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

[UNCgolf]

the BG system is not perfect, but let’s say there was no BG system, no fastpass, just standby. You would get on a multi hour line not knowing if you would get on. With the BG system, I know in the morning, I am not going to get on, and with no waiting.

Oh yeah, standby would be impossible right now because of how often the ride goes down. Fastpasses would still be doable, but they'd probably have to work a little differently than current Fastpasses. They could probably do something like allow a certain number per day that are guaranteed spots in the first 50 boarding groups or something. They would all be gone within seconds 60 days out, though.

 

[Weather_Lady]

the BG system is not perfect, but let’s say there was no BG system, no fastpass, just standby. You would get on a multi hour line not knowing if you would get on. With the BG system, I know in the morning, I am not going to get on, and with no waiting.

I think "knowing if you would get on" first thing was a benefit when the park openings were at 7am or earlier -- if you struck out, you could go be first in line at another park's rope drop.

Now, it's not really a comfort. Disney has now allowed HS opening times to creep up to the point where if you show up at HS at rope drop for an 8am opening, and don't get into a BG, you no longer have sufficient time to park hop elsewhere and get in line well before that park's rope drop. So now if you lose the BG lottery, you've gambled away your rope drop advantage at every park (since there is no such thing as as rope drop advantage at HS anymore), and your whole morning is going to suck, no matter where you spend it. (Slight hyperbole there.) This may be no big deal for the casual visitor, but for the infrequent one who's dropped major money and planned for years for a few precious days at WDW, a ruined morning or two is a huge, hairy deal.

I agree with you that there's no better alternative to Boarding Groups at this point, but Disney sure as heck could do its guests a solid by opening HS early enough for the disappointed masses to be able to rope drop somewhere else if they can't get a decent boarding group at HS. Given that the lack of adequate capacity and reliability on RoTR is a mess entirely of Disney's making and they're still promoting it with ads on TV and online every 30 seconds to sell more tickets, it's the least they can do.

 

[MJJME]

I think "knowing if you would get on" first thing was a benefit when the park openings were at 7am or earlier -- if you struck out, you could go be first in line at another park's rope drop.

Now, it's not really a comfort. Disney has now allowed HS opening times to creep up to the point where if you show up at HS at rope drop for an 8am opening, and don't get into a BG, you no longer have sufficient time to park hop elsewhere and get in line well before that park's rope drop. So now if you lose the BG lottery, you've gambled away your rope drop advantage at every park (since there is no such thing as as rope drop advantage at HS anymore), and your whole morning is going to suck, no matter where you spend it. (Slight hyperbole there.) This may be no big deal for the casual visitor, but for the infrequent one who's dropped major money and planned for years for a few precious days at WDW, a ruined morning or two is a huge, hairy deal.

I agree with you that there's no better alternative to Boarding Groups at this point, but Disney sure as heck could do its guests a solid by opening HS early enough for the disappointed masses to be able to rope drop somewhere else if they can't get a decent boarding group at HS. Given that the lack of adequate capacity and reliability on RoTR is a mess entirely of Disney's making and they're still promoting it with ads on TV and online every 30 seconds in an effort to sell HS tickets, it's the least they can do.

Do you not like the idea of assigning BG's the night before? prevents crowds in am and lowers the lines for popular rides since most of the BG people would wait until their approximate ride time...……….

 

[rustincohle]

Way too far out to predict at this point

And yet Disney ask us to put our plans in place 180/60 days in advance

 

[Weather_Lady]

Do you not like the idea of assigning BG's the night before? prevents crowds in am and lowers the lines for popular rides since most of the BG people would wait until their approximate ride time...……….

No, because I'm sure 10x the number of people would be competing for them, since it would require no effort on their part, and there would be a stomach-churning number of no-shows.

The biggest problem with RoTR is still capacity. So in my view, the best thing WDW can do is open HS earlier, and keep it open later, because that's the only thing that will allow more people per day to ride RoTR right now -- and an early opening would still give a consolation prize to guests who can't get a BG but can have a decent position in the rope drop line at another park. In other words, longer park hours help everybody: the number of joyful people with BGs will go up, and those who can't get one won't be wholly deprived of other viable options to start their day.

 

[disneygeek90]

Do you not like the idea of assigning BG's the night before? prevents crowds in am and lowers the lines for popular rides since most of the BG people would wait until their approximate ride time...……….

I don't see obtaining groups from the comfort of wherever you are as a viable option, that's basically the fastpass system but a day out rather than 60. I think there needs to be a little effort to get a group to keep the competition reasonable. With potentially hundreds of thousands trying online the night before, I'd love to see everyone whining even more about the difficulty to obtain a group.

Even more so, we don't know how they are determining how many groups to issue from day to day. It could depend on how much or how little maintenance they accomplish over night.

 

[MJJME]

No, because I'm sure 10x the number of people would be competing for them, since it would require no effort on their part, and there would be a stomach-churning number of no-shows.

The biggest problem with RoTR is still capacity. So in my view, the best thing WDW can do is open HS earlier, and keep it open later, because that's the only thing that will allow more people per day to ride RoTR right now -- and an early opening would still give a consolation prize to guests who can't get a BG but can have a decent position in the rope drop line at another park. In other words, longer park hours help everybody: the number of joyful people with BGs will go up, and those who can't get one won't be deprived of other viable options for their day.

right, makes sense

 

[disneygeek90]

Group 58 at 12:47. Nearing the end of the guaranteed groups.

