RotR Important Details and Opening Day Timeline

BGs started distribution at 7:20am and by 7:45am there were signs up saying all BGs had been distributed. Distribution within the app usually continues for about 5-10 min after they put up the signs.

So fast! But it makes sense with more people in the parks already and waiting for BG to drop.

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For those keeping track, they called BG 43 at 1:57 pm, and app says we have until 4:57 to use, so that’s a 3 hr window, not a 2 hr one as previously advertised

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We’re you in the park for EMH and missed when they opened the distribution?

So they were gone in 30-35 minutes and EMH guests as well as GenPop had same access (If had made through tapstiles)?

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Day 4 Timeline: EMHs 12/8/19
Link to OP

5:15am Park opens to EMH guests
6:00am Official published EMH park opening
7:15am BG Distribution Begins
7:20am Park opens to day guests
7:20am @DumboRunner BG 32
7:22am @TouringPlans BG 45
7:25am @youcanfly let through turnstiles and held at H&V - BG 67
7:28am @DisneyDayDreamin DH through tapstiles - BG 70
7:39am Accepting BGs 1-7
7:45am “All BGs distributed for the day” signs posted
7:50am MDE stops distributing BGs
7:55am YCF (return FP) completes ride
8:00am Official published general park opening
9:00am Accepting BGs 1-12
9:30am Ride down
11:07am Ride back up; Accepting BGs 1-14
12:00pm Accepting BGs 14-27
12:44pm DumboRunner (BG32) joins queue
1:00pm Accepting BGs 14-34
1:51pm DumboRunner completes ride
2:00pm Accepting BGs 17-43
3:00pm Accepting BGs 29-47
5:00pm Accepting BGs 48-64
5:10pm Ride down
6:00pm Accepting BGs 55-65
6:24pm Ride back up
7:00pm Accepting BGs 66-68
7:19pm @DisneyDayDreamin DH joins queue (BG 70)
7:48pm DDD DH arrives at transport
8:00pm Accepting BGs 66-89
8:15pm DDD DH completes ride
9:00pm Accepting BGs 69-95
10:00pm Official publishes park closing

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@TouringPlans on Twitter said they started BG distribution 5 minutes before day guests were admitted. During the intervening time, about 20-30 BGs had been distributed to resort guests already in the park.

Difference is though, the people who get there at 5 are still in front of the people who get there at 9, regardless of when the taps actually open. You can’t cue up and be first in line on FPP day. You can in the case of park entry. So early bird gets the worm in the case of BG - regardless of whether the taps are open.

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Reading through that timeline is making me wish ROTR hadn’t opened. I’m at WDW next week and ROTR adds two stresses to my trip. First, SWGE is now (presumably) much busier than it’s been for the past few months. Second, I want to ride ROTR.

But with the craziness of trying to get a boarding group, and the uncertainty of when (and whether) you will ride if you do get a boarding group, my pre-ROTR plans are shot through.

I’m amazed by (and bitter about) how many Liners have already successfully ridden ROTR, but feel a real lack of confidence that I will be able to do so. Indeed, to the extent that my current thinking is to ignore it completely.

After every WDW trip I make, I come back wishing I’d taken things more slowly and not made hectic dashes from one thing to the next. This Christmas trip is supposed to be about Christmas for me. (Disney Christmas, I mean. Not actual Christmas, in which I have the limited enthusiasm of a cynical agnostic.)

So I just don’t want to be getting up at ridiculous o’clock on the off-chance that I’ll get a BG with a window I’ll actually be able to attend, and that I’ll get a ride through that isn’t evacuated when the ride breaks down for an hour and a half.

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They day my son went to Cedar Point to ride Steel Vengeance opening day, my son was there for Rope Drop. They didn’t let people in early. He was 5 hours behind the front of the line. Ride closed down for the day before he ever made it. So, yeah. It wouldn’t have mattered in the case of Disney and ROTR either.

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If it’s going to make you more stressed to try and ride than sad not to ride, there’s your answer, right?

