1-Day “Resistance Run” Disney World Itinerary
If you want to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, plus headliners in both Epcot and Hollywood Studios, this 1-Day Park Hopper Itinerary is for you. In it, we’ll offer a step-by-step plan of attack for leveraging FastPass+ and rope drop to experience some of Walt Disney World’s most popular rides–and make the Resistance Run in less than twelve parsecs!
Our other Walt Disney World itineraries avoid park hopping because it typically is not a method of saving time. While bouncing around can sometimes extend your day by visiting the park that opens earliest or closest latest, it’s not something around which we can build an itinerary. Usually.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot are a huge exception to this. In the era of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, DHS typically opens one hour earlier than Epcot, and the two parks are connected via a walking path, plus the Skyliner gondolas and boats. Strategically bouncing between the two in the same day isn’t just possible, right now, it’s advisable…
More so than due to the staggered park opening times, the park hopping advantage comes due to the ebb and flow of crowds. The “new normal” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is wait times peaking by around 9 am. That is inconsistent with the three other Walt Disney World theme parks, but is likely to remain the case at DHS due to an influx of rope drop crowds for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and due to the park’s shows not starting until later in the day.
Before we delve into the itinerary, we should warn you that this breaks a couple traditional “rules” of Walt Disney World itineraries, offers some gambles, and is not for the faint of heart. In a sense, it’s the perfect plan for any smugglers, rogues, outlaws, or bounty hunters willing to roll the dice a bit and do the Resistance Run. In our experience, the rewards outweigh the risks…
The first gamble is that you won’t be making FastPass+ ride reservations until later in the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you’re concerned that this approach will preclude you from scoring additional FastPass+, check out same-day availability for Disney’s Hollywood Studios FastPasses on any random day from home. Unless you’re jonesing to access MuppetVision via the FastPass line, you won’t miss out. It’s pointless.
Our recommendation on the FastPass+ front is timing your selections to begin at around 3 pm and choosing Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Toy Story Mania. Slinky Dog Dash is an equal alternative to Runaway Railway on the top tier, but we’d caution against doing Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. Tower of Terror is a good back-up to one of the aforementioned second tier priorities.
The second rule we’re breaking is having an itinerary that’s necessarily fluid and cannot conceivably be planned down to the minute. As someone who is decidedly not about planning Walt Disney World days down to the minute with binders and spreadsheets, this is actually my favored approach–and one you’ll find in all of our itineraries, which allow room for spontaneity. The third broken rule is bouncing around, which is covered above. The final gamble we’ll cover in the step by step plan for the Resistance Run…
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Boarding Pass Dash – We have approximately 4,973 posts about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its flagship attraction, so we aren’t going to rehash all of that here. Suffice to say, consult our Ride Guide & FAQ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance for the ins and outs of the virtual queue if you’re unfamiliar with the system.
If you want to do Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, our recommendation is to arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios approximately 30 minutes before park opening. As soon as everyone in your party scans into the park…leave. The My Disney Experience boarding pass feature “unlocks” by scanning into the park.
The Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue system is not location-based. You can join a boarding group from outside Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but only after everyone in your party has entered DHS.
International (Gateway) Flight to Epcot – Once you’ve entered and exited Disney’s Hollywood Studios to unlock the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, you can either walk over to Epcot via the Crescent Lake walking path or taking “Disney’s Most Magical Flight” via Skyliner and connect at Caribbean Beach.
We personally prefer walking as it’s a known quantity and we are in complete control of our fate. However, you have a decent margin for error here, so taking the Skyliner should be perfectly fine even if you encounter a line at Caribbean Beach or a brief stoppage somewhere.
Join the Resistance! – When official park opening time of Disney’s Hollywood Studios rolls around, you’ll be eligible to join the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Instead of following our recommendations for scoring the lowest boarding pass number possible, we’d encourage a bit of hesitation here. This is the final and biggest gamble. We’d only recommend doing this if you have a second day during which you can attempt the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass dash.
How long you wait before attempting to pull a boarding group depends upon crowds and your risk appetite. Primary or guaranteed boarding groups tend to fill up the first minute the park is open. Backup groups fill within anywhere between one minute and a little over an hour. Our recommendation most days would be to wait about 30 seconds before joining. (Get all the way through the steps to join to make sure you can, just pause on the confirm screen.) In a perfect world, this will put you in a boarding group above 50 but below 70.
(Note: It’s presently unclear whether you can tap into Epcot before joining a boarding group. The only times thus far when this would be applicable are when morning Extra Magic Hours are held at Epcot and we haven’t had a chance to try yet. In the future, if/when DHS moves to 9 am opening times, this will be relevant–we’ll have an answer for you by then.)
