I just got home from a quick trip to DL and thought I'd share our experience with obtaining a a Boarding Group on Saturday, January 18.
- We checked into the DL hotel at about 5:30am and was told that the system doesn't "come up" until 6am so he couldn't attach a credit card to our room. He asked if it was ok if he wrote down our credit card # on a notepad so that he could add it to our room at 6am. We said ok and received our room keys.
- No line at security
- Got to esplanade at about 6:15 and we were about 15th in line for EMH. The line for regular entry was halfway between the monorail beam and CA adventure.
- Gates opened a little before 7am. Not sure if everyone was let in or just EMH/MM people, but I *think* it was everyone. EMH/MM people were being directed towards Fantasyland where cast members checked our room key. Not sure how they handled MM guests.
- At about 7:40am we joined about 150-200 people waiting to get into SWGE at the Fantasyland gate. A cast member was posted at the gate and asking everyone if they knew about the Boarding Group procedure. Speedtests on T-Mobile were clocking in around 30-40 mbps. Verizon hotspot was clocking in at about 4-6mbps. Disney Wifi was about the same as T-Mobile. Speeds are constantly changing so this info won't be valid at any other moment in time - the point is that you should keep checking your Internet speed.
- 7:55am-ish Cast members opened the gate and everyone walked over to MFSR. We continued to run speed tests as we walked. T-mobile was clocking in anywhere from 40-100mpbs right outside the entrance to MFSR. We got into the que but stopped just before entering the building, speed test still clocking in at just under 100mbps.
7:59:50am - People are counting down in unison . . . gotta love Disney fans!
8:00am - Husband secured boarding group 51 using an iphone Xr. My iphone 7 took FOREVER to load the app. I have no idea what BG I would have gotten, but I feel like it would have been a backup group even though I did everything "right".
Misc. Notes:
- The woman next to me had a LIGHTING fast phone. I'm pretty sure I clicked on my app before she did and hers loaded in a fraction of a second. I could see her clicking through the boarding group process as I stared at the Disney blue screen of death. She got Boarding Group 10. I didn't get a chance to ask her what model phone she was using, but judging from the large size and how thin it was I'm guessing it is a new or new-ish model.
- I think the time it takes for your phone to load the app is more important than how quickly you click. To better your odds, I would suggest shutting down and restarting your phone around 7:40am. Turn off anything running in the background and try to free up your phone processor as much as possible.
- There are apps that will show you where the cell phone towers are located. If you're getting really bad reception and speeds, it may help if you maneuver to an area that's covered by a different tower. I'm not sure if that's how the whole cell phone connectivity thing works, but I don't think it could hurt either.
- Cast members scanned bar codes for EVERY single person entering the ride and being VERY strict. Two cast members looked at our boarding passes before we could enter the que and a third castmember scanned our passes once we were in line. There was a group of 8-10 people in front of me and all but one had a boarding group. They were arguing with a cast member saying the woman person had a boarding group in the morning but it somehow disappeared from her phone. We took about 5 minutes to take pics, scan our boarding passes, etc. and the group was still arguing with the cast member when we entered the building. I have no idea what the end result was.
- I overheard A LOT of cast members explaining the BG throughout the day, and not just in GE.
- Overall, I felt the crowds were very light for a Saturday. The MaxPass system went down for about 30 minutes that morning, but we were able to secure FP+ for everything we wanted, including TSMM, Guardians, Indy, Thunder Mountain, etc. At about 8:30pm there were only about 10 people total at Pacific Wharf Cafe and absolutely no lines at the other eateries. The line for blue milk and green milk seemed to be 2-5 people deep whenever we walked by. We walked up to Main Street 10 minutes before Mix Magic began and got a great view. It was a wonderful contrast to our January 2019 trip to WDW during "slow" season!
- And finally, PRACTICE! Make sure your BG party is formed and you are all linked. People were scanning their ticket bar codes a few seconds after 8am and I was like
