Long post sorry....
All right Demarke I trusted you, took your advice. Depended on you for the well being of my two Star Wars fans sons. I spent hours researching this because my youngest two sons are huge Star Wars fans, and I wanted them to experience this. It was not for me but for them.
Here's the play by play of what happened....I am a writer by trade so forgive......
On Wednesday February the 26th I used your process,
We got inline from Pop Century for the bus at 6:20. There were already 30 or so people there in the hotel line. That immediately made me nervous. But we caught the first bus to HS which arrived at around 6:40. They dropped us off, and then we were in line to get in the park by 6:50 with....maybe hundreds, perhaps over a thousand people. It was intimidating just how many folks were there. After the grueling process of waiting in line, we got in the park at around 7:10. Took us ten full minutes to get my youngest son a wheelchair, and get where we were going. Perhaps at around 7:20 we were in line to sign up for Jedi Training Academy. We stood there for 10 minutes. About the time we signed up I shut down my phone as Denmarke instructed. . They started signups around 7:30. We got my youngest son signed up for the earliest show,
At 7:35 we went to animation courtyard because a friend of mine told me that is where the "internet is strongest". I don't know squat about that stuff so I went there. We were there by 7:40.
Once we were at the courtyard, I paced like a cat asking everyone around us what their strategy was. It was clear to me everyone was keeping there app open and using Disney WIFI. I was so nervous....I mean really this is what Disney envisioned? I was the only one there not staring at an open ap.
I mean this was the WHOLE reason we took this quick trip. If we had not gotten on, we would have tried the next day, if not then, well "we blew it". I was trusting this complete stranger because I trust WDWMAGIC.
I was also doubtful about turning my phone off and leaving it off till that soon before "Go Time".
I was so worried I actually started trying to turn my phone on two minutes before Denmarke suggested at 7:53. I have had problems getting my iphone x to turn back on quickly.
My phone responded at 7:54.Made sure my Wi-fi and Bluetooth were off, and I did not hit any button with the exception of the screen shot I took of Demark's instructions. I did not open the app till 7:57.
At 7:57 I opened the app. It took a few seconds to respond. It opened to the home page, at "find out more"....I sat and watched the open app at 7:58. It was a brutal two minutes.
My older son watched his clock and he counted down out loud 3...2...1.. to me at 8:00.
At exactly 8:00 I hit "Find Out More" and the "Join Boarding Group" link was lit. I hit it, and then quickly selected my two younger sons as my ride companions as quick as I could.
It was a grueling few seconds as the internet churned.
And then I was rewarded....
Group #28.
Elation!
My two Star Wars fanatic sons love you Demarke, although they don't know you. BOOM!!!!! We celebrated with fist bumps and that moment was worth the whole trip. I took a quick screen shot just in case something screwed up, and we were all on cloud nine
Just about everyone around us got in, but not as low as 28. I do think Animation Courtyard has better Wi-Fi. Being where the offices are.
The only stress we had was that the ride did not go operational till about 9:30 that day.But we were not that worried at 28.
My youngest did Jedi Training at the 9:40 show and by the time it was over the ride was up, and we went to the que....
When we walked up to the attendant they were actually surprised when i said we had a boarding group. I guess most folks were trying to get in without a group?
My youngest son has lots of issues, so we qualify for the guest assistance pass, so we got on within 5 minutes. And the rest is family history.
But on the other hand....The Down side to me....
On the down side It was horrible watching the people complain.I mean we literally watched dozens of people complaining to Cast Members at every turn. I mean everywhere we went folks were complaining. They had Internet problems, or they got there right at 8:00. They did not know what to do, etc.....
The line for the blue tents everywhere was huge..The frustration, the despair, and disappointment. I understood 100% because that's where I would have been without the Demarke method. I empathized with everyone of the complainers. It's just not fair to the average guest.
Seriously, this was too stressful, the only reason I knew what the Demarke method was because I researched a long time out of stress. Disney should not be like this.
I just do not like this. I mean the elation of "winning" was not worth the stress. The entire reason I took two of my boys down to Disney was for this ride. I bought two day tickets, just in case we missed the first day,
So we went to MK today and had a relaxed day...in spite of the heavy crowds.
I wish I could tell Disney this one thing about Rise.....Just let fans wait for the freaking ride! Figure out some way. Make it fair. Because this lottery just stinks 100%. People spend way to much to come to Disney to get turned away from this one ride.
As far as my assessment of ride goes....
OMG....that ride.....best ride (of it's kind) ever and the future of rides...Total Immersion. I think Disney learned a thing or two from the Escape room phenomenon, I mean the immersion aspect, and put their stamp on it. For once Disney out innovated Universal.
Home Run Disney 98/100
too bad not everyone can experience it based on their choice.
On anther note
We tried Chewbacca mode on SR as well but failed on that both times, the other folks who rode with us were apathetic to our attempts both times lol
