Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opening reports and using Boarding Groups at Disneyland

[Ismael Flores]

so i took the chance and came to the park.

i have tobsay that it is a pretty stressful experience.
got to the toy story parking lots at 6:42 and had to wait for the only five buses that were operating.

crowd was long but since i am considered disabled i decided to use the disabled line. three buses arrived and ours was last to depart.

i was surprise that they were not using the security gates at the parking lot.

got to the shuttle drop off zone and place was packed. luckily no one had noticed the last line closest to DCA had opened. six people in front of us and it was held up because of a back and forth regarding a selfie stick. finally nade it thru at 7:15 and now im stressing because the lines were pases the middle point.

luckily the lines moved quck and they opened them at 7:15. we were in park by 7:35 and waited.

chatted up some tourist that had been there since Thursday and still hadn't had been able to get boarding passes for any day. A father wih six children was stressing because his kids all they wanted was to see star wars. luckily he had a bit of relief when i told him that if for some reason they didnt get boarding passes to not forget the falcon ride. He had been under the impression thatbit was only one ride so he was a bit happier.

after all the stress we got lucky and got boarding 57.

not sure if i will do that again

 

[shambolicdefending]

A father wih six children was stressing because his kids all they wanted was to see star wars. luckily he had a bit of relief when i told him that if for some reason they didnt get boarding passes to not forget the falcon ride. He had been under the impression thatbit was only one ride so he was a bit happier.

This might be the best anecdotal example I've heard yet of the customer service mess Disney has created for itself.

 

[RobWDW1971]

. The guest looked at me like I was an idiot

The guest was right. Being “in-character” doesn’t mean to be an obnoxious tool.

 

[Ismael Flores]

in line to get breakfast and was talking to a group of ladies that have bene here several days. seems like they have bene having issues last few days. first day no luck getting boarding pass. second day they were finally in line and ride shut down towards end of night after boarding groups had all been called. they were given fastpasses but the problem was that it was valid only for day off. today they decided to try something else and they used the fastpass machines in tomorrowland.
one person in front of them and it turned out to be someone that had according to her a dozen tickets to scan. people then started freaking out and cutting in. they managed to get passes when they scanned their tickets but they all ended up in different groups. two of them are within two numbers 58 and 69 apart so they technically can just wait till the second one is called but the other got 125.
they seemed a bit ed and headed to city hall. hopefully since they already had fastpasses they couldn't use and only one has an idd number maybe they can accommodate them with one person

 

[socalifornian]

in line to get breakfast and was talking to a group of ladies that have bene here several days. seems like they have bene having issues last few days. first day no luck getting boarding pass. second day they were finally in line and ride shut down towards end of night after boarding groups had all been called. they were given fastpasses but the problem was that it was valid only for day off. today they decided to try something else and they used the fastpass machines in tomorrowland.
one person in front of them and it turned out to be someone that had according to her a dozen tickets to scan. people then started freaking out and cutting in. they managed to get passes when they scanned their tickets but they all ended up in different groups. two of them are within two numbers 58 and 69 apart so they technically can just wait till the second one is called but the other got 125.
they seemed a bit ****ed and headed to city hall. hopefully since they already had fastpasses they couldn't use and only one has an idd number maybe they can accommodate them with one person

Yeah that happened with my group. A CM in front of City Hall fixed it with their iPod Touch or whatever that is

 

[Californian Elitist]

Anyways, @Ismael Flores let us know what you thought of the ride.

 

[IMixHits]

And I'm pretty sure now that this is why I never posted here. After many long years of just reading posts, I thought I would take a chance yesterday and share my Boarding Group experience as well as the breakdown update from the empty room. I posted a picture of cast members discussing operational information as they changed staffing positions, which prior to that picture they were being kind, informative, and engaging with the guests patiently waiting through an approximately 45 minute lapse. How it went from that to most assuming they were gossiping, complaining, or scrolling through IG is completely beyond me. Other than the park being EXTREMELY packed I had a great experience by making great use of the max pass and going to nice little hidden restaurant at one of the on property hotels. Lines were really long but I was able to get on most E tickets and able to make my way home by 3. Was going to try again this am but was up a few minutes too late to make the 45 minute drive. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[Disney Analyst]

