Yep that’s what we were discussing - whether or not they would let genpop in early as they had been doing or if, all the sudden, HS would adhere to actual opening times.
Curious to hear how it all played out.
From what I can ascertain on Chat, genpop was let in at 7:20am but held at the hub. BGs opened at the same time. So everyone could in theory access BGs at 7:20 but obviously not a lot of genpop were in right away and resort guests weren’t informed that BG was open!
That’s frustrating, because resort guests were presumably on rides, not constantly checking mde. And genpop wouldn’t think to be early on an emh day, although I agree that they should be avoiding HS on emh days.
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As far as GenPop goes I don’t actually feel sorry for them. I have never felt sorry for people who didn’t understand how to use FP or know about RD, etc. And I’ve never felt sorry for people who sleep late and miss stuff.
I was GenPop once. And I’ve never really stayed in property. But when I’m dropping the kind of money that WDW requires I do my research. That’s how I went from a 20 year old with a Birnbaum book in 1994 to a 2019 with a throwaway campsite. Internet has almost leveled the playing field (money still gets you more, though). Any person at WDW this morning could be researching prior to the trip.
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I would have been checking my app every 5 minutes all morning. 
I’m neurotic.
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Me too!
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Me three! Anyone paying attention the last two days should have been.
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Almost none of that applies here though.
This isn’t a lack of understanding the system, it’s going by Disney’s rules that “park opens at xx:xx and BGs are to be distributed when in park only” and then Disney ignoring their posted opening hours and letting people in park early.
I don’t get why there’s such a defense for Disney here on this. Are the BGs a good idea? Absolutely. NO ONE (intelligent) is saying otherwise. What is the problem is these boarding groups explained that they aren’t to be gained until in park. And per posted hours, no one should be in park until a certain time. But that certain time is a lie, because people are being let in early and able to get the BGs. If you see a park time of 9am, there’s zero reason to think everything will be gone before then if park isn’t to let anyone in until 9am.
You’d be pissed if 60 day fast passes are suddenly able to be obtained, and scooped up, sooner than your 60 day expectation.
Thats not a misunderstanding of a system, that is being lied to by said system and having to have the foresight to know it’s a lie.
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I was checking every few minutes and still missed. I had checked a couple minutes before the announcement.
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I’ve never had anyone accuse me of defending WDW. I’ve actually more often asked why I go there when I am so critical of TWDC.
Presumably most people have been planning their trips for at least a few months and hopefully not limiting their information to just what they find on WDW websites.
This is the part I don’t feel sorry about. If you’re not paying attention…
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Does anyone have data on how many minutes it took to run out of BGs?
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I assume you still got one?! Hopefully not too late.
And just how are those of us here supposed to do that? You might have a lot of free time to watch forums, check chats, and have an orbital view of the situation, but for those here, where everything is extremely chaotic with vacation schedules and already planned activities, it’s not possible.
I’m walking away Randall. This isn’t the first time you singled me out.
(But please don’t act for a moment like you haven’t had time for your phone on this trip.)
Yeah, and as Disney also realized, I am not a typical guest. Which is why I was able to ride it 3 times since it opened.
The bottom line is Disney is lying to guests. No amount of “I woulda”s and “Guests shoulda”s makes that ok.
Never singled you out, ever? Yours just happened to be the latest in a line when I started responding. You’re participating in a conversation. Why post if you don’t want to be responded to?
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I think how WDW has been doing this plays into their standard M.O. Like they don’t tell you that AK opens well before "Park Opening” , but it does and you can be off Pandora before the park even “opens”. I have no issue with getting their early on non EMH day to get in a BG. I’d much rather have a virtual wait, vs standing in line for hours. I don’t do long lines, I’m all about the FPP. I also think It’s a good idea that they have now restricted to once per day, gives more guests opportunity to go on it.
We are doing a family trip at the end of January. Will be avoiding EMH days, much to the disappointment of my brother. He wanted to go to HS day one of the trip - but that is EMH day (we are off-site) So I have HS as Day 4 and Day 6. Must respect the crowd calendar 
…and the fact that I booked Oga’s Cantina months ago and can’t change it.
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We got 43, but they are only on 39 now and we had to leave at noon to drive home. The downtime this morning really killed it for us.
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Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear about that.
I won’t defend Disney here. They shouldn’t advertise one thing and do another (either in HS or in any other park). Any Liners who read this thread should take notice in the future and don’t trust what Disney is saying. Arrive early, keep checking MDE, and be flexible. Try to do RotR as early in your trip as possible to allow for ride downtime and delayed BGs.
The good news is that thanks to the anytime FP and PH tickets, anyone who tries to ride RotR before their last day should get a chance to ride the following day if their BG is dropped.
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Ugh that sucks! I’m sorry.
The lying would make me crazy if I was there. I get that the park tends to open early and all that and it did the first couple days. But if you tell me that you’re changing the opening time and all the rules for tomorrow and then you’re still lying to me, that’s just maddening. Why bother to tell me at all?
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