RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[GADisneyDad14]

A bit OT, but aside from all of this RotR/Boarding Group stuff, if you’re a DHS lover, this is a great holiday season. Based on today’s hours updates, DHS will be open for approx 424 total hours December 2019 vs approx 353 total hours December 2018. That’s a lot of extra park hours to play with, a lot more FPs in the system, a lot of hours to spread people around.

Pandora ushered in a new era of longer park hours at DAK. DHS hours had slowly dwindled prior to SWGE - glad to see the full impact of the new land finally translating to positive trends for guests. Especially with SWGE and TSL being such great lands at night, along with Sunset Seasons Greetings this month.

There are even two F! showings Christmas to New Years week - a Christmas miracle! There are hardly ever two shows these days.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Aside from all of this RotC/Boarding Group stuff, if you’re a DHS lover, this is a great holiday season. Based on today’s hours updates, DHS will be open for approx 424 total hours December 2019 vs approx 353 total hours December 2018. That’s a lot of extra park hours to play with, a lot more FPs in the system, a lot of hours to spread people around.

Pandora ushered in a new era of longer park hours at DAK. DHS hours had slowly dwindled prior to SWGE - glad to see the full impact of the new land finally translating to positive trends for guests. Especially with SWGE and TSL being such great lands at night, along with Sunset Seasons Greetings this month.

There are even two F! showings Christmas to New Years week - a Christmas miracle! There are hardly ever two shows these days.

We loved the 7am EMH Thanksgiving week. Got a ton of things done by 9:30, hit the room for a break and then back for evening fun.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I think they will stay with the 6-6:30 openings time ... this way it will help with complaints from people getting there at “opening” and all the BG’s are gone.

I, along with what seemed like a thousand people, showed up by 5am today for an 8 am opening

There is a limit to how many people will show up at 5am or 6am on their Disney vacation. A vast majority of people simply wont do it. This is why Josh @ EasyWDW says that crowds are low from 8-10am even on the busiest days. Now RotR is somewhat of a phenomenon here BUT there still is a limit to how many people will show up at 5/6am.

Larger crowds overall will bring more people willing to do this though as we approach Christmas. I’m pretty optimistic that once we get past Jan 6th that things will calm some here. And by “calm” I mean that arriving at 7am will get you a reasonable BG. It will be interesting to monitor for the next month for sure!

The current trend is earlier earlier earlier and that’s spreading. If Jan crowds lower a bit AND reliability/capacity of the ride is good maybe the trend can start to be “Oh I can still get a BG at 8am...I don’t need to torture myself”. And then that trend could help settle things in to a more reasonable pattern outside of MLK, Prez Day, Spring Break crowds.

 

[Lashed34]

Thx for posing -- The attractions you completed before 0930, did you have FPs for them or did you just do them standby?

I had ToT at 8am on FP+ but we rode it 3 times plus RnRC x3, SDD was a 40 min wait plus Muppets, Star Tours and Smuggler' run (30 min wait) so really put the early hours to use. ToT and RnRC were all walk ons all 3 times.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

There is a limit to how many people will show up at 5am or 6am on their Disney vacation. A vast majority of people simply wont do it. This is why Josh @ EasyWDW says that crowds are low from 8-10am even on the busiest days. Now RotR is somewhat of a phenomenon here BUT there still is a limit to how many people will show up at 5/6am.

Larger crowds overall will bring more people willing to do this though as we approach Christmas. I’m pretty optimistic that once we get past Jan 6th that things will calm some here. And by “calm” I mean that arriving at 7am will get you a reasonable BG. It will be interesting to monitor for the next month for sure!

The current trend is earlier earlier earlier and that’s spreading. If Jan crowds lower a bit AND reliability/capacity of the ride is good maybe the trend can start to be “Oh I can still get a BG at 8am...I don’t need to torture myself”. And then that trend could help settle things in to a more reasonable pattern outside of MLK, Prez Day, Spring Break crowds.

I agree with that.

I think that first paragraph is part of the reason BG went so fast on that EMH Sunday. They started later. No matter the reward, the earlier you're talking the harder it is to convince people to get up on a vacation. My guess is that if they do end up letting people in earlier with the 7 AM openings, the BG last longer. Again, a guess, please nobody make plans based on that lol!

 

[I<3EvilQueen]

So crazy me is trying to track this nonsense. Today 12/10 would've been the worst day so far in terms of groups reached.

View attachment 458026

You planning to keep this chart up? lol Very helpful and lots of data
Thank you.

 

[Opie100]

I had ToT at 8am on FP+ but we rode it 3 times plus RnRC x3, SDD was a 40 min wait plus Muppets, Star Tours and Smuggler' run (30 min wait) so really put the early hours to use. ToT and RnRC were all walk ons all 3 times.

Thank you -- this makes me think that using FP early at DHS isn't necessary even with boarding groups. I saw that SDD came available during the added morning hour but decided to save the FP and just do it early without it.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I agree with that.

