Boarding groups - Any thoughts/rumors on when this might end?

[elsbit]

OP, To answer your original question, I don't think it will switch until the end of summer, but I have been wishing for a May switch to FP, in time for our trip. I have similar feelings as you do about wanting a FP for this ride. I rather know for sure, than have my fingers crossed morning of. That said, if there that isn't a FP option in time for your trip, I think you should still try to do it one time. We are a family of 5 who did it at Christmas time this year, which is the craziest time to be at Disney. We have to do rider swap because one of my kids is 2 and too short. The day we did it, it rained from before park opening and all day. I won't lie, it was a challenge and very miserable with the non-stop rain. But in the end, worth it. We cannot wait to ride again, but did not attempt it again for the rest of our trip because of how challenging it was (as I recall, we got a high 70s boarding group within 1 minute of the BGs opening). After we got the BG, the process was more chill for us, including the rider swap. I just personally don't like all the anxiety I feel about if I will get a BG or not after jumping through the necessary hoops while hauling around a cantankerous 2 year old who cannot ride (my other kids are easier).

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Agreed. The fact that 90%, of the guests across parks on any given day didnt do their homework isnt anyone fault but their own. And works to the benefit of those of us who have.

Yep.

I feel bad for people who did their homework, followed all the right steps, and were thwarted by loads of downtime or the dreaded Disney IT curse.

I feel nothing for those who didn’t bother even a minute of research, that likely would have informed them about the BGs. It’s literally on the opening screen of the app, “access by boarding group”.

 

[rteetz]

Yep.

I feel bad for people who did their homework, followed all the right steps, and were thwarted by loads of downtime or the dreaded Disney IT curse.

I feel nothing for those who didn’t bother even a minute of research, that likely would have informed them about the BGs. It’s literally on the opening screen of the app, “access by boarding group”.

I am with ya on the IT stuff. If someone does do everything right and gets to DHS and their app times out or whatever and doesn't get a BG now thats terrible.

I don't feel the same for someone who didn't know and then shows up at 2PM at the park thinking they are going to ride no problem.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I am with ya on the IT stuff. If someone does do everything right and gets to DHS and their app times out or whatever and doesn't get a BG now thats terrible.

I don't feel the same for someone who didn't know and then shows up at 2PM at the park thinking they are going to ride no problem.

But, but, but I should be able to walk in and wait 6 hours if I want to! Why wouldn’t we all want that instead of a virtual wait??

 

[scrappinginontario]

It’s too soon to go to FP as the ride is too unreliable at this time.

I would much rather use my 1 Tier FP on a different ride and attempt to get a FP the morning we go. Based on the number Of BG we (hopefully) get we will be able to gear our expectations.

The way things currently work with FPs is that if a ride is down a guest is issued an ‘anytime’ FP to use on another attraction but almost always they are limited to not use on the most popular attractions. If my Tier 1 FP is for ROtR and it goes down I will be extremely disappointed if I ‘knew’ for 60 days I was going to ride it.

I can see it going to a FP system but not until it’s more reliable.

 

[Castlequeen5]

We will be there in 4 weeks. And I am super excited/anxious about competing for a BG. I have read the threads, practiced many mornings getting them, and prepared my group on how to use MDE. So I think I’m as ready as I can be. Now we just need to be tapped in before 8:00 on our HS days. In the unlikely chance that we don’t get to ride, no doubt I’ll be disappointed. But it will not ruin our trip. We’ve got too many other exciting things going on to let ONE ride bring us down.

I do think, however, that boarding groups are our best option right now. We still get to use 3 fastpasses. So riding ROTC is a bonus. It’s like getting an extra fastpass. Plus you have more flexibility for your return window. It seems like a win/win. You can plan your day like you normally do and work ROTC in if you get lucky. I actually think when/if BGs are over, it’ll be much harder to choose fastpasses. I much prefer my chances of getting a BG at opening AND still have my 3 preselected fastpasses.

 

[Naima1922]

Not if they release FP one day at a time. You can only book exactly 60 days in advance.

I think if you are staying 6+ nights at a Disney resort you can book earlier. (Can't remember where I read that, though.)

 

[Naima1922]

We will be there in 4 weeks. And I am super excited/anxious about competing for a BG. I have read the threads, practiced many mornings getting them, and prepared my group on how to use MDE. So I think I’m as ready as I can be. Now we just need to be tapped in before 8:00 on our HS days. In the unlikely chance that we don’t get to ride, no doubt I’ll be disappointed. But it will not ruin our trip. We’ve got too many other exciting things going on to let ONE ride bring us down.

I do think, however, that boarding groups are our best option right now. We still get to use 3 fastpasses. So riding ROTC is a bonus. It’s like getting an extra fastpass. Plus you have more flexibility for your return window. It seems like a win/win. You can plan your day like you normally do and work ROTC in if you get lucky. I actually think when/if BGs are over, it’ll be much harder to choose fastpasses. I much prefer my chances of getting a BG at opening AND still have my 3 preselected fastpasses.

Absolutely! For example, in Animal Kingdom, getting a FP+ (even 60 days in advance at 7:00 planning for the last day of your trip) has not been a possibility for us in the last 2 years of going in the summer, so we rope dropped it. With this Boarding Group situation, we can rope drop Smuggler's Run AND get our 3 initial FPs in! Getting on the new RoR would just be another bonus, but it hardly seems like time wasted to me because there are SO MANY other rides & attractions in Hollywood Studios!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

But with the improvements in technology and reliability with PCB's, etc. why has this attraction slipped from it's original timeline/operating-efficiency? I'll stick to my guns and say they underestimated the testing phase by leaps and bounds.

