RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[yulilin3]

Does anyone have an idea what kind of Boarding Group numbers people were getting at 7 AM. What’s the highest anyone has reported?

Right now at 1 PM EST the app shows boarding group 68 being admitted. Any idea about what time someone would have gotten a number like that?

If I could arrive about 45 minutes before official opening, get tapped in before official opening, and get a BG that would get me on ROTR by 1 PM (barring too many breakdowns), I would be satisfied.

The highest number is 105 for today with backup bg starting at 106 and likely going up to 122
You can head to a guest experience cm and ask them what approx time of day are bg at and book accordingly. People have also reported that you can head to first relations and ask for a later time

 

[Nole95]

The only way to be 100% fair to everyone is to not let anyone into the park until the exact time the park is supposed to open at which time BG will be available. Of course this does not solve the problem of people showing up early and waiting, but I think that will continue to happen anyway.

Will be curious tomorrow to see if this was a one day thing due to the event, or if this is the status quo moving forward.

At this point, it seems to me that Disney just should have done what they did when GE first opened. Have EEMH for the first month or so from 6am and run the ride on standby. That way, people could choose if they wanted to show up early or not.

I'm even wondering if they could have done some hybrid standby in parallel to BG with EEMH. Perhaps have set up EEMH from 6-9am. At some predetermined time shut down the standby line and open up BG that would have started arriving at some pre-determined time once standby went down.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere that they can come up with in the short term that rewards those who want to get to the park early as well as the late arrivals.

 

[Jonfw2]

I think Disney could have waited to open the ride until it was ready for primetime, started opening DHS earlier from the get-go, not let people re-ride numerous times the first few days while shutting others out, create a loophole with electronic FP+ and paper FP+ letting people bog down the system daily, botch the first EMH, etc. The inconsistency is causing the issue. WDW requires lots of pre-planning, and this throws that out the door.

The whole land/MFSR did not cause this chaos when Disney had a plan in place. This seems to be trial and error while Disney figures out how to handle the large number of people about to flood property next week.

Smuggler's Run didn't cause this because there were way less people there, Rob.

 

[wisblue]

The highest number is 105 for today with backup bg starting at 106 and likely going up to 122
You can head to a guest experience cm and ask them what approx time of day are bg at and book accordingly. People have also reported that you can head to first relations and ask for a later time

My question was how fast the BG distribution today would have gotten as high as 68. I don’t see me asking for a later BG, or trying to hold out for something later, but if I thought I would probably be called before 1 or so, I would be satisfied because I’m sure I could find something to do in the meantime, including the possibility of returning to the room for awhile or going to another park.

For example, if I was at DHS at 7 today, after getting a BG I could have done a few other rides and then gone over to Epcot for a few hours.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

The only way to be 100% fair to everyone is to not let anyone into the park until the exact time the park is supposed to open at which time BG will be available. Of course this does not solve the problem of people showing up early and waiting, but I think that will continue to happen anyway.

Will be curious tomorrow to see if this was a one day thing due to the event, or if this is the status quo moving forward.

At this point, it seems to me that Disney just should have done what they did when GE first opened. Have EEMH for the first month or so from 6am and run the ride on standby. That way, people could choose if they wanted to show up early or not.

I'm even wondering if they could have done some hybrid standby in parallel to BG with EEMH. Perhaps have set up EEMH from 6-9am. At some predetermined time shut down the standby line and open up BG that would have started arriving at some pre-determined time once standby went down.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere that they can come up with in the short term that rewards those who want to get to the park early as well as the late arrivals.

I agree with you on the only truly fair way, and like many others it’s not the method that benefits me most.

I think a big part of this problem comes from Disney being unable (from what we know) to have this attraction running those very long hours. I agree it would do a lot for the crowds if they could do something similar to EEMH. Staying away from traditional stand by also helps them with the frequent breakdowns. I think their hands are somewhat tied by the reliability right now in addition to the popularity.

I would love to see actual numbers for how many people this is putting through in a day compared to the next most popular rides in WDW though. Is it really drawing that many more people in than say, FoP, or is it just not capable of cycling through as many people as it should be yet?

 

[DGsAtBLT]

My question was how fast the BG distribution today would have gotten as high as 68. I don’t see me asking for a later BG, or trying to hold out for something later, but if I thought I would probably be called before 1 or so, I would be satisfied because I’m sure I could find something to do in the meantime, including the possibility of returning to the room for awhile or going to another park.

For example, if I was at DHS at 7 today, after getting a BG I could have done a few other rides and then gone over to Epcot for a few hours.

My guess would be not too long after 7, since people grabbing right at 7 reported in the 40s and 50s.

Who knows what happens with heavier crowds, but I think as long as you’re in the park ready to grab a BG when they come online, you have a reasonable shot at getting that early afternoon (or earlier) slot. 45 mins prior to opening should be okay with the reminder that that only applies if they let the crowd in front in with enough time for you to make it in before 7.

