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

[wishiwere@wdw]

Ouch, how long has it been down?

Edit: right when I checked the app they called 82.

Yeah. I suspect it will be close.

85 now but I am giving up any hope for today. Tomorrow was my AK day. I wonder if I should give that up and try tomorrow? I don't have a fast pass for FoP so I wont be giving up too much. I will have to see what time we wake up because I know Monday shouldn't be as crowded.

I actually got a push on my phone apologizing that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate our backup boarding group but now that it’s up and running again, I have to wonder if it might end up getting close to 120. Maybe a bit of a premature warning?

 

[DCBaker]

Yeah. I suspect it will be close.

I actually got a push on my phone apologizing that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate our backup boarding group but now that it’s up and running again, I have to wonder if it might end up getting close to 120. Maybe a bit of a premature warning?

They may just be trying to push to get to 96 (perhaps a bit higher) to make sure they hit the guaranteed groups. Currently sitting at 92.

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

They may just be trying to push to get to 96 (perhaps a bit higher) to make sure they hit the guaranteed groups. Currently sitting at 92.

See that as well. Definitely not moving along at a typical operating pace; whatever that may be lol. I tend to agree now that it may just barely make it through the guaranteed groups. And who knows how smoothly those rides are even going at this point. I feel terrible for those who’s vacations were messed up with all of this.

 

[DCBaker]

Squeaking out a few more groups past 6pm - current groups called at 6:30 are 89-105.

 

[DCBaker]

Final group for the day looks to be 113.

 

[KevinPage]

This has been discussed multiple times in multiple posts by @disneygeek90, myself and others but I feel obligated to reiterate what what works best (so far) to get a good/early boarding pass.

I’ve done the BG process 13x, but 6x under the current lottery system (with great results 4 out of the 5 times). I’ve had parties ranging from 1-5 people & obtained 25, 21, 131, 13, 28, 22.

1. Get into the park BEFORE 7am. That doesn’t mean 6:58 or 6:55, that means as close to 6:30 as possible. Why? We know MDE is a bit wonky and with so many people having to synch and recognize that their band has been scanned, I have no proof, but mildly strong suspicion, that the more lead time you give it, the better. (The day I had issues I got in at 6:52am)

2. As long as you have a good cellular signal, turn off blue tooth, WIFI, close out all programs/apps, & restart your phone. Don’t tweet, Instagram or play any games. Chat with another human being and have the entire power of your phone dedicated to loading MDE when the time calls for it.

3. Prior to getting in the park (and again once I get in), I make sure that the MY STATUS button is RED in MDE. Join Boarding Group should be grayed out but the 1 and only time I had an issue (and got 131), both buttons were grayed out as I entered the park and never turned red until I opened and closed the app 4-5x. Cost me 2 minutes before I could grab one.

4. Ignore the people around you being in MDE before 7am. Ignore the constant Disney announcements about the BG’s. Especially ignore the announcement that Disney loves to do at 6:59am, which I’m sure causes legions of people to start pounding the app.

5. HOLD OFF AND WAIT UNTIL YOUR PHONE CHANGES TO 7am. Unless someone needs CPR, ignore them. 2 minutes prior to 7am, I let my kids know to cease with the questions and requests as they will be ignored.

Then click to open app (from SCRATCH/FRESH).

If Disney’s servers are not delayed the JOIN BOARDING GROUP icon red, click, add party and then CONTINUE.

I have never done the My Status and bounced back and forth in the app. If JOING BOARDING GROUP is not red, I fully close the app and reload it.

Good luck

 

[disneygeek90]

I don’t quite know where this belongs but this was from last nights SNL and seemed relevant regarding the Fastpass conversations

 

[TOMIESTEEL]

I opened the app from complete close at 6:59:59. Join boarding group was red. After trying the More Info > My Status technique yesterday I’m only opening from close from now on. That way seems really unreliable and you waste too much time refreshing, clicking my status etc.

I was at the parking booths about 6:25 and tapped in at 6:40.

Thanks !

 

[TOMIESTEEL]

So wait, all the main groups were gone at 7 AM? How long did the backup groups last? Based on the numbers reported here it sounds like they may have all been gone a few minutes after 7.

That could be a big issue going forward if more people are showing up at opening. There are going to be some very angry people if they get up, get to the park before opening, and can't even get a backup group.

Running the ride with only a couple of people on it seems like an issue too -- I don't know that there's any way to avoid that first thing in the morning with the BG system (and sounds like an awesome experience for @disneygeek90) but not the best thing for operations/efficiency.

I checked my app this morning at 8:01 and BG were still available

 

[GinaD613]

Going next week. Does anyone know what time buses from AS Movies start running? Where would I find out? Really want to avoid renting a car or calling an Uber for the sake of one ride.

