I got there at 445 because I figured if I’m going to be there early, I might as well rope drop MFSR and see if I can be pilot (yes I was, not it wasn’t worth it). Also I didn’t want to be in the middle of the crushing mass of humanity everybody has made Hollywood boulevard out to be, I figured front of the pack would be safer.
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News Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Standby Line and Boarding Groups at Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
DryerLintFan
Premium Member
Did you feel you got any benefit out of being there that early?
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Sorry...should have specified that the sites I was mentioning WERE NOT Touring Plans. I love TP and have been using that site basically forever.
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
The cost/benefit analysis is different for everybody.
My family is happy to wake up at the crack of dawn and would prefer to stand in front of tapstiles for an hour to guarantee short waits for everything we want over the next couple of horus, rather than stand in attraction queues for the rest of the day.
A family with whom we are very good friends would rather have a slow, lazy morning, arrive to a park in the middle of the day, and stand in long lines for everything. They are keenly aware that they could shorten all of those waits by arriving early (the wife was a Disney World cast member in her college days, in fact), but they prize the ability to "take their time" as much as my family prizes the ability to "get 'er done." Whereas my family finds navigating through crowded areas to be stressful, our friends "feed off of the energy" of a crowd, and actually enjoy being a part of it.
I rejoice that there are people like them. Even if I don't wholly understand their choices, it's their way of vacationing that allows my family to enjoy ours. If everyone showed up first thing, there'd BE no more rope drop advantage...
disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I don't think there's a "right" answer here. SR line was crazy yesterday.
SDD will likely see a large wait all day so it might be good to get it out of the way if possible. There was a significantly smaller crowd at "rope drop" waiting for RnRC and ToT, so both of those would have been a near walk on. I personally hopped on ST at about 7:15 yesterday and it was no more than a 10 minute wait. I wanted to check out the new scenes from the movie.
Epcot_Imagineer
Well-Known Member
I should have also added that despite the reviews I haven't done MF:SR so I'm going to wanna get in line for that. Is it manageable without fastpass all throughout the day or should I still attempt to ropedrop it?
Aschwenker
Member
Long time reader, first time poster 
Frequently Asked Questions:
Frequently Asked Questions:
- When should my party arrive?
- At least 30 minutes prior to park opening to allow time to park, walk/tram to security, clear security, and enter the park
- How do I get to Disney's Hollywood Studios?
- Using whatever means you normally would. Buses start running at least 60 minutes before opening. If you are at one of the Epcot resorts, you can walk. You can take a Minnie Van or Uber/Lyft. You can drive. If you are at Caribbean Beach, Riviera, Pop Century, or Art of Animation, you can take the Skyliner.
- When does the parking lot open?
- At least 90 minutes prior to park opening
- When does security open?
- Around the same time the parking lot opens
- Should I bring a bag or not?
- It appeared to make no difference as long as you arrive to security at least 15 minutes prior to park opening
- When will I be let in the park?
- At least 30 minutes prior to park opening
- What are Boarding Groups?
- Boarding Groups work like Fast Passes in that they reserve your place in the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (RotR) instead of your party waiting in a standby line
- When do Boarding Groups become available?
- Boarding Groups only become available at the official park opening time
- How do I get a boarding group?
- You must use the My Disney Experience (MDE) app or have a Guest Experience Team (GET) Cast Member (CM) do it for you. Select all of the members in your party as you would for a Fast Pass to reserve your Boarding Group together.
- Note: every member of your party must be inside Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS) before they can join a Boarding Group
- Does my entire party have to be inside Disney's Hollywood Studios to get a boarding group for everyone?
- Yes, without exception, anyone who wants to join a Boarding Group together must be inside DHS. It does not matter where in the park you are
- What if something happens with the touchpoint (i.e. I didn't have to scan my fingerprint) that I am not registered as "in the park"?
- There have been no recent reports of this in the past two weeks. My entire family of 7 had no issues and we had 3 annual passes, one military salute, one comp ticket, and two one-day tickets between us
- If you have an issue where the app tells you certain members of your party are not in the park, deselect them and continue to reserve a Boarding Group then find a GET CM as soon as possible
- Do my tickets need to be linked to my My Disney Experience account?
