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

[Tom_E_D]

I agree, especially when your window to return is timed. It wouldn’t be fair to begin starting the ride early and have people miss out because they didn’t plan on arriving until X time after securing a BG. You’d have to make it widely known that BG’s will be called before park open, etc. and I just personally don’t see that happening, especially given the amount of days they don’t even begin right at 10 because the ride is down.

I don't see them starting RotR earlier than park opening time as guests with BGs are planning their arrival time based on what time the park opens. E.g. If I got BG 1 and the park opened at 10am, I would anticipate I would have until 10:59am at least to arrive in the park and get to the ride.

They can change the park hours which could mean opening the ride early but I don't see them starting to call BGs earlier than park opening time due to the 1 hour return window that is currently in place.

Opening the ride before "opening time" doesn't negatively impact those in the earliest boarding groups as long as they're allowed until one hour after scheduled park open to get in line. It would only be unfair to them if they had to get in line within one hour of the earlier unofficial but actual opening time.

 

[LMO429]

Could nearby mean your zip code if you are an AP member or if you have an on site reservation????

 

[Trackmaster]

I was talking to DH about this last night. I was thinking of doing something similar for my Jan trip and booking my Epcot day as a DHS day instead. That way I'll have three days to try for a boarding group and I'll just switch one or two of those to Epcot day of.

I think this might have the unintended consequence of making it harder to get a park reservation for HS because there's nothing to stop people from booking them all up to hedge their bets, so to speak.

That's not really much of a problem though on Disney's part. Its only even slightly competitive for Annual passholders to get reservations. People who buy day tickets or even AP holders attached to a hotel reservations have no problems at all getting reservations. Guess which class of people Disney is actively trying to keep out as much as possible?

And even from our standpoint as AP holders, if reservations are that hard to come by and valuable, you'd have to imagine that we would realize that and not just throw them away if we couldn't get RotR. Like, if you had to book a month or two out and couldn't get one for another month or two, there's a good chance that you're going when your reservation day comes up.

So it really all balances out.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Noticed hours were just extended for HS on some more days- one of our weekend days now has an opening of 9AM. So makes sense they’d make the time 7AM. I wish they’d extend later in the day too- SWGE at night is the best.

 

[Trackmaster]

Opening the ride before "opening time" doesn't negatively impact those in the earliest boarding groups as long as they're allowed until one hour after scheduled park open to get in line. It would only be unfair to them if they had to get in line within one hour of the earlier unofficial but actual opening time.

And think about it, Disney does not want you booking from the comfort of your living room, or the comfort of an off site hotel that they're not getting a cut of. They want you to suffer if you're not staying on site. And right, I think its completely logical to think that grown adults (and their children) are capable of getting to the park within 60 minutes of their time being called.

But this may all be moot. There are rumors that you may be able to book within ~60 minutes or so. But I've also heard rumors that you have to be on Disney property (remember, Disney property is really, really big). Until this plays out for real or Disney themselves says anything, its all speculation. I think that the most logical assumption would be that you have to be on site. Why would Disney forgo a chance to upsell on site hotel stays?

 

[GBRforWDW]

And think about it, Disney does not want you booking from the comfort of your living room, or the comfort of an off site hotel that they're not getting a cut of. They want you to suffer if you're not staying on site. And right, I think its completely logical to think that grown adults (and their children) are capable of getting to the park within 60 minutes of their time being called.

But this may all be moot. There are rumors that you may be able to book within ~60 minutes or so. But I've also heard rumors that you have to be on Disney property (remember, Disney property is really, really big). Until this plays out for real or Disney themselves says anything, its all speculation. I think that the most logical assumption would be that you have to be on site. Why would Disney forgo a chance to upsell on site hotel stays?

• Guests with a valid ticket or annual pass and a Disney Park Pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be able to access the virtual queue system and check for an available boarding group starting at 7 a.m. on the day of their park reservation. This can be done before you leave your Disney resort hotel, or wherever else nearby you might be at that time.

Valid Ticket and Park Pass Reservation is all you need to get the BG. The speculation of where specifically you need to be is unnecessary. Disney is not going to know where you're standing when you try to get the Boarding Group. They're merely assuming that if you have those 2 items, you're going to be "somewhere nearby".

 

[Just654]

With the extended opening time the weekend of Nov 13. I assume we just arrive at 745am instead of 845am. I know about the new 7am boarding but still want to rope drop.

 

[Alpengeist04]

Tiki, at least turning back the clocks this weekend will help with seeing more of SWGE at night.

