RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[tjmw2727]

Following along for my Christmas week trip - just want to thank everyone for posting it is so helpful!

As of now we plan to go to HS on 12/24 - if things remain the same we will wake at 5 and get to HS as fast as we can by walking from the YC. (Waking up my 23 yo dd will be the challenge but there is only so long my other dd and I will wait lol). With a 7 am opening it seems like we will get a BP arriving by 5:30/5:45 ish; we are not picky about what time of day we ride as we planned to be at HS for the day and could leave to rest if we get a later BG.

I hope things don't change much as 5 is about as early as I would like to wake on vacation …. but I will be reading along to adjust if need be and we do have a 2nd chance day on the 26th but I don't see that as being any less crowded.

 

[DavidNYC]

...By posting a false opening time knowing they will open hours earlier. They are fully staffed to open hours earlier. To be clear, I like the VQ overall but imo they are not being transparent and those more in the know (including me) benefit over others. This isn’t a big deal for me and I do appreciate the dilemma they face but I just somehow don’t feel right about the communication.

Since it’s based on safety and Number of people at the entrance, there is no way they can give an actual accurate opening time. Whatever time they say will be affected by peoples behavior. This is standard operating procedure completely. The only issue I had, was on that day when they explicitly said they would not open boarding groups until a certain time, and then opened them early. But as far as opening earlier compared to just a generally posted opening time, that’s pretty normal.

 

[PetePanMan]

Could they not do a “real” Virtual queue without having people have to arrive in person? I’m thinking a pretty basic computer lottery based system where you know results night before and could then make plans accordingly. You could still be notified of boarding window etc. I believe (but haven’t researched) that DL may have done something like this for those staying on site. They could also distribute based on other priorities. For example, define some % for onsite DW guests only etc. They have lots of smart people who would have considered this so there must be issues. Or...the crowds ad to the hype and help with advertising a winning product. There will be pros and cons with any approach.

 

[PetePanMan]

Would a disclaimer like "hours are subject to change" be enough for you?
Disney doesn't want to open earlier, they have to staff the park, starting with security, way earlier than what they want, but the demand is there and primarily for safety, they have to open earlier.
Do you think they sticking with opening time do something for people lining up early? It won't. Most people want to experience the ride as early as possible
It's happened at Animal kingdom since park open, and we're 3 years with this happening

If they really wanted to discourage folks from lining up early they could. They could randomize the BGs handed out for the first hour, so showing up at 5am would give you no advantage over showing up at 7am. They could not open Boarding groups until after official opening time, so you could get into the park, you just couldn’t ride before opening time. I’m sure with a little thought there’s lots of ways to encourage crowds to show up later.

I think Disney doesn’t mind the early start. It works for them.

Since it’s based on safety and Number of people at the entrance, there is no way they can give an actual accurate opening time. Whatever time they say will be affected by peoples behavior. This is standard operating procedure completely. The only issue I had, was on that day when they explicitly said they would not open boarding groups until a certain time, and then opened them early. But as far as opening earlier compared to just a generally posted opening time, that’s pretty normal.

I think it is the order of magnitude that is the issue for me I.e. 30-40 mins seems normal but 2.5 hrs is another story. Could they have opening time that could be adjusted on line at a day or two before based on most current circumstances (they could communicate that people should check online). They know right now that they will open much earlier tomorrow than official time based on what is happening yesterday and today.

 

[wareagle57]

Could they not do a “real” Virtual queue without having people have to arrive in person? I’m thinking a pretty basic computer lottery based system where you know results night before and could then make plans accordingly. You could still be notified of boarding window etc. I believe (but haven’t researched) that DL may have done something like this for those staying on site. They could also distribute based on other priorities. For example, define some % for onsite DW guests only etc. They have lots of smart people who would have considered this so there must be issues. Or...the crowds ad to the hype and help with advertising a winning product. There will be pros and cons with any approach.

