What’s the largest party size that’s been successful? We’re going as a party of 17 in April and I want to be realistic in my expectations, and also figure out a contingency plan if each family should try on their own.
I found this:
https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/maximum-number-people-linked-disney-app-order-obtain-419332/
This is older info but may help. All party members are now automatically selected so that is a big improvement in your case.
Anecdote–We got BG 3 and 1 on Dec 27 and 30, respectively. 4 people from Pop room. 2 iPhone 8, 1 iPhone XR, 1 Galaxy s20 ultra. iPhone 8 on cell got BG 3, while my attempt that morning failed due to wifi hangup. For the next attempt, 3 of us stayed on cell and the Galaxy on cell got BG 1. I’ll list some factors below, but I suspect it really just comes down to watching a reliable clock and being lucky. I did check the speeds after the Dec 30 attempt for fun and cell was really, really slow (2-3 Mbps).
Did:
Use time.gov on a separate device
Click Join from main page at 7:00:00
2 people on wifi, 2 on cell
Did not bother to:
Check wifi or cell speed
Make attempt to find place with best signal
Practice, although I did read about the process
Align Join buttons
Turn off/on phones or even the app
Adjust notification settings
Any other heroic measures, really
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Nice, thank you for sharing! Hopefully most people are able to get a BG now, I hated to hear the horror stories from back in the fall.
You’re right, the most important thing is multiple people attempting and watching the clock count down.
Curious, did you arrive at the park extra early? If so, what were you able to rope drop prior to RotR?
Not extra early, no. We arrived about 10 minutes before opening the first day and about 10 minutes after opening the second. The first day we rode SDD (didn’t open until 9:20 because of tech issues) and MFSR and arrived to RotR with 5 minutes to spare at the end of our window, which was 9:30-10:30. MFSR was a mistake, in hindsight, because that was its longest wait time of the day, but no big deal really.
The second time we started with ToT and RNRC and again barely made our window. We almost messed up because we assumed it would be from 9:30-10:30 like before, but it was 9-10 this day. Glad we checked the time.
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Yes, even with a party of 10 people the join button was still shown on the bottom of the screen without having to scroll down. We got BG 2 our first day at HS and we also visited HS last day of our trip and got BG 9 then! There were three of us in our party trying, me on iPhone 11 -Verizon, WiFi on but not on Disney (stayed at POP) and one on iPhone 12 and another on iPhone 8. I started from the main page and used your tips provided, (time.gov clock and clicked join at 6:59:59 both days). The other two in our group were already on the next page and just kept refreshing, so in our experience we recommend starting at first page. I did click join once before at like 6:55 or so and backed back out, and I also checked my F&F list beforehand each day just to make sure everyone was still linked. It automatically selected all of us.
With BG 2 we arrived at HS about 8:40 - rode SDD and then ROtR. Second visit with BG 9 we arrived again about 8:45 rode ToT and it broke down to just one side of the building running while we were almost on, so it delayed us. Our window closed at 9:40 and we made a mad dash all the way across the park and arrived at RotR about 9:45, but no issues at all.
Thanks so much for the tips and advice!
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Thanks for checking back in! I’m happy to be of any help. I’m glad you had successful days with your large group! 
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When I was there in October, we failed at the first drop (2 of us, both tried) but were successful at the 2pm drop (only I tried). Guest services told me at the time that it’s better that only one of us try instead of multiple people b/c you can block each other out or hang it up. But then I read people’s posts about multiple people trying in a party and having success! So I don’t know what the best strategy is! I’m going the first week of February with a group of 4 and I’m so nervous to do this all again. Typically it’s just my hubby and I so this is my first time with 4 people, and the other 2 people haven’t ridden Rise before. I want them to experience it so badly! Should all 4 of us try? Only 2 of us? I don’t know what to do!
Guest services will always say that just in the rare case that their system gets overloaded. At least 2 should try.
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@MandaPanda24, I second this. You will not have to do any extra steps to exclude the 2yo. We went in Sept and did not have any issues with this.
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Great tips! Sharing the tips we received from a cast member in the line for MMRR back in Sept. Some may contradict what is known as tried and true tips, but wanted to share what was said and what worked for us. The cast member said
#1: Contrary to popular belief, connect to Disney’s WiFi. DH did test the strength compared to his phone’s cellular data and found this to be true (with where we were standing in the park). DH even found the WiFi stronger INSIDE MMRR, crazy I know! Bottom line, test both WiFi and cellular data.
#2: Have only 1 person in the party try for the boarding group. It was said that if multiple people in your group attempt, it may create a short lag, costing you a BG. Begrudgingly, we did follow this tip.
Following these 2 tips with my phone on the countdown clock with seconds & DH ready with his quick fingers, we nabbed BG 22 for a group of 7. The two kids under 2yo were automatically excluded from the BG.
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I have family in the park today and I just tried to get a boarding group for them from home. I have an AP and a park reservation for today also (I was supposed to be there with them). When I went to join, only my name was automatically selected. Am I doing something wrong? Luckily they were quicker on the draw and were able to get BG 36. We’re going as a party of 18 in April and taking the time to select every name (or even just my personal party of 9) will end up shutting me out. Thoughts?
For those of us practicing at home (our trip is in less than 10 days), if you get the “Not so fast” message about not having a park reservation does that mean you were successful?
Yes.
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Not sure, maybe it has to do with an AP holder. I’m assuming when your family joined, everyone was selected for them?
Yes everyone was selected for them, including me. 
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Sounds like you have good family members to rely on for April, and they even have “real” practice! 
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I have four people in my group. Should everyone login to the Disney app using the same account? Or should everyone use their own accounts? Does it matter?
Whatever is easier for you. Same account might make more sense but it should not matter as long as you are all linked together.
