RotR Planning & Daily Boarding Group Discussion - *CLOSED*

[Opie100]

My parents went on December 10th. They got to the gate at Hollywood Studios about 6:45 AM and got boarding group 30. Then they did all 3 rides in Toy Story Land and waited 10 minutes to get on Tower of Terror. At 8:28 their group was called and they went to get in line. At 9:16 they had made it to the room with all the Storm Troopers when the ride shut down and they got a paper fastpass. At 10:58 they redeemed their fastpass and sent me pics of the entire ride at 11:33.

Good report -- did they have any FPs in Toy Story Land or did they do standby for those?

 

[Breezy2]

Vi Moradi is now playing telephone with the folks in the queue...
How long has the morning shutdown lasted previously??

Tuesday morning it was 1hour 20 minutes. Sit down, relax, enjoy the snacks. They brought us apples, bananas, carrots, chocolate chip cookies, chips, popcorn and water. It's worth the wait! May the Force be with you.

 

[Opie100]

Took the boat from swan... 540 ish. Through security.. in the mass of people.

Did you get the sense that was the first boat of the day? I assume people were on it from Beach Club/Boardwalk?

 

[wdw&sonny]

What's the highest BG assigned today?
I see BG 72 assigned to someone through tapstiles at 7:07.
I see BG were gone at 7:20.
Can someone who got a BG near to 7:20 report their BG number?
thanks.

 

[spot28]

, but we’re moving now!!!!...been about an hour

 

[princesspeaony]

Rey came and talked with my daughter for awhile which was sweet - she’s getting antsy though.
They announced a startup but everyone stood up, and, nuthin...

 

[Cloudless Nights]

Line is moving now

 

[TheMaxRebo]

but now guests can't complain that they were locked out of bg because the park opened so early. If you were in the park at 7am you could've gotten into a bg.

Unpopular opinion , but I see these 7am being worse for the guest experience:
There's more people lining up outside the park because the park is opening at 7am
There's more people joining the bg, thus having them go out faster
There's more people enjoying other attractions in the park, the "getting everything done before park opens" advantage is gone
And there's still going to be angry people that show up at 7:15-7:30 not being able to join a bg anyways
Just my opinion

It's definitely not as good for those will to go the extra mile/not rely on/trust Disney ... But obviously that isn't everyone and I am sure they were getting complaints- especially after days when BGs were gone even before the park listed opening time was

 

[osufeth24]

Man, past 2 days have looked brutal.

I'm rethinking about going next Wednesday. I'm just not sure I want to get there before 5 this time.

 

[Museick]

Well, yesterday it didn't even make it to official opening, but yeah

Wondering how buses were there s morning, if they started earlier/more early buses with the earlier opening. I am wondering if that is where a lot of complaints came - and, to be fair, you shouldn't*have* to pay for Uber/Lyft to get there in time to get a BG so this way resort guests can get there more reliably via Disney transport before BGs are gone

A family at Beach Club was utilizing the Minnie Van. Presumably pre-scheduled?? We saw the empty buses taking off from Hollywood at 5:45am as we were rolling in.

 

[billlaurie]

but now guests can't complain that they were locked out of bg because the park opened so early. If you were in the park at 7am you could've gotten into a bg.

Unpopular opinion , but I see these 7am being worse for the guest experience:
There's more people lining up outside the park because the park is opening at 7am
There's more people joining the bg, thus having them go out faster
There's more people enjoying other attractions in the park, the "getting everything done before park opens" advantage is gone
And there's still going to be angry people that show up at 7:15-7:30 not being able to join a bg anyways
Just my opinion

I agree, it just moves the masses in earlier, with the same outcome, BG are gone shortly after the park officially opens. But guests will have even less sleep and be more cranky!

 

[Opie100]

My times for today. Unfortunately arrived later than I hoped for.
Arrived at HS 6:36
Finished bag check 6:42
Tapstiles 7:07
Group 72

Thanks so much for everyone updating this thread as it helped prepare me for this day!

Thanks for reporting. Useful to see that arriving at 6:36 meant a 25-minute wait at the tapstiles. (at least for a 7am open)

 

[wdw&sonny]

BG 27 called ~8:30.

 

[ThistleMae]

That is the week I am there too and glad you mentioned the earlier posted opening time, as I didn't update my spreadsheet lol

Yes, keeping up on these boards is going to be important for everyone. They keep changing things and I need to make sure I'm updating my own calendar. Going end of Jan. beg of Feb. and they've already changed my EMH, the one day I had for HS. Thank you to those keeping us updated!

 

[tringlomane]

My times for today. Unfortunately arrived later than I hoped for.
Arrived at HS 6:36
Finished bag check 6:42
Tapstiles 7:07
Group 72

Thanks so much for everyone updating this thread as it helped prepare me for this day!

Wow. This might change our plans. Thanks for the info, sarah.

Very disappointed they moved the official opening to 7, even though word is probably getting out anyway.

We were considering getting a Minnie van that can accommodate 2 ECVs because we got non-portable ones (oops). But now even with a 630a pickup (the earliest they will do), we really chance not making it in time.

We might have have to ditch my gf's mother, who absolutely needs the scooter nearly at all times, in the morning and take normal Uber/Lyft without any ECV.

I really feel for any disabled people that don't either have their own transportation, or can't Lyft/Uber easily.

 

[Airb330]

I think my question now is: WiFi/LTE

I'm afraid that is dependent on your network. I have AT&T since it's generally the best in Philadelphia, Rootmetrics laughable survey notwithstanding. AT&T is also Disney's preferred carrier and back in 2013 they installed a bunch of distributed antenna systems and small cells on property. AT&T is generally solid at the parks, but I bet the other 3 carriers have caught up. I have noticed AT&T is abysmally slow at the new DHS bus stop, regardless of what LTE band I am on there, but blazing fast in Galaxy's Edge (there's a hidden small cell on Docking Bay 7). Unfortunately, I don't remember how AT&T LTE works at the park entrance. I'm still inclined to trust AT&T LTE over Disney Wifi but this post has me rethinking. I can't comment on Verizon or Sprint since I haven't had either in 5+ years at Disney World.

 

[unveilmyeyes]

It doesn't appear that this tactic increased the chance to snag a BG past the "official" park opening time anyway if they were gone at 7:20.

Welcome to the thread! Park opened officially at 7am today.

 

[ThistleMae]

It looks like all BG's were gone in 45 min. once guests were let in at 6:30 a.m., according to the thread keeping track of this. So by 7:15 no more BG's.

 

[sophy1996]

Wow. This might change our plans. Thanks for the info, sarah.

Very disappointed they moved the official opening to 7, even though word is probably getting out anyway.

We were considering getting a Minnie van that can accommodate 2 ECVs because we got non-portable ones (oops). But now even with a 630a pickup (the earliest they will do), we really chance not making it in time.

We might have have to ditch my gf's mother, who absolutely needs the scooter nearly at all times, in the morning and take normal Uber/Lyft without any ECV.

I really feel for any disabled people that don't either have their own transportation, or can't Lyft/Uber easily.

Earlier in this thread there was a mention that Mears (I think) had accessible transport options, but you have to call.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

My times for today. Unfortunately arrived later than I hoped for.
Arrived at HS 6:36
Finished bag check 6:42
Tapstiles 7:07
Group 72

Thanks so much for everyone updating this thread as it helped prepare me for this day!

I was running about 40 minutes ahead of you this morning and got BG 24. Just a data point for anyone planning their mornings.