News Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Standby Line and Boarding Groups at Disney's Hollywood Studios

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Does this mean that the best strategy is to make your park reservations for DHS for every day of your vacation? If you get a low boarding group, go to DHS and set new park reservations for the other days. Otherwise, change the same day park reservation and try again the next day?

That would be living dangerously. It's possible the other parks would reach capacity and you'd be stuck with only Hollywood Studios for the whole trip.
 

MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
Before:
speedwaybefore.jpg

After:
speedwayafter.jpg
Oh those dirty dogs! It's clear they don't want anyone walking to or from the Speedway any more. Not that one couldn't walk along speedway's back driveway and cross over near BW's gate and pick up the walkway from there.

1603911126058.png
Little story, two parts.
So we were there last Friday, the 23rd, (our only day for HS) and I had read on here somewhere about getting dropped off at the Speedway. We were staying at the Poly and I was trying to decrease walking distance for my husband, but get us in there early enough to catch MMRR.
I told my family about the Speedway trick and they thought I was goofy, but went along with it. As someone above said we were on the Skyliner and I didn't see a sidewalk but thought maybe I wasn't looking in the correct spot. So, you guessed it, we got dropped off at the speedway and had to walk the path in red above. There was some growling but we got there in time to get in line for MMRR.
It was pretty long already because when we got to the park we were lined up before the entrance to the Skyliner. But, we got through screening, in the park and in line. As we were entering MMRR the wait time had jumped to 110 minutes and it was about 9:40.
We then rode, but I had a hard time enjoying it because all I could think of was we were going to be on stuck on the ride at 10. We exited at 9:58!
We stood outside of the entrance and my son, myself and his friend all tried for a boarding pass. My son hit the jackpot (we thought) with group 6!!!
Yeah, nope, it was for 1 person (me) not all 4 of us.
No problem I think, I've been told don't worry if everyone else isn't listed, just go to a GET person and they will make it all better.
Nope, it was the CM GET team member from h**l! She refused to put the other 3 on, saying we weren't supposed to all 3 try and "the spots are all filled up". So I quit arguing with her, went around the corner and another GET CM looked everything over and said no problem and added them in.

So I would be very careful with multiple people trying. I reviewed the email I was sent before our trip about boarding passes and there was nothing in there addressing multiple people trying. I did see that comment in the email the poster put on here with the new virtual queue information.
 

gerarar

Premium Member
Little story, two parts.
So we were there last Friday, the 23rd, (our only day for HS) and I had read on here somewhere about getting dropped off at the Speedway. We were staying at the Poly and I was trying to decrease walking distance for my husband, but get us in there early enough to catch MMRR.
I told my family about the Speedway trick and they thought I was goofy, but went along with it. As someone above said we were on the Skyliner and I didn't see a sidewalk but thought maybe I wasn't looking in the correct spot. So, you guessed it, we got dropped off at the speedway and had to walk the path in red above. There was some growling but we got there in time to get in line for MMRR.
It was pretty long already because when we got to the park we were lined up before the entrance to the Skyliner. But, we got through screening, in the park and in line. As we were entering MMRR the wait time had jumped to 110 minutes and it was about 9:40.
We then rode, but I had a hard time enjoying it because all I could think of was we were going to be on stuck on the ride at 10. We exited at 9:58!
We stood outside of the entrance and my son, myself and his friend all tried for a boarding pass. My son hit the jackpot (we thought) with group 6!!!
Yeah, nope, it was for 1 person (me) not all 4 of us.
No problem I think, I've been told don't worry if everyone else isn't listed, just go to a GET person and they will make it all better.
Nope, it was the CM GET team member from h**l! She refused to put the other 3 on, saying we weren't supposed to all 3 try and "the spots are all filled up". So I quit arguing with her, went around the corner and another GET CM looked everything over and said no problem and added them in.

So I would be very careful with multiple people trying. I reviewed the email I was sent before our trip about boarding passes and there was nothing in there addressing multiple people trying. I did see that comment in the email the poster put on here with the new virtual queue information.
This happened to me too! My dad and I “competed” to get BGs back in December and my dad got it but forgot to add the rest of us (I stopped trying as soon as he said he got it and I saw that it had the cute droid waiting animation). So we went to GET umbrella and the girl kindly helped and added us. I asked if this is standard procedure and she said not really. Some other GET people might not be so willing to add the rest of your group so just go find another umbrella and test your luck!
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
A thought: Right now, when you enter DHS, everyone in your party automatically gets added to your lottery.

