twiceblessed....nacole

Have a great time!

On 2/27/2020 at 2:34 PM, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

 

We've loved MNSSHP and have been a few times but not for several years now.  We loved the atmosphere (and the parade!) but also felt it was worth the ticket price because it was *not* crowded.  By the last hour or 2 of the party, most things were a walk on.

 .

That was our experience, the first go around.   In my opinion... that's how the parties should be.

53 minutes ago, Duane said:

Ashleigh and I are down here now. We got up early this morning, and was at the park at 7:15.  They started letting everyone in at around 7:20-ish.  The herd was gathered and held in the area just before the entrance of the Star Wars "tunnel".  At 8:00 sharp, we managed to grab boarding group 19.  We were off the ride by 9:30.

All in all it was a cool ride, and Disney did a great job of immersing you in the story.  I'm glad I did it, however, I still think Flight of Passage in Pandora is a better experience.  I guess I don't have to get up before dawn anymore to try to snag that coveted boarding group. Maybe in about 2 years, or the next new and shiny thing comes along, I'll get to ride RotR again.

Fantastic!  Gosh... I hope we have your luck.

1 hour ago, Travisma said:

The only reason we went last year was so I could see the new castle show with Jack Skellington.  And we never did get to do the Jack and Sally meet and greet because it was over an hour wait.  And we went to one of the earliest dates!

I won't be going back again anytime soon.

I would like to try the Christmas party, but I've read so many negative reviews about overcrowding that it may not happen.

Our worst experience, was at the Christmas party.  The crowds were absolutely insane.  It was really upsetting.   We went during the first week of the Christmas party, so I'm not sure if that played a part.  Actually.... date really shouldn't matter because simply put, it's an after hours party.  Disney should greatly reduce the occupancy, which means they need to limit how many tickets they can sell.   

That experience was November of 2018.    We had gone to the Christmas party a couple of years before that and had a fantastic time.  It's all about crowd control.

4 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I’m glad that the TCD gang got to enjoy MNSSPs back when the price was reasonable, attendance was low, and things were simpler. It’s not fun anymore. And it’s a colossal ripoff. 

TCD

Unfortunately, this is true.  When they allow sooo many people into these parties, even if the price was "decent" it's a huge, huge disappointment.  In some way, Disney is fantastic with their level of service, but when it comes to crowd control... they have really fallen short over the past few years.

Nice.  We've done the ones at the Art of Animation.... guessing these will be similar?

Very nice!   I know there is (or used to be?) a floating fire pit.  Hopefully the bike is able to float around for several months for folks to use.  You might try posting (if you haven't already) it on the Fort FB page (Campers That Love Fort Wilderness).  They're probably more than one FB page... LOL.

11 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

I am ok with the BP system. I just wish they would keep the park open late enough to guarantee everyone a ride that day if they got there within the first hour of park opening.

Yes, extended hours at this park would be helpful.

I'm confused as to why this new area with the boarding pass doesn't have a FP option, then a standby line.  Wouldn't that be easier?

2 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I don’t understand this comment. 

The current boarding pass system IS a lottery.  It’s no longer first come first served. Everyone tries at once- some guests get a boarding group. Some get standby. Some get nothing. 

It’s all a big scheme to hide the fact that the attraction breaks down and has to be evacuated several times EVERY day. They opened the attraction knowing full well that its  current capacity cannot come close to meeting demand.  But they can’t be honest about that because it would hurt resort reservations and ticket sales.  So they have created the pretense that everyone has a shot at getting a boarding group, when there’s less than a 50% chance that you will.

TCD

Which makes you wonder if it's better to have small groups try (instead of one large group)... at least MAYBE some will get on??  Mercy.. this stinks.  They really, really need to extend the hours at this park.

6 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

I know so many people that have quit going, and the place is more packed then ever. 

Yep... sigh...

Good grief... all this money and I’m already anxious.

I think the only way Disney can try and start to handle the crowds, is extended hours (both opening and closing).  To not have this park open 7a - 11p for the foreseeable future, represents a complete lack of customer service to guests who save their money and pay thousands to The Mouse.  I truly hope Disney figures it out 😕

1 hour ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Once upon a time they actually did give you the number for the front desk. 

Funny thing is I just looked in my phone because I knew I'd saved it there at one point.  Disney must have shuffled some numbers around because when I google that number it now comes up as The Contemporary.

Funny about the Contemporary 😄

Yes. we’ve only been going since 2014 and I can remember calling and getting the back office.  I think that changed around 2106, maybe ‘17.  Now, it’s someone who knows very little about the Fort..if anything 😕

Very nice... I'm considering the 5k with my daughter on Castaway Cay.

20 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Things could change in 10 months

Yes... I'll be watching 👀

10 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Don't worry too much about that.  The reservation CMs are nowhere near the Fort and there's a darned good chance the person he talked to has never even been there.

 

Yep.  They're pretty much like (most) RV salesmen I've met... they'll sell them, but have never used one a day in their life.  Oh... and when you check-in, I love how Disney gives you the phone number directly to the "Fort".   No,  it's not.  It's the reservation line and as Mo just said, those poor folks have no idea what they're talking about so:  go up the front desk to ask your questions   

11 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Correct, and there is no guarantee of getting on the ride with a higher # boarding pass.  Check some of the FB pages and other blogs and you'll see that quite a few times people have not gotten on the ride even with a boarding pass. And 1 day about a month ago, the ride went down for 7 hours shortly after opening and didn't start up until around 2:00 PM.