And I'm pretty sure now that this is why I never posted here. After many long years of just reading posts, I thought I would take a chance yesterday and share my Boarding Group experience as well as the breakdown update from the empty room. I posted a picture of cast members discussing operational information as they changed staffing positions, which prior to that picture they were being kind, informative, and engaging with the guests patiently waiting through an approximately 45 minute lapse. How it went from that to most assuming they were gossiping, complaining, or scrolling through IG is completely beyond me. Other than the park being EXTREMELY packed I had a great experience by making great use of the max pass and going to nice little hidden restaurant at one of the on property hotels. Lines were really long but I was able to get on most E tickets and able to make my way home by 3. Was going to try again this am but was up a few minutes too late to make the 45 minute drive. Maybe tomorrow.

I truly appreciated you clarifying the photo, and it seems most somehow missed your detailed post. Whatever feeds the narrative many want to push on here about CMs I guess.

 

[Californian Elitist]

And I'm pretty sure now that this is why I never posted here. After many long years of just reading posts, I thought I would take a chance yesterday and share my Boarding Group experience as well as the breakdown update from the empty room. I posted a picture of cast members discussing operational information as they changed staffing positions, which prior to that picture they were being kind, informative, and engaging with the guests patiently waiting through an approximately 45 minute lapse. How it went from that to most assuming they were gossiping, complaining, or scrolling through IG is completely beyond me. Other than the park being EXTREMELY packed I had a great experience by making great use of the max pass and going to nice little hidden restaurant at one of the on property hotels. Lines were really long but I was able to get on most E tickets and able to make my way home by 3. Was going to try again this am but was up a few minutes too late to make the 45 minute drive. Maybe tomorrow.

Thank you for telling us about your experience and clarifying what the CMs were doing in the photo.

I hope this doesn’t completely deter you from posting here. Your contributions are welcomed.

 

[MadamMansion]

This is not entirely correct. Was on a tour a few weeks ago. Standard VIP Tours have access to MFSR. There is no access to ROTR whatsoever. The sole exception to this is if you spring for the $12,000.00 "Land of Dreams Tour," they do offer you access to ROTR - along with a private tour of the Dream Suite, Walt's Apartment, all food included and a few other "perks" above the standard tour.

By comparison, the standard VIP Tour is $425-650/hour, depending on the day, while the "Land of Dreams" tour is a flat charge of $12K for up to 12 hours.

This is the exact same situation in Florida, which offers an upgraded "World of Dreams" tour.

It's good to know that they have added Target Run to the VIP tours. When we inquired in December, we were told that neither Batuu attraction would have special access with a tour.

 

[ResistanceJunkie]

today they decided to try something else and they used the fastpass machines in tomorrowland.
one person in front of them and it turned out to be someone that had according to her a dozen tickets to scan. people then started freaking out and cutting in. they managed to get passes when they scanned their tickets but they all ended up in different groups. two of them are within two numbers 58 and 69 apart so they technically can just wait till the second one is called but the other got 125.

Anyone know how the physical boarding groups work? If the app exhausts all boarding groups within a minute I can't imagine very many people getting physical groups especially if your have to scan each ticket separately.

Do only the first ten people or so in that line get a group or does the system allocate more than a minute worth of (non backup) boarding groups?

 

[Ismael Flores]

Anyways, @Ismael Flores let us know what you thought of the ride.

just got off the ride and it was amazing will post more later

 

[TP2000]

so i took the chance and came to the park.

i have to say that it is a pretty stressful experience.

It is stressful, and there's no guarantee you will win a Boarding Group. It's crazy that this is the system they have in place for at least the mid-term (Six months? A year?), but here we are. Mr. Chapek has immersed us!

chatted up some tourist that had been there since Thursday and still hadn't had been able to get boarding passes for any day. A father wih six children was stressing because his kids all they wanted was to see star wars. luckily he had a bit of relief when i told him that if for some reason they didnt get boarding passes to not forget the falcon ride. He had been under the impression thatbit was only one ride so he was a bit happier.

It's important to remember that we are in the minority here, a small group of fans who spend way too much time on stuff like this. The vast majority of visitors to Disneyland are not like us. That dad with six kids is not a stupid person, he's likely quite intelligent and successful in life to have six children and be able to take them to Disneyland.

