RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[Liljo22]

How do you refresh your phone app when waiting for boarding groups to open? I am not there now but when I open the app and go to the boarding group page I don't see how to refresh.

Go back to the home page and then back into the RotR page.

 

[Vicki Rickerd]

. DH and I are coming down for 4 days end of Jan/beginning of Feb, and because we had such a short amount of time, I used the "throw money at it" planning strategy - picked the lowest crowd (haha) January weekend I could, and specifically planned Sunday as our HS day, thinking we could get into DHS during EMH, rope drop/ride RoTR, FP+/FP a bunch of other stuff, and then get the hell out by 1 pm. We're committed to Sunday now because of the FP+'s we have, so we'll just have to deal. DH does NOT like big crowds

Us too. Havent been to Disney in years and will probably be it for us for Florida for a while. We are moving hotels to stay onsite Sunday just to get in early and now thinking of the money wasted if everyone gets in early. Also tried to switch FP to a non EMH day and couldnt get squat.

 

[TongaToast21]

Based upon the past 4 days, Probably*

*The first three days they let people in around that time and boarding groups were available immediately and if you were among the first in the park you got a BG. With EMH today though they held the BG’s until a random time around 7:20 AM, and then everyone tried to get them at once, and if you weren’t fast and refreshing constantly you might have missed them because they lied about what time they would be open. Assuming tomorrow is like the first 3 days getting there at 6 am is probably enough. If tomorrow is more like today getting there at 6 am might not be enough and you might have to also just be constantly refreshing your phone and it’s still possible you could get unlucky depending on what happens.

Thank you for the thorough response!

 

[ericar]

Do you think that group size makes a difference on what boarding group you get? I am going with
a group of 9 total and realize that we would go on as a group of 5 and a group of 4 but I am the only
one the Disney account and have done all of the planning and fastpass stuff myself.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Not disagreeing with anything that you may have said here - but to those unaware, the "I have spoken" seems a direct reference to a character's line from The Mandalorian. At least that's how I read it - my guess is as an attempt at levity, humor, not defiance.

Everyone who knows @yulilin3 knows of her love for all things SW and all things Disney.

I, too, felt she was quoting a SW character. Perhaps “This Is The Way” (the Disney way) is also fitting.

My opinion after following and moderating this thread is that during my upcoming 16-day trip to FL, it’s not worth it to burn a comp ticket, that’s good at parks around the world, to enter Studios when it may or may not be possible to ride RotR and we end up with a more restrictive comp. Plus, it would put my WDW CM DD in close proximity to a lot of angry Studios guests.

I think I’ll wait for RotR at DLR.

 

[Disneylover99]

For what it’s worth... I think a DISboards moderator saying “I have spoken” is a really bad look.

You’re welcome to voice your opinion but should others not also be able to voice theirs too? And if it is a dissenting opinion is that not ok? Some people want to be critical of Disney in how this was handled but we don’t all have to agree.

I feel that it is OK for people to expect better out of Disney as it pertains to communication. I also feel like some of what has happened here (especially the use of VQ) is somewhat unprecedented and without comparison. Anna/Elsa and FoP aren’t even a good comparison.

You wrote up a very well-worded comment here but the words “I have spoken” with the moderator moniker tied to it somewhat indicates that this is now the official position of this thread and that ain’t cool.

I have not spoken but I have stated my opinion

I just don’t get the repeated reminders that it’s on the guest to plan, not Disney. Nobody has been able to plan properly the past four days. Even those of us here in the know, following along have no real clue what tomorrow will bring.

 

[TrolleyTrouble2713]

I guess I'll reserve judgement until I see how many BGs get called today, but it seems like rolling in at 7 for EMHs is the best strategy. Grab your BG, ride a ride, then maybe go back to Disney Springs for a nap in the hotel.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I just don’t get the repeated reminders that it’s on the guest to plan, not Disney. Nobody has been able to plan properly the past four days. Even those of us here in the know, following along have no real clue what tomorrow will bring.

This morning was the first one where someone who got there early may have missed out in favour of someone who walked through the turnstiles at 7:15, more than an hour later and possibly 2 hours after their arrival.

 

[caitycaity]

I totally understand where you're coming from and gave it some thought myself. But I think Disney is stuck between a rock and a hard place here. They need somehow to stagger the hoards. Posting a time and then starting a bit sooner helps with that.

