Just to clear things up a little.
The game launcher has 2 beta options for TWW that are both under the ‘In Development’ section.
- The one that says Public Test Realm (TWW 11.0) is actually still game version 10.2.6.53989, this is not the one you want to select to play. (This is the pre-patch apparently)
- The one that sits at the top of the list that says The War Within Beta is game version 11.0.0.55000, this is the one you want to select to play.
There currently is no realms available as at the time of this post and that is why you are getting disconnected when you log into the game.
You will be able to see a realm list and create/import your characters when the beta servers are actually up. This could be anytime between now and 23:59:59.
If you pre ordered the Collectors Edition of the game, your account will not know that you have done this, so you will either have to wait for your game to come in before you can assign a game code and get beta access, or you will have to refer to this Blue Post. It is suggested that you can buy a digital copy on top of, but you would only be entitled to a credit on the account instead of a refund when your CE version comes in.