But if you're doing it at 7 AM... that's not likely to happen. You'll have to go back and add people to your party. That's a reason to make sure your six-year-old isn't also attempting the BG at the same time... they will surely not add their siblings!
 

DCBaker

Premium Member
A thought: Right now, when you enter DHS, everyone in your party automatically gets added to your lottery.

But if you're doing it at 7 AM... that's not likely to happen. You'll have to go back and add people to your party. That's a reason to make sure your six-year-old isn't also attempting the BG at the same time... they will surely not add their siblings!
It's a good question - will it auto-select people in your friends/family list that also has a park pass that day?
 

Oddysey

Well-Known Member
WHEREVER ELSE YOU HAPPEN TO BE NEARBY

What exactly does that mean? As a local who lives 30 miles away, does that constitute “nearby”?

I can’t get into DHS parking lot 3 hours ahead of park opening, so not sure how this works?!?!?!

I have the exact same issue. If nearby means Lake Buena Vista than it is next to impossible for me to secure a boarding group at 7:00am.
 

Ldno

Well-Known Member
It's a good question - will it auto-select people in your friends/family list that also has a park pass that day?
The email states only one party in your group should do it and if you have any problems to reach out to a cast member upon arrival to add them up!
 

FeelsSoGoodToBeBad

Well-Known Member
I dunno why TWDC won't just listen to those of us here who have solved the BG issue, but here we are, dealing with another game of "who has the fastest connection and best understanding of the (broken) system". /sigh

While my initial reaction to the new system was very positive, further reading (past the headlines) has me concerned:

I LOVE that I will know ahead of time if my family gets in the first BG drop, but if we miss the window wen can then arrive later and try for the 2p group. I like that it allows me the flexibility to (hopefully) choose a different park if we decide going to HS without winning a BG in the first round means we'd rather put off our visit until another day (we currently have 2 days reserved at HS) and try again.

I'm perplexed by what exactly "nearby" means. By prioritizing guests staying on property, they incentivize reservations at WDW resorts, thereby bringing in more revenue and hopefully bringing back more entertainment sooner. However, if "nearby" extends out 2 hours from the park, the incentive to stay on property is not there and WDW will lose out on guests as people realize there really are very few incentives to spend the extra money to stay at a WDW resort. Additionally, I'm concerned about the strategy stated above wherein people will book HS for their entire trip, only cancelling last minute when they don't get a BG. My guess is those people will still be able to get a PPR for another park, but guests who do not use this strategy will find it difficult to select HS some days until after those 7:02a cancellations.

I do think it will take longer for the BG to fill up at 7a, simply because it is so early for many people, especially those who do not live in the EST zone, but it won't take very much longer. In that vein, it still comes back to who really knows what they're doing and has the bandwidth/connection speed to get in before those who don't.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. My fingers are crossed it works out better than the current system, but I'll continue to hold out hope that someone in a position to influence decisions reads these boards and can make our dreams a reality by implementing a more lottery-like system.
 

DCBaker

Premium Member
The email states only one party in your group should do it and if you have any problems to reach out to a cast member upon arrival to add them up!
Right, but that doesn't clear up if your party will already be auto-selected if they have park passes, as they are now if they have tapped into the park.

I'm perplexed by what exactly "nearby" means. By prioritizing guests staying on property, they incentivize reservations at WDW resorts, thereby bringing in more revenue and hopefully bringing back more entertainment sooner. However, if "nearby" extends out 2 hours from the park, the incentive to stay on property is not there and WDW will lose out on guests as people realize there really are very few incentives to spend the extra money to stay at a WDW resort. Additionally, I'm concerned about the strategy stated above wherein people will book HS for their entire trip, only cancelling last minute when they don't get a BG. My guess is those people will still be able to get a PPR for another park, but guests who do not use this strategy will find it difficult to select HS some days until after those 7:02a cancellations.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think the "nearby" is just a subtle way of suggesting people not snag a park pass and try for a group "just because they can".
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
I'm almost positive that when they said "nearby", it was just a figure of speech. Basically that they assume no one would be wasting a ticket day and trying to get a group if they weren't close enough to actually attend (that wouldn't be an issue for an AP holder, though).

