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

[Grumpy by Birth]

Just talking out loud but wondering if the plexiglass is less distracting to those who are riding for the first time as they’re experiencing everything new and have nothing to compare it to?

We rode with no plexiglass (in the front seat, so wouldn't have mattered anyway) on our first ride. When we rode a few days later, we had other family with us who hadn't ridden. There was plexiglass and we let them sit in front so their first ride would not be hindered at all by the plexiglass. Overall, the plexiglass didn't really bother me. We still felt like we experienced the ride the same.

I wonder if the other guests in your party who have a ticket and park pass reservation will be preselected as they are now in the process or if we will have to go back to selecting people ourselves when it gets to that screen.

This is an excellent observation. With them going to BGs being obtained before you've scanned in, they might go back to manually selecting your party. That said, they might be able to keep everyone auto-selected who has a DHS park reservation for that day. Presumably, everyone with a reservation will show up... especially if they are successful in getting a BG.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Just coming to post the same!

Love the nice way of saying, we don't want too many of you here in the morning lol.

Also, I'm not sure about just using one phone advice!

I mean of my group i'm the only one technically savvy enough to do this so it's status quo to just have one phone going for it!

But yeah, we love having you, but please stop being crazy people and coming so early.. thanks...

 

[yulilin3]

I saw the Disney parks blog article announcing the board group virtual queue change, but are they announcing the change in any other way? How will the average (not message board fan like us) Disney tourist be made aware of this BIG change? My family has a HS reservation for 11/4 and I have no idea if the change will appreciably alleviate rope drop congestion or if tons of people will show up before 10am anyway because they don't know that the virtual queue opened at 7am.

They've been sending push notifications and emails 2 days before a dhs park reservation reminding people how to acquire a bg
ETA I have a reservation for the 10th and just got this email

Enter the Virtual Queue for Rise of the Resistance before you arrive at the Park​ We're excited about your upcoming reservation to visit Disney's Hollywood Studios! It will come as no surprise to our Guests that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is one of the most popular experiences at Walt Disney World Resort and the virtual queue itself has become equally popular. To make the virtual queue process even more convenient and help Guests plan ahead, we will be piloting a new approach starting Tuesday, Nov. 3. Here's how it will work: Guests with a valid ticket or pass and a Disney Park Pass Reservation for Disney's Hollywood Studios will be able to access the virtual queue system starting 7 a.m. on the day of their park reservation to check for an available boarding group. This can be done before you leave your Resort hotel or wherever else you happen to be nearby at that time. Just as we do today, a second round of virtual queue inventory will still be released at 2 p.m., to anyone who wasn’t already able to join a boarding group earlier in the day. For people who receive a later boarding time or are waiting for the second round of virtual queue inventory, we encourage them to take their time in getting to the park. Go back to sleep, have breakfast, check out the pool and relax a bit before journeying over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Tips for getting into the virtual queue By the day before your visit, make sure you have done the following: Have an account in My Disney Experience Download the My Disney Experience mobile app* on your smart device or ensure you have the most updated version of the app before arriving at the park Link and assign your tickets to a My Disney Experience account Have a valid Disney Park Pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the day Virtual queue is only accessible via the My Disney Experience app. You must use the app on a smart device rather than using a browser when attempting to enroll in virtual queue for the 7 a.m. inventory drop. Please keep in mind, only one Guest per traveling party should attempt to enroll in virtual queue. Multiple Guests and devices attempting to enroll the same party could complicate securing a boarding group. As a reminder, in order to be eligible for the 2 p.m. virtual queue enrollment, all Guests in a party must already be inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guests who need additional help joining the virtual queue for the 2 p.m. enrollment time should seek out a Guest Relations or Guest Experience Team Cast Member at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Please keep in mind that joining the virtual queue does not guarantee the ability to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. To accommodate physical distancing, there are a limited number of admissions for Guests to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. The virtual queue for this popular attraction tends to fill quickly. If you need further assistance joining the virtual queue, the following options are available to you: Call the Disney Reservation Center at (407) 939-4357 for website support, (407) 939-1936 for reservations, or use the chat feature on DisneyWorld.com To aid in physical distancing efforts, Resort Guests and Disney Vacation Club Guests can press "0" from their in-room phone or use the chat feature within My Disney Experience. Disney Vacation Club Guests can also call DVC Member Services at (800) 800-9800.

 

[Princess2R]

Well now I’m really nervous. Our HS day is Nov. 3.

Me too!!! I'm really nervous now!!!

 

[Joeboo25]

All their changing is the time a BG can be reserved, it's a very simple change within the system, instead of 10am the time is changed to 7am, literally takes about 5 seconds to make a change like this from an IT standpoint. I love this change as we'll be up at 7am anyway and now we can enjoy our early morning rides and queues and not have to watch the clock to pause everything when 10am rolls around.

It also changes your party selection process. Since you don't have to be scanned into the park anymore, we may have to go back to picking our party on the fly.

 

[Princess2R]

Does anyone have any thoughts about why Disney is suggesting that only 1 person per party try?

That seems way too risky!

 

[Laura353741]

Does anyone have any thoughts about why Disney is suggesting that only 1 person per party try?

That seems way too risky!

Weren't the CMs IN the park saying this also? May mean nothing just like it does now...

