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

[Kaleidodad]

I would of headed to a CM with an iPad while you were still trying on your phone.

I did... spent most of that 22 minutes in line, and of course got my group right before I spoke with a very unpleasant and unhelpful CM. So of course that negated any other rope-drop options too.

 

[wisblue]

what you're describing is essentially a fp. They are giving the benefit to people who truly want to ride RotR. Some people might book into a bg and then not show up taking a spot from someone who really wanted to.
You're at Disney, I'm assuming you want to do other attractions/shows/restaurants, why is this system the worst? The other alternative is to show up early and make hours on a standby line without being able to do anything else

Having the lottery before might be nice, except that it would presumably be a much bigger drain on the system with many more people participating, including people who aren’t even in the area just playing to see what they can get.

 

[STL2006]

Expectations is the name of the game.
Assume this is the same as you logging into your MDE at 7am to make fp selections for your trip. You may or may not get the times you want for specific attractions, and then you go about your regular day
Here, it's be at the parks by 7am log in and you may or may not get a time frame you want, then you go about your park day.
(this is where people would say a day at Disney is better than any day at home)
The've been going through a lot of backup bg so people with one will get to experience the attraction today

That’s what I’m trying to do: “manage expectations”. We booked this extra 2 day park weekend before our cruise a year ago, and honestly didn’t have expectations of RotR even being open when we booked. I really want to get on RotR, but have told my wife it won’t ruin our day if we don’t. I’ll still drink blue milk and enjoy Galaxy's Edge. My kids are so excited they can’t sleep. That alone is worth it.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We leave DHS dejected, to be honest. We did everything “right” and our day was impacted by IT and/or data network traffic issues. That is the part that doesn’t sit well with me in a system where every second maters. Granted it sounds like today was more of the exception than the norm (I hope).

Our backup group could still be called, so we have that. We’ll go about our day and come back if possible. I guess that in itself is a good thing, no doubt. We’re fortunate that we go often enough that our days aren’t so structured that it “really” matters too much.

Now to rope drop park #2, which I know is one of benefits of this system.... but I’m still kinda salty!

Still plenty of day left. And so far my family is still talking to me, despite the early wake up hour!

 

[ACJT]

BG 63 is pretty much in the middle of the non backup BGs, so it doesn’t indicate any advantage to leaving right away and logging in from outside the park.

I‘m going to be interested to see what happens early next week when the worst of the Christmas break crowd is gone. I’m sure it will still be crazy, but hopefully less crazy than this week.

The advantage was that we could leave , have a relaxing bfast and then have 2 hours to get back once out bg was called. We returned around 11am, rode RotR then had lunch and blue and yellow milk, then used our pre booked afternoon fast passes.

So overall it worked to our advantage ...not trying to stress with the rope drop crowd ...relaxing bfast ....convenient return time to ride RotR then enjoy the rest of our preplanned day.

 

[STL2006]

We leave DHS dejected, to be honest. We did everything “right” and our day was impacted by IT and/or data network traffic issues. That is the part that doesn’t still well with me in a system where every second maters. Granted it sounds like today was more of the exception than the norm (I hope).

Our backup group could still be called, so we have that. We’ll go about our day and come back if possible. I guess that in itself is a good thing, no doubt.

Now to rope drop park #2, which I know is one of benefits of this system.... but still kinda salty!

Still plenty of day left. And so far my family is still talking to me.

Really hope it works out for you. I know what that feels like. Disney is fun, but can be stressful too. I remember the year a lady sprinted around me and then hurdled over my 2 yr old daughter in her stroller to cut in front of us for Toy Story MM. Not fun.

 

[FantasmicMike]

I‘m going to be interested to see what happens early next week when the worst of the Christmas break crowd is gone. I’m sure it will still be crazy, but hopefully less crazy than this week.

I'm hoping this is the case - I'll be there trying to get a BG on Tuesday. I'll report back here.

 

[YohoAPiratesLife4Me]

Jan 2
Left home at 3:30am
Arrived at HS parking lot at 4:33
Thru bag check line at 4:43
We were behind four people at the far right tapstyle line at 4:50.
Tapped in at 6:15 but one magic band wouldn’t work so we had to divert to guest services. Very frustrating since I called three times yesterday buying tickets and wanted to be sure all magic bands were linked. I gave the cast member all magic band ID numbers to ensure they worked. She kept saying, “Yep everything works fine!”
Back in the park 4 minutes later.
Standing outside Brown Derby at 6:35.
We opened app at 7 on two Verizon phones but mine never would show red join boarding group button. My mom’s phone got us BG 77.
Walked to SDD. On at 7:34 & off the ride at 7:38. LOVED IT!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

NOTE: DHS Park Hours Adjusted for more days in January and EMHs in February changed from morning to evening

• January 17-20: Park hours extended from 8am opening to 7am opening
• January 24-26: Park hours extended from 8am opening to 7am opening

February 2, 9, 16, 23: Extra Magic Hours changed from 8-9am to 8-10pm


https://blogmickey.com/2020/01/holl...nth-extra-magic-hours-adjustments-in-february

 

[Kip Herner]

NOTE: DHS Park Hours Adjusted for more days in January and EMHs in February changed from morning to evening

• January 17-20: Park hours extended from 8am opening to 7am opening
• January 24-26: Park hours extended from 8am opening to 7am opening

February 2, 9, 16, 23: Extra Magic Hours changed from 8-9am to 8-10pm


https://blogmickey.com/2020/01/holl...nth-extra-magic-hours-adjustments-in-february

I wonder what the moving of the EMH's does? Are they planning on changing the opening time to earlier? I really hope not, we are down there for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend and there is probably no way we can make it to the park any earlier than 9am after a race.

