READ POST 1 & 2 FIRST-Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group Planning and Information-*No Spoilers*

[DGsAtBLT]

So what happens if you have a big party with you...like 12 people? Should we break off into smaller groups? Does it make getting a earlier boarding group harder. I know some of this is probably unknown but just wanted to see some opinions.

We are an 8 so not quite as big, but I’m not going to split us. We’ll take the best we can get with all 5 adults on their phone trying, I figure the advantage of more people trying negates any possible disadvantage of a bigger group if there is one.

I remember a DISer had a group of over 10, I want to say it was 16 maybe, and snagged a good group for them. I think it’s more complicated to split and try to coordinate 2 return times if they won’t merge you.

 

[xipotec]

Not necessarily. The app isn't perfect. Just because its working from home doesn't mean you will be perfect in the park. I have the newest iPhone updated to the latest iOS and the app will still glitch from time to time. I don't have problems like some do but still its not perfect.

Mine literally got wonky the moment I entered Disney property.
I suspect it may have something to do with location services, which is needed in the parks.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

BG 57 today. We got kicked out of the ride when we were in the (spoiler) but not yet (spoiler). It was 7pm by then and we had been in line for an hour and 15 minutes by the time we got booted.

We are in line at guest relations to see if they can do anything for us. We fly out at noon tomorrow and haven’t packed at all so riding tomorrow isn’t really an option.

 

[ILovePixieDust]

Here now. We were at HS at 7:45. Best BG we could get was 89. Oddly enough my wife also got BG 89. We were trying separately. Received a notification about a half hour ago that the would not get to us today eventhough they are at BG 61 at 5:28. This is the 3rd day we have tried and we have always gotten backup groups and have not ridden yet. We both have the most current Samsung high end phones. Speed does not seem to be an issue. At 8am we hear people all around us cheering and I am still waiting for the option to join a group to become available.

I am so sorry this happened to you. And you tried 3 times!!
I read on a Touring Plans chat where someone went for a weekend to try to get on and wasn't able to. $1500 dollars later - brutal.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

When I first realized they had moved emh through April, I did check May and it was definitely still showing morning emh. Glad they went ahead and changed it through the summer.

Yeah, I had done the same thing. They added the May+ PM EMHs at some point here in the last hour or so (and also updated some March hours at the other parks too)

 

[ILovePixieDust]

They were so focused on making sure the kids were feeling up to being in the park that they didn't try to get there in time for park opening. I don't blame them, but am disappointed for them because the kids are such Star Wars fans.

I guess that is different if they weren't there for park opening then.

 

[yulilin3]

So what happens if you have a big party with you...like 12 people? Should we break off into smaller groups? Does it make getting a earlier boarding group harder. I know some of this is probably unknown but just wanted to see some opinions.

Don't split the group, easiest to click select all. Also everyone that has a smart phone should be trying to join for the entire group at the same time

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I just have not read a single report of anyone being there at park opening and not getting a bg. Those who have had phone issues, go to a GET and they issue them one. I haven’t heard of anyone being told Nope, can’t do it either. There may be people who aren’t aware of that option though. But If it’s happening, it’s not happening on any of the several forums I’ve been watching.

This happened to me today. I’m very much “in the know” with how the app works, what exact time it is, etc. My app didn’t let me pick a boarding group until it was into the backup groups. My husband’s phone and app worked okay—he got us one in the 50s—but mine did not.

 

[osufeth24]

I feel bad for those who tried today and either couldn't get on, or had issues. Looks like I was one of the very few lucky ones today

 

[ucf_knight]

So what happens if you have a big party with you...like 12 people? Should we break off into smaller groups? Does it make getting a earlier boarding group harder. I know some of this is probably unknown but just wanted to see some opinions.

We did a party of 8 this morning. 4 phones all logged into one account. 2 of the 4 phones couldn’t get the list of people to load. 1 phone didn’t load right at 8 hard closed the app then reopened and got the list the other phone got BG 34. This all happened in less than 60 seconds. All iPhone 7’s or higher. My suggestion would be to have as many phones going as possible. Had we only been on 1 or 2 phones we probably would’ve gotten a back up BG. Honestly with 12 people assuming half your group has phones you should have a better shot than most people. We did the ride over New Years with 1 phone for a party of 2 and the app crashed and got back up BG 139 (still got to ride though).

