If you’re there by 5:30am, you will be one of the first BGs called and could be done with the ride by 7:30am if things continue the way they have. Might be safer to get there at 5am if you want to guarantee a first BG. That said, morning rides are more at the whim of breakdowns than arrival time. A difference of 5 BGs is 30 min but a breakdown could cost an hour or more.
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Tuesday is my last full day, so no next day compensation would really work for me. There is some risk, I guess.
Jeff_AZ, I don’t really care about getting one of the first BG. We are planning to stay in the park until it closes
I just want to get one that will let me ride it that day. I think it say in the small print that you are not guaranteed to ride it, even if your BG gets call. Does this means that they call your BG, and if you don’t get to ride it because the park closes, you are out of luck?
I know they are giving hopper tickets and fast passes for the groups that they didn’t call. But no for people with the BG that they already called but couldn’t ride it. Or I’m mistaking?
The other thing I care is to be early enough to ride some rides, before the wait times start to get longer.
Typically, if you’re in line at park closing, they’ll cycle through the line. They just won’t let new people enter the queue. So it’s not like they kick everybody out right at park close. I’d assume it’s the same for RotR. If called, just make sure you get in line before closing.
I am starting to think that the distribution of boarding groups is not linear. By this I mean that if you arrive before me, you will not be guaranteed to get in an earlier boarding group. Although being early is looking more and more like a requirement, I am thinking they are squeezing people in based on BG availability.
An example of this would be if you and I are in the park at the same time and request a boarding group at the same time, if my party size “fits” in a lower BG that has space for my party, I will get it. So if BG 10 has space for 4 people left and BG 15 has space for 50, if you have a party size of 4 or less, you will get BG 10. If your party is larger, you will get BG 15.
As for running out of BGs quicker:
I have been doing some simple math to figure out the rate of BGs disappearing. Below is the rate per hour.
- 12/5 - 35.61 BGs/hr
- 12/6 - 45.5 BGs/hr
- 12/7 - 38.96 BGs/hr
*** 12/8 - 183.87 BGs/hr** - 12/9 - 58.47 BGs/hr
- 12/10 - 37.85 BGs/hr
- 12/11 - 69.43 BGs/hr
*** 12/12 - 135 BGs/hr**
So today is the second fastest rate of BGs dissappearing (~40min). The only day faster was EMH on Sunday (~31min).
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If you are unable to ride RotR due to circumstances outside your control (i.e., you had a BG but it was not called, or your BG was called and you reported and the ride shut down or you were evacuated, etc.) then they have offered compensation via a FP that is usually valid the following day if it is too late to use it later the same day. They have also offered 1-day PH tickets with a 2030 expiration date if your BG is not called.
In your circumstances, you would probably be ok arriving as late as 7am today and might have gotten a BG, but it would have been pushing it. 6:30am arrival would be better if all you want is a BG and can wait to ride the next day if not called.
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Wow this is an interesting thought and is probably true - that’s how FPP works. If so, you may want to divide up your party if you could when applying for a BG. There is no problem being a few BGs apart because you have a 2-hour window to report. However, I would think that it you wouldn’t be more than a few BGs behind if you applied with your entire party anyway, so maybe it doesn’t matter too much.
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I am thinking the same thing. Make everybody a single rider…LOL
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Here is some more simple math I am tracking…
The average boarding groups per hour through the ride.(doesn’t work to well with all the shutdowns)
- 12/5 - 7.61 BGs/hr
- 12/6 - 6.33 BGs/hr
- 12/7 - 5.64 BGs/hr
- 12/8 - 7.12 BGs/hr
- 12/9 - 7.10 BGs/hr
- 12/10 - 5.26 BGs/hr
- 12/11 - 5.09 BGs/hr
I have then adjusted the above to include all those that did not get to board the ride the day before. So when you add them into the total, you get:
- 12/5 - 7.61 BGs/hr (no previous day FPs)
- 12/6 - 8.88 BGs/hr
- 12/7 - 6.29 BGs/hr
- 12/8 - 9.59 BGs/hr
- 12/9 - 7.10 BGs/hr
- 12/10 - 5.26 BGs/hr
- 12/11 - 7.42 BGs/hr
Without correcting for people having FPs from the previous day, it looks like 12/11 was the worst day. But when you correct for the additional FPs, 12/10 was a worse day. This makes sense as 12/10 and 12/11 had the most downtime.
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Fascinating! That all lines up with my understanding based on which days have had the most downtime. Hoping they get that worked out soon. 
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If you’re looking for more data, some folks have shared their experiences on this Facebook group - Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge | Facebook . I don’t know if anyone has posted anything today, since I haven’t really been looking at that group while I’m in Florida, but there are a lot of Star Wars fans there who aren’t averse to early park arrivals.
On a related note, I’ll share details about today’s morning in Hollywood Studios a little later, but it’s nap time now!
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Thanks! I have accumulated several sources and for now I am at my limit (obsessively checking multiple sources is not good for my mental health lol) but if data starts to dry up I may go there.
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I thought you’d nixed ROTR til June. What encouraged you you could make it fit?
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If “all I had to do” to ensure I could ride was be there early, I’d be there with bells on; this seems so doable and easy. Just be there early. I actually love this system. I wish all I had needed to do to ride 7DMT and SDD was to be there early and use my app and get a BG later.
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One issue I have is that resort guests don’t seem to be getting the usual perks with RotR(EMH, 60 day FPP).
And WDW hasn’t really tried to come up with any alternative for resort guests.
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I’ve thought the same thing. In fact, it almost seems like those who are off site have an advantage, since they would be likely driving. Those staying on site are far less likely to be driving, which means they have to rely on Disney transportation. Those with a car can show up far earlier than those relying on Disney transportation…unless they are willing to pay for a ride share.
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Since a ride share is less than $20, comparable to what off site guests pay to park, I think it’s a pretty even match. It does certainly erode some of the benefit of staying on-site. But I think that with the popularity and significance of the SW franchise, which Disney bought rather than created, it is right and just that this particular attraction should be made equally accessible to all Disney guests. (I say this as someone who stays on site.)
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Yeah. I don’t see this as a deterrent.
Eventually I do think RotR should be included in EMH, 60-day FPP, etc. In the meantime, resort guests still have the benefit of riding every other ride that is open during EMH, which makes it easier to focus on RotR during regular park hours. The benefit is fungible.
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I thought WDW should have had regular park opening at 9:00 am but offer EMHs from 7:00-9:00. But rather than using the BPs during the EMH, just allow resort guests to book FPP. Then at 9:00 the park opens and BPs can be issued for the remainder of the day. This way a couple thousand resort guests can ride via FPP but the general population would still have a decent opportunity also.
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