If you are planning on going to Disney World for vacation, you're likely going to want to check out Disney's new Star Wars land in Hollywood Studios. There are two new rides there, one of which, you can only ride by joining a virtual queue and getting a boarding group number. There is no physical line you can wait in at all. No boarding group number, no ride. This practice of joining a virtual queue was actually going on for this ride prior to Covid-19, and as Disney adapted to Covid-19 regulations, the virtual queue stuck.
It sounds a little stressful, but with just a little practice, getting a boarding group number should be fool-proof. Disney releases boarding group number at 7am and 1pm. At 7am, you do not need to be in the park. As long as you are anywhere with internet service, you will be able to attempt to get one. However, you do already need a reservation to Hollywood Studios that day. If you fail to get one at 7am, you have another chance at 1pm (you'll have to be in the park for the 1pm attempt). You'll really want to try to get one in the morning though. If you get a high boarding group number, there is still a chance they won't get to that number by the end of the day. Check out this blog post which tracks how many boarding groups are not called each day.
So how do you ensure you get a boarding group? Well, practice make perfect. I ended up practicing over 20 times (I know, a little crazy), and I got boarding group 2 on the day we were going to Hollywood Studios! Now, I don't think you'll need to practice 20 times. I would practice until you are successful at least two times. The great thing, is that it only take a minute to try out. Here's what you need to do:
Before 7am:
- Close any other apps you have open in the background
- Test your internet connection on a website like this.
o Forums recommended that you use your cell phone data over WIFI
o On the day of, find an area of your hotel that has a the best connection
- Check if the clock on your phone is synced with the world clock
o You'll only have to do this before the first time you practice
o Some people have a laptop or another phone opened up to the world clock and they watch that the seconds on that. My phone was aligned pretty well to the second, so I did not use this.
Steps for Getting a Boarding Group:
- Go to the home page of the Disney app and line up the red eyes of the AT ATs as shown with the top of your screen. This screen placement makes it so the next “Join” button is right under your thumb on the next screen.
- Watch the time in the upper left hand corner. As soon as it turns to 7am hit "Join". I usually watched the clock app on my iPhone until I saw the second hand gets to 6:59:30 then started counting to 30 in my head while in the Disney app.
- The next screen will have some more info about the ride. Don’t read anything, just hit “Join” as quickly as you can.
- The last screen will have checkbox with your name and anyone else in your family's name. The “join” button is at the bottom of the page. During practice, only your name will be checked.
o On the day you have a Hollywood Studios park reservation, all the names of people in your family that also have a park reservation should also be checked off. Do not even look at the checks, just immediately hit the join button.
- During practice, if done correctly, you'll get an error message that says something like "“Oops, looks like you don’t have a park reservation for Hollywood studios today.” If instead, you get a message that says something like "No more boarding groups available," that means you would not have been successful on the day of.
o On the day of your Hollywood Studios reservation, if successful, you will be brought to a page with your boarding group number.
If you are still have more questions, as a personal travel planner, I would be happy to help! Just email info@retreatsbyrachel.com.
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