marielynn724
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2008
- Messages
- 1,365
Sorry this is a couple of days late but I figured sharing my experience from this weekend would help some people figure out their HS and GE strategies. In the end, we basically rode RotR as a walk-on. It took quite a lot of rigmarole and jumping through hoops, but was worth it in the end for the experience we had.
The ride is as incredible as the hype suggests, so if you're a Star Wars fan it's definitely worth the effort. But it was a TREMENDOUS amount of work just to get on the ride, and it definitely requires a level of commitment that's not for everyone. If you want a relaxing vacation, this isn't for you. Here's my story!
Our trip for Dec 4th-10th was planned many months ago and booked in March, way before anyone knew when RotR would open. And then BOOM - Disney announced the new ride would open during my trip. Very exciting, but also very nerve-racking as I had no idea what to expect in terms of chaos and crowds. We had planned Sunday Dec 8th as our Hollywood Studios day, but now I was nervous that visiting on a weekend would be a mistake, as crowds would be increased by locals wanting to experience the new attraction. The park hours had been posted as 8am-9pm and stayed that way until the night before, when I got a notification on my phone via the app that morning extra magic hours were being added from 6am-8am. If you didn't get this notification, I have no idea how you'd know. Everywhere else (including the in-room WDW today TV channel) still only had 8am-9pm listed for the park hours, so these were like "secret" extra magic hours. We set our alarms for 3:30am Sunday morning and hoped for the best.
By the time we got there from our cabin at Fort Wilderness and made it through security and the gate, it was 6:30am when we were in the park. At that point I already knew about the boarding groups from reading the reports online from Friday and Saturday. Upon entry to the park, CMs were passing out fliers with instructions on how to enter the boarding groups which would only be available starting at 7:50am. This means if you were only entering the park at 8am (because you didn't know about the secret extra magic hours), you were basically out of luck already. I set an alarm on my phone for 7:45am and prayed for good luck. At precisely 7:50am I logged into the MDE app and snagged a boarding group - #98, estimated ride time in the evening. Hooray! I was thrilled.
At this point we were so exhausted from being up so early I had to ask a CM to ensure that if we left the park for a nap I wouldn't loose my spot in the boarding group. She assured me that leaving the park wouldn't affect my boarding status and we thankfully had the chance for a nap and a swim. We had a 7:15pm FP for Slinky and an 8:35pm ADR for Oga's Cantina so weren't planning to go back to the park until later in the evening. As the day wore on, the boarding groups slowly moved up only a few at a time each hour. I was getting nervous as the time got later and later. By the time we returned to the park they were only up into the 60s or 70s. I was starting to worry if we'd get in at all (MDE has a message that being in a boarding group does not guarantee entry into the attraction), despite all my efforts and jumping through all of Disney's hoops. Finally the numbers seemed to get moving despite their slow start. I knew the attraction had been down a few times and people who had been on the ride when it broke down had been given FPs to return later, also slowing down the flow of boarding groups. I was worried that our boarding group would come up, but we'd miss our Slinky FP and/or our Oga's Cantina ADR (and be charged for a no-show ADR). My brain was filling with anxiety of worst-case-scenarios. I finally got a notice from the MDE app (I think it came up while I was waiting to get into Oga's, around 8:30ish) that my boarding group would not be able to be accommodated. OMG PANIC!!!!!!!! But, I was reassured when I kept reading, because the notification also said that we would receive a freebie FP to ride again the next day, along with a comp upgrade to a park-hopper pass. Now, this worked for us because we were still staying a few more days. But I wonder what Disney would have done for people in this situation who were leaving the next day or couldn't come back? Please share your experiences if this happened to you.
In other words, I secured a place on the "queue" at 7:50am, and by 9:00pm I still wouldn't have gotten into the ride... this is the equivalent of standing on a 13+ hour line and still not being able to ride. I can't even imagine what a disaster it would have been at HS if they hadn't used the virtual queue/boarding groups. A lot of people were out of luck.
The FP we received was listed as "Multiple Experience" (or something like that) at "Multiple Parks" and would be valid on any attraction we wanted. Obviously we wanted to use it on RotR!
Ok, so now I'm satisfied that I've at least secured by chance to experience the ride. Monday is our Magic Kindom day and we're having fun doing our thing until I check the MDE app again and it lists our multiple-experience FPs as for 1 guest only. What happened??? There were 2 of us and I knew I had done everything right. We ended up going to guest relations (shout out to CM Julia at the Liberty Square ticket office!) and they figured out that my "multiple experience" FP had accidentally been used on Big Thunder, which should have been a normal, scheduled Fast Pass. It took a little time but she got it sorted out (took a phone call to HS guest relations).
In the end, here's what happened: After finishing up our afternoon at MK, we took the bus back to HS around 5pm-ish. We headed straight into Galaxy's Edge and to RotR. We scanned our magic bands and strolled into the FP queue... which had like 2 other people. I couldn't believe it! When we actually rode, it was stress-free and easy and FREAKING AMAZING! even made some friends on the ride! But holy crap, what it took to get there. I had conversations with other guests, some told me that when their boarding groups were called, they still had to wait on a 1 hour line. Even though it took a ridiculous amount of strategy, sacrifice of sleep, and huge headache, in the end I think the experience we had on the attraction was worth it. Would I do another major headliner ride it's opening weekend? No way! But this time was crazy and fun and I'm glad we did it.