Frozen Ever After Rope Drop – Entering Epcot through International Gateway puts you in World Showcase, and closer to the Norway pavilion than the vast majority of guests, who come through Future World.
On average, this means you’ll have minimal wait for Frozen Ever After–under 15 minutes, hopefully. In our tests, we’re usually on and off Frozen Ever After in less than 15 minutes.
The Land Pavilion – The biggest impediment to doing Soarin’ Around the World with a short wait is the 10-minute walk to the attraction. Once there, you’re likely to encounter a posted wait time of 30 minutes or less.
For Soarin’ Around the World, that’s not really a big deal–the amount of that time you’re waiting before the merge point is minimal (if anything), which is the key factor here, and why you can forgo FastPass+ for this attraction. While you’re in the area, do Living with the Land if you so desire.
Catch the EAC! – We normally refer to this as “riding the wave,” but with the next stop being the Seas with Nemo & Friends, that feels more apt.
Dot that, then Spaceship Earth, followed by Mission Space. Skip any of these attractions if the posted wait is above 25 minutes if you’re planning a second day at Epcot (and you should).
Test Track via Single Rider – In theory, you could do Test Track right after Frozen Ever After via the normal standby line. The problem we’ve encountered with attempting that is a line that’s already prohibitively long. Even popping over here to check the wait time after you do Frozen Ever After wastes valuable minutes during which the line for Soarin’ Around the World builds.
Doing Test Track via Single Rider will likely still result in your longest wait of the day at Epcot, but it should be half of what you’d wait in the standby line. If you’re unwilling to do Test Track via Single Rider, you’ll want to revisit the attraction on another day.
Future World Cleanup – Do anything else that you’ve yet to experience at the front of the park, whether that mean Journey into Imagination, meet & greets, or simply spending 45 minutes gazing longingly at the manatees.
Lunch – From there, it should be time for a late lunch (hopefully you had a big breakfast!). We suggest the new Regal Eagle Smokehouse for something crowd-pleasing or Tangierine Cafe for more adventurous cuisine.
World Showcase Free Time – Enjoy World Showcase as time allows–either until your Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding group is called or your first FastPass+ time. Note that return windows for Rise of the Resistance vary and are either 1 or 2 hours depending upon the time of day.
Boarding Pass & FastPasses – Upon returning to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, use your FastPass+ entitlements and (hopefully) your Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass.
We’re anticipating that, in total, this will take until around 6 pm. However, the time could vary considerably depending upon the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, including whether the return line is long and if the attraction breaks down.
Evening Efficiency – All lines at Disney’s Hollywood Studios are shortest in the park’s final two operating hours. There is also rampant wait time inflation, meaning that the posted 60 minute wait might actually be a 20 minute wait, or in the case of Tower of Terror, a near walk-on. (Something we’ve experienced many times.)
What you do at this point is really up to you. We’d recommend starting with Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run and then evaluating how much time you have for other attractions. Do whatever time allows, and then jump into line for Slinky Dog Dash minutes before park closing. There’s a decent chance that you’ll either see the fireworks while on the ride, or shortly after getting off. Toy Story Land is actually a decent spot to watch the fireworks–just minus all of the clipart projections.
It should go without saying, but you’re going to skip a lot in both parks with this 1-Day Epcot & Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary. Neither of these are half-day parks. To the contrary, it normally takes over one full day in each to experience everything they have to offer. To be abundantly clear, we’re not suggesting that you should only spend a day combined in these two parks.
Rather, we’re offering an approach that strategizes around Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance without simply throwing your hands up in the air and waiting in 100+ minute rope drop lines at Disney’s Hollywood Studios because you’re “already there and what else is there to do?!?” This plan addresses that common complaint, tackling many or most of the headliners in each park, allowing you to take a more leisurely pace on subsequent days. In the event that you want to go hard and try for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance again, we’ll be back with a “Second Day Smugglers Strategy” in the near future. Stay tuned for that.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? If you’re interested in learning more about hotels, our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page is a good place to start. For where to eat, try out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. If you want to save money on tickets or determine which type you should get, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at unconventional things you should take on your trip. Once you arrive at the parks, our Walt Disney World “Ride Guides” are great for determining what to do and when to do it. For overviews of all of these topics and so much more, the best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you tried the “Resistance Run” or a similar plan of attack for juggling Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios? How did it work out for you? Any tweaks you’d make? Do you think this plan makes sense, or is it an overzealous amount to accomplish in a single day? Do you agree or disagree with our approach? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Our park hopping strategy was similar, but went in the opposite direction. We had fast passes for early morning in Hollywood, arrived early enough to get into rope drop line for Rock n Rollercoaster. Luckily scored low boarding group number 24. Did Rock n Rollercoaster immediately followed by Tower of Terror. Boarding pass called around 9 to do Rise of Resistance followed by fast pass for Smugglers Run and Toy Story Mania. We did several other attractions then lunch at Backlot Express. We were in Magic Kingdom by 2pm grabbing a fast pass for splash mountain on the way.