BTW, thank you to everyone who has researched this and come up with best procedure for getting a BG. (And you can stop now so the rest of us get a shot at getting to ride - just kidding!)

 

[MJJME]

Looks like Disney might be thinking about making a change to the BG system? They were surveying guests coming off the ride

 

[UNCgolf]

Going next week. Does anyone know what time buses from AS Movies start running? Where would I find out? Really want to avoid renting a car or calling an Uber for the sake of one ride.

BTW, thank you to everyone who has researched this and come up with best procedure for getting a BG. (And you can stop now so the rest of us get a shot at getting to ride - just kidding!)

They should start at 6:15; buses are supposed to run 45 minutes prior to opening.

With that said, it's probably safer to call an Uber/Lyft. Disney buses will absolutely get you where you want to go (and I use them regularly), but they're not reliable from a timing standpoint if you need to be somewhere at a specific time -- it can easily take 45 minutes to get where you want to go because of a late bus, full bus (although that shouldn't be a problem for the first of the day), etc.

An Uber/Lyft ride should only cost $15-20 max unless you need a big one, and then you can just call a Minnie Van (with Lyft) for about $30 with car seats and so on included. You'd only need to use one to get to the park since you can use the buses to get back to the resort.

 

[MJJME]

I have been reading some articles that this is very flawed system and lots of people have been complaining. Can anyone shed any light on this?

 

[jt04]

I have been reading some articles that this is very flawed system and lots of people have been complaining. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Some articles? I only know of some blog posts. Plenty more appreciate BGs. Some people think they have a better plan. Short of a random lottery the day before or charging for FPs, everything else creates even earlier arriving crowds. I suggest they limit APs to one boarding group per week or month. Except for premium.

 

[MJJME]

Some articles? I only know of some blog posts. Plenty more appreciate BGs. Some people think they have a better plan. Short of a random lottery the day before or charging for FPs, everything else creates even earlier arriving crowds. I suggest they limit APs to one boarding group per week or month. Except for premium.

So there's no truth to it?

 

[UNCgolf]

So there's no truth to it?

It's all opinion. I personally don't think it's a great system as currently constituted and that there are better options, but others love it and think it's the best Disney can do.

As long as you get to Hollywood Studios by 6:45 so that you're inside the park when BGs open at 7, you should be able to ride unless they're having a terrible day and the ride keeps breaking down.

 

[DisneyAndADoleWhip]

Going next week. Does anyone know what time buses from AS Movies start running? Where would I find out? Really want to avoid renting a car or calling an Uber for the sake of one ride.

BTW, thank you to everyone who has researched this and come up with best procedure for getting a BG. (And you can stop now so the rest of us get a shot at getting to ride - just kidding!)

We just went last week and stayed at All Star Sports. We were told by CM at desk that it was 6:15. We gambled on it being earlier and got a bus at 5:30. Don’t believe what they tell you.

 

[bferrara16]

Some articles? I only know of some blog posts. Plenty more appreciate BGs. Some people think they have a better plan. Short of a random lottery the day before or charging for FPs, everything else creates even earlier arriving crowds. I suggest they limit APs to one boarding group per week or month. Except for premium.

On the topic of alternative solutions, I’d love it if there were multiple lotteries per day. Maybe every 2 hours. If you get in one, you’re precluded from the rest of day.
And my question- I’m in WDW now and tomorrow is DHS day. I’m without a FP for slinky and have a kid who desperately needs to ride it so I think I have to get near front of RD crowd for that. Any advice tips for people in my shoes who are trying to accomplish that as well as pick up a good BG? What time would I need to arrive for that?

 

[kverdon]

Question for IOS App users. When people say “Refresh the App” to check for a boarding group do you mean git < to go back a page and then hit “Find out More” again?

 

[disneygeek90]

On the topic of alternative solutions, I’d love it if there were multiple lotteries per day. Maybe every 2 hours. If you get in one, you’re precluded from the rest of day.
And my question- I’m in WDW now and tomorrow is DHS day. I’m without a FP for slinky and have a kid who desperately needs to ride it so I think I have to get near front of RD crowd for that. Any advice tips for people in my shoes who are trying to accomplish that as well as pick up a good BG? What time would I need to arrive for that?

The problem I see with the allotment strategy is that groups would go even quicker. Insanely quick. We hear reports of people being 2 minutes late and getting group 100+. If they were issuing, say, 20 groups every 2 hours, you would realistically need to have a group within 15-20 seconds to get one. That seems even less friendly to the slower or larger groups.

Question for IOS App users. When people say “Refresh the App” to check for a boarding group do you mean git < to go back a page and then hit “Find out More” again?

Most of us are completely closing the app, swiping it up on the phone so you get the Mickey fireworks etc right at 7.