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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You just proved what we have been speculating all week!
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And there it is! 106 BGs called without a shutdown…I calculate that at about 11.03 BGs per hour called.
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First - a confession - while I’ve been using Unofficial Guide since 2006 or so, I always thought a touring plan was what you ripped out of the back of the book. I would typically use one of those plans to start my day, but after 2-3 hours they’ve always been unnecessary. With a solid rope drop and a few hours of commando touring, the balance of the days have never needed to be planned (well - except since 2014 and those stupid FPP).
Second - I realize not every family will chose to be there at an early hour, but even with 1 and 3 and 5 and 7 year olds, (and every other age that you can think of… I have 6 kids) I’ve managed to be in the parking lots 90 minutes or more before opening dating back to our 2011 trip. Prior to that I can’t guarantee that it was anything earlier than an hour.or so. I just don’t remember.
For people who like the FPP (shudder) this is like an EXTRA FPP.
I did build TP this trip because I started on these boards in January and got into the hype. I spent a lot of time chewing on them and working on them and I didn’t really use them too much. They just weren’t necessary.
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My attempts to add a clever Captain America GIF have identified my pathetic tech skills…
but I can get my brood up early any day of the week. We are a family of eager vacationers who are always in adventure mode.
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After watching how the first few days went (largely through this thread) it was pretty predictable when your Boarding Group would come up based on your arrival time. Once I actually tried a morning at the Studios, I had an even better idea what to expect as soon as I walked through bag check and saw how far back people lined up.
Sure, I didn’t know down to the minute exactly when my Boarding Group would be called, but I could estimate closely enough and with a 2 hour return window there wasn’t a whole lot of pressure to get in line the second my Boarding Group was called. Add this onto the relatively relaxed morning, because there weren’t huge lines for everything else, and I could pretty easily ride everything I wanted to (actually, all the rides in the park if one wanted to do that) and just work in Rise of the Resistance whenever my Boarding Group was called.
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Let’s just take a moment and admire this beautiful day - up to 113 now (106 was the cutoff for “backup” BGs):
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I must add that here in Phoenix you rarely see these two phrases in the same sentence. 
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Looks like the BGs are starting to flatten out at 126. Hit that at 6:10pm. I am guessing that is all for today folks!
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I was trying to decide if it was a breakdown or if they just stopped calling BGs for the day.
In any case, this was the first and only day with no discernible breakdowns during the day. And at 126 BGs, we’re higher than any day except Day 1 (127 BGs)! Congratulations, WDW!
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I’m from Halifax. As far as I’m concerned, it felt like it was 113 yesterday. Of course I don’t actually know what that feels like, both because it would never get that hot and also because I don’t understand Fahrenheit. But I was melting at AK yesterday.
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Update!
I got an anonymous tip that Disney has sent out a communication to certain individuals (including travel agents) that they will continue to begin distributing Boarding Groups at the published park open time only. They may open the park early, but guests will be held in the Hollywood Boulevard area. The Trolley Car Cafe and Keystone Clothiers are the only locations that are assured of being open.
As stated above, take this with an American-sized serving of salt, but it appears that the intention is to continue today’s procedure for the near term. My advice for tomorrow still stands!
(If you have received this communication and feel it is appropriate to share, feel free to do so below.)
Opinion: I think this is a good idea as long as they publicize it widely and hold to it. Certainty will help calm the chaos.
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My family made the executive decision not to RD for a BG. We tapped into HS about 8:45 am. Just for fun, I joined the BG. We got backup BG 119. At 5 pm, DH got very excited. They were already calling BG 116! We got called at 5:29. From the time we hit resistance in the queue to when we got off the ride, it was 70 minutes. It was a fabulous ride! No downtime helped us out.
Couldn’t post earlier. I left my phone on SR 
around 1. We were praying someone honest would turn it in. At 4, it wasn’t locating anymore. We felt someone found it and turned it off. Just got it back at Guest Relations! 
This has restored my faith in humanity! Headed to 8:15 reservations for Storybook Dining, a fabulous ending for the day!
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Yes. It will be an improvement over the unfairness of guessing. Getting your family up early with the argument that it needs to be done to get it done is one thing. Getting them up for the RotR BG roulette is another.
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