Yet another hard-learned ROTR BG lesson, report, pics and maps

[bcla]

Can you scan that part as it isn't on my pass?

I don't see anything about it in the published terms:

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/annual-passport-terms-conditions/​

All terms, conditions and benefits including, but not limited to, admission privileges, Blockout Dates, prices, Pass type availability, parking locations, benefits and discounts are subject to restrictions, availability, and change or cancellation without notice at any time.​

 

[Malcon10t]

I don't see anything about it in the published terms:

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/annual-passport-terms-conditions/​

All terms, conditions and benefits including, but not limited to, admission privileges, Blockout Dates, prices, Pass type availability, parking locations, benefits and discounts are subject to restrictions, availability, and change or cancellation without notice at any time.​

Me neither. I scanned a shot of the back of my pass as that is where she said she read it on hers, and it isn't there. I thought maybe hers was different.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I think APs should get to go once every 2 weeks or even once per week until things slow down a little. If you are spending the money to go to Disneyland you should be able to go on the new headliner attraction. People that have been on it even if they are 5 Day ticket holders should play second fiddle to those who havent had the opportunity to get on the ride. Imagine coming from Australia, spending $5000 for a week long vacation at Disneyland and not getting the opportunity to go on the headliner ride because people that have been on it multiple times get the boarding passes because they are more adept at using the Disney App then someone who doesnt have experience with it. Or Internet because they have to use park Wifi.

It is just such a broken system and I feel bad for out of towners that dont get to experience it because of APs/others taking all the boarding groups when they have already been on it before.

While I understand your desire to create a "fair" system for all, the scenario you suggest isn't going to be fair to everyone. Someone is always going to say that they are owed more because they traveled further, spent more money, have a harder luck story, etc. than other guests. Have you been keeping up with the ROTR Superthread? We've had reports daily of DISers who are on APs who still haven't been on the ride, those on multi-day tickets who got BGs every single day of their visit, those who used data and those who used free wifi, those who had new phones and those who had old ones, etc. Those who still haven't gotten BGs are not all poor, non-AP, non-fast data plan, old phone, internet illiterates. It really does look more random than you think. And help is free and readily available for those who care to find it. Is the current system perfect? Far from it. Does it work? Well, considering that it's only been in place for less than 2 weeks, it's "working" -- and could still work better. It's definitely a work in progress. And, just for the record, I am speaking as an AP holder who has not gotten a BG yet. Do I hope Disney can come up with a better, more accessible system? Yes. Am I willing to give them time to work this out in real time, in a practical form? Yes.

 

[sjmac42]

Imagine coming from Australia, spending $5000 for a week long vacation at Disneyland and not getting the opportunity to go on the headliner ride because people that have been on it multiple times get the boarding passes because they are more adept at using the Disney App then someone who doesnt have experience with it. Or Internet because they have to use park Wifi.

I do come from Australia and I dream of only spending $5K on a trip to California, just my airfares at Christmas cost that (economy btw).

But just because I’m from Australia does not make me any more or less entitled to access to ROTR, or any other ride for that matter. I should not get any special consideration beyond any other park goer AP or not. It’s up to me to do the research and learn how to use the app effectively to give me and mine the best chance of doing the things we want to do. I also get a local SIM so I don’t have to rely on WiFi in the parks, last one was only $40 with an eSIM and 10GB, nothing compared to the cost of the holiday itself.

I’d also guess that I spend less in a week in the parks than the average AP holder who already pays 2-3 times more for their pass than I do. To restrict their access to anything is, well, just not on IMO. Should someone with a season tickets for a sports team have worse seats than the occasional ticket purchaser?

i was more annoyed initially that ROTR didn’t open in 2019 as Disney had originally planned but I have since got over that and it will now be many years before I get to experience it, if at all, but that’s the way it goes.

Apologies to Wonkakid for continuing the ROTR BG thing. Thanks to you for your report and photos, enjoyed them very much before the thread went off into the bushes.

 

[bcla]

Would a random draw (of those who entered DL) with maybe a 15 minute window to enter for the selection of boarding groups be more “fair”? The biggest issue is of timing, and maybe giving a short window

So the first riders are going to be VIPs? I didn’t read through the entire super thread so pardon me if that was definitively mentioned, but I heard something to that effect. That might make a lottery system more workable if regular guests don’t ride in the first hour.

