I'm all for the ROTR virtual queue, BUT

You have to be up that early for ALL your FPs, not just FOP. And then you can go back to bed...

Somebody somewhere will always decry a process as unfair. It CAN'T be fair to everyone. It can only try to be fair to the most number of people. Boarding groups work for the most part. Some people will find it doesn't work for them. It's life.
 
Thing is, it CAN work for everyone. Some may choose NOT to try but that is on them, not the process.

actuallly it can’t.The reason a system like that is needed is there are more people who want to ride then there is capacity for. So some system is needed to decide who gets the limited capacity.
 
actuallly it can’t.The reason a system like that is needed is there are more people who want to ride then there is capacity for. So some system is needed to decide who gets the limited capacity.
It can in the sense that if you really want to ride all you have to do is be at the park before it opens and book a bg. Obviously not everyone that wants to ride will get to do so if they are not there early enough.
 


It can in the sense that if you really want to ride all you have to do is be at the park before it opens and book a bg. Obviously not everyone that wants to ride will get to do so if they are not there early enough.

but if everybody that wants to ride come early many won’t get on.
It only works if everybody doesn’t do that.
 
but if everybody that wants to ride come early many won’t get on.
It only works if everybody doesn’t do that.
then they don't really want to ride, do they? This did happen, I guess those 4 days during the beginning of the year, other than that if you really want to ride and are there at ppark opening you got a "guaranteed bg"
 
The difference between 7am fast pass and boarding groups right now is..

Wake up at 6:45pm log in refresh page till fp pop open and book what you can. If you miss something you can always keep looking later days/weeks if something slows you down. The option of same day fp is there also.

Boarding group..
Wake up at 5am hope to get the first bus wait in line to get into the park and hope the entire time your not already to late(far back). Tap in and wait for official open to HOPE the app works for you and you can get into a bg. Someone who entered before you might not get one if it lags or glitches someone behind you might get a earlier bg than you due to load times. This plan has no backup option. If you miss it you miss it. Gotta try tomorrow. So again you repeat and hope for a better outcome. Some people only schedule 1 HS day so this system can be frustrating if your on the unlucky side and "fair" if it worked out for you.

You can't compare the 2 systems at all. But being a planner I like the fp planning better than hopes and prayers. If I can't get a fp I book something else and move along.
 


The difference between 7am fast pass and boarding groups right now is..

Wake up at 6:45pm log in refresh page till fp pop open and book what you can. If you miss something you can always keep looking later days/weeks if something slows you down. The option of same day fp is there also.

Boarding group..
Wake up at 5am hope to get the first bus wait in line to get into the park and hope the entire time your not already to late(far back). Tap in and wait for official open to HOPE the app works for you and you can get into a bg. Someone who entered before you might not get one if it lags or glitches someone behind you might get a earlier bg than you due to load times. This plan has no backup option. If you miss it you miss it. Gotta try tomorrow. So again you repeat and hope for a better outcome. Some people only schedule 1 HS day so this system can be frustrating if your on the unlucky side and "fair" if it worked out for you.

You can't compare the 2 systems at all. But being a planner I like the fp planning better than hopes and prayers. If I can't get a fp I book something else and move along.
There's not been one time where so many were waiting to enter the park they were unable to enter prior to the Boarding Groups opening.
 
I can see both sides of the argument for and against the current system of getting a BG. That being said, I am not sure what else Disney can do to make it fair to everyone.

Could they someone loop in the BG process to the current FP system, but instead of the whole 30-60 day window thing, maybe release BGs at the beginning of the month for the entire next month. So on January 1, BGs for any day in February could be selected, or whatever time frame they might prefer. Same caveats exists that you can only get one BG a day, and must have a valid ticket for whatever day you are getting a BG. This way, everyone is still on the same level playing field and it probably returns DHS to a normal rope drop experience. Backup BGs can then be available for anyone entering the park that day who did not select one ahead of time.

Drawbacks to this is we all know how bad Disney IT is, and the system would probably crash at the beginning of each month when everyone logged on at once to try for those BGs.

In the end, I do not think they will implement anything new until they feel the ride is somewhat stable on a regular basis. Over a month in, and they are still having issues with guests missing out on certain portions of the ride every now and then, not getting it up and running at open and full on breakdowns.
 
I can see both sides of the argument for and against the current system of getting a BG. That being said, I am not sure what else Disney can do to make it fair to everyone.

Could they someone loop in the BG process to the current FP system, but instead of the whole 30-60 day window thing, maybe release BGs at the beginning of the month for the entire next month. So on January 1, BGs for any day in February could be selected, or whatever time frame they might prefer. Same caveats exists that you can only get one BG a day, and must have a valid ticket for whatever day you are getting a BG. This way, everyone is still on the same level playing field and it probably returns DHS to a normal rope drop experience. Backup BGs can then be available for anyone entering the park that day who did not select one ahead of time.

Drawbacks to this is we all know how bad Disney IT is, and the system would probably crash at the beginning of each month when everyone logged on at once to try for those BGs.