Yes, some/most folks that are willing to put the effort in are rewarded with riding. But, I honestly don't think this was the vision when project plan/charter was established. To me, it's an awful slip and schedule failure.

You have made this point over and over on this thread. But whether or not they should have planned for more testing and/or delayed the ride opening is irrelevant at this point. It's open, they aren't closing it and going back to the drawing board. So beyond the boarding group process (which clearly you hate), I still haven't seen you offer up any alternative solution that would be better. What is your suggestion?

 

[mercuryvenus]

You have made this point over and over on this thread. But whether or not they should have planned for more testing and/or delayed the ride opening is irrelevant at this point. It's open, they aren't closing it and going back to the drawing board. So beyond the boarding group process (which clearly you hate), I still haven't seen you offer up any alternative solution that would be better. What is your suggestion?

Agreed. Moreover, I'll reiterate what I've said before on this thread: if you track progress on boarding groups on the app (which you can do even if you're not in WDW) you'll see that, over the past week, they've consistently gotten through 120-130 boarding groups. Having experienced BGs for a few days while there in mid-February (including a day with at least one breakdown), my sense is that getting through 120-130 BGs means no breakdowns during the day (or at least none of any significant length).

So I think that, while perhaps they messed up the initial rollout of this ride, it's only fair to acknowledge that things seem to be getting significantly better.

 

[hertamaniac]

IMO based on knowledge of the attraction both inside sources and reading various things online I feel they did enough testing.

OK...back this AM to continue the conversation.

You feel they did enough testing to open the attraction on day one; I'll come back to that later. Let me ask you this in simple terms:

Do you think that when they announced the project (SWGE) the plan was to have RotR and MFSR open on the same day? Yes or no.

 

[rteetz]

OK...back this AM to continue the conversation.

You feel they did enough testing to open the attraction on day one; I'll come back to that later. Let me ask you this in simple terms:

Do you think that when they announced the project (SWGE) the plan was to have RotR and MFSR open on the same day? Yes or no.

Yes I think they did want the whole land open at one time. However as time progressed it was evident that wasn’t going to happen.

 

[hertamaniac]

Yes I think they did want the whole land open at one time. However as time progressed it was evident that wasn’t going to happen.

OK..I agree. So the next question I have is once they knew the RotR timeline was being jeopardized, is that when they realized the need to go to BG as SB and/or FP wouldn't work? Yes or no...please.

 

[rteetz]

OK..I agree. So the next question I have is once they knew the RotR timeline was being jeopardized, is that when they realized the need to go to BG as SB and/or FP wouldn't work? Yes or no...please.

I don’t know when they first started looking at boarding groups for the attraction itself. I know of course it was used for the land on both coasts opening days. I do know the decision to actually use boarding groups for RotR was made fairly late hence the day of public announcement for it.

 

[clarker99]

Len Testa reported on the lastest Disney Dish w/ Jim Hill (recorded Feb 19,2020), that a 'fix' is coming to RotR that should help with whatever was ailing the ride over the President's day weekend. The performance for the last 5 days has been much better so I think the 'fix' may be done and is helping.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I read most of this thread and skimmed the bickering and over analytical posts.

My take is they should keep the BGs. I know people would rather those going to RotR to wait in line and stop clogging up the other attractions, but that isn't fair either.

My guess is the BGs will last until the 1 year anniversary of GE.

 

[hertamaniac]

So the BG system was announced the day of opening at HS is what I understand. They built the attraction out of the gate to be SB and FP ready, but needed to switch to BG due to reliability issues that were not identified earlier in the project to meet the original timeline. Is this part correct?

From what I understand, even the MMRR is using CMs to have previews (a.k.a. shakedown testing), RotR did not. Is it the volume of CMs required for that testing that would be prohibitive? Something else?

 

[mercuryvenus]

Len Testa reported on the lastest Disney Dish w/ Jim Hill (recorded Feb 19,2020), that a 'fix' is coming to RotR that should help with whatever was ailing the ride over the President's day weekend. The performance for the last 5 days has been much better so I think the 'fix' may be done and is helping.

That makes a lot of sense and explains the radical improvement in the ride's performance since then.

 

[tlmadden73]

I wonder how DHS will be with people wanting to BOTH Rope Drop Mickey's Runaway Railway AND be there early enough to get in a boarding group for Rise .. i feel it will be even more crowded there now with 2 brand new rides (and several others (MFSR and SDD) that are still pretty new too.

It will just be crowded at DHS in the mornings for the forseeable future, even if they stopped the boarding group thing.

I have two DHS days planned for my upcoming trip even though I really don't want to spend two days there, just to be maximize my possibility of getting a Mickey FP+ and having two chances to get in a boarding group.

 

[rteetz]

So the BG system was announced the day of opening at HS is what I understand. They built the attraction out of the gate to be SB and FP ready, but needed to switch to BG due to reliability issues that were not identified earlier in the project to meet the original timeline. Is this part correct?

From what I understand, even the MMRR is using CMs to have previews (a.k.a. shakedown testing), RotR did not. Is it the volume of CMs required for that testing that would be prohibitive? Something else?

They knew before the day of there would be reliability issues. They knew that weeks before if not months. They waited as long as they possibly could before officially going with BGs.

I know we keep comparing this to Hagrid’s at Universal but they had a similar situation but went the opposite route. They had the infrastructure and I believe announced they would use a virtual queue for that attraction but then never did.

In terms of MMRR that also was delayed but is not as complex of an attraction as RotR. The issues with Rise are not exclusive to the trackless vehicles.