RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[Opie100]

Was the advertised opening time 7?

Yes. Changes to 6am 12/26 until 12/31.

 

[DavidNYC]

I get that if you were the ones caught up in the new procedure today you'd be really annoyed (as would I have been) but really - if Disney needs to try to reverse the course of people showing up earlier and earlier, what other solution do you have? They probably realize this is unsustainable to have to be prepared for such crowds at the entrance at 5am every morning and getting earlier and earlier each day. Now multiply those crowds by what you're going to get in a few days.

There is no good solution that will make everyone happy right now and changing from one system to the other is going to involve a first day of something and you can't always commit in advance until you see how they prior day went. But if one of the primary goals is to reduce the crowds at pre-6am hours, I can't think of a better way right now.

 

[Jennasis]

So what is the problem? Park advertised open at 7. It opens at 7. Those of us (like me) who would have gotten there earlier are still ahead of the pack for hitting rides at park open. And everyone is on equal footing going for boarding groups.

Though it's possible they did this due to the travel agent group having their event at s morning.

My only concern would be the possibility of crashing the app with all those people trying at once...but is it ANY different from when FP availability opens each day at 7am?

 

[SG131]

So what is the problem? Park advertised open at 7. It opens at 7. Those of us (like me) who would have gotten there earlier are still ahead of the pack for hitting rides at park open. And everyone is on equal footing going for boarding groups.

Though it's possible they did this due to the travel agent group having their event at s morning.

My only concern would be the possibility of crashing the app with all those people trying at once...but is it ANY different from when FP availability opens each day at 7am?

But the park didn’t exactly open at 7. They opened the taps at 6:30 so those in the front of the line had no advantage. This is like showing up early to rope drop FOP then when everyone gets in line they hand out random numbers deciding when you can ride. If they opened the taps at 7 it would’ve been fair.

 

[osufeth24]

Just checked in.

Aw man I've aleady hit the queue line. I liked last week more when I walked right onto first pre show LOL

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I get that people there today, are grumpy about the change.

However, all these people showed up early based on third hand info, or internet info on how to tackle something that been operational for 2 weeks.

Disney never said come early. They opened at their published time. Everything they communicated to the public jives with how they operated today. The fact they gave people some pixie dust and opened early up until now is a little torturous to some.

I think the travel agent event may have instigated the change, but I think the change is now here for good. They could not handle that operationally long term.

Maybe if they want to do FOP style and open just Rotr and hour early that's fine, but you can't expect the whole park to be ready to at randomly early opening times.

In short, bummer for you folks that were there early this morning, but you now the game has changed again, adjust accordingly.

With the 7 AM opening they were only opening about 30-45 mins early depending on the day. Not terribly unheard of especially for a brand new ultra popular attraction.

The bigger issue is IMO not the push back to actual opening, but the elimination of any advantage to arriving at the front of the pack which is historically advantageous for nearly every single popular attraction in Disney. I’m not super upset because it sure makes it easier for those of us with kids and who rely on Disney transport, but I dont think it’s wrong to be upset. It’s a pretty big departure from regular rope drop procedure. ROTR mimicked all the others, get to the park 1.5 hours early ish to be near the front of the pack and be at the beginning of the line, or “line”.

 

[Jennasis]

But the park didn’t exactly open at 7. They opened the taps at 6:30 so those in the front of the line had no advantage. This is like showing up early to rope drop FOP then when everyone gets in line they hand out random numbers deciding when you can ride. If they opened the taps at 7 it would’ve been fair.

Since you can't stand RotR anyway, the spot you get in the VQ is random for the most part anyway.

I've learned basically the sentiment seems to be that things are only "fair" when they specifically benefit "me".

 

[osufeth24]

Since you can't stand RotR anyway, the spot you get in the VQ is random for the most part anyway.

I've learned basically the sentiment seems to be that things are only "fair" when they specifically benefit "me".

But what attraction at any park anywhere doesn't give some sort advantage to those that are at the front of the line.

