Not sure if this helps, but thought I’d share my experiences.
My daughter and I tried on 2/16 to get a boarding group but our tickets needed to be activated at will call and we were too late into the park. So lesson # 1: make sure your tickets are ready. I assumed since they showed up in the app that all we needed was a magic band and the cast member at the turnstile could finalize. We’ve been to WDW numerous times, but tech is always changing on us. I’d give yourself tons of time if DHS is your first day.
We tried for a second time on 2/20 and gave ourselves even more time. I did some research and according to someone via Googling the spot in front of Disney Junior Dance Party has the best wifi speed in the park. I did a speed test there using speedcheck.org to compare Disney wifi vs my LTE thru Verizon. Verizon was much faster. I had also read that if possible, to go thru the process in an area that is not crowded with people (like not in line for rope drop). I hadn’t practiced getting a boarding group but I looked at some screenshots online so I knew what to look for. Time came and I fumbled quite a bit, I had dh instead of myself checked, and got the “not everyone is in the park error” but still managed to get boarding group 64, the first backup group. According to that date the regular boarding groups were filled by 8:01 (backups by 8:03), so considering I just about made it in a regular group with a not perfect app performance, Verizon LTE was my saving grace.
I think only having 2 people may have helped with an earlier boarding group, based on anecdotal reports of those around me with larger groups getting later boarding groups and finishing the process at the same moment. It would make sense if a time slot in the computer system needs only 2 to fill, etc. Maybe this strategy would help those who need an early ride time. I don’t know if it helps or hurts overall chances of a boarding group when demand is crazy, tho, as the more people in the group trying, the better the chance someone gets thru. Something to look into for those with ADRs, etc.
Lastly, many people who get there early to try for a boarding pass still have no idea what to do, honestly, once the app allows them to proceed, and if you are reading this thread, you have little to worry about
. I talked to a few people later that we were in line with at some point in the process to share our excitement only to hear that they had problems figuring out what to do with the app and missed getting a boarding group altogether.