Hey~ It’s a little bit last minute, but after a tragic event in our family, we have decided we need a reason to smile, and we are planning a trip to Orlando the 4th week in March. We’ll likely have about 25 people, and we are planning on renting a couple of Airbnb houses in the Storey Lake area.
Have people been able to get boarding passes from that far away? Google maps says it’s a 7 mi drive.
From everything I’ve seen, there’s no geographical effect on getting the BG, as long as you have a valid ticket and HS park pass. A couple of the locals here have gotten one from their home an hour or so away.
Sorry that you’ve had to deal with a tragic event. Hope this trip can bring a joyful distraction to your family. 25 people, wow!
Hi, What @Tall_Paul1 said about no problems is true. I got a BG last Monday and I’m an hour drive from the world. Good luck… use your clock w/ a second hand. Here’s a link to all the BEST tips: RotR Watch: COVID Edition! - Walt Disney World / Attractions - TouringPlans Discussion Forums
I think it was on the Disney Dish I heard Len say that there was a theoretical boundary somewhere - like the southeastern states or something - just where it’s feasible to get to WDW in time by driving. But I’ve never heard a specific instance of someone being denied a BG for being outside a particular region.
Thanks guys.
Do you have to have location enabled to book it now that you can be outside the park?
I should know this but it’s been over a year since I had to worry about BG’s 
That’s a good question - maybe not! I know for the 1pm drop you have to be in the park, so you at least have to have been tapped in. Not sure if they also check your location. But for the morning drop they may not.
I would guess no because I have not heard of specific instructions from WDW regarding phone location enabled.
Just as a point of reference, I scored BG 39 from Texas this morning. My location services are on.
it was a practice run and the BG and APR have been cancelled
I wonder if they reissued BG 39? Like maybe someone got BG 39 right after another person that got 92? Or if they just skip that number?
I’m hoping that it went back into the pool somehow.
Since you cancelled, no one was negatively impacted, since Disney wasn’t waiting for you to show up. Just idly wondering about how the numbers were handed out.
A boarding group is more than just one party.
But I doubt it. The BGs are gone within seconds still and I don’t think they are issued sequentially - as in those in the first millisecond get BG #1, those in the second millisecond get BG #2 and so on. There were articles about how the algorithm used worked and numbers issued in the early days.
When people cancel a BG it just means a) fewer people entering when that group is called and b) maybe a few extra places for the 1pm drop.
I’m hopeful it will mean an extra person can get a BG at 1pm now. It was only for 1 person. I really just wanted to see whether or not I could actually secure one from Texas. I’m hoping to do so on arrival day in July.
Do you have an AP and a park reservation for today? Typically what you did is not possible for someone without valid admission and a HS reservation. But it has been reported a couple of times that the system accidentally let others get a BG. Hopefully they fixed the bug so it doesn’t happen again tomorrow.
I had a park reservation and one of those tickets good for any days between now and the end of September.
Ok gotcha. So I guess the takeaway is that there is probably no geofencing, or at least the boundaries are very wide!
Yes. I did it to test the geofencing. If there was no shot at a BG from home on arrival day I wanted to know now and save myself disappointment later.
I don’t believe Disney EVER required location services to be enabled in order for securing a BG.
One more question…and maybe I need to make a new thread but we’ll try here first.
Do you think it’s a bad idea to have such a big group trying together? I mean, the first day we visit HS, I will have 15 of my family and friends with a reservation for that park, and that could possibly be auto-populated for the boarding pass. The second day it will be 17. Is it harder to get the pass for more people?
And if we have to break up into smaller groups to try and get boarding passes, that means deleting people from my family and friends list, I think. And that will probably screw with our DAS.
Thoughts?