We’re at the Disney World parks A LOT for our jobs. Hey, gotta earn a livin’ somehow!
Hollywood Studios
And because of how frequently we visit, we sometimes encounter some strange problems — like THIS ONE we’re about to tell you about!
You see, we’ve arrived at Hollywood Studios before it opened several times to secure a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. (This is for research purposes, OF COURSE!) But sometimes, despite being physically inside the park before 7 AM, our My Disney Experience app doesn’t register us as being in the park.
We’ve ended up with this error message on many occasions.
My Disney Experience App Glitch
Even though we are literally standing on Hollywood Boulevard staring at the Chinese Theater in front of us, the app won’t recognize us as actually being inside the park. And since it doesn’t think we’re in Hollywood Studios, it won’t allow us to reserve a boarding group!
Rise of the Resistance
And with Boarding Groups still filling up very quickly, it’s kind of frustrating when the app glitches you virtually out of the park.
So is this common? YES. Cast Members have told us this glitch is a very regular issue for folks who frequently visit the Disney World parks.
Now what should YOU do if, for some reason, your My Disney Experience app doesn’t recognize that you’re in the park when you’re trying to secure a boarding pass? First of all — don’t panic! Second: take a screen shot of the message you’re getting on the app about not being in the park, and then find a nearby Guest Experience Team Cast Member or head directly to Guest Relations (which is on your left as you enter Hollywood Studios!).
Guest Experience Team Stands
This problem with the app is occurring often enough that Cast Members are aware of the situation and know how to handle it! They will assist by manually adding you into a boarding group once they check to make sure you were inside the park at a time when boarding groups were being distributed (they can confirm this by scanning your magic band and seeing what time you tapped into the park) and check that your app is indeed telling you that you’re not in the park and you are thus unable to add yourself to a boarding group.
DFB TIP: If you remember to take a screen shot on your phone of the time you tried to get into a boarding group, and a screen shot of the erroneous message you’re getting about not being in the park, cast members may even be able to add you to the boarding group that was filling at that exact time. (That’s what’s happened to us most of the time.) We screen shot EVERYTHING. ;-D
Rise of the Resistance
Something else to consider regarding boarding groups while we’re on the topic: you won’t see the same number of boarding groups assigned each day. This is not a glitch, but it’s a good thing to remember.
Rise of the Resistance‘s operational delays have persisted since the ride debuted in Disney World back in December of 2019. Due to its massive scale and state-of-the-art technology, breakdowns occur with some frequency and can take a while to clear up. Because of this — and likely other factors like park hours and crowd levels — Disney is still adjusting the number of boarding groups and “backup” boarding groups they assign each day. (“Backup” boarding groups are assigned to guests after the day’s official boarding group limit has been reached. These guests may get to ride IF the attraction is still functional and IF the park is still open after all official boarding groups have been called for the day.)
My Disney Experience App Backup Boarding Group
Some days we’ve seen over 100 boarding groups distributed before “backup” boarding groups are begun, while other days we’ve seen significantly fewer than 100 official boarding groups. Expect the number of boarding groups to vary depending on when you visit!
Rise of the Resistance Sign
Official boarding groups earlier this week were gone within minutes, but we were still able to get into a back-up boarding group as late as 9 AM.
Rise of the Resistance Ride Vehicle
Let us know YOUR experiences in the comments!
Overall, while Hollywood Studios has extended its park hours for dates all the way into March to accommodate the high-demand for Rise of the Resistance, it seems they may still have a few kinks to work out! And hey, for a ride as massive and incredible as Rise, that makes sense.
We’ll keep you updated with that “you’re not in the park” problem and let you know if and when they fix that glitch! For now, May the Force Be With You while you try to snag those precious Rise of the Resistance boarding groups!
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Have you encountered any glitches or problems while trying to reserve a Rise of the Resistance boarding group? Tell us what issues you’ve had in the comments below!
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We had that exact glitch happen to us on 1/26. Cast member standing right there with iPad able to fix it. Got a backup boarding group which was a bummer, but went to guest services main desk and explained our bus from the resort was an hour late and they called hotel to confirm- bingo assigned boarding group we should have gotten. When ride broke during our boarding group they again took care of us. Disney may not be perfect, but they excel at fixing things that go wrong.
This happens at Disneyland too! I make sure once I am in the park (before park open) to try and make a fast pass for another attraction which you can do at this point and ensure the app has recognized that we are all in the park! If there is a glitch – we ask a cast member and they do their thing all before the park opens and boarding groups are assigned!
We had an issue with people showing up in the group. Me and my boyfriend showed up so I secured our boarding group(45). His kids did show up up until a minute later. They got group 93 instead. We went and had it fixed at a guest relations kiosk. They updated the kids to 45 which was nice. He ride also broke down we guess. We didn’t move in the line for a little bit. A cast member came through with free water which was strange. They usually give nothing away for free especially 6 credit water. The ride was amazing though.