It's incredibly unlikely that there will be any kind of GPS location tracking to limit where someone can be when trying to get a boarding group.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Little story, two parts.
So we were there last Friday, the 23rd, (our only day for HS) and I had read on here somewhere about getting dropped off at the Speedway. We were staying at the Poly and I was trying to decrease walking distance for my husband, but get us in there early enough to catch MMRR.
I told my family about the Speedway trick and they thought I was goofy, but went along with it. As someone above said we were on the Skyliner and I didn't see a sidewalk but thought maybe I wasn't looking in the correct spot. So, you guessed it, we got dropped off at the speedway and had to walk the path in red above. There was some growling but we got there in time to get in line for MMRR.
It was pretty long already because when we got to the park we were lined up before the entrance to the Skyliner. But, we got through screening, in the park and in line. As we were entering MMRR the wait time had jumped to 110 minutes and it was about 9:40.
We then rode, but I had a hard time enjoying it because all I could think of was we were going to be on stuck on the ride at 10. We exited at 9:58!
We stood outside of the entrance and my son, myself and his friend all tried for a boarding pass. My son hit the jackpot (we thought) with group 6!!!
Yeah, nope, it was for 1 person (me) not all 4 of us.
No problem I think, I've been told don't worry if everyone else isn't listed, just go to a GET person and they will make it all better.
Nope, it was the CM GET team member from h**l! She refused to put the other 3 on, saying we weren't supposed to all 3 try and "the spots are all filled up". So I quit arguing with her, went around the corner and another GET CM looked everything over and said no problem and added them in.

So I would be very careful with multiple people trying. I reviewed the email I was sent before our trip about boarding passes and there was nothing in there addressing multiple people trying. I did see that comment in the email the poster put on here with the new virtual queue information.

This happened to me too! My dad and I “competed” to get BGs back in December and my dad got it but forgot to add the rest of us (I stopped trying as soon as he said he got it and I saw that it had the cute droid waiting animation). So we went to GET umbrella and the girl kindly helped and added us. I asked if this is standard procedure and she said not really. Some other GET people might not be so willing to add the rest of your group so just go find another umbrella and test your luck!
Officially GETs shouldn’t treat this as a fixable issue anymore. Unofficially it depends who you talk to.
 

breyes

New Member
I'm almost positive that when they said "nearby", it was just a figure of speech. Basically that they assume no one would be wasting a ticket day and trying to get a group if they weren't close enough to actually attend (that wouldn't be an issue for an AP holder, though).

It's incredibly unlikely that there will be any kind of GPS location tracking to limit where someone can be when trying to get a boarding group.

Actually being an AP holder doesn't guarantee that you will get a park reservation. The day I wanted was not available for HS, but it was for the other three parks. They seem to have a limit of AP pass holders. The rest of my group (non-AP holders) had already reserved for that day. I called and I was told that I would have to get a normal ticket in order to go that day. They don't even offer a discount to get a new ticket. I am a Silver pass holder, maybe if you're in a higher tier it's different, but I think it's good to be aware that nowadays having an AP doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a park reservation, at least not for HS.
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Actually being an AP holder doesn't guarantee that you will get a park reservation. The day I wanted was not available for HS, but it was for the other three parks. They seem to have a limit of AP pass holders. The rest of my group (non-AP holders) had already reserved for that day. I called and I was told that I would have to get a normal ticket in order to go that day. They don't even offer a discount to get a new ticket. I am a Silver pass holder, maybe if you're in a higher tier it's different, but I think it's good to be aware that nowadays having an AP doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a park reservation, at least not for HS.

No, I know -- I meant an AP holder doesn't have to purchase a ticket for access to the reservation system. Doesn't guarantee a spot, like you said, but any non-AP guest would have to buy a ticket to even attempt to get a reservation. People aren't going to be sitting in Texas, buy a ticket, and book a park reservation when they likely wouldn't even be able to get there if they did get a boarding group. Just a waste of $100+.
 

breyes

New Member
No, I know -- I meant an AP holder doesn't have to purchase a ticket for access to the reservation system. Doesn't guarantee a spot, like you said, but any non-AP guest would have to buy a ticket to even attempt to get a reservation. People aren't going to be sitting in Texas, buy a ticket, and book a park reservation when they likely wouldn't even be able to get there if they did get a boarding group. Just a waste of $100+.
It's just that I was shocked to find out I had to get a ticket even though I pay for an annual pass. I wasn't expecting that. Thanks.
 

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