We recently got back from our Disney World trip and we were 2 for 2 on riding ROTR at HS. I thought I’d share my tips- I did a lot of research on different methods to securing a boarding pass before we arrived. I watched
YouTube videos and read the boards to formulate a plan. Our plan worked without issue. I was really surprised to hear and see all the people who had no idea what to do or how to take advantage of certain things to increase your chances. A family we spoke to later in the day had no idea they needed to get to the park by opening- wow.
INFO AND TIPS
-We were a party of 3
-We all were linked on the app/accounts
-We walked through step by step our plan the night before and again at 7:30am once we were in the park.
-All 3 of us were trying for boarding group.
-Go SLOW! Take your time and don’t panic.
-Both times we had 1 person on WIFI and 2 on Cellular (Verizon)
-Both days park opened at 8am. Gates opened at 7am. We arrived at 6:45am and were in the park by 7:15am.
-We did not want to be around a lot of people to increase our connection speed. I ran speed tests on our phones consistently until 7:50 to ensure a fast connection.
-We immediately got into line for Tower of Terror when we entered the park. This line moved up to the main entrance but not into the Tower. It was perfect. Not a lot of people. We were right in front of the red wall both days at end of street. We walked right on to Tower of Terror at 8am both days!
-We closed all apps on our phones and restarted our phones at 7:45am.
-We did not open any apps upon restarting.
-7:55 we logged into Disney App to ensure we could connect.
-At 7:59:45 we clicked on FIND OUT MORE
-At 7:59:55 we slowly started cycling through MY STATUS and hitting the back button- each time looking for the JOIN BOARDING GROUP to be available on both screens. TAKE YOUR TIME.
-Have all members of your party continue trying to get a group even if one gets in. Only stop once it is confirmed.
- Screenshot the confirmation (Screen with droid) just in case!
DAY 1- Sunday Mar 1 (def more crowded than day 2)
-One member on WIFI was able to join group first. -Upon selecting members of the party he tapped the bottom of screen with his knuckle and it kicked him into a different section of the app. We went backwards but got an error message when adding our party- I assume he had kicked out of his virtual spot in line. We took screenshot of the error and tried to refresh (the refresh icon on the red errror message) but it did not go through.
-The other two in our party continued to try to get a group. One got in and we got group 72. (We would have had an earlier group without the mistake)
-We did not panic and we saved the error message on the first device in a screenshot so we could prove we had an error. Ultimately we did not need this.
-Our boarding group was called at 2:30pm and we had 2 hours to return.
DAY 2- Tuesday Mar 3
-We did everything exactly the same until 7:59:55. Two members of the party went to FIND OUT MORE and starting cycling through to MY STATUS and Back- looking on both screens for active button.
-1 member of our party clicked on FIND OUT MORE at 7:59:58. Upon the screen loading the JOIN BOARDING GROUP button was grey- but instantly at 8am in turned active. We were able to quickly secure group 8! We were the first in our area to get a group.
- We rode Tower of Terror and our boarding group was called while we were on the ride. We had 1 hour to return.
- The ride went down while we were on it and we were escorted backstage to exit. We were given a fast pass to return any time later when ride was back up.
In my opinion the biggest mistakes people make is:
1- all members of party can link their accounts and everyone try to get a boarding group (I helped several parties do this on Day 2). Do this!
2- You can cycle through the screens and I believe it helps refresh your app. DO NOT just sit on one screen and wait!
3- You have to take your time. Several people around us made mistakes both days including one member of our party on day 1.
4- Screenshot any errors once you are in the screen to add people to your party. you may be able to speak to a cast member and possibly receive a group or fast pass.
5- Test your connection speed to make sure its strong! If it’s not, find a better location.
Our spot in line for Tower of Terror was perfect. There was a small group (unlike entrance to Galaxys Edge) and we had incredibly fast cellular speed. It worked very well and we had the bonus of riding Tower of Terror right at park open.
ROTR is incredible and while we had some luck securing our boarding groups both days- I do believe our planning and strategy was key in getting on the ride!
good luck!