In the end, I do not think they will implement anything new until they feel the ride is somewhat stable on a regular basis. Over a month in, and they are still having issues with guests missing out on certain portions of the ride every now and then, not getting it up and running at open and full on breakdowns.
NOTHING, ever, in the entire world, if fair to EVERYONE. As has been mentioned, the best option is to make it fair to the most.
 
but if everybody that wants to ride come early many won’t get on.
It only works if everybody doesn’t do that.
Well, there's such a slight chance that everyone at Disney will ever want to try to go on the same day that it "naturally" selects what are available each day, so to speak.
But if they WANT, really WANT to ride, they will go early and they will get on.
I've seen reports where some had glitches with their app and were unable to get a group (not that that is a good thing at all but not the same as it working and not getting one) but I've yet to see anyone report that their app worked perfectly, they clicked at opening and still were unable to ride. Maybe the 2 or so days where something happened and they drastically cut the number of groups offered that day but those are exceptions and haven't happened before or since.
So yeah, you need to have things go right but if you choose to make the effort to get there you'll ride. If you choose not to, well, then you won't. And some will make that choice. For a multitude of reasons.
You can't compare the 2 systems at all. But being a planner I like the fp planning better than hopes and prayers. If I can't get a fp I book something else and move along.
Isn't it just the same here? If you can't get a Boarding Group, you'll book something else and move on? No?
Even with FP, there are not enough for everyone for some rides, even 60 days away
The difference here is you won't know 60 days away, you'll know that morning.
Seems pretty dang similar to me
 
Last edited:
We were in Disney Dec 18th -26. We knew dh me and ds 19 that Galaxy Edge and rides were a definite. Made it quite clear to ds if he wanted to ride RotR it was an early day and we needed to go with the flow. We rode RotR twice . If you want to ride then you do what you need to do.We had other fp's for HS and got to do and see a lot!! I think for now with the crowds and the popularity of the ride it is a fair system it just takes a little planning.
 
Well, there's such a slight chance that everyone at Disney will ever want to try to go on the same day that it "naturally" selects what are available each day, so to speak.
But if they WANT, really WANT to ride, they will go early and they will get on.
I've seen reports where some had glitches with their app and were unable to get a group (not that that is a good thing at all but not the same as it working and not getting one) but I've yet to see anyone report that their app worked perfectly, they clicked at opening and still were unable to ride. Maybe the 2 or so days where something happened and they drastically cut the number of groups offered that day but those are exceptions and haven't happened before or since.
So yeah, you need to have things go right but if you choose to make the effort to get there you'll ride. If you choose not to, well, then you won't. And some will make that choice. For a multitude of reasons.

Isn't it just the same here? If you can't get a Boarding Group, you'll book something else and move on? No?
Even with FP, there are not enough for everyone for some rides, even 60 days away
The difference here is you won't know 60 days away, you'll know that morning.
Seems pretty dang similar to me
Difference is when im at home making plans I didnt just miss out on a planned vacation day. Its hard to tell someone "sorry we got up at 4am and still couldnt get a bg for the ride we all wanted better luck next year" But if I dont get it 60 days out its not the end of the world because it was not hoped on or change any day of plans. Like I said BG is fine for ppl when it works for them but when like some on here have said they missed out on bg x2 in a row while getting there early. Thats a big pill to swallow. Maybe just make sure its a "hey lets go early and see if we can get a bg" type thing than it wont be so bad. Expectations are everything with this system.
 
I've missed where anyone got to the park prior to opening and didn't get a boarding group twice. Not without an app failure.
But you should ALWAYS temper expectation, even with FP.
Rides go down, even when you have a FP for them that you booked 60 days out. Weather happens. All sorts of things happen that can alter plans on the fly.
 
Difference is when im at home making plans I didnt just miss out on a planned vacation day. Its hard to tell someone "sorry we got up at 4am and still couldnt get a bg for the ride we all wanted better luck next year"

That's when you say, "But at least we have early morning FPs to SDD, TSM, and we can do ToT without waiting in a long line. We can be out of the park by 10am and then we can head over to AK/EP/MK to use the other FPs I got. Then we can come back in the evening to do Smuggler's Run when the lines aren't as long." I'm a long-range planner, myself, but it's also about planning contingencies when your best-laid plans suddenly fall apart.
 
Difference is when im at home making plans I didnt just miss out on a planned vacation day. Its hard to tell someone "sorry we got up at 4am and still couldnt get a bg for the ride we all wanted better luck next year" But if I dont get it 60 days out its not the end of the world because it was not hoped on or change any day of plans. Like I said BG is fine for ppl when it works for them but when like some on here have said they missed out on bg x2 in a row while getting there early. Thats a big pill to swallow. Maybe just make sure its a "hey lets go early and see if we can get a bg" type thing than it wont be so bad. Expectations are everything with this system.
@Meglen--Here's the thing. RotR is unlike anything else at any of the WDW parks. There's literally nothing I can compare it to. It's a unique attraction and, as such, there's a tremendous amount of interest in getting to experience it.

