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

[Nunu]

I was there last week. I found that, if you can drive to the park, that is your best option for getting in the virtual queue. Arrive at the entrance plaza as close to an hour beforehand without getting turned around. (I went to HS on two separate days and I got turned around on the first day and drove clockwise all the way around the park and returned 5 minutes later). I got into the park before 10:00 am (current park opening) and was immediately ready to join the virtual queue at 10:00 am. On my first day, I just hung out in Ronto Roasters and joined when my phone hit 10:00 am. I got group #28. In fact, on my first day, I was staying at Pop and got in line for the Skyliner which stretched all the way down the lake. I thought, "Forget this. I'll never get to the park in time." From Pop, a drive is a left out the main entrance onto Victory Way and a right into HS. So that's what I did. On my next day, I was in the queue for MMRR and was almost on the ride when it hit 10:00 am. I joined the queue and got #16.

So, with a car, would you suggest heading to DHS at 9/9:30? At what time do they allow people to enter the parking lot? Thanks!

 

[JohnD]

So, with a car, would you suggest heading to DHS at 9/9:30? At what time do they allow people to enter the parking lot? Thanks!

Arrive at the entrance plaza at around 8:45 or so. Time your drive to the entrance plaza as close to BEFORE 9am as possible. If you see flashing lights, you may get turned around. If that happens, just keep making rights until you return. (Right on Osceola Parkway. Right on World Drive. Right on Buena Vista Drive. Right on Victory Way. Right on HS entrance). It takes about 5 minutes to circle around HS. If not, be thankful you're held outside the entrance plaza which starts moving right at 9am. That way, once through, you're directed to a parking spot close to the front. You'll still have to walk from your car but it's not that far. Then you can go through temp screening, security, and entrance before 10am. Feel free to position yourself wherever you want to hit first but keep an eye on your phone for joining the queue at 10am.

 

[Nunu]

Arrive at the entrance plaza at around 8:45 or so. Time your drive to the entrance plaza as close to BEFORE 9am as possible. If you see flashing lights, you may get turned around. If that happens, just keep making rights until you return. (Right on Osceola Parkway. Right on World Drive. Right on Buena Vista Drive. Right on Victory Way. Right on HS entrance). It takes about 5 minutes to circle around HS. If not, be thankful you're held outside the entrance plaza which starts moving right at 9am. That way, once through, you're directed to a parking spot close to the front. You'll still have to walk from your car but it's not that far. Then you can go through temp screening, security, and entrance before 10am. Feel free to position yourself wherever you want to hit first but keep an eye on your phone for joining the queue at 10am.

I'll do just that. Took the Skyliner twice last time, got BG's but it was nerve-wracking, I barely made it on time.

Thank you for the detailed tips.

 

[Dapale]

I found that, if you can drive to the park, that is your best option for getting in the virtual queue.

What do you think our chances are if we're staying at Old Key West? We're heading down there Thanksgiving week and I know that the BUS service starts only 45 minutes prior to park opening. I've been to WDW a ton, but obviously Covid-19 has changed a bunch. Do you think our chances are fine with using the bus service? Even if we don't get a chance at 10am, I'm still confident that I could get a boarding group at 2pm. Just wanted to know your thoughts and if you had any input

 

[JohnD]

What do you think our chances are if we're staying at Old Key West? We're heading down there Thanksgiving week and I know that the BUS service starts only 45 minutes prior to park opening. I've been to WDW a ton, but obviously Covid-19 has changed a bunch. Do you think our chances are fine with using the bus service? Even if we don't get a chance at 10am, I'm still confident that I could get a boarding group at 2pm. Just wanted to know your thoughts and if you had any input

Well, as with everything else, arrive at the bus depot more than an hour before park opening. Hopefully, you'll be toward the front of your queue when the bus arrives. If not, just remember that queues look longer than they really are due to social distancing markers. Also, fewer people are in buses for social distancing but at least you get a seat. But that also means you might have to wait for more than one bus. However, they have been stacking in more buses, particularly at resorts like Pop.

