ROTR lottery needs to end.

[Meglen]

I think most if not all new rides will have a virtual queue. They dont just have that one section on the app for RoTR, it was made for more things to be added. I can see Guardians in epcot and Tron in MK being added to that list.

 

[SeanWM48]

i didn't mind it. no complaints on the early morning thing really, and you have a second shot at it later in the day anyway. i'm also not seeing any better suggestions nor do i have any myself. crowds are tough to manage especially when it only runs twice a day.

also agree this is something you will see implemented in other rides going forward, especially those featuring live entertainment/cast member performances and scheduled times.

 

[trivan]

Less time waiting is more $ spent eating and shopping. So I’m sure Disney is moving towards this for major attractions. It’s also more effective use of space to have smaller lines.

 

[holden]

I like the system. If you get a BG, great. If not you know you’re not riding and can make other plans.

 

[olwyngdh]

60 years old here, not tech savvy and got RoTR both HS days in February, once at the 7 am once at 1 pm. Coached my niece on how to do it when she went for her honeymoon in April and she got it from off site. I went in expecting not to get it and was pleasantly surprised. I learned years ago I don't get to ride every ride and see every show every trip to Disney. I would like to see a way to prioritize 1st time riders too but I am not sure how they could do that--like I said, not tech savvy.

 

[Lewisc]

I would have loved to experience this ride, but I'm not getting up at obscene o'clock a.m. to maybe, possibly, hopefully and most probably not getting on a ride because I have a) a slower connection b) fumble fingers c) a bad alarm clock (not to mention the late night I had previously)

I intensely dislike this type of thing--unlike others, I see this as unfairly skewed against those who don't have the aforementioned skill set.

We had two DH days the first 2 weeks this month, and I refused to encourage the Mouse by participating in this free-for-all.

The OP suggested using a traditional queue. That would require getting up at an even earlier obscene time. You'd have to be at DHS at least an hour before park opening to have a shot.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The OP suggested using a traditional queue. That would require getting up at an even earlier obscene time. You'd have to be at DHS at least an hour before park opening to have a shot.

And would you do that every day? Or multiple times a trip? Probably not unless it was the only attraction you felt was worthwhile at Disney.

There's a psychological and time factor involved with a traditional queue that means people ride it once or twice and then likely move onto different attractions or different parks. Spreading out demand is actually important for a theme park. With ROTR there's people reserving multiple DHS and report riding it multiple times on a trip while others who aren't as lucky or as tech savvy won't get on it even once. My gut says that a virtual queue adds even more "demand" because guests figure why not try. There's little skin in the game so to speak as they know if they have a spot in line or not. And if not then they might even go to a different park.

The last big ride to go was FOP and yes, it had long lines but you had a choice for the option. And if WDW brings back FP's then there would be that possibility for RoTR too. OR - Disney could build these popular attractions with more capacity to meet the popular demand. They finally added a theater for Soarin which helped a lot for waits there.

I said earlier that I agree with the OP and this is the expansion of why. I'm a big thumbs down on virtual queues for popular rides. If Disney isn't able to have capacity that more matches demand then Disney would be better served to have virtual for slightly less popular attractions that people like but don't want to wait in any line at all.

 

[jormom1030]

I would be up for it to only be allowed once per person per trip. I have not been since it opened, but would be so frustrated to not get on after consistently seeing people on here talk about how they got it multiple times during their trip.

 

[kanerf]

I think it should work this way. When you make your park reservation you have an option to signup for ROTR lottery. Make it a true lottery. An automated system chooses riders from the list that have signed up. You get a text asking if you want the reservation and then the system gives you a timeslot. This process continues until all spots are filled.

 

[vcb]

I'll take this than the option of waiting 3+ hrs of standing in line any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I can't imagine waiting in line that long and missing the chance to ride everything else in HS and paying for a full day. The ride is amazing, but not worth missing the entire park.

 

[piccolopat]

I wonder if there is a way for Disney to guarantee one BG per person for each on-site stay of perhaps 5 days or longer. Your BG could be done like FP+ or randomly assigned in advance of your stay. If random, you could either accept it and work your plans around it or you could give it up.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

I agree that virtual queue is the way to go when you have overwhelming demand and limited supply, like ROTR will have for some time to come.

However, I do agree that it limits boarding to those of us who are fluent in tech, have read all of the hints, ie those of us "in the know"...those that are just visiting WDW without knowing all the tricks (or without knowing that there is even a virtual queue for the ride) are out of luck.

I could see at least making the system more simpler, and less "video game like" (ie not having to know that you have to press buttons rapidly on multiple mobile devices, some of which are not on the hotel WIFI while having another device display the exact atomic time from time.gov to hit everything at exactly 7:00am, etc. etc.).

For example, with their reservation to HS, let people know in big letters that ROTR will require a reservation, dolled out by an electronic lottery the previous day, so that they know this up front, and tell them how to submit their reservation for the lottery. Also, provide a simple way for them to right then and there group their companions for the lottery.

Then, between 12am and 12am each day (or some other set and well advertised time), electronically hold the lottery for those that submitted their entry requests for the next day. No need to be "among the first", or wake up at an early hour. In theory, at this point you could hold two separate electronic lotteries, with one reservation "pool" for those that have never been on the ride, and another pool for those that have.