If they let people join the VQ without actually being there in person it would be even worse than it is now as everyone would try to join every day and it would be even harder than it is now to get one. The way they do it is totally fair. If more people realized it wasn’t a necessity to get there so early, it would make the BGs last considerably longer, but that’s not going to happen.

 

[wareagle57]

Group 104 with 2 hours to go. I’m surprised they are still handing out this many groups.

 

[PetePanMan]

If they let people join the VQ without actually being there in person it would be even worse than it is now as everyone would try to join every day and it would be even harder than it is now to get one. The way they do it is totally fair. If more people realized it wasn’t a necessity to get there so early, it would make the BGs last considerably longer, but that’s not going to happen.

It would be more difficult for those who currently can arrive so early but of course easier for those who cannot. I think they should also prioritize onsite guests but not 100%.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

It’s like the old FP- vs FP+ debates. At the end of the day there’s only so many people a ride can accommodate a day, and in this case it’s currently way way less than people who want to ride. Someone is going to miss out, just a matter of if it’s the people who have the ability/drive to get to the park early or who have the ability/drive to reserve early.

First come first serve is intuitive and you don’t need Disney knowledge or strategy to know this. I think it makes most sense for the time being and hopefully sooner than later it’s functioning at full capacity and is reliable and this debate is mostly a thing of the past.

 

[DebbieT11]

I'm grateful for those that are reporting their experiences.....we'll arrive on property tomorrow, and I'm anticipating a Monday morning experience. Then, maybe Tuesday. We shall see. But I'm a huge fan of the BG process in place, and think - it benefits Disney GREATLY...... you're out in the parks, spending money elsewhere when you're in a virtual queue! As far as opening early - that's always happened, nothing new. It's a bigger gap between actual opening and normal early opening.... but not enough to whinge about, I think. Again, thanks to all and I'll report our experiences as well!

 

[yulilin3]

I think it is the order of magnitude that is the issue for me I.e. 30-40 mins seems normal but 2.5 hrs is another story. Could they have opening time that could be adjusted on line at a day or two before based on most current circumstances (they could communicate that people should check online). They know right now that they will open much earlier tomorrow than official time based on what is happening yesterday and today.

To be fair there were only 2 days when they opened 2 hours before, again that was expected by everyone which is why everyone showed up early

 

[Alynw]

If they really wanted to discourage folks from lining up early they could. They could randomize the BGs handed out for the first hour, so showing up at 5am would give you no advantage over showing up at 7am. They could not open Boarding groups until after official opening time, so you could get into the park, you just couldn’t ride before opening time. I’m sure with a little thought there’s lots of ways to encourage crowds to show up later.

I think Disney doesn’t mind the early start. It works for them.

How would randomization of boarding groups discourage people from coming early. The main reason everyone gets there so early is to ensure they actually get a boarding group, very few are going to care about the time as long as they get to ride. Whether they open up early or at posted time wont make one bit of difference, the people that go early are still going to go early and just wait a little longer to get in but their still going to be at front of the line and the first ones to get a boarding group. Opening up early has no affect on who or how gets boarding groups, all it does is prevent a mass of people from continuing to build in front of the gates and allows the early guests to start riding rides while waiting on their turn for ROR.

 

[wareagle57]

So does anyone know if the ride is running? It’s either down or 110 was the last boarding group of the day.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Our one HS day will be January 16 hoping the BG will still be happening. Like the idea of getting our BG and able to ride a few more rides rather than waiting in line for hours. We already decided to be up early if needed.

 

[Alynw]

Our one HS day will be January 16 hoping the BG will still be happening. Like the idea of getting our BG and able to ride a few more rides rather than waiting in line for hours. We already decided to be up early if needed.

I dont think u have anything to worry about, the boarding groups are going be around for months and months. Smugglers Run opened up in August and there still no fp, it's still setup for boarding groups but the amount of guests riding aren't enough to need em. I would expect ROR to stay on boarding groups for a very long time.