Exactly this. I work a customer service job where we frequently contend with large crowds. Sometimes the size of the crowd dictates changing your plan for safety and efficiency. I wish more people would understand this. I think Disney is doing a great job with this so far. I'm headed to WDW next week and have been glued to this thread every morning.

 

[Mika02]

Can you swap your FF reservation to Open Table as well? We did that specifically so we'd have some flexibility.

Didn't know that could be done will definitely try it!

 

[Deemka]

Don't you just love when you get a pre park open ADR and then Disney changes the hours?
<rolleyes>

Next week the park opens at 8.
Do you think an 8 am ADR will helpful in tapping into the park earlier than every one else?

Do you think there will still be an ADR dedicated entry point?

 

[courtney1188]

Since you need to tap into the park before getting a BG, the person getting there at 5:30 would have access to the BG before the 6:00 person.

Unless they haven’t opened access to boarding groups until after 6, right? It seems like they should make it possible to sign up for a boarding group as soon as they’re letting people enter the park, rather than letting people in at 6 but then not having boarding passes available until closer to 7. (Times are an example- but it sounds like something similar to this was happening this morning at opening.)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I just don’t get the repeated reminders that it’s on the guest to plan, not Disney. Nobody has been able to plan properly the past four days. Even those of us here in the know, following along have no real clue what tomorrow will bring.

It almost has gone from Disney not communicating at all to Disney (somewhat) lying to guests. How am I supposed to plan around that? Plan for them to lie to me??

 

[Disneylover99]

I guess I'll reserve judgement until I see how many BGs get called today, but it seems like rolling in at 7 for EMHs is the best strategy. Grab your BG, ride a ride, then maybe go back to Disney Springs for a nap in the hotel.

In hindsight, that was the best strategy today.
Next EMH? Who knows.

 

[courtney1188]

Don't you just love when you get a pre park open ADR and then Disney changes the hours?
<rolleyes>

Next week the park opens at 8.
Do you think an 8 am ADR will helpful in tapping into the park earlier than every one else?

Do you think there will still be an ADR dedicated entry point?

I would assume all guests will be able to enter before 8 and no ADR dedicated entry point. If that was the sole reason for your ADR, probably makes more sense to cancel it.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

It almost has gone from Disney not communicating at all to Disney (somewhat) lying to guests. How am I supposed to plan around that? Plan for them to lie to me??

Lol exactly.

I don’t have sympathy for the guests who don’t bother to get there early and still expected to ride a brand new attraction. Even if they held true to the original opening times the early arrivals were still needed, and that should have been pretty easy to figure out. I do feel really bad for guests who did it all right but weren’t in the know enough to not trust Disney this morning. Or those guests who had the nerve to be on an attraction or in the washroom when they randomly opened the BG. That’s my line in the sand I guess.

 

[2vets]

Us too. Havent been to Disney in years and will probably be it for us for Florida for a while. We are moving hotels to stay onsite Sunday just to get in early and now thinking of the money wasted if everyone gets in early. Also tried to switch FP to a non EMH day and couldnt get squat.

Swan or Dolphin for proximity?

I hate to dwell on this, as I do think the VQ is a solid way to equalize things, and also because it's a waste of energy. Plus, who knows what will shake out here by next month? But in several ways, the current situation is disadvantageous to those staying at an EMH-access property who dutifully did all their planning. It's impossible to switch our days now. Just hoping things get a bit more sane/organized by January.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Do you think an 8 am ADR will helpful in tapping into the park earlier than every one else?

Do you think there will still be an ADR dedicated entry point?

In your case, you should pretend you don’t have an ADR and arrive at the park by 6a.

Enter when they allow all guests to enter and then go to your breakfast at the scheduled reservation time.

 

[Disneylover99]

This morning was the first one where someone who got there early may have missed out in favour of someone who walked through the turnstiles at 7:15, more than an hour later and possibly 2 hours after their arrival.

Yes. Today was the most frustrating day by far IMO.

It makes me wonder if they’ll move to a rolling release of VQ boarding positions every hour, so more people will have a chance to join a boarding group If they arrive later. I just keep thinking, more and more people are going to arrive earlier and earlier if it moves back to the early bird gets the worm like the past 3 days. Does Disney want these bigger and bigger crowds each day?

 

[Jax1023]

Off the ride and heading back for a nap. Took two hours total for one ride in standby and one in fast pass with rider swap.

I thought the ride was good, but not the life changing or worth all the hassle of the past few days. But i don’t love Star Wars. I like flight of passage better.