There would be details to work out (changing your group after the fact, preventing groups of 200, how to know if someone was riding for the first time, etc.), but I think at least eliminating the "first to press the button at exactly 7am using multiple devices" aspect should be shelved.

As a disclaimer, our party benefited from the current system, and "knowing the secret handshake"...on our trip last week, we had 3 HS reservations, and were able to get boarding groups for all three days...2 morning ones, and 1 at the 1pm "allocation". Again, we benefited because we knew the "secret handshakes" (although we never went as far as practicing the days before).

 

[Miffy]

There is no way, at least at present, that Disney can guarantee RotR to anyone, because the ride breaks down kind of often. There was an entire day last month when I was there that there were zero boarding groups.

As far as the advantage that tech-savvy and/or informed guests have over others . . . You could argue that those of us who'd mastered the FP+ system had an advantage over other guests as well. I cannot count the number of times I stood in a standby line, because I'd used my FP+ and wanted to ride something again, where the people near me knew zero about FP+, including people staying onsite.

Someone is always going to have an advantage. Let's say they give priority to people staying onsite. That leaves off-site guests in the disadvantaged group. Let's say they do go to an out-and-out lottery system and the day you win it the ride's broken all day. Then what? It's not like they could give you a pass to come back another day, because then what would all the lottery people do that day? They'd all lose out.

In the end, you know, it's just a theme park attraction. It's not like you'll be missing out on the experience of a lifetime if you don't get a boarding group.

This from someone who got up at 3 a.m. and stood in line in the dark outside DHS in December 2019 for a chance to ride. I was fortunate and got a BG and the ride didn't break down. And, yeah, it's RotR is great. But it's not the greatest experience known to humankind.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

The chance of getting on this attraction should not be based on the speed of your internet. That's what it all comes down to .... some areas, some plans, even some resorts do not have a good speed. It's not an equal chance

 

[cherrylimeadew]

I really think this online race to vie for daily rides on ROTR is terrible. Why not change it to regular que lines like everything else?

Because the line would wrap around the park immediately and people would pay for admission to the park just to stand in line all day for one ride. I'd rather try my luck with the online queue than wait in line for the duration of the park being open and hope it works out.

 

[winterwhite]

I think it should work this way. When you make your park reservation you have an option to signup for ROTR lottery. Make it a true lottery. An automated system chooses riders from the list that have signed up. You get a text asking if you want the reservation and then the system gives you a timeslot. This process continues until all spots are filled.

This would require everyone to make park reservations at the same time, or there is no way to not fill from the people who booked earlier first. The complaint is day of, so if they waited until day of and did it randomly people would be pissed they had no chance day of.

I think the current system is fair. If you want to ride, and can’t figure out how to operate a phone - get somebody to help you. It’s significantly less complicated than it was juggling and gaming paper FP back in the day.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I am 33 and pretty good with tech and have a new (ish) iphone (iphone11 Pro Max). My trip is next month and my odds are VERY iffy. With the summer crowds officially back, I am glad I booked two days for Hollywood studios ( have park hopper as well). As a solo person, I am hoping I can luck out since I am not with a group of 3 or more.

Definitely going to watch youtube videos and practice before hand ha.

 

[Dave006]

I would even be happy with opening up the 1 pm to being able to try from the resort (not just the park).

You can do it from your resort room. You just have to have visited HS before 1 PM and tapped into the park. This is also why it is 1 PM before ParkHopping starts at 2 to allow DHS guests that selected DHS for the day a second chance.

Dave

 

[whiporee]

I preface this by saying my family was able to get a pass, so it's not sour grapes. They didn't get the 7 am one, but went to the park anyway to have fun., They were sitting at the QS place there on the road toe ToT, and 1 pm rolled around. Suddenly everyone dropped everything and hit their phones. That's not great, but then a few seconds later, there was a lot of cheering. Including from my wife and kids.

But the family sitting next to them didn't get it. Three little kids, all in SW stuff, and they just couldn't get in because some people were faster on their phones, had a better connection, got luckier, They'd done everything right, and still missed out on a premier attraction. My wife was heartbroken for them, but it's not like there's anything she can do. But it took a lot of the fun out of the day for her.

Disney needs to get rid of this system, or at least supplement it. If someone wants to wait six hours for the ride after they pay their park admission, then they ought to have that chance. Do the boarding groups of fast passes, but at least have the standby option. i know it would suck, but it's better than a family coming to Disney, paying all the money and effort, and then not being able to see a top attraction no matter what they do because their internet connection wasn't fast enough.

 

[Disneyliscious]

I absolutely agree its a HORRIBLE system. I also feel that riders who have ridden, say 3+ times, should be prioritized behind people who have NEVER ridden at all....but Im in the minority on that thought. The season pass holders clog up the lines a LOT and they get to go and ride several times a year. To this day, despite 3 trips since its inception, I have never gotten a FP for any of the Avatar rides but there are people who have ridden it many, many times. It is what it is and my suggestions will never fly but I do agree with you about the current ROR system.