 

[dachsie]

So one of the recommendations I had heard was to turn off location services for the app. If you do that, how will they know I could book at 7am?

 

[CarolynFH]

So one of the recommendations I had heard was to turn off location services for the app. If you do that, how will they know I could book at 7am?

The email we received (we have a DHS park pass for mid-November) said we needed valid tickets and a park pass reservation for DHS for that day and need to be “nearby.” Disney knows quite well that we don’t have an on-site resort reservation, and I think they can assume we’re unlikely to be onsite at 7AM. I believe the app will simply check for valid ticket and DHS park pass and go from there.

 

[SMRT-1]

So one of the recommendations I had heard was to turn off location services for the app. If you do that, how will they know I could book at 7am?

You need to have a Park Pass reservation for DHS that day to get a BG.

 

[conandrob240]

I think the new procedure will make this even harder to get

 

[sepalma23]

I agree I think this will make it harder now. We are going to Disney for the first time in many years and ONLY going for this Star Wars experience. We are going next weekend and not staying on property. I think people will now reserve HS for many days and so many more people will be trying to get a BG at 7:00 and if they don’t get it, will just cancel their park reservations and switch to another park. That’s my game plan. We are only going for 3 days, so I’m going to book HS for both Saturday and Sunday and try for a BG on Saturday and hope I get one. If not, we’ll switch to AK for Saturday. Will this be a problem? Will AK be full the day of? So concerned about all of this! I really did not want to go right now, but my son has been begging to go to Star Wars at HS!

 

[dachsie]

The email we received (we have a DHS park pass for mid-November) said we needed valid tickets and a park pass reservation for DHS for that day and need to be “nearby.” Disney knows quite well that we don’t have an on-site resort reservation, and I think they can assume we’re unlikely to be onsite at 7AM. I believe the app will simply check for valid ticket and DHS park pass and go from there.

so you think we can still turn off location services?

 

[scrappinginontario]

BGs are currently filling in under 10 seconds and often under 5. It’s already very much a lottery each morning to see who has the right connection and magic touch. I’m not sure it can get much harder than it already is now.

Also, DHS is filling it’s reservations to capacity most if not all days and right now most of those people are arriving at DHS by 10am to try and get a BG thus making the park very crowded at park opening. I’m not sure how many more of that max number will now be trying to get their BGs from outside the park as opposed to inside the park. I would not think the number would differ too much at all.

I can only see this being 99% positive as people no longer need to get their families up at the crack of dawn to wait in a Skyliner or bus line or drive in circles hoping to be in the right place when they open the parking booth lines or, take an Uber to a gas station and walk or book a dining reservation they don’t really want.

Guests who are unsuccessful now have the option to book a different park and enjoy their day rather than wander a park for the day being reminded the main reason they are there is out of their reach. This also has potential to lessen the number of guests actually in the park each day. Pre-COVID there used to be a large number of guests who would leave the park as soon as the BGs dropped if they were unsuccessful and decided to go to a different park.

guests who are successful can gear their arrival time to the anticipated time they want to arrive or when they anticipate their BG will be called thus evening out the Guests throughout the day.

I think this is a great change putting guests back in control of their day (since PH is not currently allowed) as then can decide where to spend their day if they don’t successfully grab a BG.

Yes, DHS park reservations will probably fill faster but there will also be a lot more opportunity to grab dropped reservations when people change park reservations due to being successful early in their trip.

It’s still a daily lottery. MTFBWY.

 

[yulilin3]

I got confirmation that to get a bg at 7am you just need a valid ticket and a park reservation to DHS, no matter where you are, obviously you do have to be within an hour to make it to DHS once your bg is called but they will not track where you are

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I can only see this being 99% positive as people no longer need to get their families up at the crack of dawn to wait in a Skyliner or bus line or drive in circles hoping to be in the right place when they open the parking booth lines or, take an Uber to a gas station and walk or book a dining reservation they don’t really want.

I resemble that remark.

 

[disneytraveler]

I got confirmation that to get a bg at 7am you just need a valid ticket and a park reservation to DHS, no matter where you are, obviously you do have to be within an hour to make it to DHS once your bg is called but they will not track where you are

That is good to see

 

[kmermaid]

Any thoughts on whether you can still help get a boarding pass for a family member in WDW but you are still home?

 

[yulilin3]

Any thoughts on whether you can still help get a boarding pass for a family member in WDW but you are still home?

I would think that's still an option as long as you sign into their mde account