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

carolina_yankee

Well-Known Member
No matter what system is going to be used, people will be shut out due to capacity, and people will voluntarily shut themselves out because the timing doesn't work for them.

I like the boarding groups because I feel like I actually have a chance to get one. It's up to *me* not the fates. If there were FP+ under the current rules, everybody would be shut out at 30 days, and most guests would be shut out at 60 days because the people checking-in before them have already snagged the times available for the overlapping booking windows. When FoP opened, I had a 9 night reservation. My first FP+ was 7 days in. At least rope-dropped worked there. So, I got my butt over to AK to rope drop FoP - and I got there at 6:45 am for an 8 am opening. How is that different than what I'm going to do next week?

Disney is an *active* vacation. If you want to chill take a cruise, go to the beach, hang out at Aulani, take a mountain retreat. You can plan active days and down days, so you *can* relax - but you have to plan it.

I remember as a kid getting up at 5 am for road trips to Myrtle Beach. I remember getting up at 5 am to fly to our destination. I remember getting up at 5 am to to get to the San Diego Zoo (because of where we were staying). If it's worth doing to people, they'll find a way to get there. If one really does need to start their day later than BP windows allow, then maybe this isn't the right time to go to Disney, or at least counting on riding RotR. It will settle down into something else more suitable at some point.

No system is going to be fair in terms of allowing everyone who wants to ride when they want to ride. Several systems permit people to organize themselves so that they can ride.

In our case next week, we have a 7 am open (DHS) to 9 pm close (Epcot), and nothing planned the next day until 4 pm. W00t!
 

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
Here's a proposed solution:

Keep everything the way it is for the time being. But give all AP holder one "any time pass" that can be used for the duration of their pass. That way, people who can't make rope drop due to work can at least get on the ride once. That way, they can be tell their Facebook feed how much they liked it and hype the ride up more.
Then you gotta give one to resort guests with a stay of 5+ nights. It never ends. If you give a mouse a cookie...
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
While I don’t think RotR is getting Fastpass anytime soon, I predict that either Mickey or RotR will go standby only on March 4; which one will depend on how reliable RotR is by then.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I'm sure Disney could whip up a RotR expansion (similar to TSMM or Soarin) where they just build a duplicate ride experience that could increase capacity by around ~800 pph and if they start development today construction will be done by 2037.

An issue that Disney could and should have foreseen, and for which it should have planned a "doubled" attraction in the first place! To the Disney execs who approved their "biggest and best and most hyped EVER" attraction to have a fraction of the capacity of "its a small world" I say, in my best Dwight Shrute voice, "IDIOTS!"
 

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
An issue that Disney could and should have foreseen, and for which it should have planned a "doubled" attraction in the first place! To the Disney execs who approved their "biggest and best and most hyped EVER" attraction to have a fraction of the capacity of "its a small world" and who didn't, instead, insist on a 5-land Star Wars fifth gate, I say, in my best Dwight Shrute voice, "IDIOTS!"
FTFY
 

gerarar

Premium Member
Just got word that my Friend’s mom and her daughter picked up group 80. She seemed a bit discouraged saying “they wouldn’t get on” and I let her know that wasn’t a bad number at all. Hoping the groups move well for them today and realllll glad I redirected their original arrival plan of “7-7:30” as one of them is out of state and won’t have another opportunity for a while.
They're probably gonna be riding before noon at the current rate! Almost to BG 50 at 9:30am!!

Nice start in the morning for ROTR
 
I will be heading over to HWS on Tuesday Feb 11th as of right now its a 9am opening.
What time should I arrive to the park to make sure I'm there in time to grab a ROTR boarding pass ?
 

MM311

Active Member
I will be heading over to HWS on Tuesday Feb 11th as of right now its a 9am opening.
What time should I arrive to the park to make sure I'm there in time to grab a ROTR boarding pass ?
I was just about to ask the same question for the week of 3/1-3/7, I'm wondering if all these 9am openings will ultimately be pushed to 7am?
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I will be heading over to HWS on Tuesday Feb 11th as of right now its a 9am opening.
What time should I arrive to the park to make sure I'm there in time to grab a ROTR boarding pass ?

It's highly unlikely that the opening time will stay 9am, so check back regularly.