Oh gosh... that's just awful.

This is all so stressful.  If only our little man didn't love Star Wars sooo much.  Sigh.

We have the cruise coming up in December and now the family wants to spend a few days at the parks so, trying to figure all this out.

Thanks for the help.

3 minutes ago, Travisma said:

You and all of your party that wants to go on ROR need to be inside of the park when it "officially" opens.  At that time you attempt to get a boarding pass for your entire party.  Let the person with the fastest phone try to get it.  I saw a warning on another site that multiple people in your group should not all try for a pass because it confuses MDE.  Not sure if that is true or not.

I think Jason and maybe TCD have posted the entire process, and if you google it there are plenty of posts on how and how not to do it.

When they first started this process the first people with the fastest phones got the lower # passes.  From what I read it's now a lottery type, your party might get #15, and the person next to you might get 60.

You will get a 1 or 2 hour notice when to report back to get in line for the ride.  And depending on what # you have and if the ride did or didn't break down that day you can be waiting in line up to 2 hours.  Just like going to the doctors.  The earlier appointments get in on time, and as the day progresses and the patients take up more of the doctors time, the appointments get backed up.

But if you don't get a boarding pass... there is no way to get on the ride, is that correct?

14 minutes ago, Travisma said:

All the various blogs have been asking the same thing.  Don't think anyone knows at the moment.

I guess it might be working for Disney and for early risers since they implemented it at Disneyland.

Am I understanding correctly that if the boarding group is still in place... that you cannot even get into the area/land without a boarding pass and that even with the boarding pass, you still have to stand in the line for the ride?  Still so confused on all of this... haha.

Question on the boarding group set-up.... is this a permanent way to run things or is it just for the first few months of the opening?  Does anyone know?

2 hours ago, TheRollingRutherfords said:

I've really been struggling with this ticket price increase.  We love the Fort and Disney, but for a family of 4 to come its getting out of hand.  I do know we go at the most expensive time during the holidays, but every year it gets worse and worse.  I've been sad about it the last few days

You/me both.

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

You know what’s really galling about this?  Just today I get an email offer for a Florida Resident 4 day pass with no blockout dates for $49 a day. So they stick it to their regular customers, and then fill up the parks with these cheap tickets. 

TCD

And they wonder why it's so packed??   Dang.    Maybe you could adopt my kids for those four days? 😄

That's a great question.  Our truck is almost 20 feet, but it's not an RV.  I'm sure someone will be along to answer, but just wanted to jump in and say both:  welcome and great question!

50 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

UT is an authorized reseller so Disney knows they're offering discounted tickets and has been "bridging" the value of these tickets for years now without any problems.  That said if someone here has done this recently it would be great to confirm that nothing has changed.

Of course always possible that they do change the policy at some point, in which case you're still not losing any money, you're just not getting credit for the discount and instead paying full price for the AP. 

Personally I wouldn't do this if the discount is what makes or breaks my ability to buy APs because if the policy changes, I've now got to come up with extra money at the ticket window. But if I'm planning to buy them anyway, it's worth it for me on the (pretty high) likelihood that I'm getting the discount. 

Thanks.  I looked at a smaller ticket (6 days) and there was a still a good savings from buying directly through Disney.  We may do that, as I know we can use the 6 days for our fall visit to Orlando.

I think what makes me nervous about the ticket shuffle... is what if you buy tickets from UT, then Disney decides to not honor the upgrade because they know the tickets are discounted (or for whatever reason).  In our case, I would purchase the 10 day ticket, with the plan to upgrade to an AP.  If the policy changes we would be messed over....  

32 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

I figured and a very good point.

Got it but I'll answer here just in case others have good info to weigh in with and so y'all can correct me if I get any of it wrong. 🙂

The ticket upgrade shuffle goes a little like this...
(Actually Carol outlined it pretty well in a post somewhere, but I can't lay my hands on it at the moment)

Essentially you purchase a discounted ticket from a legit broker (like UT) that has the highest discount over gate price but still costs less than an AP; use the ticket at least once; and then upgrade it to an AP before it expires.  When you upgrade you get full the ticket's gate price value which is where the savings comes in.  So for example -

You buy a "10-Day Disney Flexible Date Ticket with Park Hopper® Option" from UT for $632.65 which is $84 less than gate price.  When you upgrade it you are credited the full $673.77 towards the AP. I only skimmed quickly so I'm not sure that's the ticket with the best savings, and it doesn't really matter which type of ticket it is - i.e., a "water parks and more" add-on ticket could be the best value - the type of ticket is less important than the discount.

I've done this a few times, as have at least a few other folks here, and go to the TTC to do the upgrade as the CMs there seem to be the most knowledgeable when it comes to dealing with all kinds of ticket stuff.  One note: I haven't done this since the new ticket structure was put into place (where you pick your dates), so I'm not sure how/if that effects anything.

Oh and when you upgrade, your "start date" for the AP will be the first day you used the ticket, not the date you upgraded.

 

Thank you.