If you are a small party (1-2, or maybe even 3-4)
it is SO easy to get earlier times. I used to ride Guardians like 5x in a row back in the maxpass+ days by refreshing. Just sit on the tip board at home and refresh constantly for a couple minutes straight and you'll see the return times change. It really only works if you are refreshing nonstop for a couple minutes and are fast to react, if you just refresh one or two times (like a regular person) you'll never see those cancelled slots show up because someone who is refreshing will have gotten them. Just now I refreshed about 5x in a row and saw Buzz appear half an hour earlier. I refreshed again and it was back to the later slot. Then I saw Indy pop up and then next refresh it was back to sold out. They go fast!
But I have ALWAYS been able to get every single ride I want via refreshing. Without fail.
I don't really get it when people complain about being on their phones. I'd rather spend 5 minutes on a bench refreshing, than an extra 60+ minutes in line (on my phone) per ride
It's confusing when you're not actually doing it but pretty easy to do in practice. It's like trying to explain how to drive to someone who's never been behind the wheel