (was supposed to be a start slow morning - that’s out the window now), and our FOP FP is at 12:45. So we’re in a situation where we’re actually kind of hoping for one of the last regular BGs, so we can come back later in the day. If we got one of the lowest #s that would be good (although obviously difficult to put any stock in), but otherwise we’re stuck in no man’s land. Also seriously sucks that Skyliner’s not running that early.

May the force be with you tomorrow!

 

[MrsNuke]

I can't believe it's almost that time! We arrive at MCO tomorrow morning about 9:00, so we won't be in the fray tomorrow. But we will be seeing some of you bright and early Monday morning for the last day of 7am opens! We have early plans at AK on Tuesday, but I'll be watching here for tips on trying an 8am day on Wednesday. Bright suns, y'all.

 

[trstno1]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered. Once my party joins a boarding group, do they have to all return to ride at the same time? Thanks!

 

[YawningDodo]

Hi y’all. I’m wondering: when folks are advising that we wait until 10 sec before 7 and then “open” the app, are you logged into the app already? You’re not taking the time to “sign in” between 6:59:10 and “join boarding group,” are you? Thanks in advance!

I found that waiting until the last minute to open the app gave me very bad results. Sometimes when I would open the app it wouldn't load properly--the images on the home page wouldn't load, it wouldn't let me scroll or click anything, and the only way to fix it was to restart the app, sometimes multiple times before it would start correctly. I also found the app to be unpredictable in terms of how long it would stay on the load screen before it started up. On my first early DHS morning I opened the app early, made sure it was up and running, exited the app (but did not shut it down entirely), then had it open again at 6:58 to make sure it was still working. I rapidly toggled back and forth between the home screen and the RotR "Find Out More" button starting just after 6:59, and when it hit 7:00 the button went red and I was able to join.

On my second morning I was over-confident and did not open the app ahead of time to make sure it would run for me. Just after 6:58 I realized I should have done so--opened the app at that time and it was frozen. Restart, restart, restart--couldn't even get the home page to load until nearly 7:01. Ended up with backup BG 84. It's a really awful feeling to have been waiting in the cold for an hour and not know if you'll even get a BG at all.

Congrats! Can you mobile order breakfast at Docking Bay 7? And is that the restaurant by the Millennium Falcon photo spot?

Yes and yes! I ended up eating there a lot because I was really happy with the quality of the food and it was a fun environment. I don't think I ever went through the regular line; I mobile ordered every time. If you have a mobile order you need to go in through the exit (on the left) rather than the entrance; there will be a CM there stopping people without mobile orders from entering through that door, so I found it was quickest to keep the order confirmation screen loaded up on my phone and show it to them as I walked up.


General commentary--Thursday (1/30) was R-O-U-G-H! That's the day I got BG 84; there was a lot of waking up just long enough during my midday break to check my phone and see whether the ride was up, and re-estimating when I'd need to return. Then when my group was finally called, I got cleared from the attraction not once, but twice--once mid-attraction, then again after I'd hopped in the FP+ queue when it came back up (the queue didn't move for ten or fifteen minutes, then they cleared it), which leads me to a delayed response to this question....

Did people in line when it broke down yesterday and they just closed it for the day get ME FPs for today? They were all Backups.

It surprised me a bit but--yes! I was in a backup BG, but I got a ME FP for later in the evening the first time I was cleared from the attraction, and then the second time it got cleared I not only got a FP good through the next day, but I also got a one-day DHS-only ticket loaded to my account(!!). They were giving both of those out to everyone they cleared from the ride--I'd gotten back in line at 6:30, so I want to say it was at least 7:00 by the time they cleared it and handed all of that out (it took a very long time to unload from the ride's queue because every single guest would stop and ask questions about what they were receiving).

My guess is that the CMs just weren't going to try to differentiate between people who'd had backup BG's versus people who'd had lower number BG's but had been unable to ride earlier in the day (they would have handed FP+ out to anyone who'd been cleared from the ride during the afternoon downtime, plus my personal experience earlier in the week had been that when the ride went down during my BG period I was told that my window was no longer in effect and I could come back any time that day). It was just given out to everyone who had been in line or on the attraction at the time it went down. If I hadn't happened to be in the queue at the time the ride went down again I assume I would have gotten nothing.

So fun story--after being cleared twice on Thursday night, I headed over to DHS around 7:30 on Friday morning, got in the FP+ line for Rise, made it about halfway through the attraction...and everything stops and they clear the ride. Hoo boy. Fourth time was the charm; I did get to ride it with everything apparently working a bit later Friday morning. That was a bit hair-raising, though, since it was my last chance at it before flying home. No idea what was going on with it on any of those occasions; everything I got to see before getting cleared from the ride appeared to be working. Not surprised at all to hear they didn't hand out many regular boarding groups on Friday, knowing what a debacle Thursday had been and what they'd given away in recovery.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

EDIT: Never mind about the chart, obviously I was super tired haha. Up now, going to see if I can get a backup group. I had to sleep a little more after yesterday.
[Insanely tired from yesterday. I just woke up & thought I’d heard my alarm go off, and was like “no way”. Obv it was more like 3am & not 5:30. I looked but The Chart only goes through Jan 15? I’m considering going back to sleep for 5 more hours, since I fly home at 11pm today & I’ll need to be on my feet all day again. If I don’t wake up in 2 hours, when was the last BG assigned yesterday & what was the last one called? I’d like to ride again but not at the expense of my sanity lol. Could someone send me The Chart for the past week?]

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

We had that problem on our day a few weeks ago at Pop. We walked out and the bus was there, but more people in line than would fit. Ordered Uber and it as 10, then 15 minutes. Ordered Lyft, also delayed. Uber got there first so we went with them. It was more stressful than I like for sure.

I share this story again so others know to give a little extra time cushion.

I ordered mine as early as I could without timing not being ready. They got there a little faster than the app said so at least I was all good! I’ve had that happen frequently in the mornings though, especially at home when trying to go to the airport. It’s no good!

 

[CJN]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered. Once my party joins a boarding group, do they have to all return to ride at the same time? Thanks!

Good question. I’d like to know the answer to this, too.

 

[2vets]

We’re making our first attempt tomorrow too - staying at Riviera. We’re in a bit of a weird spot for tomorrow. Two months ago when we made our fastpasses and daily park plans, we obviously did not know or consider boarding groups playing into this. We only have one park-opening day planned for DHS. Tomorrow’s an Animal Kingdom day, but first FP not until almost 10 (was supposed to be a start slow morning - that’s out the window now), and our FOP FP is at 12:45. So we’re in a situation where we’re actually kind of hoping for one of the last regular BGs, so we can come back later in the day. If we got one of the lowest #s that would be good (although obviously difficult to put any stock in), but otherwise we’re stuck in no man’s land. Also seriously sucks that Skyliner’s not running that early.

Good luck!!

 

[2vets]

Well, we’re all tucked into our beds at POFQ. Tomorrow is the big day! I’m nervous!!

Good luck

 

[DizFan13]

Our DME pick up is 1:15 today, so DH and are going to roll the dice and see if we can score an early boarding pass and ride one more time. We're waiting at the Coronado bus stop now!