Poll Time! RotR BG Success Rate?

I didn’t go for a BG on this trip since I was with the littles and they’re not big enough. However, I do have a colleague that was there today; I had coached him on how to do it using the tips from you fine people and he got BG 15 on his first attempt. He’s there again on Friday and will try again. I can change my vote for his success rate if you want?!

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Sure! That works.

We went on Columbus Day and were not able to get one at 10:00 but managed to get one at 2:00. So we were 50%. I voted above.

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Thanks!

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Be interesting to find out how many times people were “successful” but got a back-up that didn’t get called.

I think that’s getting rarer these days as they are better at calibrating the number issued with capacity, and they are not having as many issues with downtime. See my latest post on stats:

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You going to do one checking cell service vs. wi-fi?

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I’ve seen very mixed responses on this.

TP Blog did a story a while back showing that speeds were faster using WiFi compared to cell service. If you think about it, there’s nothing about cell service that makes it automatically faster than WiFi - it just depends on the load on a specific tower or hotspot.

WiFi has the advantage of being directly connected to Disney’s network, so all things being equal it should be faster. The problem is if you are in an area with lots of people all on the same network, it could slow things down (same with cell service, though!)

So the only thing you can do is to test your speed in the specific location you choose, and try to be away from crowds. Another thing you can do is have one member of your party use cell and another use WiFi, just in case something goes wrong in one or the other.

Faster is one issue. Reliability is another. I spent all week unsuccessfully trying to keep my phone connected to the “Disney Guest” network. I’m not a complete luddite and am capable of connecting to wireless networks, but almost every time I connected to the network it booted me back off by the time I left the “settings” menu of my phone and got back to the app I was trying to use (typically MDE or Play Disney when in the parks). Fortunately our HS day was our third in the parks so I had figured out by then that I couldn’t count on staying on the wi-fi and planned accordingly.

Other people don’t report the same issue, so it could be a matter of my phone, its operating system, or (possibly) my operator error.

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That’s a good point, and everyone should test their connectivity before applying for a BG. If your phone is doing better on cellular, use it.

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I used to have this problem, but have not in the 3 trips since I upgraded my phone (have an iphone 11 pro now, AT&T). It might be time for a new phone.

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Me:
“Hi boss. I need a new (work) phone”

Boss:
“Oh, did you drop another one in a catch basin?”

Me:
“Not this time. I think my current one is becoming obsolete.”

Boss:
“Really? How do you figure?”

Me:
“You know that vacation I was just on? I didn’t get a BG for RotR because my phone is old.”

Boss:
“What is a BG and who is RotR?”

Me:
“Nevermind. I just remembered I have some overtime I need to work.” [runs away]

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This is exactly why I don’t bother using the WIFI in the parks. It isn’t reliable. And what I don’t want is the reliability to fail me at 9:59:59 am! :slight_smile:

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I have attempted four times and gotten it three of them. The only time I wasn’t able to secure one was when I was trying at the 2 pm drop. Every time I’ve tried at the 10 am drop, I’ve been successful.

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Ok before I vote here is the explanation.

Sept- 0% success rate for a group of 3 all 3 trying to secure.

Oct- 25% all on one day. I got one at 10am for me. Friends that are not connected thru MDE did not. Then at 2pm DW tried but did not get it. Friends also tried at 2 and did not get it. So out of 4 attempts only 1 was successful.

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We had 3 Different days we attempted and was successful once - and that was in late August when parks were more empty than now. Our other two were in February and we got nothing but disappointment…

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:laughing:

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I think you know but not only Liners, but active Liners who have little better else in their lives to do but lurk here (Me) are definitely not representative of the population. Not just the general Disney-going population, but even the very-activated Disney population. Your results must recognize a very substantial sampling selection bias problem. :slight_smile: And I’m part of The Problem

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That’s true, but anyone stumbling upon these stats is likely to be part of this non-representative population! So the results are comforting to those who come into their trip prepared.

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2 for 2 in September. Both 10am runs.
1st was 9/21 (Monday) - got BG 42 for our party of 8. Group was called at 12:49pm.
2nd was 9/25 (Friday) - got BG 8 for our party of 6. Group was called at 10:10am.
Used cellular (Verizon) both times. I have an iPhone X max (so not new, I’ve had it for 1.5 years). Both times I was in front of the Millennium Falcon.

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