RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[SuJo]

Just saw neil patrick harris leave RoTR... fyi

Wow, must have just missed him

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thanks again. Will post my experience tomorrow. If it was just me, I’d be there at 6 am. But DW is not quite as big a SW fan as me. Will see how it goes, fingers crossed.

Hey @Buddy40 - wondering how you made out today. I hope you were able to snag a boarding group before they went poof.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

A question to anyone with firsthand experience of the ~6:00am park opening these past two days.

Have you witnessed any running, pushing/shoving, or any other rude behavior by guests as they enter the park and head toward SWGE?

I can’t recall reading about any bad behavior by guests these past two mornings. In my opinion, this alone makes the VQ a total win. Not to mention the opportunity to experience other attractions while ‘virtually’ waiting in line for RotR. I really hope Disney continues to implement the VQ for the foreseeable future.

Nope, it was pretty standard rope drop behavior. They tried to get us to make single file lines so the merging was a touch difficult (someone with a stroller went in from of me from out of nowhere) but for the most part we moved slowly & orderly. I have a video of it haha. They also didn't have the finger scanners going so we were all in the park in like 3 minutes. I was near the back of the crowd but between CM's being professional and guests being respectful, I think it was better than, say, FOP or TSM (before they made TSL) rope drops. I also think the boarding groups helped with that. We were immediately handed the leaflets as we entered the park so there was no point in pushing/running/tripping people around you to get there first.

Especially because they have the technology to limit guests to one BG just as they can limit one initial Tier 1 FP.

Yesterday, guests who had already ridden RotR and then booked in the later BGs that were canceled, received FPs for today plus the comps. Unnecessary Guest Recovery.

That's some overcompensation haha! Dang, I wish I'd joined another group just to get that! I knew I wouldn't make it on the ride before I had to head to the airport so I didn't bother. On a slightly different note, someone mentioned the early park opening being not good but I disagree (and I agree with @yulilin3 who said it really benefits both the prepared & unprepared). I had until 10am, 12 at the absolute latest, before I had to leave for the airport. I was worried I'd spend 5 hours in line for ROTR with nothing to show for it (and I was prepared to do that), but instead I got to ride all of my favorite DHS rides on repeat while waiting for my group's turn. By 8am I was of the opinion that even if I didn't get on ROTR, it had been an excellent morning.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Understandable. I think the virtual queue is their best option due to the operational issues with the ride. If it was running like they want it too then they likely wouldn’t have done the VQ.

That’s a very interesting take... and I think it makes a lot of sense!!

 

[birostick]

Aaaaand its broken again. Kicked out of the queue

 

[SG131]

True, but when they did this they weren't using a VQ system that caused it to be impossible to ride Pandora if you didn't arrive at least 40 minutes before the posted park open time, right? You could still line up, even if it was a 4 hour line? The problem isn't the early openings per se, it's the early openings coupled with the fact that it is impossible to ride their heavily advertised ride if you show up at the posted opening time.

Except that with the numbers of people here for the ride and the capacity they're currently running the ride at, the line immediately after park opening would probably be more like an 8 hr line like Hagrids and all you could do with your day is stand in line and they probably would close the line close to park open as well. If you were in the back of the pack at entrance you still might be SOL. It also seems like if the ride runs smoothly they will open up more boarding groups later in the day, but this allows them to conservatively handle the crowds and adjust for breakdowns.

 

[wareagle57]

just called my boarding group so I’m heading back up there. I complain more than I know I should at times, but I feel very blessed to have the ability to do this from the comfort of my home.

 

[wareagle57]

Aaaaand its broken again. Kicked out of the queue

is it too late to delete my last post?

 

[birostick]

is it too late to delete my last post?

Hah. Waiting around for it to start back up to jump in the line again.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

At this rate even with fewer boarding groups they're again in danger of not getting through all the boarding groups by the close of the day. They seem to be behind where they were at this point yesterday, right?

 

[Jennasis]

Just saw neil patrick harris leave RoTR... fyi

Well that might explain why they turned us away a little while ago. They called our boarding group but when we went to check in they said they were not letting anyone on right now

 

[DavidNYC]

I’m luckily not going until end of January but this really seems not ready for prime time. Fine to give some slack but to me this is way too many breakdowns and line evacuations for the first 2 days. Are we to believe they stress tested this and didn’t have these problems? And if they did, should they have bitten the bullet and just admitted the ride wasn’t ready? Seems like they focused too much on the fanfare of a huge opening spectacle when perhaps they should have done some unannounced soft openings so your guinea pigs are people who weren’t coming to the park with a primary purpose of getting on this particular attraction.

