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

[yulilin3]

My apologies as I'm sure in 160 pages this has been answered. But if the park opens at 7am, and you cannot get on a BG until the park opens, why are people going there at 4:30am and why are they letting people into the park at 6:15? So everyone is just standing there waiting to get in? What happens btwn 6:15 and 7am when you can actually get a BG?

I leave on Sunday and I just cannot imagine how this is working and why people are getting up so early? Am I being naive in thinking I can show up 45min before park opens and actually get on this ride next week?

There's no need to get to the park at 4:30am other than to be at the front of the pack for attractions
They allow people in to not have a huge crowd before the tapstiles as security measure

 

[yulilin3]

For everyone coming into this thread for the first time I would like to ask you to read, at least 5 to 10 pages back, most likely your question has been asked and answered, at least 50 times.
Don't want to sound rude but the information is here, all you need to do is read for a couple of minutes.
Thank you

 

[GADisneyDad14]

My apologies as I'm sure in 160 pages this has been answered. But if the park opens at 7am, and you cannot get on a BG until the park opens, why are people going there at 4:30am and why are they letting people into the park at 6:15? So everyone is just standing there waiting to get in? What happens btwn 6:15 and 7am when you can actually get a BG?

I leave on Sunday and I just cannot imagine how this is working and why people are getting up so early? Am I being naive in thinking I can show up 45min before park opens and actually get on this ride next week?

It’s pretty much like all the parks that let people in but then hold folks at a later spot until real rope drop / park opening time - you wait. Some go to Starbucks, some shop, some lounge around.... and importantly... some are trying to be at the front of the ropes to get an early ride on primarily MFSR or SDD. Someone who didn’t get a FP for SDD, for example, may want to position themselves at the front of the rope drop line so they can get on reasonably quickly first thing.

But there’s no need to get there that early if none of that is important - if you just want to try to join a BG, be there roughly 15-30ish mins before opening and all is usually good. Heck, you could even walk in the park 5 mins before opening to get a BG, you just need to be in the park (and Disney does say to give a few minutes for their system to recognize your admission has been used to enter the park).

 

[PendingPeril]

What was up with the wait spike for MFSR and TSM? Did all rides start late today?

 

[yulilin3]

What was up with the wait spike for MFSR and TSM? Did all rides start late today?

no, the only one that didn't open at 7am was RotR. There's no way to know for sure wait times at park opening, so the CM open with a standard time, for example MFSR opens every morning with standard 60 min. Then they guesstimate wait times once people join the queue, then after about 20 to 30 minutes they have a better understanding of the real wait time.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

For everyone coming into this thread for the first time I would like to ask you to read, at least 5 to 10 pages back, most likely your question has been asked and answered, at least 50 times.
Don't want to sound rude but the information is here, all you need to do is read for a couple of minutes.
Thank you

Would it be beneficial to edit the first post to include some of the most popular Q&A’s? And also edit the title of the thread to direct new Dis’ers to that first post for answers to their questions.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

What was up with the wait spike for MFSR and TSM? Did all rides start late today?

I don’t necessarily trust early morning wait times for some of those rides. They tend to start at very high default numbers before things shake out.

Although both rides have tracks/sides that can go down, creating abnormal spikes. I read 2 tracks on TSM were wonky the other morning, as an example. Sometimes if you see something that looks off, that can be an explanation.

 

[yulilin3]

Would it be beneficial to edit the first post to include some of the most popular Q&A’s? And also edit the title of the thread to direct new Dis’ers to that first post for answers to their questions.

I asked @rteetz to do this, he is on his way now to WDW for Marathon weekend, I'm sure he'll update his post to help out.
But honestly just reading a couple of pages back will do the same trick

 

[gtitan21]

9:09 backups gone. Anyone see an earlier time?

 

[KEW]

Any info re whether WDW wifi is good enough to grab a boarding group? International guest and never travel with data plan as over $80 for trip. Since I won't be there until the fall, suspect the present strategy will change hugely by then and perhaps even limited FP by late summer. All speculation now.

ps would love to see a vlog head to head comparison with the DIS Team one using data and the other wifi to get in boarding group. Would guess most American guests usually have data. Most international guests - Brits, Canadians, Australians & NZ - usually don't have it.