Day two in Hollywood we had a similar plan. In rope drop line for Tower of Terror and we’re able to get boarding group 3. While deciding whether to stay and quickly do Tower of Terror before heading over to Rise of Resistance, we were informed that Tower of Terror wouldn’t open due to technical issues. So we bailed on that and went right into Rise of Resistance followed by our fast passes for the day which included Rock n Rollercoaster, Toy Story Mania and Mickeys Runaway Railway. We were done before noon, made a reservation at Jungle Navigation Co for lunch, got on the bus for Magic Kingdom, grabbed a fast pass on the way.
Love hearing this other option! Glad to know how things worked for you!
We did a similar version of this Tuesday and it was great. We were 31 but because of breakdowns we didn’t get called until 11:55 which was perfect since the 1:55 time lines up well with our fastpasses starting at 2:30. It would have all worked out perfectly had Runaway Railway not broken down on us.
WHY do they inflate wait times so much? I *feel* (no data at all whatsoever to back this up) like the practice is becoming more prevalent. I understand perhaps toward the end of the night trying to keep a slew of people from getting in line at the last second – but hours before park closing? I’m not sure what that does.
It’s definitely becoming more common. The crazy thing is that it should be moving in the opposite direction thanks to technology. There are a number of excuses for why this is happening, none of them good.
I read the all caps but am still confused about not needing to be in HS to get a boarding pass. Scanned, yes, but not in the park at at park open? When did this change? I reread your FAQ’s (I’ve actually already done all of it but got a higher group and it was broken down all day so didn’t get to ride) and only see the reference to needing to have your entire group scanned in but nothing about leaving and being able to get a boarding group as in this article. I believe you, but am so surprised I haven’t read it anywhere.
Last Wednesday my wife and I went to hs at 11am we were able to do runaway railroad, smugglers run,slinky dog, ts mania then park hop to ak ride fop, safari, and Everest x2 then hop to epcot ride soarin, test track, mission space and frozen walked out front gate at 9:05 as fireworks were going off no fast passes used. Not one of the wait times were correct with in 20 min.we used single rider only on smugglers run walked on top was 45 min wait time said 105 min runaway railroad said 120 min it was60 at worst so don’t be discouraged by app wait times
Has anyone scanned into Epcot before joining a boarding group?
Hi! We went to DHS yesterday, March 10, and at 20 seconds after 8:00 am we got a boarding group number of 93. We had three people in our party and only one was able to even access the app. The app said anything over 62 was considered a back up group. We were also in line for Mickey and Minnie’s runaway train ride while waiting for the park to open and get on the app and about 10 minutes til 8 they opened the doors to the ride and started to move the line inside. Cast members said there might not be service inside which was frustrating because everyone was there to get for Rise of the resistance boarding groups but they made you move inside. So people had to decide to get out of the line and miss that ride to get and get a boarding group or stay in line and possibly not have cell service or wifi inside the Chinese theatre. Around 12:30 pm we got a push notification on the app that told us they would not get to our boarding group. We hung around anyways because on the app it still showed us as group 93 and moving towards our number. At 7:00 pm they were boarding up to group 90 and that’s where they stopped. We understand and agree with how boarding groups work and that is the best system for right now, however it was upsetting to hear so early in the day that they wouldn’t get to us even though multiple Disney cast members told us they continue to call new boarding groups up until the park closes at 8:30. They say the boarding groups are designed to be fluid but it seemed to us they already knew what number they wanted to end at.
This is fantastic! Thank you! When I saw the post title I assumed it was for Star Wars Rival Run Weekend — we will be trying out this strategy after the 5k!
Oh jeez, I didn’t even think of that.
…maybe I should re-title this.
I totally thought it was about a run too
I’m one of the ones Tom scolded through that paragraph in bold. Sorry, if I had seen this info before, I wouldn’t have asked. Not everyone sees everything here. I won’t ask again, no worries.
Haha, I’m not scolding anyone. When I ramble on for ~4,000 words, it’s very easy to miss important details. With the way comments display here, it’s also easy to miss something someone else has already asked.
I was simply trying to avoid those issues! 🙂
Just to clarify (don’t hate me), we can leave HS and tap in at Epcot before we have our RoR boarding pass without any issues? We have a PPO breakfast at Epcot and I’ve been wondering if we could slip over to HS for a boarding pass first.
