VQ/BGs (Virtual Queues/Boarding Groups)... Yay or Nay? (Better alternatives?)

[MJJME]

Don't care about Disneyland. Both resorts operate uniquely and will require specific rules.

Security is a consideration. They are investing millions in crowd control and they might have to just accept this as part of operating costs.

The new E+ attractions (as I call them) are changing the dynamics. Systems that worked in the past might have to be rethought. The 50th anniversary will bring further challenges.

i came up with my best thoughts and welcome any critique. I always appreciate critics that post a better solution. And look forward to your ideas.

PS- my plan B is a pure lottery the day before. If you win, you are unable to reenter a new lottery for 7 days. (Per attraction) No exceptions.

Only one lottery per guest/party each day.

Early arrivals are out of the question in any scenario because of safety issues. Ideally they would keep BG in place of standby lines. I would suggest FP for resort only guests for a limited percentage of the availability at the 60 day mark. I would also limit in state AP to ride once per week to open up availability. Out of state AP would get 6 rides per year and could use however they liked. I would then offer BG twice per day for the remaining availability in order to give day guests a chance to ride day of, but not limited to park opening. The only real operational hurdles I see are the 2nd BG during the day. That would take some trial and error

 

[MJJME]

I do. Plenty of younger families will over rotr.

Yes but in general, rotr will be way more popular than mmrr (especially after its been open for a bit and the novelty wears off)

 

[SoFloMagic]

Yes. Another person who hasn't read the posts. Those weren't my suggestions. Disney is conducting surveys to possibly change the way you access the ride.

my point was the vast majority of people at Disney do not get up at 5:30 to get on a ride and the small minority (likely you) Do and that's why Disney started the surveys. I suggested tweaking the BG process to prevent Disney from going to FP/standby and keeping BG by satisfying the majority by making small tweaks that would not overall affect the BG process.

but if you'd rather FP and waiting in 4+ hour standby lines then stick to your non rocket science argument and continue shutting out a large portion of Disney's customers instead of tweaking it and keeping your minority advantage.

You like FOP right SoFlyMagic? Well 99.5% of you can't get a FP for it unless you are a resort guest 60 days out.

so I say to you if you want to ride it, go wait in line for 4 hours.

That stinks right?

Get it now?

Wouldn't you rather a system that you have an opportunity to get on the ride without waiting in line while Disney still satisfys the resort guests that book at 60 days?

get it now?

So would you rather the chance to ride once a week with BG or go to FP/standby?

I actually have never been on FOP. I don't ever reserve hotels 60 days out, and don't want to wait even the 1 hr it would be at the end of the night. And I'm OK with that decision. I know what I need to do to ride it, and I don't care enough to do so. But I also don't complain about the system, as it would be fairly easy for me to get past those hurdles.

As for your other question, I think boarding groups are great. No stampede to the ride, no long waits, calm and orderly compared to rope drop. And a very short wait for the ride.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

as a tool to reduce overall park congestion during opening week/month? yay

as a last-resort measure to balance out the disaster of an opening that lasts longer than a month? big nay

I actually have never been on FOP. I don't ever reserve hotels 60 days out, and don't want to wait even the 1 hr it would be at the end of the night. And I'm OK with that decision. I know what I need to do to ride it, and I don't care enough to do so. But I also don't complain about the system, as it would be fairly easy for me to get past those hurdles.

As for your other question, I think boarding groups are great. No stampede to the ride, no long waits, calm and orderly compared to rope drop. And a very short wait for the ride.

Boarding groups don't always have those benefits though. I wish my job had been calm and orderly, and trust me, the stampede is still there, they just kinda gravitate to Smuggies instead. I would actually argue that the stampede is worse, considering there are more people there at rope drop than there would be with a traditional system. and as of late, those with later boarding groups get the 1+ hour waits that you wouldn't like.

also you should ride FoP, it's better than Rise

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Not compared to ROTR. Do you really think more than 5% of the people would choose it all things being equal?

I think too many people forget that Mickey is a far bigger and more global brand than Star Wars

and even then, we're notoriously bad at predicting popularity of a ride. Who would have thought that FoP is still a 200+ minute wait years after it's opening?