I’m international too and will be on WiFi, it’s quite stressful thinking ahead!

I'm wondering if you could have someone at home helping you try to get a BG.

 

[ecclescake]

Just spotted boarding group shut now (9.10) and they were deffo still open at 9.02 so they filled up sometime in between then and now.

**** Edit - posted at same time as @gtitan21 so sometimes between 9.02 and 9.09. ****

 

[nco91590]

I'm so sorry for being "one of those people" lol, I did read back a few pages and all I kept seeing were reports of people being in line at 4:30am and I'm like good grief I can't manage that! I panicked lololol.

So good to know that I can still get my beauty sleep

 

[Minnie368]

We RD RnRC with no wait. After that ToT had 50 min posted wait but took 25 min. We were ready to leave for breakfast at Epcot since RotR was so delayed but as we were about to get on the Skyliner our BG was called. Our BG called around 8:20. Got in line around 8:30 and off by 9.

 

[Debbie Jean]

I don’t necessarily trust early morning wait times for some of those rides. They tend to start at very high default numbers before things shake out.

Although both rides have tracks/sides that can go down, creating abnormal spikes. I read 2 tracks on TSM were wonky the other morning, as an example. Sometimes if you see something that looks off, that can be an explanation.

Yesterday at 7 am, 2 tracks were down at TSM and SD was also down. I had a FP for TSM at 7:05 and was able to ride but as you can imagine the standby line was ginormous wait time listed as 240 and ongoing announcements that the wait would likely be longer. Once SD was opened about 8 I think things got better.

I felt so lucky, got BG 87, rode and was off by 1:30... it is beyond fabulous! All elements were working, too, unlike the previous day.

This was my second attempt. Was there last week on what I call “Black Friday” 1/3. Got stand by 158 at 7:02. They had issues all day with ride and didn’t even make it to BG 100. Was so discouraged but decided to give it another shot. Second times a charm... and I have to say was worth it!

 

[yulilin3]

Official HUB time for closing backup BG was 9:09am with bg starting at 115 for @SouthFayetteFan

 

[Becky201068]

It’s pretty much like all the parks that let people in but then hold folks at a later spot until real rope drop / park opening time - you wait. Some go to Starbucks, some shop, some lounge around.... and importantly... some are trying to be at the front of the ropes to get an early ride on primarily MFSR or SDD. Someone who didn’t get a FP for SDD, for example, may want to position themselves at the front of the rope drop line so they can get on reasonably quickly first thing.

But there’s no need to get there that early if none of that is important - if you just want to try to join a BG, be there roughly 15-30ish mins before opening and all is usually good. Heck, you could even walk in the park 5 mins before opening to get a BG, you just need to be in the park (and Disney does say to give a few minutes for their system to recognize your admission has been used to enter the park).

Right! I also couldn't understand why people got there so early, but it seems that it's because they want to be at the front of the pack to ride Smuggler's Run (or another ride). I was thinking that they are still waiting an extra hour so how is that beating the system in any way? But then someone pointed out that they'd be OFF the ride earlier, and have more time to spend in the park. We are going on Friday, and I'm hoping to get the crew out of the hotel at 6:10, at DHS at 6:30 to allow time to get through security and through the turnstiles. Also, it's been slightly different each day, so I don't wanna wake up THAT early on vacation and have something be wonky (like they don't open the turnstiles till later....). Good luck!

 

[Miffy]

I'm so sorry for being "one of those people" lol, I did read back a few pages and all I kept seeing were reports of people being in line at 4:30am and I'm like good grief I can't manage that! I panicked lololol.

So good to know that I can still get my beauty sleep

You do want to make sure that you arrive at DHS in time to get to the tapstiles before the official park opening time. What I'm saying is--don't cut it too close. There've been days when the regular BGs were filled in 1 or 2 minutes--or even 13 or 15 minutes--and if you were still at bag check or waiting in line to tap in, you could be shut out.

