RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[RoboFlyer]

I'll be there on Wednesday and my biggest fear was waiting in line eating up half of my day as I'll only be at Disney for a single day.

If they continue this Boarding Group virtual queue, I should have no problem. HS doesn't open until 9AM on Wednesday, but I'll be there a few hours before that to ensure an early boarding group time if that's still running.

While communication could have been significantly better, this is honestly such a great way to do it. Only people who are there can "queue up" so to speak without actually having to be in a queue. It sure beats Hagrid a few months ago when they had 7-8 hour lines in the hot sun in addition to the constant breakdowns. (This wasn't meant to be a knock against Universal as a whole as I'm actually more of a Universal fan than Disney - but love them both.)

Now I can hopefully feel free to explore the park, do other stuff, while waiting for my boarding group to be called next week. I am so excited.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences so far. I'll be following along all weekend.

 

[Craig Larson]

So if the boarding groups were finished by 8AM, and the park closes at 10PM, that would essentially equate to a 12+ hour wait time if you got in the last group.

I get people being upset that if you got there after 8AM and not getting in the queue, but the alternative was you get there after 8AM and the line was going to be 12+hours long and you still probably wouldn't get in and you would waste your day in line.

The other great thing is, even though it won't be open for EMH, those guests will still have the benefit of using the extra hour to join the queue before off site guests.

 

[Liljo22]

Does only one person need to join a boarding group for the entire party? Can i just add my connected family on MDE to the boarding pass? So theoretically I could wait in line by myself and get a pass for all of us?

The app will ask you to select the guests in your party before joining a group.

 

[Liljo22]

So if the boarding groups were finished by 8AM, and the park closes at 10PM, that would essentially equate to a 12+ hour wait time if you got in the last group.

I get people being upset that if you got there after 8AM and not getting in the queue, but the alternative was you get there after 8AM and the line was going to be 12+hours long and you still probably wouldn't get in and you would waste your day in line.

I would not be surprised if Disney is being cautious with giving out the boarding groups due to the breakdown issues. If they can cycle through the groups faster, I could see them opening back up later.

 

[gharter]

The virtual queue is a good way to avoid the multihour wait in line that otherwise would have happened.
Hope all goes smoothly.
At least they have a few months to work out the bugs before we go in April.

 

[TongaToast21]

The app will ask you to select the guests in your party before joining a group.

thanks-- and do we know if the members I am trying to add will also have to be in the park as well?

 

[Craig Larson]

I would not be surprised if Disney is being cautious with giving out the boarding groups due to the breakdown issues. If they can cycle through the groups faster, I could see them opening back up later.

I'm sure there is some of that going on. But, the point still remains that at this point whether there was vq or not, if you got to the park after 8AM you probably weren't getting on. The vq just lets people enjoy the rest of the park while waiting.

 

[Chrisd05]

thanks-- and do we know if the members I am trying to add will also have to be in the park as well?

I believe they do as I was in at 6:30 on my own and it wouldn't let me add my family members.

Also to answer a question I asked earlier I found out that once you have a boarding group you can leave the park and once your group is called you have 2 hours to get back and queue.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So if the boarding groups were finished by 8AM, and the park closes at 10PM, that would essentially equate to a 12+ hour wait time if you got in the last group.

I get people being upset that if you got there after 8AM and not getting in the queue, but the alternative was you get there after 8AM and the line was going to be 12+hours long and you still probably wouldn't get in and you would waste your day in line.

The other great thing is, even though it won't be open for EMH, those guests will still have the benefit of using the extra hour to join the queue before off site guests.

That is a good thought - if you get get your boarding pass during morning EMHs that is a huge advantage to those people staying on property

 

[SG131]

I'll be there on Wednesday and my biggest fear was waiting in line eating up half of my day as I'll only be at Disney for a single day.

If they continue this Boarding Group virtual queue, I should have no problem. HS doesn't open until 9AM on Wednesday, but I'll be there a few hours before that to ensure an early boarding group time if that's still running.

While communication could have been significantly better, this is honestly such a great way to do it. Only people who are there can "queue up" so to speak without actually having to be in a queue. It sure beats Hagrid a few months ago when they had 7-8 hour lines in the hot sun in addition to the constant breakdowns. (This wasn't meant to be a knock against Universal as a whole as I'm actually more of a Universal fan than Disney - but love them both.)

Now I can hopefully feel free to explore the park, do other stuff, while waiting for my boarding group to be called next week. I am so excited.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences so far. I'll be following along all weekend.

I'm hoping they continue the virtual queue for my trip in Feb, its a great idea. If I can wait out in the park instead of in a line all the better. Plus, then I don't have to worry what will happen if I'm solo and need to run to the bathroom 3 hrs into a 4+ hour line!