Make sure ALL OF your group is selected when assigning a boarding group. Everyone has to be selected! Also if your in the que when the ride goes down & they start distributing snacks & drinks, you might want to ask a cast member of you can get a return FP for when the ride comes back up. We did this on a day we were group 36 but didn’t get to ride until 5pm. Other people said they were notified they could come back to the park the next day,fee waived, w a FP.
I have to admit they do everything they can to accommodate “travelers” during the inconvenience! It did through a kink in our trip plans but the ride was so amazing we rode it on another day w no glitches at all!
Does every person in your group need to be in the park or just the people in your group that want to ride the ride? We were considering going early without our young children to get into a boarding group and having grandma/grandpa bring them later.
This happened to us on Opening Day! Thankfully a Cast Member helped and we were in a boarding group shortly.
Just FYI, MDE app does NOT allow you to take screenshots with you actual phone. You would have to take a screenshot via camera on someone else’s phone.
Annie, only the people who will be riding have to be scanned into the Park.
First thought is your settings on your phone aren’t allowing MDE to use location services. Check permissions for MDE and make sure it has access to location. Second thing to check is location tracking on your phone and if it also is turned on. Many of us don’t like the thought of apps and the web in general knowing where we are every bloomin second and we turned these settings off a long time ago.
Just so everyone understands. You CAN enter the park before it officially opens but CANNOT join the virtual queue until the official published park opening time.
Awful experience yesterday with MDE giving me an error message at 7:00am saying all groups were filled. 7:01 my wife on her app secures back up Boarding Group 80, guaranteed groups were up to 70, so already this is annoying but thinking ok we’ll probably get on today. The ride broke down at least 2 times that I know of and they never got to any back up groups. This whole experience put a damper on the last park day of our vacation. My 4 year old daughter really wanted to ride this attraction and I feel like because of a glitch in my MDE app I failed her. Disney needs to do better. This attraction is not ready for prime time.
Just restart your phone
I was able to screenshot MDE in my iPhone 11
Not sure what Greggory means exactly. If your phone can screenshot, it works!
Being an international guest i wanted to use the Disney wifi to access the app. But wifi in the park before 7.30am is hopeless / non existant. Unable to access wifi, no access to app no boarding group. GuestvExperience said “yeah sorry for you…turn on your international roaming”.
Throughout my trip the app constantly froze and crashed at all times of day or night.
We were their during marathon week. the first day of the Expo…a Wednesday…we got to the park 15 mins after it opened and were in backup boarding group 120. Only 114 was guaranteed and they did NOT call our group. Every other day…through Sunday…the guarenteeed group was 105-115 and they called up to groups 130-150. Worst…luck…ever. couldn’t go those days bc of the races. Our last day the Monday after… we tried one last time. Our bus was late. Got in to the park 5 mins after open and got into group 105 or something which was guaranteed. I think that day they went up to 115 or so. Our group was called about 2 or 3pm and didn’t get on ride for a little over an HR. My feet….after Dopey…were so sore and blistered. We got picked to go in the trackless section and the group in front of us came out….the ride was down for like 20 mins and the “emperials” would not let us sit on the floor. I about passed out. But we got on the ride and it was pretty awesome. Will never do that with the kids, nor any time soon. Hagrids as an easier time do and we waited 3 hrs for that (down an HR just as we got to the walking escallater)
This happened to me 2 days in a row. I was literally standing in front of the ride and it said I wasn’t in the park. I was a single rider so had no one to wait on. Not happy!
So, is the only way to get into a boarding group, dragging your family to the park before the sun comes up ? Otherwise your potentially once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the ride is shot? That’s an exceptionally poor customer experience.
You can screenshot anything that appears on your phone, including MDE – I just screenshot a reservation for an upcoming trip to WDW in May.
I found out you should also take a screenshot when you do get into a boarding group. My grandson and I got into a boarding group on Friday December 6th. We got called in the evening and in an interrogation group when the ride went down. They gave us a paper fast pass for Friday in case the ride came back up and an open electronic fast pass that could be used on anything including Rise of the Resistance. We went back on Saturday 12-6 and got in another boarding group. We then headed to Rise and used our electronic fast pass. We are next to get into an interrogation group and again the ride went down. again we received a paper fast pass for Rise good for Saturday and an open electronic fast pass. We used the electronic fast pass on Smugglers run to kill some time. I then noticed that our boarding group for Saturday 12-6 is no longer in My Disney Experience. It appears they removed us from our boarding group when they gave use the electronic fast pass but our boarding group had not even been called and probably would not have been until late afternoon. The first cast member said they could not do anything since I did not have proof (i.e. a screen shot) I had been in a boarding group. I argued that if there system can tell if I am in the park to allow me into a boarding group it should also be able to tell I was in a group and removed. I was referred to a customer service rep with a computer. After explaining what happened they looked at some things. They said they did find a problem but could not get us in another boarding group but could give us a regular line pass. Fortunately the ride did come back up so we could get in line and wait. Made it on that time and then made it on again using the paper fast pass for Saturday.