- Yes. Link the tickets before arriving at DHS or as soon after arrival as possible
- Does everyone in my party need a My Disney Experience account?
- No, but, like Fast Passes, everyone's tickets must be linked to the account of the person making the Boarding Group reservation; otherwise the unlinked people must make their own Boarding Group reservation
- Will my friends and family be auto-selected when I get to the "Join a Boarding Group" screen?
- No. You will have to select them manually, though there is a Select All button. If you have a large Friends and Family section, you may find it useful to remove the people who will not be with you at DHS
- What if I do not have a smart phone or the My Disney Experience app?
- You can use the My Disney Experience website or visit a GET CM
- Should I use Disney Wi-Fi?
- There are conflicting reports where some people have been successful using Disney Wi-Fi and others have not. If you have 4G LTE and your signal strength is two bars or more, I would recommend against using Disney Wi-Fi to book Boarding Groups
- Should multiple people in my party attempt to book Boarding Groups at the same time for the same people?
- Absolutely. Since each guest can only have one Boarding Group, whoever makes the reservation first will win, but, since Boarding Groups are reserved so quickly, time is of the essence.
- Note: anyone who is not linked via My Disney Experience will have to make their own Boarding Group reservation
- Should I cold-start the app or simply flip back and forth between My Status and Find Out More or the home screen and Find Out More?
- This depends on your Internet connection. It appears that the Find Out More and My Status pages both trigger a web request to determine the status of Galaxy's Edge/RotR
- Personally, I closed all the apps on my iPhone 11 and hit the MDE icon when my iPhone's clock flipped to 7:00AM (opening time on 1/1). The app loaded without incident and I was able to join a Boarding Group with the 5 other members of my party that my MDE account was linked to the first time. We received Boarding Group 43. My brother did the same with his iPhone 8 and received Boarding Group 60.
- I arrived at 4AM for a 7AM opening and got Boarding Group 135 and the person next to me arrived at 6:59AM and got Boarding Group 7, what gives?
- Due to the large volume of Boarding Group reservations occurring within a short time frame, the difference of a few milliseconds can mean receiving a Boarding Group much higher than the person next to you. This could be due to any number of reasons (i.e. phone model, apps running in the background, signal quality, tap speed, Internet routing, database transaction queuing, etc.)
- By and large, it appears Disney is indirectly attempting to disincentivize arriving extra early for park opening by giving anyone who is inside the park an equal opportunity to reserve a Boarding Group
- My party had to reserve Boarding Groups separately and one group received Boarding Group 43 and the other received Boarding Group 60, can we all be placed in Boarding Group 43?
- Yes. First ensure that the person making the request is in the later Boarding Group and their MDE account is linked to the MDE account of someone in the earlier Boarding Group. Then visit a GET CM (there are always some waiting as you enter Galaxy's Edge from the former Streets of America entrance) and ask them politely to place you all in the earlier Boarding Group
- This happened to my brother on his comp ticket not being attached to me when I made the Boarding Group reservation for the other 6 people in our party. Since he was attached to my mom and could see both Boarding Group reservations from his MDE, the GET CM took care of it
- Can I leave the park after receiving a Boarding Group?
- Yes. After rope dropping your first ride (or two), the wait times for most E-ticket rides at DHS will skyrocket because of all the happy people with Boarding Groups. You have two hours to return to RotR after your Boarding Group is called
- When will my Boarding Group be called?
- On a typical day, the ride averages 15-18 Boarding Groups per hour. A general rule of thumb is to take your Boarding Group number, divide by 15, and add that to the park's opening time. For example, my Boarding Group 43 was called at 9:57AM on January 1, which, by my estimation, should have been called around 9:52AM if the ride were averaging 15 groups per hour.
- How do I know what Boarding Groups have been called?
- There are signs in front of RotR, Frozen, and at the wait times chalk board (bet you didn't know that existed) as well as within the MDE by clicking on Find Out More. Sadly, that page does not auto-refresh and you have to click out of it and back in to refresh it. You can also click My Status if you have a Boarding Group and it will give you a graphic of your astromech droid preparing your place in line with a five-step process. The closer to the end, the closer you are to being called.