 

[ImperfectPixie]

WDW has been training visitors to get up early to make ADRs and advance Fastpasses at 60/30 days for literally YEARS. The only difference between those and getting a Boarding Group is that you're doing it in Hollywood Studios instead of at home on your computer...and I'd bet the odds of getting a Boarding Group are way better than trying to get a highly sought-after Fastpass.

Anyone who wants to ride badly enough will get up and get to the park...just like they get up early to reserve Fastpasses at home.

 

[Jon81uk]

My husband is battling lyme disease and has a complicated morning protocol he has to follow. If he doesn't follow it, he'll feel horrible and the rest of his day will be ruined. He cannot physically be anywhere by 7 AM. We schedule all of our fastpasses after 10 or 11 AM. The only time we can rope drop is at Disneyland because we live on the east coast -- so he stays on east coast time and is awake 3 hours early the whole time we're in California. That way he has time to follow his morning protocol. If BGs are always gone in the 7 AM hour, we will never ever get to ride RotR. I wish they had just done Fastpass+ like every other popular ride. Then we'd have the same chance as everyone else to ride. We're coming to Disney next month for 8 days, and I've already resigned myself to the fact that we just won't get on RotR.

It will get probably get FP+ in the future. But right now the ride isn't reliable enough to be able to guarantee that those turning up at the FP timeslot will be able to experience the attraction. Better not to make a promise of what time you can ride in case it breaks down.
The other option would to have done like Millennium Falcon and have it as 100% standby, so then you would arrive at 10am to find there already is a six hour line full of everyone who arrived before you and then you can stand and wait.
I don't know how Disney are handling disability access at present, but might be worth asking them.

 

[pierrecanal75]

In my view opening a new attraction should allow other rides of the resort to be "less crowded" which when you use VQ/BG is not possible....

 

[Dory71]

WDW has been training visitors to get up early to make ADRs and advance Fastpasses at 60/30 days for literally YEARS. The only difference between those and getting a Boarding Group is that you're doing it in Hollywood Studios instead of at home on your computer...and I'd bet the odds of getting a Boarding Group are way better than trying to get a highly sought-after Fastpass.

Anyone who wants to ride badly enough will get up and get to the park...just like they get up early to reserve Fastpasses at home.

I am the one who gets up early to make the fast passes. The problem is the rest of my family won't get up that early to get to the park...

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I am the one who gets up early to make the fast passes. The problem is the rest of my family won't get up that early to get to the park...

Well...I guess that's their choice, then? My boys (now 9 and 14) don't really enjoy getting up at 2am for a 6:30am flight to Florida when we visit, but they know the reward is there, so they happily accept it. Every trip we weigh the "get up early or sleep" choices for the duration of our vacation, and we nearly always end up choosing to get up. It's actually kind of odd when you consider that we enjoy sleeping in when we're at home.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I don't know how Disney are handling disability access at present, but might be worth asking them.

"How does Disability Access Service (DAS) work with Rise of the Resistance?

Guests with disabilities that make them unable to wait in lines who have valid DAS on their account must still retrieve a Virtual Boarding Pass for Rise of the Resistance, using the same method as all other guests. Once you have your boarding group number, go to the attraction entrance and get a Cast Member to sign you up for a DAS return time via your park ticket or MagicBand. You will still have to wait until your boarding group is called, but when you return to the ride you’ll be allowed to use the FastPass queue, expediting your entry into the first preshow."

 

[Jon81uk]

"How does Disability Access Service (DAS) work with Rise of the Resistance?

Guests with disabilities that make them unable to wait in lines who have valid DAS on their account must still retrieve a Virtual Boarding Pass for Rise of the Resistance, using the same method as all other guests. Once you have your boarding group number, go to the attraction entrance and get a Cast Member to sign you up for a DAS return time via your park ticket or MagicBand. You will still have to wait until your boarding group is called, but when you return to the ride you’ll be allowed to use the FastPass queue, expediting your entry into the first preshow."

So for guests with DAS they would be better if the ride was operating with regular standby instead of BGs. If the ride was standby only with a six hour wait, they could get a DAS return time and not have to stand in the actual line or arrive early in the morning as the standby line should allow admission later into the day (it may of course still close before park close). Of course guests without DAS would be worse off as they have to be present in the line. and if the ride breaks down then everyone loses!