 

[hiroMYhero]

I wonder what the moving of the EMH's does?

It allows all guests - onsite and offsite - the ability to enter the park prior to the official open and access the BG system when “joining” begins.

Studios tested 1 morning EMH with BGs and it was horrendous. This current BG process is the result of “tests” and “refinements.”

 

[wisblue]

The advantage was that we could leave , have a relaxing bfast and then have 2 hours to get back once out bg was called. We returned around 11am, rode RotR then had lunch and blue and yellow milk, then used our pre booked afternoon fast passes.

So overall it worked to our advantage ...not trying to stress with the rope drop crowd ...relaxing bfast ....convenient return time to ride RotR then enjoy the rest of our preplanned day.

The flip side is that if you had gotten one of the first boarding groups to be called your relaxing breakfast might not have been that relaxing and you would have had to be back in the park within two hours.

The alternative is to put up with the crowd on Hollywood Boulevard for 20-30 minutes, see what boarding group you get, and then decide what to do next. If you get a group that is likely to board within an hour or two it might be better to hang around and not have to return to DHS later.

One of the challenges now is that most people made plans, including FPs, without knowing what the ROTR procedure would be. For example, on one day I have a FOP FP at about 12:30 PM. Ideally, I would get an early enough BG that I could get on and off ROTR and over to DAK in plenty of time for that. But a BG that’s likely to be called around noon would make that dicey.

The enter and leave immediately approach might work best if you are staying at one of the Epcot resorts so you could go back to the room and then make your decision where to go from there after seeing what BG you get.

 

[Becky201068]

Never having been to DHS and planning our one day for next week, 1/10, I still can’t figure out if there are EMH for DHS? And we booked into the Swan (or Dolphin!?) to take advantage of that, but I can’t tell if it’s even happening?

 

[CastAStone]

Any sense of how the 8:00 a.m. opening on January 19 (MLK Jr Day weekend) might work? Does 7:00 a.m. sound like a reasonable time to queue up? I will be driving and want to maximize my chances of being inside the park by the time BGs open.

My sense is that Disney will adjust the opening hour back to 7. Keep tabs on it, as well as any possible procedure changes.

If nothing changes, 7 is reasonable, maybe even a tad earlier than needed if you don’t plan to RD SDD or MFSR.

FYI they did bump the hours back. I'd be there by 6:15.

https://blogmickey.com/2020/01/holl...nth-extra-magic-hours-adjustments-in-february

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I’m sorry to the posters who had frustrating mornings. Have any of you gone to guest services to see if there is anything that can be done? Can’t hurt to try, when you were there at the right time and did everything right, but were failed by Disney IT.

 

[snappy]

Never having been to DHS and planning our one day for next week, 1/10, I still can’t figure out if there are EMH for DHS? And we booked into the Swan (or Dolphin!?) to take advantage of that, but I can’t tell if it’s even happening?

Looks to me the only DHS EMH is on si day 1.10.20 8 to 10 pm. Might possibly change though so stayed tuned.

 

[CastAStone]

Never having been to DHS and planning our one day for next week, 1/10, I still can’t figure out if there are EMH for DHS? And we booked into the Swan (or Dolphin!?) to take advantage of that, but I can’t tell if it’s even happening?

They have changed all the planned morning EMH to evening ones. They are doing them every Sunday night through at least February.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

The flip side is that if you had gotten one of the first boarding groups to be called your relaxing breakfast might not have been that relaxing and you would have had to be back in the park within two hours.

Exactly.

Plus the biggest issue IMO, app failure. Look what happened to multiple DISers who knew exactly how to successfully join BG this morning. It seems like such a waste to go through all that effort to get there early then possibly shut yourself out of a BG without much you can do because you left the park.
Leaving the park *can* work but I think it’s risky and definitely would not recommend it. Seems like it should be possible to just walk away from the major RD crowds once inside and wait it out.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

I've been reading this thread the last few days to see if I want to try it tomorrow. Yep, I'm one of the many annual pass holders who can get back into Disney starting tomorrow. That should be interesting

 

[Ensusieasm]

NOTE: DHS Park Hours Adjusted for more days in January and EMHs in February changed from morning to evening

• January 17-20: Park hours extended from 8am opening to 7am opening
• January 24-26: Park hours extended from 8am opening to 7am opening

February 2, 9, 16, 23: Extra Magic Hours changed from 8-9am to 8-10pm


https://blogmickey.com/2020/01/holl...nth-extra-magic-hours-adjustments-in-february

Thanks for the alert! I’ve been waiting for that to happen! I just snapped up a nice fast pass during that new first hour!