Whatever the opening time is, you just need to be inside the park a few minutes before it opens so you can be ready. Just to be safe, I'd plan to arrive (by arrive, I mean strolling into the bag check/admissions area) no later than 30 minutes before opening (45 if you have to go through bag check), just in case there's a long line or some holdups getting through the gates. At least, if you're like me, you'll choose the one line where everyone ahead of you has a problem with their finger scan, and if you switch to another, faster-moving line, the first person in that line will immediately encounter the same issues, while the line you just left will abruptly start moving.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I was just about to ask the same question for the week of 3/1-3/7, I'm wondering if all these 9am openings will ultimately be pushed to 7am?

That's the theory. They'll be moved to 8am, if not 7am, but Disney may wait until just a few days beforehand to do it. Keep an eye on the changes they make to the February schedule as a good predictor of what they'll do for March.
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
I've realized this is a completely pointless discussion, because everyone is just in favor of something that's best for them. All the people in this thread who believe the current system is the most fair system believe that because it's the best system for them. If a different system was better for them, they'd think THAT was the most fair system. And the current system probably doesn't work well/isn't the best for all of the people who don't think it's the most fair system.

Not meant as an attack on anyone, by the way -- just human nature to think that way for most people.
 
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rowrbazzle

Well-Known Member
I have done it eight times now, arriving at the park at times ranging from 430a back in December to 630a yesterday. There are plenty of families with kids of various ages (strollers included) that are rope dropping to get BGs.

I have three kids - 2, 4, and 7. I did one 5:00 arrival with the 7 year old. This was before Disney started holding groups until 7:00. We weren't about to try that with the little kids, though. We did one day with the whole group arriving at 6:45 after Disney switched to 7:00 passes. As others have said, it wasn't a whole lot different than a getting them up on a school day. Once was fine, maybe twice in a week.
 

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
Yes I think you are correct. My guess is ROTR will slowly transform how it is accessed depending on reliability and whatever Disney deems necessary to make available to resort guests. My best guess is some sort of "blended" FP+ access along w BG. I think the BG system has both its pluses and minuses. But if this ride was 100% reliable and never broke down (like MFSR) it would already be on FP
Universal waited years to move their HP attractions to Express Pass, and that's a paid pass. I think operations are just realizing that fast pass is not great for an attraction right at open. When people are waiting 2 hours for a glorified Barnstormer, I think that sent a red flag to Disney that they need to try something different with new attractions.

Edit: Seems like we might have hit our first downtime of the day at group 60.
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
I have three kids - 2, 4, and 7. I did one 5:00 arrival with the 7 year old. This was before Disney started holding groups until 7:00. We weren't about to try that with the little kids, though. We did one day with the whole group arriving at 6:45 after Disney switched to 7:00 passes. As others have said, it wasn't a whole lot different than a getting them up on a school day. Once was fine, maybe twice in a week.

Yeah, I think it works fine for some families and not so well for others -- it's certainly not an across the board designation; life is more nuanced than that. And of course every day is different with kids, you could plan on doing it one morning and then have that just not work out for various reasons.

Regardless, it doesn't matter. It's the system Disney has chosen and they likely aren't going to change it until they open RotR to FastPass/standby.
 

Chadisa

Active Member
OK, I realize this is just a variation of the "does everyone in my group need to be in the park at 7 am to get a BG" question but I haven't seen this potential wrinkle talked about yet (and if effects me lol)...

If we know for a fact we will be doing rider swap, and traditionally with FP the second adult doesn't actually need a FP for said attraction - does my wife and 4 yr old need to be with me and my two older kids at 7? Meaning, does my wife HAVE to be assigned a BG if we are doing rider swap and I have a BG?

I hope that made sense.

Right now the day we are in HS (2/13) is still showing opening at 9 but I think we all know that won't be the case come that day so I am planning for a 7 opening.
 

DCBaker

Premium Member
OK, I realize this is just a variation of the "does everyone in my group need to be in the park at 7 am to get a BG" question but I haven't seen this potential wrinkle talked about yet (and if effects me lol)...

If we know for a fact we will be doing rider swap, and traditionally with FP the second adult doesn't actually need a FP for said attraction - does my wife and 4 yr old need to be with me and my two older kids at 7? Meaning, does my wife HAVE to be assigned a BG if we are doing rider swap and I have a BG?

I hope that made sense.

Right now the day we are in HS (2/13) is still showing opening at 9 but I think we all know that won't be the case come that day so I am planning for a 7 opening.

Both parents will need a boarding group if both will end up riding.
 

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