 

[lostinlakes]

We are planning on getting there pretty early tomorrow morning, so for those of you that have done the 6am arrival how was the weather? Am I going to want long pants and long sleeves?

 

[wareagle57]

Hah. Waiting around for it to start back up to jump in the line again.

FWIW a CM told me since my group was called, they will accommodate me whenever I come back. It is PREFERRED that you return within 2 hours but they will NOT turn you away if your group was called before a breakdown. She checked with someone else first to confirm that info.

 

[Buddy40]

Hey @Buddy40 - wondering how you made out today. I hope you were able to snag a boarding group before they went poof.

Got a late start. Hard charging day at the parks prior day. Got to DHS at 7:50. Got Boarding GP 78. Able to bang out SDD, TSM, RnRC, & TT. Online now for MFSR. Hoping they will get to my group today. Not optimistic based on downtime this a.m, but holding out hope. Rebellions are built on hope.

 

[keishashadow]

Waited several boats for ride to mgm this am at swolphin after dropping rental car

got to park at 9:30 am. Walked back to ROTR. Boarded immediately with pass from yesterday. It was down as we exited phew

So sounds like they opened the park much sooner than yesterday relative to when touchpoints. I don’t understand why announce today as a 9am open when yesterday was 8, but both days they opened around 6... just say it’s 7.

Yes. Those that follow posted times lose out

Did Universal offer any compensation like park tickets etc? I didn’t follow it at all because I don’t really care about Universal.



So glad you enjoyed it! It’s so amazing. I think we are going to plan to walk over tomorrow again to ride it.

Yes, had to got to GS and inquire. A one day PH

It’s crazy! How in the world is the average guest supposed to plan or know what to do?! Just announce the 6 or 7 am opening if that’s what you’re going to do. We plan to do the Studios Wednesday. So I guess we need to plan for a 6 am opening. I feel really bad for park goers who don’t realize this is happening. Imagine getting there for a 9:00 opening to find you are closed out for the day already & others have been riding for 3 hours.

110% agree

I’m told the groups are also smaller

Looked it this am vs yesterday

That's why we have these boards. We do our research before going on a WDW vacation.

Planning is good can pick up hints galore but the loopholes of repeat boarding and early access to parks seems to contradict Disney’s plan of having a level playing field for all guests

Yeah, and the fact that people are grabbing another BG once tapped in. Getting multiple rides while others are fast asleep awaiting "RD"

I guess it is true about the early bird...

Very curious to see how long this lasts. We will be there in March.

In the meantime

It doesn’t seem right to me. One per when so busy is reasonable

Thanks for reporting that! I was about to post to ask highest BG #.

Yesterday, the last BG to load was #127 with at least 20+ BGs receiving Guest Recovery - FPs to be used today...probably why there’s an earlier cut off in BGs.

And many I’ve talked to just adding it into the multiple boarding groups they scored today.

 

[ScubaCat]

Just saw neil patrick harris leave RoTR... fyi

He'd better not get another boarding group... Once per day per guest!!

 

[only hope]

He'd better not get another boarding group... Once per day per guest!!

No need for boarding groups or fp’s when you’re a very important working guest who can be walked onto anything you want...

 

[Liljo22]

I’m luckily not going until end of January but this really seems not ready for prime time. Fine to give some slack but to me this is way too many breakdowns and line evacuations for the first 2 days. Are we to believe they stress tested this and didn’t have these problems? And if they did, should they have bitten the bullet and just admitted the ride wasn’t ready? Seems like they focused too much on the fanfare of a huge opening spectacle when perhaps they should have done some unannounced soft openings so your guinea pigs are people who weren’t coming to the park with a primary purpose of getting on this particular attraction.

No they did not stress test it. Yesterday only had one major breakdown early in the morning. Today is having a lot more issues. Is it going to be more like today or yesterday. More like today and its going to be an issue. I don't know about biting the bullet though. Once you have an opening date, its going to piss off a lot more people who have vacation plans with flights and work days off if you delay opening. You can say they shouldn't have announced an opening date until they were closer to knowing it works right since there was already issues that delayed it before.

 

[birostick]

Update. Paper FPs went in. I just got back in normal line