 

[tvsdisney]

Don't split the group, easiest to click select all. Also everyone that has a smart phone should be trying to join for the entire group at the same time

So I should unfriend all the other people who aren’t traveling with us to make things easier?

 

[kwdw]

Looks like 68 might be it today.

 

[ucf_knight]

So I should unfriend all the other people who aren’t traveling with us to make things easier?

Yes

 

[yulilin3]

So I should unfriend all the other people who aren’t traveling with us to make things easier?

It'll make it easier especially if you don't have future traveling plans with them. You can remove them on your own on the app
Go to menu
My profile
My friends and family
Pick the people you want to remove and remove them

 

[NoTime42]

Another poster said she changed the names of other friends to start with a letter “Z” so that the current party would sort to the top

 

[teach22180]

We are an 8 so not quite as big, but I’m not going to split us. We’ll take the best we can get with all 5 adults on their phone trying, I figure the advantage of more people trying negates any possible disadvantage of a bigger group if there is one.

I totally agree with you. I'm solo, and I think it is awesome if you have many people trying!

 

[Stephen O]

Here was my experience:

Drove to the HS parking lot and arrived at 6:50am. After the bag check and crazy line for tapstiles we were in the park at 7:15. We sat at the patio outside the Brown Derby and bought coffee from the kiosk right there since Starbucks was insane.

7:50- my wife and checked our apps to see if they were working. I attempted to get a random fast pass just to verify that my party would show up in the list correctly and they did.

7:55 - my WiFi and I got off the WiFi and force closed our apps (we both have iPhone X)

7:58 - open the apps and left them on the home screen and used my Apple Watch the check the seconds

7:59 - the quietest minute I have EVER experienced at any Disney park. Seriously - it was as if I lost my hearing.

8:00:01 - we hit “Find our more” and “joined boarding group” visibly went from grey to red -> then hit select all, continue and it was done. We got BG 4.
Then I hear several cheers around me.

Let me take a moment here - DON’T CHEER WHEN YOU GET YOUR BG!!! Don’t you get it?? You are competing with everyone around you! Every cheer is some other family getting a worse BG. <edited by a moderator> be cool and quietly make your way to your first ride.

8:20 - RotR opens and we get the app notification. We made it <moderator edit: half-way> through and the ride goes down and they give us the fast pass.

10:00 - there is no indication anywhere I could see in the app about the ride status but we go back and are allowed in the FP line. interestingly, we meet other families in the line that got their FP late the day before when it broke down. I’m curious as to the logic or cut off for how late it needs to break for you to get the “all day” FP the next day. We finally make it through the experience.

I think the best strategy is keep your expectations low.

 

[beercity]

I’m sure no one here would do this, but yelling and cursing at the CMs at RotR entrance will not help your case. The behavior I saw this evening was things that no person should ever be subjected to. The rules of the game have been defined. Play within them and be kind to everyone.

 

[Mollygirl21]

Our BG 53 was called at 3:45 and we got in line then. We finished the ride at 6pm. The line took until 5:27 and then the experience itself took 30 minutes. Each section of the attraction was backed up and full of people.

It was an amazing ride but I imagine it would be even better if it had better flow without all the stoppages and waiting once inside the attraction itself (not to mention the ridiculous wait to start the attraction).

This may not be popular among Disney fans (which I am) but I'm a little ticked that they called our BG when they obviously weren't ready for us. The outdoor queue took almost an hour then another 45 mins inside. They knew we would be in line for a very long time and it was totally unnecessary - we could have been doing other things rather than waiting for 2 hours. I have never understood why people wait hours for a Disney attraction and now that I have been one of those people, I am even more stunned that people will wait that long for any attraction.

We were beat when we were done so we rescheduled our Oga's ADR, cancelled plans to go to Epcot for fireworks, missed our TSM FP (it came and went while we were in line) and now are back in the room getting ready for another big day tomorrow.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Disney just changed hours for first 2 weeks of march. HS opening at 8am instead of 9 now.

Thanks for the information. I just got Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railroad on opening day. I can’t believe it was available