 

[scrappinginontario]

All their changing is the time a BG can be reserved, it's a very simple change within the system, instead of 10am the time is changed to 7am, literally takes about 5 seconds to make a change like this from an IT standpoint. I love this change as we'll be up at 7am anyway and now we can enjoy our early morning rides and queues and not have to watch the clock to pause everything when 10am rolls around.

Technically there are more changes than just the time that need to be made. Currently the system is checking each person in your party to see who has tapped into the park. This functionality will need to turned off and the system pointed towards the reservation system to see who in your party is scheduled to be in DHS that day due to having a DHS park reservation.

A teeny bit of a techy answer but this change is not a cut and dry system change of just the time.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Does anyone have any thoughts about why Disney is suggesting that only 1 person per party try?

That seems way too risky!

That's always been their official stance. I can't imagine they'd update anything to block an entire group from getting a pass if everyone was trying.

 

[lynch34]

I would ignore the "advice" on one person trying. That makes no sense.

I would think the chance of getting a boarding group goes up for everyone on this board. A lot of folks won't be aware of this change regardless of the push emails, etc. They won't pay attention to them.

My question is - say you have two days at HS but really just want to make sure you get to Rise. If you don't get it on Day 1 - is there enough time to switch your reservation since the park hasn't officially opened yet?

 

[Michellem618]

So I’m guessing the time change for BG has to do with earlier park hours and opening the ride earlier in November but does this mean we are back to selecting who is in our party ?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Technically there are more changes than just the time that need to be made. Currently the system is checking each person in your party to see who has tapped into the park. This functionality will need to turned off and the system pointed towards the reservation system to see who in your party is scheduled to be in the park that day due to having a boarding group.

A teeny bit of a techy question but this change is not a cut and dry system change of just the time.

Correct, there is some additional things on the backend that need changed. Hopefully this is something they've already thoroughly tested on the backend, but I could see it being flaky for a day or two.

Also, they could just turn off the part to check for party and go back to you selecting your group. I hope not, but everyone going on the 3rd should prepare for all possibilities.

 

[zemmer]

I saw the Disney parks blog article announcing the board group virtual queue change, but are they announcing the change in any other way? How will the average (not message board fan like us) Disney tourist be made aware of this BIG change? My family has a HS reservation for 11/4 and I have no idea if the change will appreciably alleviate rope drop congestion or if tons of people will show up before 10am anyway because they don't know that the virtual queue opened at 7am.

I got an email from Disney about the change.

 

[Trackmaster]

We rode with no plexiglass (in the front seat, so wouldn't have mattered anyway) on our first ride. When we rode a few days later, we had other family with us who hadn't ridden. There was plexiglass and we let them sit in front so their first ride would not be hindered at all by the plexiglass. Overall, the plexiglass didn't really bother me. We still felt like we experienced the ride the same.

This is an excellent observation. With them going to BGs being obtained before you've scanned in, they might go back to manually selecting your party. That said, they might be able to keep everyone auto-selected who has a DHS park reservation for that day. Presumably, everyone with a reservation will show up... especially if they are successful in getting a BG.

But it'll make AP reservations even more uber competitive for DHS and lead to a lot of no shows. I know my strategy is going to be to stock up on DHS middle of the week reservations, see if I get it, and hope the boarding time comes around my lunch break and scramble over.

 

[Joeboo25]

The new system may be more fussy about multiple party members trying since they're linking park reservations instead of scanned tickets, but we won't really know until the first victims willing participants try it next week.

 

[Tormania]

Technically there are more changes than just the time that need to be made. Currently the system is checking each person in your party to see who has tapped into the park. This functionality will need to turned off and the system pointed towards the reservation system to see who in your party is scheduled to be in DHS that day due to having a DHS park reservation.

A teeny bit of a techy answer but this change is not a cut and dry system change of just the time.

True, but that was an added change (party check) as well as originally that was not how it was built to work, but we're talking semantics at this point. I think it's a smart change IMHO.

 

[GBRforWDW]

I would ignore the "advice" on one person trying. That makes no sense.

I would think the chance of getting a boarding group goes up for everyone on this board. A lot of folks won't be aware of this change regardless of the push emails, etc. They won't pay attention to them.

My question is - say you have two days at HS but really just want to make sure you get to Rise. If you don't get it on Day 1 - is there enough time to switch your reservation since the park hasn't officially opened yet?

Yes, even if the park opens and you want to change, as long as you haven't tapped in and other parks have availability, you should be able to change your park reservation. I don't think they'd have a way to tie you into that reservation just because you attempted to get a BG.

 

[Anal Annie]

Our park day is Nov. 7th. I have been "practicing" the past few days. I am a little nervous that the change is only a few days before we go - not much time to see how it changes things. Now that they've added plexiglass to RotR I have a question about Smugglers Run. How have they been loading that ride? Did they put plexiglass in it too?

 

[yulilin3]

It also changes your party selection process. Since you don't have to be scanned into the park anymore, we may have to go back to picking our party on the fly.

As long af everyone has a park reservation it might just auto pick who does

 

[yulilin3]

Our park day is Nov. 7th. I have been "practicing" the past few days. I am a little nervous that the change is only a few days before we go - not much time to see how it changes things. Now that they've added plexiglass to RotR I have a question about Smugglers Run. How have they been loading that ride? Did they put plexiglass in it too?

No it's still just one party per pod