I think that first paragraph is part of the reason BG went so fast on that EMH Sunday. They started later. No matter the reward, the earlier you're talking the harder it is to convince people to get up on a vacation. My guess is that if they do end up letting people in earlier with the 7 AM openings, the BG last longer. Again, a guess, please nobody make plans based on that lol!

Can we all start talking on other forums about how boarding groups are still available at 7:45 and all this early wake up stuff is nonsense? Let’s start a rumor to convince everybody to show up later!!!

 

[Lashed34]

I really cannot see any other way Disney can handle all this other than the current BG system. Yes you need to be there very early but look at the demand for this, it's huge. I think they're doing what the majority of visitors want for this ride.

 

[Lashed34]

Thank you -- this makes me think that using FP early at DHS isn't necessary even with boarding groups. I saw that SDD came available during the added morning hour but decided to save the FP and just do it early without it.

If you get in the park good and early go for SDD first as everyone headed there first.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Haven’t seen many “mile marker” posts today but they are on BG 73 currently today.

 

[RNTeacher]

Thank goodness for these forums and site. We are headed to WDW on January 3rd and bringing a first-timer who wants to experience all she can. I have been using the Dis, touring plans, allears and others since 2000 to plan trips. I don’t usually post because all my questions are usually asked and answered by others. I scored a SDD today for our DHS day thanks to the info here. I am grateful for information that has made our trips magical.

 

[TrolleyTrouble2713]

That is how I originally had all my FP+ reservations before we found out how the BG was going to work. I assumed I would be waiting in a standby line to get in RotR.

I threw that plan out the window this week and moved all my FP+ back to early morning. The plan now is to RD and get an early BG. If it ends up conflicting with a FP+, RotR will take priority and I will try to shift the FP+ to later.

Only time will tell if this will be the wrong approach.

My one FP for the day (Toy Story Mania) is pretty spaced out between my ADRs, so I'm just gonna leave it at 2:30. I shouldn't have an issue getting to Rise in two hours from anywhere in the park, and I don't really intend on staying after 7am. I wish I had FP'd Muppets so I could maybe get my dad on RRC later in the evening.

None of the things I want to do were FP recommended, so I didn't make them

 

[EmJ]

I also think we need to keep in mind the ride *just* opened ... it doesn't mean that you will have to be at the park 2 hours before it opens forever, but yeah, nor now, this is what you need to do if you want to ride it. There is no system they could employ that would make 100% of the people happy but this seems to be a pretty fair system

And honestly, this is not materially different than any other in-demand entertainment option in the country. Want to ride Hagrids? Get there early. Want to see Hamilton? Get there (virtually) early. Want to go to that concert? Early. Want to see the local hometown Christmas parade? Early early early. I know a lot of folks aren’t morning people, especially on vacation, but that’s what’s required to ride this ride in the same month it opens. There really is no planning required here other than—early.

 

[Tinkaroo]

Thank you to all the great info on this thread. Sitting on a plane bound for MCO, and had to break the news to my fam that we’re going to be up even earlier tomorrow with the park hours change. Staying at CBR, and I think we’ll shoot to be there around 5 am. This is a “must do” for all my guys, and we’d rather get it done as early as possible, so we can take a hopefully long nap before MVMCP tomorrow night. I’ll be sure to report what we experience tomorrow!

 

[jk and ek]

This is all outdated info now, but here was my experience with ROTR opening day/week.

So our trip was planned well in advance of the ROTR opening day announcement and it just so happened that the opening day was one of our DHS days. Rather than rearranging a good chunk of our itinerary, we just decided to roll with it and go to DHS anyway and plan to avoid Galaxy's Edge.

We got to the park right at rope drop (aka running late) and I quickly learned of the boarding group process. on a lark, i checked and managed to add us to one. #87 at around 8:07am. We didn't really have high hopes of getting on and we went on with our plans for the day....did everything with relative ease in TSL, had lunch and occasionally kept an eye on ROTR. We had an ADR for Rose & Crown at 6:15pm and it was looking like the way the BGs were moving, ours would come up while we were over at Epcot.

then in the early afternoon, the BGs really started moving and then by chance, ours became available at 4:30pm......AND WE GOT TO RIDE OPENING DAY! what a pleasant surprise/bonus. The timing worked out perfectly and we made our way over to Epcot via the skyliner and arrived at R&C at 6:15 on the dot. I just felt really good about our nearly 7 year old getting to do something so cool.