 

[SoFloMagic]

Ok, I think I've got the solution:
Build another copy of the trackless portion of the ride backstage. Build a second hallway out of the stormtrooper room to go to load 2 (soarin' style). Boom, ToT-style redundancy and improved uptime and capacity.

 

[flynnibus]

Now, it's not really a comfort. Disney has now allowed HS opening times to creep up to the point where if you show up at HS at rope drop for an 8am opening, and don't get into a BG, you no longer have sufficient time to park hop elsewhere and get in line well before that park's rope drop. So now if you lose the BG lottery, you've gambled away your rope drop advantage at every park (since there is no such thing as as rope drop advantage at HS anymore), and your whole morning is going to suck, no matter where you spend it. (Slight hyperbole there.) This may be no big deal for the casual visitor, but for the infrequent one who's dropped major money and planned for years for a few precious days at WDW, a ruined morning or two is a huge, hairy deal.

I think this is more hypothetical than real tho...

We hear plenty of complaining that people don't even want to rope drop... and now you are trying put a value on the idea trying to rope drop not one.. but try two parks? I don't see that being a meaningful audience..

 

[DCBaker]

1:11pm - first backup boarding group, 63, has been called.

 

[Purduevian]

Ok, I think I've got the solution:
Build another copy of the trackless portion of the ride backstage. Build a second hallway out of the stormtrooper room to go to load 2 (soarin' style). Boom, ToT-style redundancy and improved uptime and capacity.

Easiest solution is to remove the droid from each ride vehicle and add a seat in it's place. Boom, I just upped the attraction capacity by 12.5%

 

[gerarar]

Easiest solution is to remove the droid from each ride vehicle and add a seat in it's place. Boom, I just upped the attraction capacity by 12.5%

Nah the easier solution is to remove the prison transports altogether and make it a walk (or run)-through attraction. Boom, I just upped the attraction capacity by 87.3%

 

[MisterPenguin]

Now, it's not really a comfort. Disney has now allowed HS opening times to creep up to the point where if you show up at HS at rope drop for an 8am opening, and don't get into a BG, you no longer have sufficient time to park hop elsewhere and get in line well before that park's rope drop. So now if you lose the BG lottery, you've gambled away your rope drop advantage at every park (since there is no such thing as as rope drop advantage at HS anymore), and your whole morning is going to suck, no matter where you spend it. (Slight hyperbole there.) This may be no big deal for the casual visitor, but for the infrequent one who's dropped major money and planned for years for a few precious days at WDW, a ruined morning or two is a huge, hairy deal.

For the rest of the month, DHS is opening at 8 am and all the other parks at 9 am. That makes Epcot certain rope-droppable.

The other can be at least very early morning such that rides haven't built up huge lines yet.

Although from personal experience, this past weekend and Monday were extraordinarily busy. All day long. All parks.

And especially DHS. It was like HEA crowds in DHS all day long.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Nah the easier solution is to remove the prison transports altogether and make it a walk (or run)-through attraction. Boom, I just upped the attraction capacity by 87.3%

Legit question. Could Rise of the Resistance work as a totally walk-through attraction????

You'd obviously lose the AT-AT elevator and the Escape Pod. But most of those effects still work if you're just walking on through them.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Legit question. Could Rise of the Resistance work as a totally walk-through attraction????

You'd obviously lose the AT-AT elevator and the Escape Pod. But most of those effects still work if you're just walking on through them.

If y'all are going to discuss the details, please hide them behind a Spoiler label for those of us who want to keep it a surprise.

 

[disneygeek90]

Legit question. Could Rise of the Resistance work as a totally walk-through attraction????

You'd obviously lose the AT-AT elevator and the Escape Pod. But most of those effects still work if you're just walking on through them.

How is this a legitimate question, lol

 

[MisterPenguin]

Busy, busy...

And on a Monday in February...

 

[Purduevian]

Legit question. Could Rise of the Resistance work as a totally walk-through attraction????

You'd obviously lose the AT-AT elevator and the Escape Pod. But most of those effects still work if you're just walking on through them.

Not at all, too many actions are triggered as specific points in time based on ride vehicles. Just of my head, the following events wouldn't work quite right if there was a constant stream of people walking through:

Spoiler: Ride Events

-Prob droid dropping in front of you
-Storm Troopers pointing at you, talking at you, and shooting at you and blasting away part of the ceiling
-More Storm Trooper shots in the AT-AT Room
-AT-AT Room door closing in your face
-AT-AT shooting at you
-Hux and Kylo dialog and Kylo turning towards you
-Ships appearing on the bridge screen
-Kylo chasing you into the elevator
-Kylo lightsaber punch through the ceiling in the fake elevator
-Giant guns moving into and out of ride path
-All of the final Kylo End scene
-the end drop and simulator

If you remove all of the "scripted" events listed above you have a very pretty walk through past some interesting set pieces. Basically all of those "resets" would be kinda weird to see.

 

[Kamikaze]

No, because I'm sure 10x the number of people would be competing for them, since it would require no effort on their part, and there would be a stomach-churning number of no-shows.

The biggest problem with RoTR is still capacity. So in my view, the best thing WDW can do is open HS earlier, and keep it open later, because that's the only thing that will allow more people per day to ride RoTR right now -- and an early opening would still give a consolation prize to guests who can't get a BG but can have a decent position in the rope drop line at another park. In other words, longer park hours help everybody: the number of joyful people with BGs will go up, and those who can't get one won't be wholly deprived of other viable options to start their day.

Except for the little reliability problem.