 

[MJJME]

WDW has been training visitors to get up early to make ADRs and advance Fastpasses at 60/30 days for literally YEARS. The only difference between those and getting a Boarding Group is that you're doing it in Hollywood Studios instead of at home on your computer...and I'd bet the odds of getting a Boarding Group are way better than trying to get a highly sought-after Fastpass.

Anyone who wants to ride badly enough will get up and get to the park...just like they get up early to reserve Fastpasses at home.

big difference....one adult (in my case, already at work) has to log on to get FP vs. waking entire group up at 5:30am, 1 1/2 before park opening just to get in line to maybe get a ticket? not even comparable

 

[ImperfectPixie]

big difference....one adult (in my case, already at work) has to log on to get FP vs. waking entire group up at 5:30am, 1 1/2 before park opening just to get in line to maybe get a ticket? not even comparable

big difference....one adult (in my case, already at work) has to log on to get FP vs. waking entire group up at 5:30am, 1 1/2 before park opening just to get in line to maybe get a ticket? not even comparable

I'd much rather get up early and have a decent shot at getting a Boarding Group, or an even better shot at getting a Backup Group (which seem to be lasting longer every day) and then be able to go do what I want, than either pray that I can get a Fastpass 2 months out or spend hours standing in line.

 

[Purduevian]

I really think a big issue with the current system is the lack of "Trade offs" required to hold a boarding pass. Yes, people need to get up early, but other than that, they are free to go about their day the exact same way as someone that does not have a boarding pass. My solution:

Boarding Groups now require you to NOT use Fastpasses while holding. If you attempt to use a fastpass while holding a boarding pass, the little Mickey will turn Yellow and a cast member will be there to give you two options, Sacrifice your current fastpass OR sacrifice your Boarding pass.

 

[MJJME]

I'd much rather get up early and have a decent shot at getting a Boarding Group, or an even better shot at getting a Backup Group (which seem to be lasting longer every day) and then be able to go do what I want, than either pray that I can get a Fastpass 2 months out or spend hours standing in line.

me too but we are in a small minority unfortunately Disney is trying to make sure most of their guests get a chance to ride while keeping operational nightmares to a minimum

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I really think a big issue with the current system is the lack of "Trade offs" required to hold a boarding pass. Yes, people need to get up early, but other than that, they are free to go about their day the exact same way as someone that does not have a boarding pass. My solution:

Boarding Groups now require you to NOT use Fastpasses while holding. If you attempt to use a fastpass while holding a boarding pass, the little Mickey will turn Yellow and a cast member will be there to give you two options, Sacrifice your current fastpass OR sacrifice your Boarding pass.

Why? People are able to hold multiple fastpasses at once. Disney isn't going to penalize people for wanting to ride Rise...they might as well shove them out of the gates and invite them to spend money elsewhere if they do that.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

me too but we are in a small minority unfortunately Disney is trying to make sure most of their guests get a chance to ride while keeping operational nightmares to a minimum

Why is that unfortunate though? You say you like the boarding pass system, but then keep almost arguing against yourself. I think the Boarding Group system is fabulous.

 

[disneygeek90]

I really think a big issue with the current system is the lack of "Trade offs" required to hold a boarding pass. Yes, people need to get up early, but other than that, they are free to go about their day the exact same way as someone that does not have a boarding pass. My solution:

Boarding Groups now require you to NOT use Fastpasses while holding. If you attempt to use a fastpass while holding a boarding pass, the little Mickey will turn Yellow and a cast member will be there to give you two options, Sacrifice your current fastpass OR sacrifice your Boarding pass.

This doesn't make any sense. If I have a slinky fastpass at 8am and I have BG 65, why can't I ride slinky at 8?

You shouldn't have to sacrifice your whole day and scheduled fastpasses for a chance to ride one attraction.

 

[MJJME]

Why is that unfortunate though? You say you like the boarding pass system, but then keep almost arguing against yourself. I think the Boarding Group system is fabulous.

unfortune that they are likely trying to change the current system in one way or another......…….nobody wants to stand in line...…...id rather them keep the BG system but tweak it so they dont go FP/standby