More 2020 DHS Hours Extended for Star Wars Rise of Resistance
There’s no end in sight to the popularity and high demand for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which continues to garner rave reviews from guests. Accordingly, Walt Disney World has once again extended park hours for Hollywood Studios in early 2020.
Unsurprisingly, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been packed the last few days and the virtual queue is filling up quickly. In addition to taking a look at the latest hours extension, we’ll also offer some commentary and an update on the post-Christmas DHS opening experience and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance operations.
Before delving into this update, let’s reiterate once more that most questions you have are likely answered by our Ride Guide & FAQ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. We’ve updated that with new info and more answers to questions readers that were frequently being asked by readers in the comments…
As another reminder, the official opening time for Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been moved forward to 6 am for the remainder of the year. That has been the opening time since the day after Christmas, which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise since this is busiest week of the year.
Previously, these earlier openings were extended to continue into the new year, with January 1-4, 2020 also seeing 7 am openings. After that, 8 am park openings occur through February 1, 2020. The latest change now has added 7 am park openings for January 5-11, 2020. It’s worth noting here that January 12, 2020 is the Walt Disney World Marathon, and Mile 23 goes through Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend is also notable because that Sunday traditionally marks the end of holiday crowds. Nevertheless, we wouldn’t be surprised to see future dates receive extended hours as we draw nearer to them and Disney has a chance to evaluate demand projections.
It’ll be interesting to see whether this happens in mid-January during the doldrums of winter off-season. Although staffing and operating attractions for an extra hour or two has a cost, we think it’d be a savvy move for Walt Disney World to meet guest demand for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (or at least attempt to do so).
Complaints about the process for accessing the attraction have died down since the last round of policy changes; now it’s mostly glowing guest reviews about the substance of the attraction. It benefits Disney to get as many guests on Rise of the Resistance per day as possible, as the positive word of mouth has tremendous value.
We haven’t been back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios since posting our last update, Star Wars Rise of Resistance Reliability Gains. We’re going to sit out the rest of the holiday season–these peak mornings are not indicative of what will happen in January or February 2020, so there’s not much future value in going now. We’ll be back one of the first days or two of 2020, and will have another update around then.
However, many readers have left comments on that post and our FAQ/Ride Guide, sharing details of their experiences with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. (We’re very appreciative of this; if you’ve done the attraction this week and are willing to provide a quick timeline and some commentary, please leave a comment!)
What we’ve learned from this and photos on social media is that it’s really busy. Well, that was pretty much a given. However, there have been other issues pretty much every day.
On December 26, the My Disney Experience app wasn’t working for a large number of guests, leading to long lines at the Guest Experiences Team stations. (If this happens again, our recommendation would be to find a blue umbrella away from the front of the park–one reader reported that Sunset Blvd had a shorter line.)
On December 27, the attraction opened late and never really hit its stride, resulting in backup boarding groups receiving cancellation notices early in the day. Since the number of backup groups allocated in any given day seems predicated upon how many were distributed the previous day, Rise of the Resistance breezed through all regular and backup boarding passes on December 28, and was finished before the park closed.
We share both of these occurrences because they’re things that could happen even outside of peak season. A morning with My Disney Experience not working for many guests was an inevitability, and something that’ll undoubtedly happen again. Don’t be surprised if there’s a day when it doesn’t work for anyone–that’ll mean some seriously long lines at the blue umbrellas!
Another thing that readers have been reporting is issues with transportation. Long waits for parking and guest drop-off, and Walt Disney World transportation not operating early enough to arrive 30+ minutes before park opening. This isn’t a huge surprise given the crowds this time of year, and the latter is causing the former.
Our advice here stands: drive or use Uber or Lyft rather than relying on Disney transportation that early. If you’re visiting in the next few days, give yourself a 15 minute buffer for the drop-off or to park. (If you’re unfamiliar with ride-share services at WDW, see our Guide to Uber & Lyft at Walt Disney World.)
