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

[Turksmom]

Lol same! My husband downloaded the app 2 day ago

I'm waiting until the last second to have mine do it. I'm so afraid he'll mess up something else

 

[GBRforWDW]

Low Power mode sometimes persists after you’ve charged up a bit. (I can’t remember when it switches back to full power, but on my IPhone 7, it could be well up past 60% and still in “low power mode” and if I’m not still charging it up, I have to reset it to full power manually in settings>battery. MDE uses a ton of power, so low power mode does slow it down.) Also, FWIW, I have official word from Agnes at Disney Tech that Bluetooth is not necessary in that app for securing a boarding group, so I’m keeping that feature turned-off while I try for boarding groups. It’s a huge power drainer.

you can add Low Power Mode to your Control Center apps, so you just swipe and turn off instead of having to go through settings every time. Just go to settings > control center > customize controls and add low power mode.

 

[cindianne320]

I just know my husband is going to be the one to get our BG and I will never hear the end of it . He is so removed from our Disney planning he doesn’t even have the app (yet).

My husband got ours. We were in the sea of people on the Main St, by Starbucks. I could not get any data signal, but I think I had wifi on as well. (I had not found this thread yet!) I had read tips and such, and was so excited, and never got the join now. He just tapped in, no research and got us BG 56, on Christmas Eve. I haven't heard the end of it... Bound and determined to beat that number in April!

 

[ScrapYap]

With every millisecond counting these days, Help from Home is becoming an important component to a ROTR Boarding Group strategy. Even when you avoid park wifi and use data, there's only a limited amount of bandwidth available from the local tower at DHS - and it's serving so many at the same second - imagine the load! A faithful friend at a distant location won't have that intense congestion. Of course, you might be the one to get your own BG from inside the park. But the remote back-up is a reassuring insurance policy.

As indicated by the main ROTR DIS FAQ, remote assistance breaks no rules.

If you’re lucky, you have friends and relatives who know the ROTR ropes and will be happy to help you at 6:59 or 7:59 AM on your DHS day(s). More likely, you’ll find a co-op of online Disney friends and acquaintances who are familiar with ROTR Boarding Groups.

The most important part of the process is to prepare an MDE that’s set up for the BG process. Maybe there's a member of your travel party who either doesn't yet have or doesn't much use their MDE. This person is ideal to become your BG MDE. You need to set up (or pare it down to) only the guests who will be riding ROTR with you. This streams down the group selection process. It’s just “Select All” and move right on. (Stopping to deselect guests -even just one guest - could be the difference between group 10 and group 60.)

You can share this sign-in with your co-op team. You have the option of turning off photo sharing.

It's not likely but possible that the number of people attempting to book using the same MDE sign-in could have an impact. So if you have a secondary MDE BG (in the name of a second member of your traveling group), you could divide your team between the two MDEs - but make it an 80/20 split so you can discover if the BG ends up being snagged by someone in a smaller population of signers-in!

If you’re the Disney planner in your group, your own MDE isn’t going to work well for BG – you’ll have too many guests (of several varieties

) on your F&F&F list.

Use a PM group for communicating as your DHS day - and eventually the golden minute - approach. The ultimate breakfast club. Once the BG has been acquired, the "winner" (who scored it) could report in here - with the BG and also the type of phone used to book - and the MDE version. (And, if they enjoy the sport that BG is becoming - did they "go orange" the first time - and if not, did they Refresh or Reopen or Check Status?) This could be a good place to track the minutiae.

If you're already doing this, maybe you could share your own tips.

And don't forget to put a post-it note in your Dayplanner for after your trip to remind you to change the password of the shared MDE.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Well, so far things are trending a little better than the last few days... 74 total BGs have been called, 51 Regular and 23 Backups, with still a couple hours of park time left.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

If riding this ride requires a team outside the park, that’s the point I’m officially out lol. I figure if 5 phones in the park can’t get us on, it wasn’t meant to be.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Anyone have any predictions on when Disney will officially end backup boarding groups and change policy to state no compensation if your group isn't called and only provide a fast pass to people immediately affected by a ride breakdown?

Seems like with them going to a low number of main groups (in the 50s last 2 days), this will be a change happening in the next few weeks, possibly by end of February, in my opinion.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Anyone have any predictions on when Disney will officially end backup boarding groups and change policy to state no compensation if your group isn't called and only provide a fast pass to people immediately affected by a ride breakdown?