 

[PolyRob]

That is a good thought - if you get get your boarding pass during morning EMHs that is a huge advantage to those people staying on property

I plan on attending the first EMH early. Hoping I can actually join the queue during EMH and Disney doesn’t wait to enable the feature until all park guests are allowed in. It would be amazing to do RNR and ToT over and over while already having a boarding group. Only time will tell!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I really, really hope they are still using the virtual queue in 2 weeks. We will have access to EMH and I have one that is too short to ride so I would prefer to not have my group separated for multiple hours while I queue with my eldest and ride.

 

[Hieraxx]

Arriving next Wed - I hope over the course of 7 days we'll get to ride at least 2-3 times. I appreciate the boarding groups to limit the wait/standing time.

Regarding various perspectives of folks and their expectations....
I wish Disney would be more up front with soft openings, but my guess is they had a hard deadline given months ago and they have to work with it. I do think they wanted to open that ride prior to the holidays, knowing it will help folks on the fence about booking and interested in the full SWGE experience.

Regarding the VQ / board groups, I don't think they wanted to announce anything officially , until they have a handle on crowd flow demand and ride operation. I agree with others here that they are going to err on the side of caution given expected downtimes.

We are every 2-3 year Disney people, myself a star wars fan , and were ecstatic to hear Rise would be open for our already booked trip in mid Dec.

I look at it this way....if Rise had opened the day after we departed I would have been crushed......

If we get to ride it while there for 7 days, walking from the Boardwalk (planned.. for DHS access) - my son and I will be very happy campers.

*edit* I also understand Disney folks are planners, and yes, it would be wonderful to know exactly what's going to happen regarding Parking lot openings, queueing , boarding groups...but for now -until this ride is 100% operational - we'll have to take what Disney can give us.

Believe me - Disney does not want negative word of mouth on the guest experience on this marquee attraction. The Hagrid's comparisons are justified. Cross your fingers and hope they don't start collecting cell phones before/after this ride radio frequencies be darned....

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm hoping they continue the virtual queue for my trip in Feb, its a great idea. If I can wait out in the park instead of in a line all the better. Plus, then I don't have to worry what will happen if I'm solo and need to run to the bathroom 3 hrs into a 4+ hour line!

yeha, my only concern is we have reservations for Oga's and the Droid Factory and how will it be handled if our boarding group is called when we have one of those reservations or if we are in the queue and it getss delayed and then we miss a reservation, etc. With the two hour window for returning once it is called and then these set reservations I am sure I will stress leading up to it that things will be an issues

 

[mshanson3121]

the last minute of the ride is like ST with the screen much much closer to you

What is it like before that? What happens?

 

[Linda67]

This is such a useful thread. Thanks to everone who has been reporting so far!
I am a little confused at to when you can join a boarding group. Do you have to have scanned your MB and actually entered the park or can you do it whilst waiting to get in/past security etc?
I'm assuming the feature to join a boarding group doesn't go live until official part opening?
I am planning to get to the park at around 7am on Sunday (EMH - opens at 8am)

 

[HockeyMomNH]

So ... we got to our hotel at 12:30 am. Then we Ubered to Boardwalk at 4 am and walked over to Hollywood Studios. It looked like resort busses were running then, but I’m not sure about that.

They let us into the park about 5:30 ... and into Galaxy's Edge about 6:15 ... so almost two hours ahead of posted park opening. We got into boarding group 13. Which was called maybe 20 minutes later. As soon as we entered the line I got in the app and was able to join a second boarding group, group 49.

We were all the way past the "Rise of the Resistance" preshow 15 minutes later ... and the ride went down. So we got evacuated.

They gave us a return Fastpass and we went and had breakfast and rode Smuggler's Run. So about 7:30 we walked back to the ride just as they reopened. With our special Fastpass, they got us right in. We were probably among the first 100 people to get all the way through the ride.

Spectacular ride system and technology. Multiple ride components. Worth the short night ... though my husband was pretty peeved when the ride went down only 15 minutes after opening.

We left the area at 8:15 and they were putting out signs that all the boarding groups were full for the day.
We have a 10:30 reservation for Oga’s so we are heading back there now. Looks like the ride is accepting up to group 32 so hopefully we will get to ride again before we leave for the day. We need a nap before MVMCP tonight.

 

[yulilin3]

What is it like before that? What happens?

most of the attraction reviews and ride thrus are on the attraction thread

 

[Treacle31]

I arrived at 7am only to find they opened the ride at 5am!! Didn't have a chance. In boarding group 60 and they're only on group 21 to 30. If I'd of known I wouldn't have bothered or arrived earlier. I think it's very unfair to do that.

 

[rteetz]

What is it like before that? What happens?

It’s simulator based