- My Boarding Group was called, what do I do?
- Proceed to the entrance of RotR to have your Magic Band or ticket scanned for entry, just like a Fast Pass. You have a two-hour window to return for the ride
- What is the difference between a "planned" and "backup" Boarding Group?
- A "planned" Boarding Group is exactly that, Disney has planned for RotR to operate long enough to permit all of the planned Boarding Groups for a given day an opportunity to ride that day. A "backup" Boarding Group has no such guarantees and may not be called at all
- Note: A "planned" Boarding Group is not guaranteed to ride, but will receive compensation if, for some reason, the Boarding Group number is not called
- What if my Boarding Group is not called?
- If you have a "planned" Boarding Group but RotR is not operating efficiently enough to reach your Boarding Group number by the end of the day, you will receive a notification in MDE and Disney will offer each member of your party a one-day park hopper ticket and an anytime Fast Pass to RotR that will automatically appear in MDE. Simply return on another day (it does not have to be the next day) to use the park hopper and/or the Fast Pass. Depending on how egregious Disney considers the failure, you may also receive an anytime, any experience Fast Pass for any other DHS ride as well
- If you have a "backup" Boarding Group and your number is not called, you will receive no compensation
- What if I am riding Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or simply in the queue and the ride breaks down to the point where guests are evacuated?
- Like not having your planned Boarding Group called, you will receive a one-day park hopper ticket, an anytime Fast Pass to RotR, and an anytime, any experience Fast Pass for any other DHS ride as well
- I have backup Boarding Group 137 but it appears that they have stopped at Boarding Group 136 for the night, can I still ride?
- You can go to the entrance of RotR and ask if they will let you in. They might or might not depending on how backed up the queue is. If you were a guaranteed group and received compensation, they will not let you ride and keep the compensation
- Why aren't guests staying on property being offered the opportunity to reserve Boarding Groups ahead of other guests?
- This is the way Disney has settled on the Boarding Group process currently, like a raffle where you must be present to win
- Are you issued a Boarding Group randomly?
- Unlikely. The high volume of reservations occurring within such a short time frame is what results in the seeming randomness
- What happens if Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance completes all the planned and backup Boarding Groups issued for the day before the day is over?
- It appears that the ride then closes for the day, though the number of backup Boarding Groups issued on any given day is not made available. Asking a CM in Galaxy's Edge will get you accused of being a spy for the First Order, meaning they either do not know or Disney does not want you to know
- When will Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance switch from Boarding Groups to Stand By-only like Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run?
- No one really knows. My best guess is when the ride is operating with enough capacity and reliability that the anticipated wait time would not adversely impact guest experience and satisfaction
- When will Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and/or Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run switch to Fast Pass?
- Both rides have Stand By and Fast Pass entrances, so the short answer is "eventually". No one really knows when, though my best guess is when Disney feels that waits would not exceed 3-4 hours on a typical day. Disney wants guests walking around, having fun, and spending money. If they are stuck in a queue for 6 hours, they are not happy or spending money
- When I arrive at Disney's Hollywood Studios, how do I know if Boarding Groups for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance are still available?
- There are plenty of pop-up signs before the entrance to DHS, at the entrance to the DHS track of the Skyliner at Caribbean Beach, and within MDE to alert you to boarding group status
- Is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance worth all this extra effort?
- The general consensus is that this is the best ride that has ever been created anywhere and most die-hard Disney/Star Wars fans will go to any effort required. However, the ride is not going anywhere, and it will eventually receive Fast Pass and a Stand By line
- What was your experience like?
