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

[GADisneyDad14]

While the daily debate continues.... can anyone help confirm 15 was the first BG called today? Just double checking. Txs.

 

[yulilin3]

I don't believe this is true at all. Disney's objective isn't to disappoint people just to increase food sales.

Agreed, of course they love the parks to be full, but full with happy people not upset people

 

[Duck143]

Don't you think if there was a solution they wouldn't done it already? Every day, every hour CMs are breaking down backstage because they are getting yelled at every minute, managers have to come out and basically become therapists on the job, entitled people expecting things that cannot be provided roaming around screaming, entiicing others to revolt (I know it sounds dramatic but I have seen people do this at the park)

As to the crowds, again it goes into planning. WDW trip requires planning. People expecting lower crowds have not researched properly, frequent visitors such as myself and many on these boards and others have said there's no low crowd time anymore, we have said the crowd calendars are not as accurate as they used to be. Many people started visiting the parks in the early 2000, remember 9/11? that killed the crowds for a good 7 years, people came and the parks were empty and everyone thought that was normal, Disney has worked very hard to bring the crowds back with year of a million dreams, free dining and other incentives. It is your hard earned cash, YOU have to decide and plan and have realistic expectations.
A couple of years ago people were complaining about how DHS was a half day park and now that the crowds are back people complain about how they need 2 days. Decide for yourself if it's worth it or not.

I witnessed something like the enticing you mention above. We were there on a day in January that did not go well for ROTR. We were all lined the ropes waiting for a CM for assistance getting FP's to return. A group behind me starting yelling loudly about people cutting our group and it really got everyone into a frenzy. It didn't help the situation at all and all the guests and CM's were getting more frazzled because of it.

 

[yulilin3]

While the daily debate continues.... can anyone help confirm 15 was the first BG called today? Just double checking. Txs.

yes 15

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Interesting, so 41 Regular BGs today. We keep clicking down by 10.... 11 days in a row of 61.... then 4 days in a row of 51... now 1 day of 41.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Interesting, so 41 Regular BGs today. We keep clicking down by 10.... 11 days in a row of 61.... then 4 days in a row of 51... now 1 day of 41.

The weaning process lol.

 

[mom2rtk]

Wanted to share my experience today:

Left Caribbean Beach by car at 6:30am.
Though bag check and in line at 6:50am.
Line was about halfway between ticket booths and security at that point.
They opened tapstyles at 7am exactly and did not do finger prints.
In line at the Grand Ave entrance at 7:15am.
I was on data (TMobile) and tried to time starting my app up to be open right at 8 and was able to secure BG 30 on my Moto G6.
My wife was on data (Cricket/AT&T) and my daughter was on an old Samsung note using WiFi and had the app opened and tried refreshing but took them longer to get it to turn red.
We also had two very kind friends trying home but they both encountered errors.
Main thing was just getting one but a small part of me was happy in was the one that got it after all the planning.

We then we're walked in to GE (first time seeing land, scale is unbelievable) and to Falconer ride.bbwe were off at just before 9.

Our BG was called at 11:25 with 2 hour return time. We were in our Droid reservation at that time and then had FP for Star Tours so did that and then went to check in for Rise but it was down. So we did other things and after our Oga's we tried again (was about 2:30) at this point. It was down again so we decided to take a midday break - which we all needed and was the right call.

After the break we tried again and it was up! We were into the queue at 5:48. Off the ride at 6:38 - as far as I can tell it all worked correctly and smoothly.

Hard to compare it to any other ride - such a unique experience. They really pushed things and tried something different and we got to see it working properly and was quite the payoff for all the efforts. Feel bad for those that ultimately don't get that payoff.

Side note - we benefitted from that extra park hour as we rode AS2 and then the Falcon 2 more times during it!

Really want to thank everyone on here for all the tips and information and support!

Bright Suns and May the Force be with us!

Congrats on running the gamut and coming out successful on the other end! Gonna get up and try again tomorrow?

Just to make sure I'm understanding, if the ride goes down during your boarding window, do you then get to go back any time after?

 

[cakebaker]

Interesting, so 41 Regular BGs today. We keep clicking down by 10.... 11 days in a row of 61.... then 4 days in a row of 51... now 1 day of 41.

At this rate, they'll be down to 0 before our trip. Maybe they'll switch to FP! I can always hope.

 

[Scott McDuck]

I know "never tell me the odds," but I'm trying to quantify my chances under the current conditions.

Assuming ~15k people are in the park at opening and 100 people/boarding group, (modify those assumptions if you wish):

• 27% chance to get a guaranteed boarding group (1-40)
• 23% chance to get a backup group that almost certainly will be called (41-75) (So 50% chance (27+23) you'll almost certainly get to ride)
• 13% chance you'll be "iffy" under the conditions of the last week. (76-95) Probably 50/50 whether you ride
• 17% chance you won't ride unless they have a really good day (96-120)
• 20% chance you either get such a high BG that it almost certainly won't get called barring a dramatic change in reliability (120+) or you don't get a BG at all

I realize not every person has the same chance (some have faster fingers, better phones, some are just turning their phones on at 8:00, etc.). And I'm not trying to get a precise distribution (assuming that's even possible). Just trying to get a ballpark. What do you think?

 

[scrappinginontario]

At this rate, they'll be down to 0 before our trip. Maybe they'll switch to FP! I can always hope.

I wouldn't want it to be a FP situation with the ride being so unreliable.

If it switches to FP before the ride is ready it means people with return times will arrive and then stop in the queue because the ride is down. Every few minutes more and more people will arrive after them as their FP return time comes up and they will join the back of the long, stopped queue. This will happen continually with the line getting ever longer as the ride is very unreliable at this time.