And yet for three days in a row he was unable to win a Boarding Group, while he pays out the wazoo for tickets, meals, hotel, souvenirs, etc.

I think the execs who run Disney theme parks forget who their customers are, and what they need. This whole Rise Before Dawn lottery system on the App is just the latest example of that. And it's really quite sad.

Like you, I don't know that I'm going to be rushing back to Disneyland at dawn to try and win a Boarding Group for that day. The ride is very good, but it's not that good. At least for me.

We'll be interested to hear your thoughts later, now that you finally got to ride it!

 

[TP2000]

The parks are extremely busy again today for the Presidents Day weekend and vacation week. Luckily the ride is having one of its better days thus far. Already at Boarding Group 80 at 2pm!

Wait Time for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland - Thrill-Data

Learn what to ride and when with wait times at Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Orlando, Universal Hollywood, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Cedar Point, and more

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[The Mom]

Please stay on t5opic. Thank you.

 

[Emmanuel]

Just a bit after 7pm and the ride had broken down but they're slowly groups again. Currently calling groups 112-114

Despite this, the ride has had a string of good days getting lots of groups called and on a holiday weekend too.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I’m not ashamed to say that I spoke to my co-workers while onstage (the horror!) and to make things worse, our conversations weren’t always about Fantasyland and guests.

The kind of robotic behavior Disney and, as I see here, some fans expect of cast members is one of the main reasons why I would never work for the company again. I got pulled to the side once by one of my leads for not smiling enough. I almost got written up for being at the nurses’ and getting treatment for an open wound during my fifth hour. It was moments like these that made me realize that Disney was not concerned for me as a human being, but wanted me to as perfect as possible for guests.

Side banter does not equal bad guest service. My conversations about things outside of work never stopped me from doing my job, “making magic,” and making sure guests were having wonderful experiences. My conversations never stopped the good reports I received from guest service. I’d argue the side conversations that had nothing to do with guests and Fantasyland helped us establish camaraderie and actually benefited guests in the long run. I realized I was at my best when I worked with CMs I knew well and got along with the best. We’d always talk to each other about picking guests out of crowds for random acts of kindness (making magic) and would team up to ensure guest satisfaction. I’m not saying any and all side banter is okay, but it’s not always bad.

It’s entirely possible that the CMs photographed were actually talking about what was going on with the ride and how long it would take to get it back up and going.

CMs are human beings, folks.

My one rebuttal to that would be these are not supposed to be cast members though. These are supposed to be Battu citizens with immersive back stories, especially these ones who are resistance fighters in hiding, and there is no on stage and back stage with them, they are supposed to be immersive at all times.

 

[IMixHits]

If we shouldn't expect to hear side banter from costumed characters walking around in a hot suit all day and they are expected to stay in character all day without complaining in front of guests then the non costumed characters have no excuse either.

Some will agree, some will not. These kids have a tough job. The few times I've been on Rise I've seen them give their best only to be rebutted by "guests" that are loud, obnoxious, trying to be comedians with corny Dad jokes. I get it.. it comes with the territory but cut them a little slack. With 30 some thousand employees I'm sure there's a few that won't meet everyones expectations. Every one I came in contact with yesterday was top notch and on a few occasions throughout the day, I made sure to let a lead or manager know when I felt someone went above or beyond.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Sorry. I am day late and a dollar short on it but felt the need to reply even if you have moved on. threads from the past get bumped because someone has a new perspective to add. i am only a day late.

Mom has asked us to stay on topic. So let’s do that.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Mom has asked us to stay on topic. So let’s do that.

Well on that topic, I am very worried when I go this summer I wont get a boarding group either of the 2 days I attend. I have read all the tips and watched many videos on how to do it. and read horror stories of how it all went wrong. With a stand by queue there is never a guarantee of getting on because rides break down all the time but I would rather spend my time in the queue at a fair shot to ride it with everyone else than play Disney Lotto and risk not having a chance entirely. I know its in place due to the capacity issues but as a guest that is not my fault. Don't open the ride if its not ready to take a full queue of guests. I am taking my girlfriend for her first trip ever and I want her to experience the ride. hell, I do too. Even if i dont get it there is still plenty to do at Disneyland but if you are going to advertise a new ride to me with ads that say NOW OPEN then dammit I expect to ride it!