 

[rteetz]

So does anyone know if the ride is running? It’s either down or 110 was the last boarding group of the day.

110 is the end.

 

[SG131]

Silly idea... but what would the harm be in dropping the boarding groups and just letting people stand in line? Is it a crowd capacity issue? I'd much rather stand in line for a few hours at 2pm than wake up at 5am.

With the popularity of this ride if they went to a traditional queue it would be closed many many hours before 2pm anyway. It would lead to the same result of getting there super early except most of people’s park day would be spent in line. I’m sure there’s some people that wouldn’t do that, but there are obviously a lot of people that will do whatever it takes to ride this ride (me included).

 

[Kesohio63]

The BG system worked very well for DH and me this morning. We are staying at POFQ, got up at 5:00 am, got dressed and went directly to bus stop. Waited a little while, bus came, arrived at DHS a little before 6:00. Bag check was quick, joined the crowd, and tapped in about 6:20. Got our BG right away - #29. Rode MFSR with a 20 minute posted wait, but really we just walked through the queue. When we came out, it was pouring rain, CMs were guiding folks to Landing Bay 7 for breakfast. It was a total zoo with people trying to get out of the rain! We did mobile order but still had to wait a long time for our food, although the wait did give us time to find a place to sit. When we were done eating, the rain was almost over, so we looked at all the shops, then went to Toy Story. We had a 9:05 FP+ for TSMM, and when we were done, our BG was called - around 9:30. We got in line and basically walked all the way through the queue with only minimal stopping. It was amazing! I would have been happy with any BG in the late morning through the afternoon, and this worked out perfectly for us!

 

[Miffy]

Many thanks to all the posters on this thread. The information was straightforward and so helpful. We were able to experience RotR yesterday and today. It's phenomenal.

Regarding the VQ system: I think it's working out well. If they went to a FP+ system on this ride, only people staying onsite would ever get to ride and the FP+s would be gone in the first five minutes of the first day of their availability. If there were a standby line, it would be interminable. To me, it was far better to get up early and stand in line waiting to be let into the park and then get the boarding group number.

I'm totally against lottery systems and especially for something like this. It's a surefire way to guarantee anger, disappointment, and disgruntlement. For sure Disney doesn't want that.

As it is, apparently a lot of people have gotten to ride. Word is out about getting to the park early. People who are motivated will find a way to do it. Look, plenty of people who come to WDW don't even know about FP+. I've told innumerable parkgoers about it, how to use it, etc., etc. Yet I doubt anyone here would suggest that FP+s go to a lottery system because too many people don't know how it works.

Note to everyone: Make sure you know the password for your MDX account. I didn't and when I got into DHS this morning the app suddenly wanted my password, which I didn't know! Luckily I was with my sister, whose app didn't ask her (and, anyway, she cleverly memorized her password before the trip) and she was able to book our boarding group.

And I have to say again--RotR is just phenomenal. Figure out a way to wake up and get over to DHS. It's totally worth it.

 

[wdw_dine_junkie]

Finally caught up on the last forty pages! We'll be there the first week of Feb, I hope they still have the BG then. I am an early riser by nature and not scared of a 5am (or earlier) wakeup. We'll be camping at Ft Wilderness. EMH is still showing early hours in Feb for now.

 

[shellott-hill]

Group 104 with 2 hours to go. I’m surprised they are still handing out this many groups.

The last 3 days have been a success. Each day had only 2 shutdowns and they were able to get through all BGs before park close. It looks like Disney is getting close to figuring out how to mitigate everyone's cell phones interfering with the ride and now starting to push the throughput higher and higher.

I am not surprised by a larger number of boarding groups at all. If they were unable to get through all their boarding groups over the last three days, I could see them lowering the number of BGs. Since it was successful, I am going to gamble and say the go for 115 tomorrow; or even higher since they have a buffer of the EEMHs to make sure they get through all the BGs.

Hopefully they can get to 1700/hour before I get there in January.