If they put RotR on FP+ right now, unless you had a 10-day trip planned and were trying for RotR on 60+10, your odds of getting a FP+ for it would be near zero. There'd be a zillion (ok, exaggeration, but close!) people on MDX at 7 a.m., all wanting to get RotR. Even day 60+10 might be a very hard get. 60+3 would never ever happen. Not with the way things are now.

But even if it could happen, the attraction is still not at 100% reliability, as @yulilin3 and @AngiTN have pointed out. Say you got an afternoon FP+ for RotR and it wasn't working that day. Your entire plan would be shot to heck if you'd planned your day around RotR.

I think Disney did a smart thing with the BGs. As has already been pointed out, if you get to the park before opening and have tapped in, then your odds of getting a BG are more like 98%. I'm guessing here. I don't have the actual stats. But except for the days after New Year's when the BGs were gone in 1 or 2 minutes, people who get to the park before open and tap in have been getting BGs.

Yes, a certain kind of person is being rewarded--a person who wants to experience RotR and is willing to get up early to do it. Is there something inherently "wrong" with that? It seems pretty fair to me. Disclaimer: I'm someone who gets up early anyway. But if I had to stay up until midnight to do RotR, I'd do that.
 
@Meglen--Here's the thing. RotR is unlike anything else at any of the WDW parks. There's literally nothing I can compare it to. It's a unique attraction and, as such, there's a tremendous amount of interest in getting to experience it.

If they put RotR on FP+ right now, unless you had a 10-day trip planned and were trying for RotR on 60+10, your odds of getting a FP+ for it would be near zero. There'd be a zillion (ok, exaggeration, but close!) people on MDX at 7 a.m., all wanting to get RotR. Even day 60+10 might be a very hard get. 60+3 would never ever happen. Not with the way things are now.

But even if it could happen, the attraction is still not at 100% reliability, as @yulilin3 and @AngiTN have pointed out. Say you got an afternoon FP+ for RotR and it wasn't working that day. Your entire plan would be shot to heck if you'd planned your day around RotR.

I think Disney did a smart thing with the BGs. As has already been pointed out, if you get to the park before opening and have tapped in, then your odds of getting a BG are more like 98%. I'm guessing here. I don't have the actual stats. But except for the days after New Year's when the BGs were gone in 1 or 2 minutes, people who get to the park before open and tap in have been getting BGs.

Yes, a certain kind of person is being rewarded--a person who wants to experience RotR and is willing to get up early to do it. Is there something inherently "wrong" with that? It seems pretty fair to me. Disclaimer: I'm someone who gets up early anyway. But if I had to stay up until midnight to do RotR, I'd do that.

Spot on. If Disney wasn't using VQ and went to fp and standby, the same people crying about the boarding groups would be crying how it's not fair they couldn't get a fp and the only way they could ride is an 8hr wait in standby. Like u said, if they went to fp and standby only, the normal family would have about a ZERO chance to get a fp. For one, when u have a ride that's such a huge hit like this, the standby line will be insane which in return affects how many fp Disney would even issue, they would have no choice but to reduce the amount of fp they issued to try and help keep the standby down cause the fp is what creates even longer waiting times for standby. Not too mention the folks that get the 14 day and 21 day tickets plus their advance fp options, literally the only folks that would have just a fraction of chance to get a fp would have to have at least a 10+ day ticket and be able to get the 60 day + 10 day advance picks. Even with that, u would have to be up and ready at 7am on ur mde app and the fp will still be gone in just seconds. At least with the current vq system, everyone has an equal opportunity to get a boarding group whether u have a 7 day or 14 day ticket.
 
Spot on. If Disney wasn't using VQ and went to fp and standby, the same people crying about the boarding groups would be crying how it's not fair they couldn't get a fp and the only way they could ride is an 8hr wait in standby. Like u said, if they went to fp and standby only, the normal family would have about a ZERO chance to get a fp. For one, when u have a ride that's such a huge hit like this, the standby line will be insane which in return affects how many fp Disney would even issue, they would have no choice but to reduce the amount of fp they issued to try and help keep the standby down cause the fp is what creates even longer waiting times for standby. Not too mention the folks that get the 14 day and 21 day tickets plus their advance fp options, literally the only folks that would have just a fraction of chance to get a fp would have to have at least a 10+ day ticket and be able to get the 60 day + 10 day advance picks. Even with that, u would have to be up and ready at 7am on ur mde app and the fp will still be gone in just seconds. At least with the current vq system, everyone has an equal opportunity to get a boarding group whether u have a 7 day or 14 day ticket.
and to add that with our "super trusty" MDE that many people trying to grab a fp for RotR will most likely crash the system and when it comes back most of the other hard to get fp will be gone....no system will be THE ideal system to please everyone but considering all the variables this is the one that has the least number of problems
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top