Rise of the Resistance BOARDING GROUPS Superthread Part 1 *No Ride Spoilers Please* *PLEASE READ POSTS 1-4*

[Vysecity]

I feel ya! I'm scheduled 19th and 20th

 

[socaldisneylover]

It has been variously booked for 1/18 and 1/19 but only for DL, then today, nothing is booked. Guess people are not interested in this ride, so I should have no problem getting an excellent BG on 1/18 and 1/19 when I will be there!! Ha ha I am probably being just a wee bit optimistic, but a girl can dream...

Saturday is currently unavailable at DL, at least as of 4:45 PM Wednesday.

While there's nothing wrong with being optimistic, the manner in how accessing the ride is being handled makes this a different type of situation. Fact is, if the park capacity is say 65K, and let's say they only expect 50K on Saturday, that's still 35K more people than will likely be able to get into a BG that day.

What's really important is how many people will be there at park opening. My guess is there will easily be 15K, perhaps a few thousand more than that, since it will be only the 2nd day the ride is open, so demand will still be sky high. There will be enough people determined to get into a BG, and willing to be there before 8 AM.

One guess I could make, is that DL is worried about what will happen when they put those signs out in the esplanade, that say all the BG's have already been filled, and that if you came to go on ROTR, you're wasting your time. Now a regular guest might turn around and wait to use their ticket on another day, a Flex passholder with a reservation, may not care as much, and will go in and enjoy themselves, putting $$$ into DL's pocket due to concession/merch spending.

In other words, instead of the day's attendance spiking in early afternoon, like a normal Saturday, it may instead peak shortly after 8:00 AM, with many either deciding to be there trying for a BG, or skipping a visit altogether, since they know it won't be possible to get into one if not there at opening.

 

[DLRExpert]

One guess I could make, is that DL is worried about what will happen when they put those signs out in the esplanade, that say all the BG's have already been filled, and that if you came to go on ROTR, you're wasting your time. Now a regular guest might turn around and wait to use their ticket on another day, a Flex passholder with a reservation, may not care as much, and will go in and enjoy themselves, putting $$$ into DL's pocket due to concession/merch spending.

In other words, instead of the day's attendance spiking in early afternoon, like a normal Saturday, it may instead peak shortly after 8:00 AM, with many either deciding to be there trying for a BG, or skipping a visit altogether, since they know it won't be possible to get into one if not there at opening.

I would bet either more boarding group passes will be available or not as many people as you think will be there at opening.

The real issue comes if people with boarding passes cannot ride.

 

[Malcon10t]

The way the ride has been breaking down still, there is a decent chance people with Boarding Groups might not be able to ride. It happened last Sat during testing. Ride went down about 2pm, and came up intermittently thru the afternoon/evening, and those with later BGs did not get to ride. (I made sure I got mine early!) I heard it went down a couple times on Sunday too.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

FYI, both City Hall and Chamber of Commerce told me parking opens at 4am. I’m not sure there’s been an official announcement about that?

 

[Malcon10t]

FYI, both City Hall and Chamber of Commerce told me parking opens at 4am. I’m not sure there’s been an official announcement about that?

"Rumor" I have heard is parking opens at 2am, ticket booths at 5am, and they will be opening the gates at 6am, although no boarding passes til 8am. I'm curious as to what time they will open security tents. Should be 2am if they are opening parking then (or in other words, they won't close security Thurs night...)

 

[Skyegirl1999]

"Rumor" I have heard is parking opens at 2am, ticket booths at 5am, and they will be opening the gates at 6am, although no boarding passes til 8am. I'm curious as to what time they will open security tents. Should be 2am if they are opening parking then (or in other words, they won't close security Thurs night...)

I had also heard 2am. Interesting that both parks said 4am - I don’t trust that, but interesting.

Side note: parks were eeeeeeeeeeempty today. Like, Frozen show only opened the Orchestra empty. Immediate FPs available for almost everything at about 4:00 today.

 

[midnight star]

I had also heard 2am. Interesting that both parks said 4am - I don’t trust that, but interesting.