 

[OKWFan88]

Finished ride for first time and it was pretty awesome. I’m not a star wars fan at all. I’m somewhat familiar with the characters and I’ve seen movies (because hubby is a fan) but wouldn’t normally be interested in this... but after experiencing the ride it was nothing like I’ve seen before. Highly recommend to fans and non fans. Now debating if I’m going to try again tomorrow. Doesn’t seem like getting there at 430am is worth it. We got lucky with BG 15 today... when we walked over with the crowd to Star Wars we were the first 100 or so at SR and that was fun but wouldn’t wait 60min for that... but I’d wait that long for the new ride. Truly a fantastic ride.

 

[SG131]

Since you can't stand RotR anyway, the spot you get in the VQ is random for the most part anyway.

I've learned basically the sentiment seems to be that things are only "fair" when they specifically benefit "me".

Well that certainly isn't my stance. I don't necessarily agree with everything they're doing especially for people with DAS. That would make sense that they could be added to their families boarding group without being present. I have never needed DAS and don't see any reason for it in my future.

The spot you get isn't random, if boarding groups and tapstiles open at the same time they are more in line with arrival time. The people at the front of the line get higher numbers than those that are all the way back by the ticket counter.

 

[CastAStone]

But the park didn’t exactly open at 7. They opened the taps at 6:30 so those in the front of the line had no advantage. This is like showing up early to rope drop FOP then when everyone gets in line they hand out random numbers deciding when you can ride. If they opened the taps at 7 it would’ve been fair.

Fair is an interesting concept here. I think someone could just as easily argue that giving everyone who gets there for park opening an equal chance at a boarding group is just as fair as first-come-first-served.

For example, Ohio Liquor Control department distributes it's fanciest bottles (Pappy Van Winkle etc) by lottery, which is essentially this new system. But they distribute their 2nd tier of bottles (EH Taylor, Blantons, etc) by delivering them to liquor stores on an exact, regular-but-unpublished schedule (e.g. this Kroger gets a delivery every Monday at 4PM, the one a mile away every Thursday at 4:30) and people work their asses off to learn the secret schedule and line up for the bottles. Is either system more or less fair than the other? They just advantage different people.

If this had been Disney's procedure from day 1 I don't think anyone would have said it was unfair. It's a lottery.

 

[GAN]

I’m not arguing the policy at all -I’ve been coming here for over 30 years ...Disney can change policy whenever they want. The issue I see is that if you have plans later in the morning/day you basically have to be willing to sacrifice those plans if you’re to do RotR at this time. Or plan on being here all day. Now this is probably what they want -it becomes an all day park since you really can’t plan on being somewhere else. I’ve always liked to hit a park early and get a few things done then move on to another park. Those are some of the limitations with doing it this way as I see it. It’s 10:35 and we’re up to 42 ...we’re 45 so we’ll be boarding soon. Or at least once we ride SR which were in line for now!

side note ...quick math tells me they’re pushing through at about 13 groups per hour as opposed to the 8 or 9 I think they had been running. That’s a 50% increase. What happened???

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Since you can't stand RotR anyway, the spot you get in the VQ is random for the most part anyway.

I've learned basically the sentiment seems to be that things are only "fair" when they specifically benefit "me".

The spot wasnt random. The slower trickle of guests into the park’s mimicked walking into a queue, provided no tech issues. For the most part, the closer you are to the front the earlier your BG was.

I understand your 2nd point. I think we have seen it a lot in this thread, particularly when people argue it would have been fairest to throw this bad boy on the FP system, effectively shutting out anyone without a long onsite stay or club level. I do think the way they’ve been handling it has been the most fair because it mimics an actual stand by line the most. Waiting until opening to open the VQ probably benefits my family the most.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Was there an event prior to opening that could have caused this new procedure just for today? Or has it been confirmed this is new way?

 

[yulilin3]

Was there an event prior to opening that could have caused this new procedure just for today? Or has it been confirmed this is new way?

yes there was an event at the land before opening

 

[montreid]

From my understanding the whole reason the park 'opens' at the turnstiles early is a safety issue on crowd control between the tap and the security lines. This is consistent on how they managed Early Hours last weekend.