So with the rise of the resistance are people with disabilities able to ensure a rise? So like other rides they would be given a return time so they can avoid big crowds and lines. Can someone please let me know how this ride works for disabilities?
Okay quick question. Tom mentions all parties for a boarding pass have to be scanned in at DHS prior to attempting to secure a boarding group. This is the first time I have run across this info. I was under impression I could go early and leave the family at the hotel and secure a boarding group for all of us, just like one person can secure FastPasses for the whole group. So Everyone has to be present at DHS? Can anyone help clarify?
“Everyone in your party must tap into Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the day (which requires their fingerprint, not just the MagicBand) before they’re eligible to join the virtual queue.
One person simply cannot take all of the MagicBands to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and then join the virtual queue for everyone.”
This link from above is a good reference:
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/star-wars-rise-resistance-faq-ride-guide/
Thanks Aaron. I must have missed that point!
Tom another question. Right now the park times for end of May (when we are going) show Hollywood Studios opening at 9:00 A.M. and Epcot Also opening at 9:00 A.M. How would that work?
Does DHS let you tap in early at like 8:30? and then we can leave and go to Epcot to rope drop? or do you think Disney is going to alter the hours for DHS to 8:00 A.M. They already took away the morning Extra Magic Hours and made them evening, which is a huge bummer for people planning a vacation with little kids. 🙁
At some point, DHS will move back to 9 am openings. I have no clue whether late May will be that point or not.
Theoretically, even when that happens DHS will keep opening the turn/tapstiles early to ensure huge crowds don’t build outside the park. So let’s say those open at 8 am (which seems realistic)–you tap in, leave by 8:15 am, walk to Epcot, and are there by 8:45 am.
The wildcard at this point is whether you can tap into Epcot before obtaining a boarding pass for RotR. That’s unknown right now because we haven’t had a scenario to test it. (Disneyland uses almost the same system, and there you CAN tap into DCA after tapping into Disneyland and the process still works.)
Sigh, I see my answer.
“The wildcard at this point is whether you can tap into Epcot before obtaining a boarding pass for RotR. That’s unknown right now because we haven’t had a scenario to test it.”
Thank you for clarifying that you can definitely join a boarding group outside of the parks, but that it is unknown if you can enter a second park before joining.
(I’m assuming that my group might make it from HS to Epcot in less than 30 minutes, but not by much.)
Hmm. I’m not sure I could in good conscience recommend waiting 30 seconds to score a boarding pass. I can see your reasoning, but I’ve done it 4 times now, and each time it’s been so unreliable that I’ve landed backup (or no) boarding passes despite trying on-the-dot. Other times I’ve entered the ride only to be unloaded and given a FP+ return. If the “worst” case scenario is going straight back to DHS, so be it.
I like this plan a lot. But 1 question — think it would be workable at Epcot EMH morning? What time to arrive at DHS to still scan in quickly enough to get to International Gateway for EMH? What time do they let guests into Epcot on EMH morning?
Yes to all this! Hollywood Studios is absolutely miserable first thing in the morning. We got our boarding pass, and quickly realized our plan to rope drop Alien Swirling Saucers (seems like it should be no big deal right?) was impossible due to the mob of people in toy story land. We high tailed it out of there, got on the Skyliner and rope dropped Soarin. So much more enjoyable to be at Epcot. Even if you go back and forth on the Skyliner pretty soon with an early bearding group, its a lovely ride, and it’s still better than being stuck in a mob of people at Hollywood studios.
One question after all your help. If you go in single rider at test track, do you miss designing a car?
Nope, you still get to do the car stuff.
You’ll get to choose parts of the car but not a full design like you would in the standby line (at least that was my experience when I went last year)
Thanks. If it were just me I’d go single. But taking three newbies! Want full experience if possible. Will try for rope drop but now won’t rule out single.
It’s my assumption that the tap into EPCOT negates your tap into DHS – the guidance i’ve seen is to wait outside the tapstiles of your second park until AFTER you’ve secured your boarding group, then immediately tap in.
Great post.
You sold me on buying Park Hoppers for the first time. You should get a commission :-).
I love this plan! One question though: If Hollywood studios opens at 8 a.m. and EPCOT at 9 a.m. Can you tap into Hollywood Studios between 7 a.m.-7:30 a.m. and then tap into EPCOT at 8 a.m. for pre-park breakfast and obtain a boarding group while in EPCOT? Does the new park tap into EPCOT or any other park nullify your previous tap into Hollywood Studios? Wonder if anyone has tried obtaining a boarding group while actually in EPCOT park.