Seems like with them going to a low number of main groups (in the 50s last 2 days), this will be a change happening in the next few weeks, possibly by end of February, in my opinion.

The major decrease in regular groups to the number they can comfortably get through on even a bad day and speeding through them half an hour before park close the other day says to me they’re done with the auto compensation for the most part already. I don’t know if they’ll bother changing the actual regular and back up set up so long as regular groups are almost always accommodated. Having that clear line in the groups gives people in later groups less of a leg to stand on if they don’t ride.

My thoughts, based on nothing concrete for the record lol.

 

[Feberin]

Anyone have any predictions on when Disney will officially end backup boarding groups and change policy to state no compensation if your group isn't called and only provide a fast pass to people immediately affected by a ride breakdown?

Seems like with them going to a low number of main groups (in the 50s last 2 days), this will be a change happening in the next few weeks, possibly by end of February, in my opinion.

I think it's the opposite. Having people standing in line all day with frequent breakdowns or Fastpasses that can't be used because it's broken down would be worse. My guess is this system will stay the same through August since the moved EMHs to the evening. Why move that if you're not doing boarding groups?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Are there any reports of people being in the park at park opening and not getting a boarding group?

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Are there any reports of people being in the park at park opening and not getting a boarding group?

In here? I don’t believe so. A fair number who have not rode despite being there at opening though.

But with all BG gone before 8:02 I have to assume at least some people have missed out completely, those with the perfect storm of a busy day and bad phone luck, just not people on here yet.

 

[Lee23]

I just know my husband is going to be the one to get our BG and I will never hear the end of it . He is so removed from our Disney planning he doesn’t even have the app (yet).

Lol same! My husband downloaded the app 2 day ago

Double same! All the worrying and anxiety we've been feeling, and husbands will just log on, get a low BG and then be like "What's the big deal?"

 

[DisneyFanThi]

I got Boarding Group 25 this morning without any issues. But I was curious, I noticed people practicing from home, so is it possible to snag a BG from outside the park?

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I got Boarding Group 25 this morning without any issues. But I was curious, I noticed people practicing from home, so is it possible to snag a BG from outside the park?

Yes and no.

You can get BG outside the park if you have tapped into DHS already or if you are doing it for a person who has on their behalf.

The people practicing aren’t actually getting BG, they’re just practicing going through the steps until the system stops them because they aren’t in the park.

 

[GBRforWDW]

I got Boarding Group 25 this morning without any issues. But I was curious, I noticed people practicing from home, so is it possible to snag a BG from outside the park?

No, you'll get a message stating you're not in the park. It just helps to understand timing between your phone and the app.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Still clicking up BGs at 7:30, for whatever that is worth. Up to 87.

 

[GBRforWDW]

I think it's the opposite. Having people standing in line all day with frequent breakdowns or Fastpasses that can't be used because it's broken down would be worse. My guess is this system will stay the same through August since the moved EMHs to the evening. Why move that if you're not doing boarding groups?

I wasn't saying getting rid of BGs completely, just getting rid of the backup BG and only do regular with a stated policy that BGs don't guarantee a ride and no compensation will be given if your group isn't called.

 

[Feberin]

I wasn't saying getting rid of BGs completely, just getting rid of the backup BG and only do regular with a stated policy that BGs don't guarantee a ride and no compensation will be given if your group isn't called.

But they regularly reach the back up groups. If they only do 50-60 groups that's a lot fewer people riding on good days.

 

[only hope]

For the most part yes ... my whole extended family typically travels to WDW the same time of year. Though each family core does their own thing, we do have overlapping plans of a few shared meals, FPs, etc. We are a “small” group of just 15 this year but next year will be much bigger and I don’t want to go through the hassle of re-adding everyone again.

I fully admit we are crazy!!

Have the 15 people going on this trip rename themselves in MDE so that their name starts with AA. This should place them at the top of the list, which will make it easier to select the correct people for a BG and anything else you plan together in MDE for this trip.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Park just closed and still slowly clicked up BGs over that last 30 minutes - clicked over to BG 90 around 8pm.

I can’t say I’ve extensively studied last hour BG habits, but this seems just about the latest we’ve seen and still calling more groups.