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

[TheMaxRebo]

There are definitely non-peak times. It's just that the non-peak times are a lot more crowded than they used to be (and the peak times are also a lot more crowded than they used to be!)

yeah, I think that is fair - I also think to say there are "slow times" is no longer true and what was a slow time is now what used to be like a 7 or 8 crowd level and what was a 7 or 8 is now like an 11

 

[Mome Rath]

There are definitely non-peak times. It's just that the non-peak times are a lot more crowded than they used to be (and the peak times are also a lot more crowded than they used to be!)

Yes, this is absolutely true, as I've witnessed it multiple times firsthand. The summers have been a lot lighter in recent years.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thinking about MMRR opening ...
I know when Galaxy’s Edge opened
they used BG’s the first day and they have done this for RotR since the day it opened.
How far in advance did Disney announce that they were doing BG’s for the land? For RotR?
This might give us an idea if BG’s will be used for MMRR

Oddly enough, they never announced it for RotR. I think we figured it out at 5am on 12/5 when they started letting people in the park.

 

[Weedy]

Oddly enough, they never announced it for RotR. I think we figured it out at 5am on 12/5 when they started letting people in the park.

That’s what I thought (no announcement)

 

[DavidNYC]

yeah, I think that is fair - I also think to say there are "slow times" is no longer true and what was a slow time is now what used to be like a 7 or 8 crowd level and what was a 7 or 8 is now like an 11

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That I agree with! I remember a few trips to Disney in the late 90's / early 00's (particularly during recession periods) where it was quiet to the point of depressing. We had a whole Body Wars capsule to ourselves! Crowds were so empty at shows like Honey I Shrunk the Audience that it was almost comical when you heard the (taped) crowd laughter and screaming (which I had always previously thought was just coming from around the auditorium). It was most definitely "SLOW". To me the difference now is at off-peak times, you used to be able to do zero advance planning and still be fine and encounter minimal waits and crowds. Now - advance planners and those that know the system are going to be able to achieve significantly more than those that don't know what they're doing.

 

[AVanstraten]

I believe they are saying the crowd is held for a few minutes so guests can get BG’s before you can get in any line.
You will probably want to arrive very early to be at the front of that crowd.

Ahhh, that makes sense. Ok, so that makes it easier as I wasn't sure I could walk and get a BG at the same time. Was never good at that whole rub your belly and walk at the same time thing! LOL

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Ahhh, that makes sense. Ok, so that makes it easier as I wasn't sure I could walk and get a BG at the same time. Was never good at that whole rub your belly and walk at the same time thing! LOL

yeah, and now multiple that by about 10,000 people who also can't walk and chew gum at the same time and could be a disaster so that "hold a few minutes" I think is a great idea

Does seem like if you are going for MFSR or SDD you should try to get there close to 2 hours early if you want to be in the very front as the lines for both are building really fast

 

[JMB123]

This thread really helped me a lot so I wanted to post my experiences from Christmas/NY’s week. We (successfully) attempted this 3 times with 3 very different experiences. Each time my husband and I were both signed in to MDE, me using WiFi and him using data (AT&T) and each time he beat me by just a second or so.

#1: December 26th, 6:00am opening time:

4:55am left Saratoga Springs via rental car
5:12am through bag check, not much of a wait, went all the way right for tapstyles
5:35ish park opened, we went all the way left and were towards the front of the crowd going to MFSR
6:00am got right in, BG 14. Everyone around us had issues, I felt so bad for everyone and felt very lucky that we didn’t. Went straight to MFSR and though it was a very long walk through an indoor and outdoor queue we essentially “walked on”. When we came out about 6:25, our BG had been called and MFSR was a 180 minute wait. Having the early boarding group was great as we only waited about 5 minutes in the actual queue for ROTR.

#2: December 27th, 6:00am opening time:

We had returned our rental car and were trying for a later BG so went to the bus stop around 5:30 and got a bus right away. When we arrived, everyone was already in the park so we could just tap and walk right in (no finger scans). At 6:10ish, I asked the person next to me which group they got and she said 92, so we tried for ours. Got 98, which turned out lucky as I think they only got to 109 or less that day. We rode TOT and RNRC with minimal waits and then left the park.