Then we went ahead with our original plan to take advantage of the EMH they had on Sunday to ride ROTR and also wait in the full queue for SR. They changed the hours last minute to be for 6-8....but then ROTR wasn't included in those hours...which was FINE...but annoying that they weren't allowing people to book boarding groups until 7:45....basically giving everyone who got out of bed at 4-something in the morning the same chance as people who rolled in at nearly 8. Not really fair....so I was annoyed but we were there (just me, my husband and my eldest) so we made the best of it. Got herded with the masses into Smugglers Run, wait was minimal....was able to walk into Oga's without a reservation which was cool. Then while hanging out in GE (it was around 7:10/7:15 at this point), I see a man stop dead in front of me and his eyes get SUPER wide while looking at his phone...and...i knew what was happening. haha. I quickly and quietly looked at the app and sure enough, the boarding groups were opened early and without warning...as fast as I could I added the three of us and....BOARDING GROUP 8!!! as soon as it was confirmed, I turned to my husband and was like, WE GOT IT. it was fun to watch over the next few minutes and see people realize and make their bookings too.

We still had to wait until for the ride to open at 8, but we didn't mind. Did a walk on TSMM and by the time we were done, it was time to head back around to GE.

We go through the queue (shorter than opening day) and just as we get run outside to get loaded onto transport....things stall out. And we get led out. Given paper fastpasses, obviously, but still a bummer. It took a pretty decent while for the ride to be up and at em again, but we did eventually get to ride so I can't really complain about either day. We were pleasantly surprised (after some initial annoyance about the EMH situation) and obviously the ride itself was amazing!

 

[Goofy2015]

Alright just now catching up lol

First, all of this information is helpful.

I will be at WDW from 12/17 - 12/23.

Plan on going to DHS on 12/18, 12/21, 12/22

With the opening at 8am (6:30am actual / 5:30am security open) my goal was to be at security at 5:25am.

Now with a 7am opening. Anything 'can' happen. My guess Disney is catching up to actual opening. However, I can see Disney opening DHS earlier then 6:30am at around 6:15am. However, the crowds may come earlier. I am going to wait and see when security opens tomorrow and Friday to determine my arrival time. My guess is that security will still open between 5:15am and 5:30am. My goal is to be there at 5:00am at the moment (my GF won't like that).

Luckily. I am staying at BW so transportation is not an issue.

My dilemma on Wednesday is that I am doing the Star Wars movie marathon leading up to TROS, which starts on Wednesday at 4:15 so I need a morning BP very badly, which may mean 4:45am arrival lol

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Yesterday with all of the downtime the highest boarding group called back was 82. What BG is next to be called back today at 6:30?? You guessed it...82!!

 

[yulilin3]

Alright just now catching up lol

First, all of this information is helpful.

I will be at WDW from 12/17 - 12/23.

Plan on going to DHS on 12/18, 12/21, 12/22

With the opening at 8am (6:30am actual / 5:30am security open) my goal was to be at security at 5:25am.

Now with a 7am opening. Anything 'can' happen. My guess Disney is catching up to actual opening. However, I can see Disney opening DHS earlier then 6:30am at around 6:15am. However, the crowds may come earlier. I am going to wait and see when security opens tomorrow and Friday to determine my arrival time. My guess is that security will still open between 5:15am and 5:30am. My goal is to be there at 5:00am at the moment (my GF won't like that).

Luckily. I am staying at BW so transportation is not an issue.

My dilemma on Wednesday is that I am doing the Star Wars movie marathon leading up to TROS, which starts on Wednesday at 4:15 so I need a morning BP very badly, which may mean 4:45am arrival lol

Sounds like a perfect star wars day!!

 

[StarGirl11]

I don’t want this to come across in a bad way so if it does please just take it at face value - it’s how it comes across in written form.

This is the most immersive attraction ever, Star Wars fan or not, it’s amazing. For all the people saying my morning family won’t accept it, it’s simple, they either need to accept that it’s the only way to ride or be OK to leave it. I personally don’t understand how you could leave it - this attraction is that good. It’s a case of either get up early one morning and accept it or miss out.

Again, I really don’t mean this to come across as rude but it’s that simple. I know Disney keep changing the playing field on us and it’s difficult for until Sunday for the next EMH date but just get there at 5/6am and be prepared to wait a little bit but know you will be riding the newest, most technological attraction there is.

My concern isn't so much the average morning person. Its the people who can't get in the crowds that we're seeing without having problems. Great if you can rope drop. Reality is not everyone can or should be in those crowds. I'm not even autistic but still have to deal with sensory overload from my migraines. Its a word. that I would probably get censored on here, to deal with. And early mornings with lack of sleep are more likely to cause sensory overload from my experience then not.

I know I sound like a broken record but I just wish there was someway to at least make it viable for DAS holders who can't get in those crowds. Since right now the only way for us to even ride without the boarding pass. Which again causes problems if you can't get in those crowds.

And before I get a bunch of 'Well have someone hold your spot and then join them in the line'. 1) Try that with a mobility device, even the rollator and see how well that works in practice, 2) 99 percent of my park trips are by myself. I've got no one to do so.

Its just frustrating because I really want to ride this more then once but right now for me? I am probably going to have one shot at riding this for however long (which with this going out into February now looks like we will be stuck with it for several months at least) this systems around if DL operates anywhere near this madness.