- Thank you for asking! I went and rode once, on January 1, 2020, a 7AM opening for DHS. My party of seven adults arrived in three separate cars between 6:30 and 6:35AM. We all walked to security separately. Some of us had bags and some did not. We were all through security by 6:45AM, though not all together because the no-bag line was faster than the bag line. We went through the touchpoints separately and met up in front of Oscar's at 6:55AM. Our group had three annual passes, one military, two one-day base tickets, and a CM comp ticket. The group directly in front of me flashed at the touchpoints, so I had to wait for a minute or so while a CM pulled them aside to figure out what was wrong. Once inside, we proceeded through the camera shop up past Trolley Car to the Sunset/Hollywood intersection Even though there was a mass of people, there was constant movement towards Starbucks. At 6:57AM, my brother and I closed all our open apps (he has an iPhone 8, me an iPhone 11) and when the clocks on our phones showed 7:00AM we both opened the app and reserved a boarding group without issue. I received group 43 with 5 of the members in my group that were connected to me in MDE and my brother received group 60. We then went straight to Slinky and waited 40 minutes for that. When we got out we got food at Woody's Lunch Box/Starbucks and had my brother added to our Boarding Group. Then we went to the 9:30AM Frozen because Smuggler's Run was a 160 minute wait. Right before Frozen ended we got the notice that our Boarding Group had been called at 9:57AM. We rode the ride together, were wowed at the experience, and then watched Muppetvision. Then we promptly left the park to take a nap because our Fast Passes didn't start until 6PM because I had anticipated getting a 100+ boarding group and leaving after Slinky.
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disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
If you haven't done it I would go ahead and do it first if you're near the front of the line. If not, maybe wait until it cools off in the afternoon. There is also a single rider.
disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
Prob should put a spoiler over that.
TPSou
Member
Didn't see if anyone had answered, but basically whoever gets it first gets it for both, then the other person will get an error message saying you are already in a group. When we did it I was trying by myself but the app wouldn't refresh so my wife started it from scratch and got one straight away, then my app immediately said I was already in a group.
Rich Brownn
Well-Known Member
Once a battery reaches a certain level you can either incorporate management on peak use (that's what apple does and some Android phones do) or, if a peak request is hit, the phone simply shuts down.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
That seems wrong.
Oscar Vega
New Member
Hello @Aschwenker thank you for that in depth Question and Answer. It is super helpful.
I am also a long time reader and this is my first post.
I will be heading over to Disney on the weekend of February 21st and actually going to Hollywood Studios on that Saturday, February 22nd. I still believe that the Boarding Groups will still be in effect. We are a group of 9 going on Saturday and we will be there early to hopefully get a good Boarding group number.
My question is has anyone joined/added a boarding group of 9 people or more on the MDE app? I will be the one adding Boarding group, so I just want to know of anyones experience if they had a large group? Or should we break up our group into 4 and 5 member groups?
I appreciate any information all of you can give me.
Thank you
I am also a long time reader and this is my first post.
I will be heading over to Disney on the weekend of February 21st and actually going to Hollywood Studios on that Saturday, February 22nd. I still believe that the Boarding Groups will still be in effect. We are a group of 9 going on Saturday and we will be there early to hopefully get a good Boarding group number.
My question is has anyone joined/added a boarding group of 9 people or more on the MDE app? I will be the one adding Boarding group, so I just want to know of anyones experience if they had a large group? Or should we break up our group into 4 and 5 member groups?
I appreciate any information all of you can give me.
Thank you
I hadn’t done pilot on MFSR and wanted to see if it was worth it (eh) and I got onto another ride too before the mobs made every line 90+ minutes. So if your goal is to rope drop a premier attraction at the same time and don’t want to wait over an hour to ride anything, yes, there is a benefit.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Personally, I agree. If I want to relax with the “Disney difference,” I take a Disney Cruise. And they still provide exceptional service!
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
These things aren't mutually exclusive. I've never rope dropped and I've also never waited hours in line. People are interested in different things. If I had to get up super early to have a good time at Disney, I would never go because that wouldn't be any fun.
Not that I'm not willing to get up super early for things... Disney just isn't a place where I feel like I need to do that to enjoy myself (I'd be far more likely to get up super early for golf, or to go somewhere like the Louvre or the British Museum if it was required). I still get to the parks well before noon and spend the whole day there (I have no interest in sitting at the pool or hanging out around the hotel); I just don't rush to get there the second they open.
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That wouldn't work unless they announced it as a policy.
disneygeek90
Well-Known Member
I watched someone next to me book with a group of 9 on one device yesterday. She clicked "select all" and then unchecked the one person that was on her list not with them. Depending on how many other friends are on your list, that's probably the fastest.