 

[wdw&sonny]

If I could arrive about 45 minutes before official opening, get tapped in before official opening, and get a BG that would get me on ROTR by 1 PM (barring too many breakdowns), I would be satisfied.

You and everyone else!

 

[Opie100]

Theoretically, it wouldn't be hard from a technology perspective to allow parties to swap BGs with same number parties. For example, if your party of four has BG 65 and selects "Seeking earlier" in the app, and another party of four with BG 26 selects "Seeking later" that the system could swap them. That assumes that there are enough "earlys" that would want "laters." At least it sounds like Disney CMs have helped those seeking later already.

 

[Miffy]

Well, usually the first boarding group of the day begins at double digits.

The two days I was there, the first boarding groups were 6 and 7, respectively. Not double digits. However, if you get a number like 17, your group is probably going to be boarding quite early. The two days I did it (this past Friday and Saturday), they were up to nunbers in the 30s well before noon.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Does anyone have an idea what kind of Boarding Group numbers people were getting at 7 AM. What’s the highest anyone has reported?

Right now at 1 PM EST the app shows boarding group 68 being admitted. Any idea about what time someone would have gotten a number like that?

If I could arrive about 45 minutes before official opening, get tapped in before official opening, and get a BG that would get me on ROTR by 1 PM (barring too many breakdowns), I would be satisfied.

@wisblue - I don’t see any report of what the highest BG people got who were in at or before 7am but here’s a report of 7:21 am getting 97 from this thread of that helps at all

We boarded All Mov bus at 7:09. Went to the far right again (completely empty bag and tap style lines) boarding group 97 at 7:21 AM. I’m happy with whatever BG I could get seeing as we slept through our alarm this AM!

 

[SirBill]

Wow a lot of messages about a terrible change to policy. It's never a good idea to punish people's excitement for an attraction with a BG that could be two hours after someone that just wandered in to HS by mistake.

The new strategy is this then - get to HS at 3am, so you can absolutely be first through the turnstiles when they open... then latch yourself to a cast member with an iPad as they will be the first to know when the BG opens, and can likely get you a spot quicker than the app could. There are fewer CM's with iPads, which is why you need to be there even earlier to be able to line up in front of one first.

 

[Opie100]

Wow a lot of messages about a terrible change to policy. It's never a good idea to punish people's excitement for an attraction with a BG that could be two hours after someone that just wandered in to HS by mistake.

The new strategy is this then - get to HS at 3am, so you can absolutely be first through the turnstiles when they open... then latch yourself to a cast member with an iPad as they will be the first to know when the BG opens, and can likely get you a spot quicker than the app could. There are fewer CM's with iPads, which is why you need to be there even earlier to be able to line up in front of one first.

We don't know if it is a change to policy, yet, due to the special group in GE this morning. I'd be willing to bet the "mistaken" entries to DHS at 6:40am are pretty low. But, if they stick with starting the virtual queue at park open, there would be no benefit to being the first through the tapstiles. And using a CM hasn't been reported to be any benefit either.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'm sorry if I have addressed this issue with you personally, all the usernames get jumbled in my head and "Disney" is one of the more popular.
The parks have been opening depending on demand ever since Pandora, AK still opens before official opening time.
They can't have a "mob" of people waiting outside of the gates, mainly for security reasons.
Now they can open Hollywood Blvd and hold people at the park's hub, this was there modus operandi for TSLand. Now RotR is a new beast, extremely popular, has been received very well, so they are still adjusting, it's not even 2 weeks old and of course now we are getting the holiday crowds which will only create a more "day to day" opening. Once the season ends, I am sure we will see a more stable opening procedure

I really hope so!

 

[AVanstraten]

Wow, LOTS to read through!! So, I apologize ahead of time if this has been answered but there is no way I have time to read through all of these (and keep a job and manage a family, LOL). I want to make sure I understand the "rules" so to speak to prep accordingly...

We will be there the week of MLK (1/20/20 - 1/24/20). 2nd time there as a family so doing park hoppers to hit the highlights of each park that are new (since last visit) or ones that we loved. We need to get to DHS about an hour before park opens. Have the MDE app open and ready on phone. Get through turnstile/check in (no bags better than bags correct?), log on to app and book BG ASAP. Am I understanding this correctly? Don't care when our boarding group is, just want to ride the ride. Do all family members need to have gone through check in to book a BG or could one of us get there early to do so?

Thank you in advance!! Can't wait!

 

[Miffy]

For those of you who are feeling confident that they're going to go to a FP+ system for RotR and are equating it to FoP, well . . . I want to say a few things.

(1) I love FoP. My sister and I stay at AKL and we try to ride FoP every day we're at WDW. We often succeed in our quest, sometimes getting a 4th FP+ for FoP and riding twice. I mean, we both love this ride.