Or maybe you called for a rideshare and you had to wait 20 minutes for your car to show up--now you're 20 minutes later than you thought you'd be. Or there could be traffic--yeah, even at 5 a.m., there's been traffic, I hear, near DHS. That sort of thing. Plan for some padding in your departure time. You'd be really unhappy to not tap in until until 2 seconds before the BGs closed.

 

[kboo]

ah. i feel like even if i got there early, everyone would push/rush in front of me. disadvantages of having to deal with a double stroller lol.

How feasible would it be to carry your kid(s)? After tapping into the park, I might find a place to park my stroller and join the herd to wait for park opening. At park opening, attain BG, and then piggy back my kid through the rope drop march to SR. That might be easier than maneuvering a double stroller through that rope drop march.

YMMV but: We did it 2x over Xmas week with a double stroller. It was fine. People were generally respectful and aware. Some people darted in front, but it's wasn't too bad and it kept the kids contained and safe (and eating snacks). One day we tapped in the park 3 minutes before opening, in the rain, and were in the first store getting a BG. We didn't bother with SR that day, but did AS2 (our 4yo's favorite) and got breakfast. The second time we were in 20 minutes before BG open, and again, we had plenty of time and were comfortable. My DH walked the stroller for a SR "rope drop" (you don't need to park the stroller until you get close to the MF, and CMs (our your spouse/partner) will assist with you parking the stroller and staying in line. It was civilized, although I'm sure some people fast-walked past DH and the stroller I don't think it made that much of a difference. We were zen about it, we knew we'd get to ride and we weren't going to let a few ride gunners ruin our day. I took my ODD to the restroom on the way (she'd been holding it since park entry, bless her!) and caught up to DH and the other kid was they walked through the MF line (which went all the way into TS Land and back).

tl, dr: Keep the stroller and save your back and be a little safer.

Any reports of boarding group time overlapping with existing fastpass selections? While we could drop a tier 2, with back-to-back FP windows and a complete unknown with what BG you might be assigned - I could easily see missing a pre-booked FP.

Can guest assistance modify an existing FP on something like SDD if this happens?

We missed our TSMM FP bec the SR standby had a posted wait of 35-45 minutes and it was much longer than that. The CM at TSMM had no problem with it. Another time we spoke to a GET CM in HS who changed our late morning Soarin FP to an all-day Soarin FP. (Our BG looked like it would get called exactly when our FP started).

this definitely doesn't work. We've had reports of people being next to each other getting wildly different bg numbers

I believe it was yesterday we had someone report this situation, where they got, lets say 33, the group next to them got 116 and the other group got 8

When we were there, regular BGs were lasting 15-30 minutes. We got BG 50, 62 at open while others got 8, 16 at the same time. Extrapolate that a little further and you could easily be at 100 while your neighbor gets 50. Factor in unanticipated down time, and I'd just aim to get what you can get, hopefully in the AM, and rearrange your day after that.

 

[Heather07438]

Would guess most American guests usually have data. Most international guests - Brits, Canadians, Australians & NZ - usually don't have it.

I’m international too and will be on WiFi, it’s quite stressful thinking ahead!

I'm wondering if you could have someone at home helping you try to get a BG.

I was thinking the same. Has anyone overseas tried joining a BG for their family/friends thru MDE? Back-up from home would help those without data if wi-fi stinks on their HS day.

We know people have done it out of state, let's see about out of country. The timing's convenient for UK to help, it'll be lunchtime there for ropedrop.

 

[mechteach1]

I’m international too and will be on WiFi, it’s quite stressful thinking ahead!

Given your username, are you from the UK? If so, and if your phone isn't locked to a carrier, you can pop into a 3 shop, pick up a regular SIM, and then charge it with £10 and be good for data for while you are in the US. The US is a feel-at-home/go-roam destination, and there is a £10 add-on for pay-as-you-go that gives you 4 GB of data for 30 days. (The same might be true for other UK carriers, but we have 3, so that is what I know.)