The issue as folk pointed out is as crowds build for the Holidays, this scheme probably would result in a 300A start on 12/25-26 and something needed to be changed.

Letting folk into the park for crowd control purposes is the only pop-off valve mechanism available. Now the onus is on Disney's IT folk to handle the server demand to dispense the BGs at whatever time they choose.

Hopefully they learned how to handle demand spikes from their D23 registration misfires.

IMHO, make it consistent on opening the ride at xxx time. Randomly dropping the BG opening tends to just ruffle people's feathers.

 

[Disneylover99]

According to your profile, you've been on the Dis since 2012.

In your history here, have you found that disney gave people a ton of extra stuff for free long term? Or do they tend to plus something, then ratchet it back bit by bit, then figure out a way to monetize it?

My understanding is Disney makes the decision to open up early for safety reasons. I don’t see this as people getting something for free. People who were arriving early the last two weeks just wanted to make sure they could get a boarding pass. I’m sure many people hated that they felt they needed to arrive earlier and earlier.

My money is on them opening at the published schedule from now on.

Maybe. We’ll see. I’m not opposed to it.

This is the way.

Okay. Lol.

 

[AngiTN]

But the park didn’t exactly open at 7. They opened the taps at 6:30 so those in the front of the line had no advantage. This is like showing up early to rope drop FOP then when everyone gets in line they hand out random numbers deciding when you can ride. If they opened the taps at 7 it would’ve been fair.

They opened the turnstiles so people could be in the park prior to their opening the sign up for the boarding groups. That way, when it opened at 7:00, those in the park could use it. If they'd waited to even open the turnstiles till 7:00 it would have been way worse.
Letting people in to wait to join a Boarding Group, which started when the park opened for operation was as fair as they can possibly be.

 

[AngiTN]

I’m not arguing the policy at all -I’ve been coming here for over 30 years ...Disney can change policy whenever they want. The issue I see is that if you have plans later in the morning/day you basically have to be willing to sacrifice those plans if you’re to do RotR at this time. Or plan on being here all day. Now this is probably what they want -it becomes an all day park since you really can’t plan on being somewhere else. I’ve always liked to hit a park early and get a few things done then move on to another park. Those are some of the limitations with doing it this way as I see it. It’s 10:35 and we’re up to 42 ...we’re 45 so we’ll be boarding soon. Or at least once we ride SR which were in line for now!

side note ...quick math tells me they’re pushing through at about 13 groups per hour as opposed to the 8 or 9 I think they had been running. That’s a 50% increase. What happened???

Once you have your BG you don't have to remain in the park. You have 2 hours to return. This opens you up to do anything anywhere you want. We plan to head over, get a BG and leave.

The spot wasnt random. The slower trickle of guests into the park’s mimicked walking into a queue, provided no tech issues. For the most part, the closer you are to the front the earlier your BG was.

I understand your 2nd point. I think we have seen it a lot in this thread, particularly when people argue it would have been fairest to throw this bad boy on the FP system, effectively shutting out anyone without a long onsite stay or club level. I do think the way they’ve been handling it has been the most fair because it mimics an actual stand by line the most. Waiting until opening to open the VQ probably benefits my family the most.

Maybe, though you still had no control over when your group came up/what number you got. Odds may have been in your favor but you still wouldn't know your group till you got one. Same as today.

 

[PolyRob]

I feel for all those this morning with the curveball! Its like the first EMH day only Disney actually held to the VQ time announced. Those poor frontline CMs are really in between a rock and a hard place with WDW management and guests!

I know I benefited from getting up early and walking over, but to me that really is the only fair way. A virtual queue replaces standby which would reward those that woke up, waited to enter, and got in a standby line. Its unprecedented for Disney to give spots out like this. I am genuinely curious if guest satisfaction is higher knowing the virtual queue opens at the posted time and is a free for all vs opening as guests enter throughout the morning. This also makes me wonder why EMHs were pushed to the PM for the next few weeks if this will be the practice going forward?