(2) We were bowled over by RotR. I think it's not comparable to FoP. Not that it's "better," but that RotR is an experience. FoP is a ride--a very detailed, well-done ride, but a ride. RotR? Not a ride, although it's partly a ride.

(3) As many fans of Avatar as there might be there are maybe a zillion times more fans of Star Wars, which has been around for a lot longer and has legions of avid fans. SWGE is a big deal to these fans and RotR is the premier attraction. Star Wars fans will want to do RotR.

(4) It's possible to get FP+ for FoP on the day of, even if you didn't book it 60+4 ahead of time. RotR? Hah. No way. Not until WDW builds something either comparable or surpassing RotR will this be a possibility. So if they do go to a FP+ system for RotR, only people staying onsite will have half a chance of getting to experience RotR and they'll have to book it at 7 a.m. EST on the dot on probably day 60+7. This would shut out all people staying off-site and anyone whose trip is less than 7 days (if 7 days would even be adequate to snag a FP+ for RotR).

If they did do this, then there'd be a standby line. If FoP has 4-hour standby lines, then I'm gonna guess that RotR would have 6- or 7-hour standby lines.

Does WDW want to do this? I can't predict what they'll do. No one can, despite the certainties of some posters here.

My point? RotR is unique. It's not SDD or 7DMT and it's not even FoP. And it has built-in Star Wars fans who will want to ride. I'll be interested to see if WDW does go to a FP+ system for RotR. And I won't be at all surprised if DAH at DHS becomes their hottest ticket, assuming it would include RotR.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow, LOTS to read through!! So, I apologize ahead of time if this has been answered but there is no way I have time to read through all of these (and keep a job and manage a family, LOL). I want to make sure I understand the "rules" so to speak to prep accordingly...

We will be there the week of MLK (1/20/20 - 1/24/20). 2nd time there as a family so doing park hoppers to hit the highlights of each park that are new (since last visit) or ones that we loved. We need to get to DHS about an hour before park opens. Have the MDE app open and ready on phone. Get through turnstile/check in (no bags better than bags correct?), log on to app and book BG ASAP. Am I understanding this correctly? Don't care when our boarding group is, just want to ride the ride. Do all family members need to have gone through check in to book a BG or could one of us get there early to do so?

Thank you in advance!! Can't wait!

As long as you are there early enough I don't think there is that much of an impact if you want to bring a bag

the new wrinkle this morning (which we don't know for sure if it was just for today or will be ongoing policy) is they let people into the park around 6:30 but didn't turn on the boarding groups until 7am so rather than pound the app as soon as you pass thorugh you would need to pound the app right at 7am

 

[Opie100]

We will be there the week of MLK (1/20/20 - 1/24/20). 2nd time there as a family so doing park hoppers to hit the highlights of each park that are new (since last visit) or ones that we loved. We need to get to DHS about an hour before park opens. Have the MDE app open and ready on phone. Get through turnstile/check in (no bags better than bags correct?), log on to app and book BG ASAP. Am I understanding this correctly? Don't care when our boarding group is, just want to ride the ride. Do all family members need to have gone through check in to book a BG or could one of us get there early to do so?

If you don't care what BG you get (and if the past is any guide), you would be able to get a BG as long as your whole group (yes, everyone) is tapped into the park within approx. 45 mins of tapstile opening. Bags shouldn't matter. Keep watching here as your dates approach to get a sense of likely tapstile opening time.

 

[sachilles]

Wow, LOTS to read through!! So, I apologize ahead of time if this has been answered but there is no way I have time to read through all of these (and keep a job and manage a family, LOL). I want to make sure I understand the "rules" so to speak to prep accordingly...

We will be there the week of MLK (1/20/20 - 1/24/20). 2nd time there as a family so doing park hoppers to hit the highlights of each park that are new (since last visit) or ones that we loved. We need to get to DHS about an hour before park opens. Have the MDE app open and ready on phone. Get through turnstile/check in (no bags better than bags correct?), log on to app and book BG ASAP. Am I understanding this correctly? Don't care when our boarding group is, just want to ride the ride. Do all family members need to have gone through check in to book a BG or could one of us get there early to do so?

Thank you in advance!! Can't wait!

What is known today, may not be the standard tomorrow. There have been several changes in how they manage the "line" for the ride in it's 13 day existence. We can answer with today's knowledge, but I suspect by the time you arrive the information will have changed substantially. So best to check back a week before you head to Florida.

 

[Miffy]

On one of the mornings last week, people were reporting that the no-bag line actually took longer than the bag line. So I think it doesn't really matter.

 

[Gehrig1B]

We need to get to DHS about an hour before park opens. Have the MDE app open and ready on phone. Get through turnstile/check in (no bags better than bags correct?), log on to app and book BG ASAP. Am I understanding this correctly?

As of this morning, this is no longer the procedure. Gates opened at 6:30 but the virtual queue was not active until official park opening at 7:00.