Our outcries about Disney’s communication sounds like me when I’m dating. “I just want consistency! Is it so hard to communicate? Can’t we just get on the same page to save ourselves this trouble?”
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I’ve been following this thread since RotR opened. It sounds to me like they need to drop the BGs. It has just over complicated things. People appear to be so worried about getting a BG and if their BG will be called that its causing issues, not to mention the down times. Go back to the FPP system. This being said by someone who hasn’t experienced it first hand, yet. I’ll find out in February.
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Seeing that image with “problem solved” without reading the rest of your post was a little shocking! 
Glad you were able to take a potty break. I’ve heard they added bathroom to FoP queue as well.
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We saw the bathrooms in the FOP queue on Monday night. Didn’t need to use it thought. Posted SB was 120. We waited 80.
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Hallelujah! Does this mean we can be there just before 7 (opening time for Jan 2) for equal chance at a boarding pass? Would you think that parking at 6 is early enough ? Disney has changed the opening times earlier the past 10 days TWICE. 4 am is just not happening in this family - no matter how much they love SW.
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VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE:
For those who haven’t followed along, they opened BGs ~30 min AFTER they opened tapstiles today, meaning there was little to no benefit to arriving super early. Everyone in the park by 7am had equal opportunity to snag a BG. Presumably there were some people who arrived early who still weren’t through tapstiles at 7:00am when MDE started issuing BGs, so you can’t arrive too late (maybe 6:30am). Initial BGs were gone by 7:35, Backup BGs were gone by 9:00am.
However they may have just been trying this out. They may have gotten negative feedback. They may not do this again. Or maybe they’ll just plow through with this new approach regardless.
My advice for tomorrow: Hedge your bets a little. Don’t arrive before 5am - it has never been necessary to do so. Don’t arrive after 6:30am - it’s still prudent to be early. If you want to be safe, arrive before 5:30am. If you are ok pressing your luck, arrive at the late end of the 6:30am window.
TIP: Disconnect from WiFi if you have a US data plan. Log into your MDE on two phones using the same master credentials. Alternate refreshing MDE every minute or so until BGs open up. Don’t trust what Disney says!!! Take their assurances with a huge spoonful of salt.
I’ll keep reporting here to see if a pattern develops with this new procedure.
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This is Disney.
A spoonful of sugar. 
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I saw a report (and another person confirmed, though I know nothing of the credibility of either source) that there was a group touring Galaxy’s Edge from 5-7am (Earmarked Owners Summit) today, which likely accounts for not opening the attractions until 7am and I wouldn’t be surprised (though this is just speculation on my part) if that’s also why the Boarding Groups didn’t open right away. Disney opened Boarding Groups after they let people through the tapstiles last Friday, 12/13 and didn’t call the first Boarding groups until around 6:55 AM that day (on another day when I suspected there was a group touring the park prior to opening).
I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the big blogs jumped the gun on assuming this was a new procedure and the others just followed suit re-sharing the same “news.”
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@Jeff_AZ and other Liners- Even though things were different this morning, I wouldn’t have gotten my family on the ride without you and Jeff’s amazing data compilation on this thread. Thank you guys for all the tips, reports, everything. I read through every RotR post, chat, and report; to me it was a success and we had a blast! It was definitely a memorable experience and Disney is all about the memories for us. Jeff, I hope you get to go soon. Bright Suns!
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Thank you so much! I have enjoyed waking up each morning and pretending to be part of the magic! Glad it has been beneficial to those who are there. I will be there soon enough!
Interesting! I hope Disney puts out an announcement tonight about what they plan to do in the morning. That sure would be helpful (even if not to be trusted ).
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What fun would that be, to know from day to day what Disney was planning for a morning at HS! 
But, yes, it would be nice to know in advance what the opening procedures would be. I’m sure they’d have to hedge in case the attraction weren’t ready on time, but they must have a plan the night before, since they need CMs in place to implement whatever that plan is.
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I’ll be following your report closely as we’re going 1/16. I just sent out the 28 days out itinerary to our group letting them know 1/16 would an early morning and to be prepared.
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I do not have a horse in this race; I don’t plan to visit until 2024 at the earliest - but NO NO NO. That FPP stuff just rewards people sitting at HOME and concierge over on-site over off-site. BG rewards the people who are willing to get out of bed and get themselves there…
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I have no trip planned, but I am so interested in how they are managing this. I am loving how they are handling this ride and hope they continue it for other new rides. AND I love early opening. I wish they’d open the parks at 6AM everyday. Sleeping on vacay is so lame to me.
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It also gives off-site guests and locals a fair shot at riding popular attractions without ridiculous standby waits. I know many Disney resort guests have gotten used to being able to make FPP before off-site guests, but it’s not as though this is some law of nature that on-site guests should be able to get all the FPPs for FoP, 7DMT, or any popular attraction. It’s nice to level the playing field for a change and this is one of the rare times in recent years (though, I’m sure this’ll change) that you can’t just buy your way into the front of the line!
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I haven’t been there to try it yet, that comes in February. But to be honest I’m surprised to hear anyone on Touring Plans in favor of the BGs. It’s difficult to create a touring plan when you have no idea how your BG is going to work. In regards to getting out of bed and getting yourselves there that’s crazy talk. Getting to the park at 4am is not what most people want to do on their vacation. This coming from someone who rode FoP 4 times when it first opened and never waited over 30 minutes. Only one time did I use a FP. The other 3 times we rope dropped the park by getting there 90 minutes before opening. Also think about family’s with little kids. They may never get to ride because there is no way they can get the kids there at that hour. So in my opinion FPs and Rope dropping sounds better. It sounds like my opinion is not very popular and I’m in the minority. It’s possible that I will change my mind once I get to experience it.
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I think BGs are the best they can do (but Disney should report honestly, transparently, and fairly on park opening and BG drop times vs what it has been doing!) but there are definitely challenges. I dragged my family early to get a BG, which we did, but you are right that because you don’t know what you will get or when it will be called or how long you will wait you cannot plan the day. You have to prioritize RotR riding, and just accept that everything else will have to fit around it, or be dropped.
Which is why I gulped and paid for a private VIP tour – it was the only way to get in a full HS day under the circumstances. It shouldn’t take that, but its how we managed to do everything at HS except the shows, as well as fit in my Oga’s and Droid depot reservations.
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I agree. I love the BG. Getting to do other touring instead of waiting hours in a line and all I have to do is show my commitment by getting up early? I’m here for it. I think this is a great way to roll out a new ride, although I agree the communication could be better about when exactly BG will open each day. I know that its not feasible for all to get up that early, but its also not feasible for all to wait in a line for hours during the park day with kids and I think this is a better alternative to that.
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Will this be our first day without any downtime? We are two BGs from the standard BGs released for the day! (104/106)…4:37pm
I know I probably just jinxed it, but what a refreshing change to see the ride going non-stop.
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Of course it is. It’s the first time in days when I haven’t been in line.
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