 

[Ldno]

Arrive at the entrance plaza at around 8:45 or so. Time your drive to the entrance plaza as close to BEFORE 9am as possible. If you see flashing lights, you may get turned around. If that happens, just keep making rights until you return. (Right on Osceola Parkway. Right on World Drive. Right on Buena Vista Drive. Right on Victory Way. Right on HS entrance). It takes about 5 minutes to circle around HS. If not, be thankful you're held outside the entrance plaza which starts moving right at 9am. That way, once through, you're directed to a parking spot close to the front. You'll still have to walk from your car but it's not that far. Then you can go through temp screening, security, and entrance before 10am. Feel free to position yourself wherever you want to hit first but keep an eye on your phone for joining the queue at 10am.

thank you for being indepth, i always hear suggestions to keep making a circle but given how they changed the entrance i’m not familiar with(i used the skyliner and used rideshare before) it’s all new to me!!

 

[DCBaker]

87 is the last group of the night, called around 7pm (1 group more than yesterday).

 

[DCBaker]

10am slots filled in ~8 seconds.

 

[DCBaker]

2pm slots filled in ~8 seconds. Current groups called up to 42 (2 groups more than yesterday).

 

[DCBaker]

85 is the last group of the night, called around 6:30pm (2 groups less than yesterday).

 

[gorillaball]

What do you think our chances are if we're staying at Old Key West? We're heading down there Thanksgiving week and I know that the BUS service starts only 45 minutes prior to park opening. I've been to WDW a ton, but obviously Covid-19 has changed a bunch. Do you think our chances are fine with using the bus service? Even if we don't get a chance at 10am, I'm still confident that I could get a boarding group at 2pm. Just wanted to know your thoughts and if you had any input

I would offer another option, for roughly $10. Uber to Boardwalk (or road going into Boardwalk) and walk over, get there slightly before 9a (at least at current 10a park open). This will get you ahead of the Gondola and parking lot crowd, you can bust out Mickey’s runaway railway, plus another ride likely, then worry about boarding group at 10a. Win win win for $10.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I would offer another option, for roughly $10. Uber to Boardwalk (or road going into Boardwalk) and walk over, get there slightly before 9a (at least at current 10a park open). This will get you ahead of the Gondola and parking lot crowd, you can bust out Mickey’s runaway railway, plus another ride likely, then worry about boarding group at 10a. Win win win for $10.

Tweak: Uber to the Speedway near Boardwalk. Shorter walk. Option of buying gas station breakfast!!

 

[gerarar]

How do you know all this? Are you a CM? You report on Rise stats daily. We get it. All groups gone within 10 seconds or so. 80 some odd groups a day.

The backend API endpoint for the ROTR BGs, which is used by the MDE app, is public in which anyone can look at it (at anytime of day) and decipher information from it.

In this case, we can calculate how fast BGs are distributed and the current range of BGs being called.

 

[DCBaker]

10am slots filled in ~7 minutes.

 

[dmw]

10am slots filled in ~7 minutes.

7 minutes, not seconds??? If this is not a typo, would that indicate an increase in capacity?

 

[RFM57]

7 minutes, not seconds??? If this is not a typo, would that indicate an increase in capacity?

Or a big tech foul up, or LOT of people need to reset their watches...

 

[Magic Feather]

Or the ride instituted the increased capacity that we’ve been waiting on for ages.

 

[marni1971]

Or the ride instituted the increased capacity that we’ve been waiting on for ages.

Apparently it was 7 minutes but the changes won’t increase capacity by that much !

Me thinks a) the park was dead or b) something went oopsie

 

[UNCgolf]

Apparently it was 7 minutes but the changes won’t increase capacity by that much !

Me thinks a) the park was dead or b) something went oopsie

I was wondering about this. If the demand is starting to drop now that cases are skyrocketing.

 

[marni1971]

I was wondering about this. If the demand is starting to drop now that cases are skyrocketing.

I’d think it was the latter.