I can’t remember what time we were called, but I think we entered the queue around 5:30pm. We waited around 40 minutes and were just about “on” (no spoilers) when we were told the ride was down. They evacuated us and issued us a FP that had to be used that day for ROTR or any other ride in DHS. Luckily, the ride did come back up that day and we were able to enter using the FP (didn’t have to wait in the queue again). We rode but one part of the ride was not working (no spoilers).

#3: January 1st, 7:00am opening time:

After getting 5 hours of sleep (!), we tried for a 3rd.
6:20 left Dolphin via boat (we were going to walk but one pulled up as we were walking by)
6:35ish arrived to a VERY long security line. Kids and I went to no bags, and tapped right into the park. DH had to go through bag check
6:59 and 30 seconds (!) DH taps into the park and we both frantically try for a BG. The app keeps telling us there’s an error for about 2 minutes – finally mine says I’m “already in a BG”. Turns out my DH got BG 24 during his first attempt. We head to TOT which already has a posted 60 minute wait (was more like 20). After getting off TOT (7:30ish), all rides had super long lines and so we grabbed breakfast and enjoyed GE while we waited for our BG to be called.

If you only have one day to do this, I would definitely recommend arriving at least 45 minutes early to be at the front of the pack and try to get one ride in at RD with minimal wait. I hate that this has ruined the RD experience of riding with short waits. The day we got there 45 minutes early was actually the most relaxing of the days, even though we woke up at 4:30am. I also think that the later the opening time, the more time you should leave yourself. People are more willing to get up for a 7:00 or 8:00am opening than 6:00am. And get early FPs if you can. On our first day, we had FPs at 6-7, 7-8 and 8-9 which was awesome. We got lots done that day and hardly waited in lines. Good luck to all!

 

[FireflyTrance]

I am hoping now that the Holidays are over that the boarding groups might be available a little later than they have been the last few weeks. We are going next month and it's very hard for us to get there by 7am. We are from California so it's 4am for us. What do you guys predict it will be like over the next month?

 

[mullysisters]

I'm sorry if this has been explained, I read through the entire thread I think. If the park opening is stated as 9am, how do you know when they will let people in early? Is it completely a unscheduled last minute decision? If I arrive at 630-7a for a stated 9a opening will I be okay? I have never used a ride share and nervous of giving my cc info.

 

[mamamelody2]

I am hoping now that the Holidays are over that the boarding groups might be available a little later than they have been the last few weeks. We are going next month and it's very hard for us to get there by 7am. We are from California so it's 4am for us. What do you guys predict it will be like over the next month?

I think you're going to have to be in the park before or VERY soon after open for months.

 

[only hope]

My phone is pretty old, is this going to be a problem? I haven’t upgraded from an IPhone 5S because it fits in my pocket and I don’t want a bigger one! I have AT&T. Should I use that or WiFi? I’m hopeless with technology.

Thanks!

Hello fellow small iphone user! I have a SE because it fits in my pockets and my hand! Just make sure you don’t have a super old version of the app. If it’s got the info about GE at the top of the home screen it should be fine.

I have a question about selecting the members of your party. My MDE account has DH, DS & I and it also has my parents from a few years ago when they traveled with us. When we book fastpasses, they always show up on the list and we just don't select them. I'm assuming they will show up on the list when we try to get a boarding group? (first HS day is January 12)

I was thinking it would make sense to remove them from MDE, but when I try it tells me I can't because they have current plans - this makes no sense, they haven't been there for a few years. I'm using the website version since I'm more comfortable with that. I've looked around and can't see anything that could be considered plans for them. They each show up with 1 inactive magic band each. They are not in my planning party for this trip, obviously they do not have any fastpasses. Any ideas?

The only reason I care is to speed up the BG process on the 12th. It would be faster to be able to select ALL rather than go through and select each of us and skip them. Otherwise, just ignoring them when I'm doing other stuff works just fine.