The ride is as incredible as the hype suggests, so if you're a Star Wars fan it's definitely worth the effort. But it was a TREMENDOUS amount of work just to get on the ride, and it definitely requires a level of commitment that's not for everyone. If you want a relaxing vacation, this isn't for you. Here's my story!
Our trip for Dec 4th-10th was planned many months ago and booked in March, way before anyone knew when RotR would open. And then BOOM - Disney announced the new ride would open during my trip. Very exciting, but also very nerve-racking as I had no idea what to expect in terms of chaos and crowds. We had planned Sunday Dec 8th as our Hollywood Studios day, but now I was nervous that visiting on a weekend would be a mistake, as crowds would be increased by locals wanting to experience the new attraction. The park hours had been posted as 8am-9pm and stayed that way until the night before, when I got a notification on my phone via the app that morning extra magic hours were being added from 6am-8am. If you didn't get this notification, I have no idea how you'd know. Everywhere else (including the in-room WDW today TV channel) still only had 8am-9pm listed for the park hours, so these were like "secret" extra magic hours. We set our alarms for 3:30am Sunday morning and hoped for the best.
By the time we got there from our cabin at Fort Wilderness and made it through security and the gate, it was 6:30am when we were in the park. At that point I already knew about the boarding groups from reading the reports online from Friday and Saturday. Upon entry to the park, CMs were passing out fliers with instructions on how to enter the boarding groups which would only be available starting at 7:50am. This means if you were only entering the park at 8am (because you didn't know about the secret extra magic hours), you were basically out of luck already. I set an alarm on my phone for 7:45am and prayed for good luck. At precisely 7:50am I logged into the MDE app and snagged a boarding group - #98, estimated ride time in the evening. Hooray! I was thrilled.
At this point we were so exhausted from being up so early I had to ask a CM to ensure that if we left the park for a nap I wouldn't loose my spot in the boarding group. She assured me that leaving the park wouldn't affect my boarding status and we thankfully had the chance for a nap and a swim. We had a 7:15pm FP for Slinky and an 8:35pm ADR for Oga's Cantina so weren't planning to go back to the park until later in the evening. As the day wore on, the boarding groups slowly moved up only a few at a time each hour. I was getting nervous as the time got later and later. By the time we returned to the park they were only up into the 60s or 70s. I was starting to worry if we'd get in at all (MDE has a message that being in a boarding group does not guarantee entry into the attraction), despite all my efforts and jumping through all of Disney's hoops. Finally the numbers seemed to get moving despite their slow start. I knew the attraction had been down a few times and people who had been on the ride when it broke down had been given FPs to return later, also slowing down the flow of boarding groups. I was worried that our boarding group would come up, but we'd miss our Slinky FP and/or our Oga's Cantina ADR (and be charged for a no-show ADR). My brain was filling with anxiety of worst-case-scenarios. I finally got a notice from the MDE app (I think it came up while I was waiting to get into Oga's, around 8:30ish) that my boarding group would not be able to be accommodated. OMG PANIC!!!!!!!! But, I was reassured when I kept reading, because the notification also said that we would receive a freebie FP to ride again the next day, along with a comp upgrade to a park-hopper pass. Now, this worked for us because we were still staying a few more days. But I wonder what Disney would have done for people in this situation who were leaving the next day or couldn't come back? Please share your experiences if this happened to you.
In other words, I secured a place on the "queue" at 7:50am, and by 9:00pm I still wouldn't have gotten into the ride... this is the equivalent of standing on a 13+ hour line and still not being able to ride. I can't even imagine what a disaster it would have been at HS if they hadn't used the virtual queue/boarding groups. A lot of people were out of luck.
The FP we received was listed as "Multiple Experience" (or something like that) at "Multiple Parks" and would be valid on any attraction we wanted. Obviously we wanted to use it on RotR!
Ok, so now I'm satisfied that I've at least secured by chance to experience the ride. Monday is our Magic Kindom day and we're having fun doing our thing until I check the MDE app again and it lists our multiple-experience FPs as for 1 guest only. What happened??? There were 2 of us and I knew I had done everything right. We ended up going to guest relations (shout out to CM Julia at the Liberty Square ticket office!) and they figured out that my "multiple experience" FP had accidentally been used on Big Thunder, which should have been a normal, scheduled Fast Pass. It took a little time but she got it sorted out (took a phone call to HS guest relations).
In the end, here's what happened: After finishing up our afternoon at MK, we took the bus back to HS around 5pm-ish. We headed straight into Galaxy's Edge and to RotR. We scanned our magic bands and strolled into the FP queue... which had like 2 other people. I couldn't believe it! When we actually rode, it was stress-free and easy and FREAKING AMAZING! even made some friends on the ride! But holy crap, what it took to get there. I had conversations with other guests, some told me that when their boarding groups were called, they still had to wait on a 1 hour line. Even though it took a ridiculous amount of strategy, sacrifice of sleep, and huge headache, in the end I think the experience we had on the attraction was worth it. Would I do another major headliner ride it's opening weekend? No way! But this time was crazy and fun and I'm glad we did it.
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