There are a few things that come to mind, such as checking in with Southwest Airlines at the exact 24 hours before scheduled departure to try and get the ideal boarding number. One thing I remember was trying to book a campsite at Yosemite, where thousands of people try to time it perfectly only to find nothing. The big issues seem to be the reliability of internet connections and the difficulty in trying to process what are likely to be thousands of requests at the same exact second.

 

[VandVsmama]

Would a random draw (of those who entered DL) with maybe a 15 minute window to enter for the selection of boarding groups be more “fair”? The biggest issue is of timing, and maybe giving a short window

So the first riders are going to be VIPs? I didn’t read through the entire super thread so pardon me if that was definitively mentioned, but I heard something to that effect. That might make a lottery system more workable if regular guests don’t ride in the first hour.

There are a few things that come to mind, such as checking in with Southwest Airlines at the exact 24 hours before scheduled departure to try and get the ideal boarding number. One thing I remember was trying to book a campsite at Yosemite, where thousands of people try to time it perfectly only to find nothing. The big issues seem to be the reliability of internet connections and the difficulty in trying to process what are likely to be thousands of requests at the same exact second.

I run into the same problem every time I've tried to book a reservation at the Crystal Cove beach cottages. I've tried many times and have yet to be successful. They're gone in the blink of an eye. So were the cheap Southwest Airlines tickets to Hawaii.

 

[bethwc101]

Would a random draw (of those who entered DL) with maybe a 15 minute window to enter for the selection of boarding groups be more “fair”? The biggest issue is of timing, and maybe giving a short window

So the first riders are going to be VIPs? I didn’t read through the entire super thread so pardon me if that was definitively mentioned, but I heard something to that effect. That might make a lottery system more workable if regular guests don’t ride in the first hour.

There are a few things that come to mind, such as checking in with Southwest Airlines at the exact 24 hours before scheduled departure to try and get the ideal boarding number. One thing I remember was trying to book a campsite at Yosemite, where thousands of people try to time it perfectly only to find nothing. The big issues seem to be the reliability of internet connections and the difficulty in trying to process what are likely to be thousands of requests at the same exact second.

I think lottery system would also be deemed "unfair" by many. Our family has done lottery type events for tickets in the past with one sibling who always received a ticket no matter what. And then there were those who entered more times than my sibling never once received a ticket. They would say it was unfair, my sibling would probably be in the group shrugging saying it's random.

I think FP and standby would be a good option. If people want to wait 6 hrs if they don't have a FP, then let them. I would not be willing to do that. But I would at least try to get a FP. I think it combines the both sides. The FP rewards those who show up early, and the standby gives a backup option.

 

[montreid]

It's kind of ironic that there's more consternation on the BG issue here at DLR than WDW where popular rides for FP book out at 60+ days and obligates one to commit 30% of their day standing in a line for one ride.

That wouldn't make me happy either from a dollar return perspective. The whole issue is demand outstrips supply by a significant margin.

Disney has sought the most equitable, safe, efficient and consistent distribution method to deploy.

By introducing exceptions and timing efforts either by intermittent drops or separate buckets for different groups or applying restrictions to AP vs onsite guests vs daily vs 3 or 5 day or city pass tickets....introduces huge variables and in itself would spawn 20+ new threads on each variation

If anything happens, the next step disney does is a reservation system for onsite guests. That'll wipe out a huge chunk of local AP AND offsite guests and cater to Disney's core dedicated spenders.

I'm sure that'll just go over swell for this local heavy resort.

 

[bcla]

I run into the same problem every time I've tried to book a reservation at the Crystal Cove beach cottages. I've tried many times and have yet to be successful. They're gone in the blink of an eye. So were the cheap Southwest Airlines tickets to Hawaii.

At least with those you're likely to be doing it at home with a fairly reliable internet connection. But at Disneyland where there will be possibly over thousands of people at rope drop? I remember the suggestion that maybe one should enter first to register that the guest was there, then go to DCA for rope drop there if it's the same time. I guess the rationale is that the Wi-Fi there has less of a bottleneck because of fewer people using it.