Side note: parks were eeeeeeeeeeempty today. Like, Frozen show only opened the Orchestra empty. Immediate FPs available for almost everything at about 4:00 today.

I saw pics of that emptiness....The buzz seems higher for this ride, but I am wondering if it will be empty again. Since it's NAMM some people are scared off by that.

 

[midnight star]

Did Disney say how long these boarding groups are supposed to last?

 

[BGinCali]

FYI, both City Hall and Chamber of Commerce told me parking opens at 4am. I’m not sure there’s been an official announcement about that?

Do you know if this is for Friday only, or are they initially planning this for the weekend as well? (My AP expires Sunday, so hoping between Saturday and Sunday I can ride it once!)

 

[Katiebird]

Do you know if this is for Friday only, or are they initially planning this for the weekend as well? (My AP expires Sunday, so hoping between Saturday and Sunday I can ride it once!)

I’m guessing it depends on what happens Friday.

 

[Amunet]

"Rumor" I have heard is parking opens at 2am, ticket booths at 5am, and they will be opening the gates at 6am, although no boarding passes til 8am. I'm curious as to what time they will open security tents. Should be 2am if they are opening parking then (or in other words, they won't close security Thurs night...)

Are those times an estimate for this opening weekend or for the first couple months?

 

[vharris2828]

I had also heard 2am. Interesting that both parks said 4am - I don’t trust that, but interesting.

Side note: parks were eeeeeeeeeeempty today. Like, Frozen show only opened the Orchestra empty. Immediate FPs available for almost everything at about 4:00 today.

I’m kicking myself for not going this week and choosing next week instead Yesterday looked empty too.

 

[Aurora0427]

I had also heard 2am. Interesting that both parks said 4am - I don’t trust that, but interesting.

Side note: parks were eeeeeeeeeeempty today. Like, Frozen show only opened the Orchestra empty. Immediate FPs available for almost everything at about 4:00 today.

I so wish we could’ve blown off school and gone today, but we went last Thursday night and Friday and tied in the Anaheim Ducks/ Dallas Stars game. We are totally playing hooky this week next year!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Did Disney say how long these boarding groups are supposed to last?

I think they’ll keep them for awhile, especially with the ride being so unreliable. It’s easier to pause BGs and potentially clear a reasonably small line vs having a 4-hour standby line to deal with if it breaks down.

Could be wrong, of course... they haven’t said.

 

[Katiebird]

Are those times an estimate for this opening weekend or for the first couple months?

They’re for Friday morning. Depending on what happens then, it could be for the entire weekend (though I doubt it because they really don’t want to have to keep parking and security open like that if they can help it), or even longer.

My guess is that boarding groups will stick around for a while, but the initial madness will wear off in a few weeks. That doesn’t mean that boarding groups will remain available all day, though

 

[SirBill]

This sounds risky. I've passed the monorail station before on my way to the parks and although the park had already opened, they hadn't let anyone through the turnstile at the monorail station yet. Maybe they will be more prepared for this situation though and be sure to open the turnstiles at the monorail earlier.

They don't care if you are physically in the park, just that you scanned a ticket to enter the park - at WDW you can scan in, leave, and still get a BG when they release them. So if you are held at the monorail turnstiles it will not matter as far as getting a BG.

I'm not sure though how early they would run the monorail compared to how early they'll be letting people get into the downtown Disney area.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

They’re for Friday morning. Depending on what happens then, it could be for the entire weekend (though I doubt it because they really don’t want to have to keep parking and security open like that if they can help it), or even longer.

My guess is that boarding groups will stick around for a while, but the initial madness will wear off in a few weeks. That doesn’t mean that boarding groups will remain available all day, though

I had the same thoughts-which is why I am going on the 30th.

 

[CastAStone]

Yes - but we have droid depot reservations shortly thereafter, so something will have to give if we are lucky to get a BG, and then unlucky to be called conflicting with those other reservations - we will figure it out though.

At WDW people have reported success asking the Guest Experience Team to modify them to a later boarding group if their reservation looks likely to conflict. YMMV.

 

[Gaugersaurus]

I plan to be there around 4am tomorrow morning. I'll try to do play-by-play updates to give everyone an idea of how it goes!