We had the same issue with removing people. We had to call to get them removed

Thinking about MMRR opening ...
I know when Galaxy’s Edge opened
they used BG’s the first day and they have done this for RotR since the day it opened.
How far in advance did Disney announce that they were doing BG’s for the land? For RotR?
This might give us an idea if BG’s will be used for MMRR

I think the land and ride were maybe one day prior...I don’t remember exactly but it was not far out. And for the land, they didn’t explain how the boarding pass would work til the day of (whether or not reservations for things inside the land would get you in and if so, whether or not everyone entering had to be on the reservation).

 

[AVanstraten]

yeah, and now multiple that by about 10,000 people who also can't walk and chew gum at the same time and could be a disaster so that "hold a few minutes" I think is a great idea

Does seem like if you are going for MFSR or SDD you should try to get there close to 2 hours early if you want to be in the very front as the lines for both are building really fast

ya, to be honest I'm not looking forward to the mass crowd with two kids but not much we can do about it. We only have one day to do DHS and this will probably be one of the last times we hit Disney for a long time. So much in the US/world to see/do. the good news, is that we do have a FP for SDD so really it is just getting a BG and in line as quick as possible for MFSR.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm sorry if this has been explained, I read through the entire thread I think. If the park opening is stated as 9am, how do you know when they will let people in early? Is it completely a unscheduled last minute decision? If I arrive at 630-7a for a stated 9a opening will I be okay? I have never used a ride share and nervous of giving my cc info.

There is no set time like it is always going to be X minutes before official opening - it is generally when they feel they have to for safety reasons and enough time for people to get in and get through tapstyles before it opens

It has been anywhere from like 20-40 minutes in general before the park's listed opening time

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I am hoping now that the Holidays are over that the boarding groups might be available a little later than they have been the last few weeks. We are going next month and it's very hard for us to get there by 7am. We are from California so it's 4am for us. What do you guys predict it will be like over the next month?

I think the hope for most of us is that regular BGs will last 15-30 minutes after opening. If you’re ok with a “backup group” which may have a lesser chance of getting called back, then you might find availability past 8am. Today those were available until around 9am.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

ya, to be honest I'm not looking forward to the mass crowd with two kids but not much we can do about it. We only have one day to do DHS and this will probably be one of the last times we hit Disney for a long time. So much in the US/world to see/do. the good news, is that we do have a FP for SDD so really it is just getting a BG and in line as quick as possible for MFSR.

we are in very similar situation as you except we didn't get a FP for SDD ... hoping that they move the park opening time up for our day and I notice and right away try to get a FP for SDD for that new extra hour to at least remove that concern area. Otherwise I think we head there at rope dop after trying for a boarding gorup and do MFSR later (near park closing if need be)

 

[wdw&sonny]

Tim Tracker has a new video that shows the morning process at HS for getting a BG for RotR....NOTE: The first 8 minutes are GE spoiler-free. Then he goes to GE for breakfast. After 13 minutes he goes on the ride.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Aqr8MQ_co

 

[mullysisters]

There is no set time like it is always going to be X minutes before official opening - it is generally when they feel they have to for safety reasons and enough time for people to get in and get through tapstyles before it opens

It has been anywhere from like 20-40 minutes in general before the park's listed opening time

Thanks very much. I'm not a hugh, hugh SW fan but love new rides and want to see this if possible. I'm only devoting one morning to it though!

 

[NYHeel]

I would caution that the Monday/Tuesday even Wednesday after NYE week is relatively 'dead' compared to other peak times at Disney. Starting Thursday of marathon weekend it gets much busier again.

This does not appear to be true for today at least. The wait times in DHS are still really high and are high is the other parks as well. In fact Touring Plans has today as an 8 though tomorrow does drop to a 5. I’m going to be in Disney from 1/14-1/19 and I really hope the parks aren’t this crowded then, at least for the pre-MLK day part. I’m going to Universal for MLK day and the day after but I have express passes to help there.

 

[WIll C]

It will be interesting to see how long this goes on this year. We were lucky to get a good BG back around Christmas and loved the ride. We come back next November and I'm hoping things calm down a bit but somehow I doubt it will change any. It is fun to keep up on this and see what's going on though.