For me, the problem is that the process itself is unpleasant, and that it makes RD crowds unbearable.
It is already the case for rides like FOP that a considerable fraction of people who would want to ride it don’t get to (FOP daily capacity is about half of the park average number of daily guests, it would be impossible for everyone to ride it), but in this case demand is controlled by FP being gone by 60+2 and not everyone being able to stay in line for 3 hours or RD. That wouldn’t work for RotR because Star Wars, and overall more people are in WDW now than when Pandora opened.
The process right now is fair enough, and a surprisingly large fraction of people who want to ride get to do it, but it is quite unpleasant and makes the park awful first thing in the morning. I cannot think of any solution that make both of these better without making something else worse, so there is certainly a trade off. My favorite right now is a 6am park opening.
This happened to us last week. I had a dessert party booked at MK on Valentine’s day. We got a BBG (72) and it was called at 5. However, the ride broke down twice while we were in line and then we got evacuated as soon as we got in the ride vehicle. We missed the dessert party. Thankfully, we requested and received a refund but HEA is my favorite and on Valentine’s day it was sad to miss it. In the future, I will not plan anything on my RotR day because of the uncertainty. Luckily we go often, I realize not everyone has that option.
The only issue with this is the ride’s instability. It could be a gamble to come back outside the BG window because the ride could go down. Just speaking from experience as something to consider.
My only problem is the potential tech/data/app difficulties coupled with the speed at which BGs run out. If it were say, a 5-min window I’d be perfectly ok with the process since you’d have a shot at a BG if you were willing to get there PPO and try. And maybe it isn’t as bad as it seems from a distance bc people post more about complaints than successes, but with years of MDE issues under my belt, I’m leery.
The effect on RD crowds is certainly a negative effect, but I think that it is what it is.
I voted wouldn’t pay, but that isn’t exactly true. I would pay for a HS After Hours or EMM if it included access to ROTR amongst the other rides, but not as a stand alone. It would have to include Slinky, TOT, RNRC, and the new Mickey ride.
If it were part of an After Hours or EMM, I would pay to avoid having to get up early and the stress of it all plus knowing that I have a firm plan in place.
As others have said, I might as part of After Hours, but not standalone.
This is effectively what I’m doing for FOP in May. We are doing AK DAH, which means we don’t have to mess with the crowds associated with FOP…but would I pay for JUST FOP? Nope. It is more about the overall experience, which includes FOP.
I answered “Wouldn’t pay out of principle”, but RotR was what made me decide on doing a side trip to Disneyland while in California, so I have kind of already paid for it
If I didn’t get to play the lottery first, I’d probably say $0, not on principle, but because I’m pretty sure I can win the BG lottery. If I could see if I lost and then pay after losing, probably around $20/person the first time. Maybe $5 after that.
As much as we stress about it, we are more prepared for the lotto than 95% of guests and have a pretty darn good likelihood of winning it.
So full disclosure in January we went twice and rode twice but I think complaining about BGs is crazy. As liners we all have a huge advantage because of the knowledge from this forum and website. The BGs is the smartest thing that Disney has done because it is filling up HS early and getting more people to buy parkhoppers. Disney is effectively spreading out crowds between all four of the parks right now. If you have not experienced it first hand the system may seem unfair but everyone has a chance this way. Consider there are still people waiting 4 hours for FOP does that sound like a good time. I would much rather get up early and have a chance at a BG rather than waiting 4 hours in a line for anything. I think Disney now has proof of concept and may do more BGs in the future.
I think BGs are a very good alternative, I definitely can’t think of anything that would be clearly better.
My main issue with them is the morning chaos at DHS, especially the first hour after park opening. Since people are not eating, shows haven’t started and I am not even sure if characters and Launch Bay are available, everyone (of what appears to be 20 thousand people) is lining up for one of the rides, and there are only 7 of them.
Thinking more about it, there are ways to make DHS less chaotic in the morning while keeping the current BG system:
Make PH easy: have the Skyliner, boats and buses ready to go right after park opens. Add signage around for “If you are going to Park hopper, stay in this area”.
Breakfast options: Neither Hollywood Brown Derby, Sci Fi or 50’s offer breakfast right now. I don’t know how big the capacity is for each of these, but I am pretty sure there exists a price point/service in which Disney would make money and almost every seat would be taken
Start everything at park opening - shows, characters, …