Personally I like the BGs as it offers me the opportunity to be elsewhere in the park (or even outside the park) and when the ride is running and return line is a reasonable length, I receive notification to join it.

Yes, it's a hassle to grab a BG in the AM and it really is almost a lottery now about who does/does not get a BG, but FP would not ensure any more people rode and until the ride is more stable it would mean guests spent more time in line than is necessary.

I'll happily take BGs until the stability of the ride is established and they can determine the correct amount of FPs to distribute each day.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I really like that BG is in addition to FP, especially in a park where there already are more headliner attractions than initial FP can cover. I think the system would be near perfect it the ride was reliable.

Everything circles back to that. Small tweaks may make small improvements but ultimately nothing makes this significantly better but reliability improving.

 

[starousse]

BG 16

 

[Breezy2]

Boots on the ground.
8:00:15 Boarding Group 35.
They are currently up to 34.
YEAH!
9:51 Group called!
11:22 Ride complete-AWESOME again!
Note: Much longer queue than first week it was open but at least it didn’t break down.
Note to self: Don’t ever come President’s week again! Holiday level crowds-insane

 

[Airb330]

I think we all can see reliability has been declining the past 4-5 weeks. Less regular boarding groups has been the way “around” the issue. As such, regular BGs have been gone in less than a minute. I experienced this on 1/25 and that was a “good” day in comparison even though the ride broke down for 15 minutes while we were on it. Less regular BGs is probably the best way to handle the reliability at this point though.

How’s the reliability at Batuu West so far? Any better?

 

[jbish]

Don't you think if there was a solution they wouldn't done it already? Every day, every hour CMs are breaking down backstage because they are getting yelled at every minute, managers have to come out and basically become therapists on the job, entitled people expecting things that cannot be provided roaming around screaming, entiicing others to revolt (I know it sounds dramatic but I have seen people do this at the park)

As to the crowds, again it goes into planning. WDW trip requires planning. People expecting lower crowds have not researched properly, frequent visitors such as myself and many on these boards and others have said there's no low crowd time anymore, we have said the crowd calendars are not as accurate as they used to be. Many people started visiting the parks in the early 2000, remember 9/11? that killed the crowds for a good 7 years, people came and the parks were empty and everyone thought that was normal, Disney has worked very hard to bring the crowds back with year of a million dreams, free dining and other incentives. It is your hard earned cash, YOU have to decide and plan and have realistic expectations.
A couple of years ago people were complaining about how DHS was a half day park and now that the crowds are back people complain about how they need 2 days. Decide for yourself if it's worth it or not.

I know you have a greater amount of insight to what's going on backstage given that your daughter is a CM. I'm not trying to sound like an entitled or under-informed guest. Trust me - I understand. Many moons ago, I, too, was a CM so I understand the standards that Disney sets and the expectations that the guests demand. Please do not mistake my posts as demanding low crowds and unlimited rides on the newest attractions that took Disney years to create that is, clearly, amazing and garners high demand. As someone who is heading down for my 18th visit, a loyal Disboards reader, and someone who has practiced numerous times to get a BG, I feel like I'm prepared as can be and, knowing that I will be back, I know it's not the end of the world if we don't ride. I'm just voicing some frustrations as things seem to be getting worse, not better. I'm not blaming anyone - especially not the cast. I'm just confused - that's all. I respect your knowledge and insight - I have always enjoyed your perspective on things, particularly SW-related stuff. But I seem to have really hit a sensitive chord with you and that was not my intent.

 

[joelkfla]

So what is the solution here? This is not sustainable. Literally all gone in a minute?! Do people leave HS if they aren't successful? I'm sure there are lots of people who don't have park hoppers so it's not like they can just hang out at Epcot if they don't get a BG. Based on the wait times I'm seeing this past weekend, my guess is most people just stay and get into other ride lines. I'm just imagining the crowds being oppressively bad in April.... Ugh......

I wonder whether GET or GR would consider a request for same-day tickets to a different park, if requested within an hour of opening and the Guest was in DHS at opening.

 

[jbish]

I wonder whether GET or GR would consider a request for same-day tickets to a different park, if requested within an hour of opening and the Guest was in DHS at opening.

I thought about that, too - and originally wrote something to that effect but deleted it because I realized that Disney doesn't need to "give away" something. Figured if I even suggested it, I'd be accused of being entitled. LOL We should all know the drill - there's no guaranty that anyone can ride any particular ride on any given day. Disney does not "owe" us the ability to hop to another park if we simply just didn't get what we wanted. It's an even playing field.

 

[WeluvthePeterPanRide]

first time practicing from home today since my trip is coming up in less than 2 weeks.
one thing i noticed is the first time you click through, an extra pop-up comes up that tells you more about the boarding group that you have to click OK after you click join and before you select your party. that adds extra latency first time you go through this, so im glad i did this practice run and would suggest everyone to do so. After that, i did get through about 6-7 times.
but every second counts!

I got this too! First time to se this and I thought it added an extra few seconds to the process I don’t need

 

[limabeanmom2003]

Here’s one solution that would help - extend park hours, especially during the weeks around Easter that are quickly approaching. Have DHS open until 11pm daily.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I thought about that, too - and originally wrote something to that effect but deleted it because I realized that Disney doesn't need to "give away" something. Figured if I even suggested it, I'd be accused of being entitled. LOL We should all know the drill - there's no guaranty that anyone can ride any particular ride on any given day. Disney does not "owe" us the ability to hop to another park if we simply just didn't get what we wanted. It's an even playing field.

I totally agree that they don't owe people anything, however, getting an angry or frustrated guest out of the park and off to a happier place seems like a win-win situation. I doubt it's something they would want to advertise, but in certain situations I could see it being the best solution.