To clarify, is a boarding group the ONLY way to get on, or can you wait in line ?
I’m from Canada and will want to take advantage of WIFI so I’m terribly disappointed to hear this will be “iffy” the first half hour or so. Thank you for the tips about taking screen shots as this could be our only hope to ride. However, it was my understanding that guests of WDW could approach select Guest Experience Teams wearing blue shirts with the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror logo inside the Hollywood Studios Park who would be in a position to assist in obtaining a board pass for Rise of the Resistance. Could someone please confirm this option is still available? thank you.
Ed, right now, there’s no standby. YOu must be in a boarding group.
That glitch happened to my husband on December 8th. We got the boarding group without him and then showed a cast member with an iPad. She scanned his magic band and added him to our group.
Why were my comments (2) not posted ?
My daughter & I visited on Jan 21at 0700 and this happened to me. We got seperated due to security checks. She came into the park two minutes later and got us into Boarding Group 107. Then the ride broke for 6 Hours ! They only guaranteed groups 1-87 for that day. They eventually called our boarding group at 7PM and got into the ride at 8PM. Found out they only called up to Group 108 that day.
I have a couple questions so I’m hoping somebody can answer for me.
1) how do they know if you’re in the park? We weren’t planning on buying magic bands (staying off site) so would that just be from our tickets on our phone or would magic bands really be better for confirming we’re all in the park
2) We have a group of 9 going and some don’t want to go on this ride. If we’re all linked for other things on MDE but only 4 people want to go on the ride, is that going to cause a problem for the 5 that won’t be in the park that early?
Here’s a good experience, kind of anyway. No problem getting our boarding group. We arrived at 0545 and the cast members opened the gates at 0630. We waited just short of toy story land. At 0700 we used the app to get boarding group 23.
We rode slinky dog and toy story midway mania then made our way to Galaxies Edge. Our group was boarding, but on arrival the ride was shut down. No problem, we waited in a long line for a Ronto roaster. Walked around the outpost for a bit, then back to Rise of the Resistance, it’s open and we were very close to being the first ones in after it re-opened.
We went through the line and got right up to the briefing with Rae when it went down again.
This is where we saw something we’ve never seen before. During the wait, cast members brought snacks and bottled water to everyone in the line. Not only that, Chewie came through and greeted every guest/group and a Disney photographer took your picture with Chewie, and gave you a FREE photo pass!!!
No Bathroom in the que? Well, if ya gotta go, ya gotta go. after the snack and bottled waters! Cast members were escorting guests backstage to use a restroom usually reserved for cast members.
I was very surprised (And thrilled) by the attention Disney gave to the guests and of course the attraction was spectacular.
People are using this knowledge and getting boarded ahead of others now.
Long lines at every guest station.
Susan, as far as the folks who want to ride versus the ones who don’t: once the four of you scan into the park, and when you click “Join Boarding Group”, the next screen will allow you to select only the folks who are going to ride. Just make sure everyone is linked together in MDE. As for not having a MagicBand, I believe you should have a hard ticket, and you’ll use that to scan in at the park entrance.
Thank you very much Sarah! This is the one ride my daughter wants to ride in all of Disney so I want to make sure we have the best chance to get it on and I don’t want to mess it up!
AJ, can I make all three of my FP+ for Hollywood Studies and still get a Rise boarding group? Or, do I need to keep unbooked one of my FP+ in order to have “room” for the boarding group?
Marc, the boarding group is separate from FP, so you can make your FP and still try for a boarding group, too.
Good luck, Susan!
We us 2 error messages and then booked us at 106 in backup, we waited and were early and talking the blue shirts helpers we’re worthless and frustrating as they just say, at least you got in back up (not helpful)
We just got back from Disney and we were able to get into three boarding groups thru the week with no breakdowns…..it appeared that they were getting in most if not all of the backup groups. They were booking 63-65 initial boarding groups per day and the latest we got was 57 and we were called for that one about noon….the boarding groups later in the day were over 100. You ALL have to be scanned into the park and you have to do it AT 8….as soon as we would get our group the boarding group status would show “backup” so I’m thinking the initial groups were gone in less than a minute.
My husband and I went to holly wood studios to ride the rise of resistance twice in August and again in September. We each tried on our phones at 10 am and again 2pm but both times did not get in a group and no back up available. Our tickets were linked in my disney app but could not ride the one ride we went twice to ride. We have droids one tried with wild and the other off wifi. What is the secret? We are so disappointed as we are in our mid to late 50’s both many chances left