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My takeaways from Disney’s rollout so far:

  1. They should open the ride as early as possible and keep it running as long as possible each day to allow more people to ride. No reason to delay opening for “fairness.” Only delay opening if it allows the ride to run more reliably.
  2. BGs are a good idea in general. However, if they are distributed during EMH, they should only distribute enough to be used before EMH ends.
  3. BGs for normal operating hours should be equally available to both resort and day guests (i.e., not distributed prior to park opening)
  4. They should only distribute enough BGs that they are 90% confident they will get through them each day. I’m sure they’re working on this but they should have been more conservative for the first few days.
  5. Opening the park early for crowd control is ok. Opening BGs at park opening (even if early) if everyone is accessing the park at the same time is probably fine. But opening BGs at a random time after guests are already inside without letting everyone know that they are available is unfair. People who arrived at 5am get BGs after people who arrive at 7:20 but happen to check their phone earlier? Not equitable.
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We are heading tomorrow with park opening at 8am. Based on the trends any suggestion on how early we should get there in order to get a BG. Staying at POP. Thanks.

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My takeaways (at the risk of repeating myself):

  1. ROTR should be regarded as being in soft-open. It has suffered unacceptable levels of downtime for a formally opened ride. I can understand that the ride needs testing with real people and that this may take some time (weeks) and downtime may frequently occur. Calling it a soft-open makes the downtime understandable and more acceptable.

  2. Onsite guests pay a considerable premium to stay onsite. There are nicer, better places to stay in Orlando than Disney resorts that are far less expensive. The increased cost is justified in part by theming and by geography. But also in perks. For this reason, I have no problem in Disney allocating BGs at random to onsite guests only. Each morning at a fixed time, you get a message from Disney: “You have been allocated BG 34, which we expect to open in the afternoon. When you are called you will have two hours to tap in to the ride. It is possible that your boarding group may not be called as the ride is subject to downtime during this soft-opening period. There will likely be a wait to enter the ride when you arrive at the tapstile. If you are staying on property tomorrow, you will receive another boarding group for that day.”

  3. The understanding would be that there is a risk your boarding group won’t be called, or the ride may go down while you’re on it. In that case there would be no compensation. It’s a soft-opening.

  4. This goes on until the ride is operating reliably and Disney has enough data to understand how it works in practice.

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If I were doing it tomorrow I would get there at 6:30. (So with my habits I would plan for 6)

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Yes, we were having breakfast at Woody’s when they must have dropped. I had checked when I got a table at Woodys and was waiting for my husband and kids to get off saucers you eat. Wasn’t available then. The announcement came on over the speakers while we were walking from there to Batuu. I heard the chime of the announcement starting and went into the app immediately. I had no trouble booking, but got 43.

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This would have worked well!!

Though - it has the expectation that WDW will fix whatever is causing it to not work properly. And I cant help but wonder if they will fix it (from Test Track, 7DMT and the Yeti.)

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:frowning: I’m sorry. This would have disappointed me to the point I would be upset all day.

Me too. I’d want to be first at the tapstiles because I’d be anxious until I got the BG.

@sanstitre_has_left_the_building I hope you can figure out what will make you happiest. The “more relaxed trip” and “securing BG for ROTR” do seem totally opposite. Would one day of crazy early be an option? Is it too late to make that your first or last day? Or can you comfortably promise yourself you will enjoy ROTR in June when it’s a little more predictable and you have more data (and less Christmas festivities.)

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We knew coming into the weekend that it was unlikely we would ride RotR. We decided to be crazy and get up early even though we had to leave at lunch time. We thought at least we’d have a chance. It was disappointing to not be able to ride, but no more than not winning the lottery. I knew the odds were against us.

We did get SDD with less than 45 minute wait, Saucers for the kids, breakfast. Back to back rides on MF:SR (brand new to us) with less than 30-35 min waits both times. We got to see the land. We got to ride TSM (FPP), see the new Lightning McQueen show (new to us), Star Tours (FPP). We left the park around 1130 am and had final rides on the Skyliner (bonus! Thrill ride for the kids).

We had a good day. RotR will be there next time.

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