The silver lining in all of this is that readers who have arrived early have reported success in doing other attractions in the park efficiently. This is something that definitely cannot be said for those who arrive later in the day, or even who rope drop other Walt Disney World parks that open later.
Going forward, we can continue to expect variations of these same things. Early 2020 crowds won’t be nearly as bad as the last two weeks, but popularity and demand for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is unlikely to subside any time soon. As we’ve noted, Avatar Flight of Passage still has similar morning fanfare; that attraction is based on a less popular franchise and is not as wow-inducing. (It’s still great, just not as great.) We’ll continue to keep you updated on changes in crowd/attendance patterns by guests, as well as operating hours and protocol by Walt Disney World.
If you’re planning on visiting the new land, you’ll also want to read our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Guide. This covers a range of topics from basics about the land and its location, to strategically choosing a hotel for your stay, recommended strategy for the land, and how to beat the crowds. It’s a good primer for this huge addition. As for planning the rest of your trip, we have a thorough Walt Disney World Planning Guide.
Your Thoughts
If you’ve arrived early for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, what was your experience like? If you have an upcoming January or February 2020 trip, do you plan on arriving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios super early? Do you agree or disagree with our advice and assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Agreed. Jan 3 was horrible. We were at the park by 6:30am got in asap and got boarding pass 144. The ride only got to pass 94 so we never got to ride it. Should have slept in. Not happy with the process.
Horrible today Jan 3rd. By 7:05 the boarding groups were at 160.
Any thoughts on how long the wait time is for buses in the AM for HS?
We used them 12/28 for 6 am opening. From POR, bus was supposed to come at 5:15, didn’t come until 5:45. Unsure if it filled up at other stops or what. They kept pushing back the arrival time. Wouldn’t have gotten there in time for park opening I think and that was the first bus.
We were there dec 10 to 21. We decided to go on RoR twice on two different days. We got through the gates at 7am and 730am. We ended up in boarding group 75 both times. Our boarding group was called after noon on both days. Our first day the line was just outside the nine rooms. On the second day the line started in room six. HS was busy but not crowded.
We are going Jan 21 2020. We are going to get there early to try to get a boarding pass but my concern is- I have a reservation for building a Droid at 11:15, oga cantina at 1:50, and light saber building at 2:25. What if my boarding pass falls during this time? Thanks for any suggestions!
No worries. When you’re boarding pass is called you have a 2 hr return time window! Have an amazing trip. The ride is mid blowing
Do you think my times are ok- what I have booked??? Thanks for your reply!
Trip planned for Jan 11-18, DHS on Jan 14 & 15. Hoping they keep the 8 am open time so we don’t have to be up so early but plan to leave Riviera by 7:15. Will use Uber on 1/14 to be sure we get there without issue. Depending on conditions/skyliner/bus run times, may try Disney transportation on day 2. Hoping to ride both days!
We rode RoR on 12/31. Left Saratoga Springs at 540ish driving our own car. Was inside the park by 6:05. We got boarding group 95. Rode Star Tours and ToyStory (fast passes) then back to Saratoga for breakfast and nap. Our boarding call was 1220-220. So rode Disney bus back to Hollywood and had a great day!!!
Get there (parking lot) before 6am. Drive or use Uber or Lyft. Trust me. Be on the app at 6:59 and constantly refresh. Do not do WiFi. Good luck.
Rode on Jan 1. Caught not from swan and dolphin at 5:35. At Hollywood studios by 5:45 through bag check and was waiting about even with ticket booths. At 6:30 they let everyone in. At 7 used app and joined boarding group for my party of 8. We got group 9. Proceeded to rope drop smugglers run and was lit by 8. Then went to rise of resistance and was out by 8:50. Then to slinky dog and now a full park! My Disney experience app worked great. It was definitely more crowded than expected at 5:45 in New Year’s Day for the initial line up. They were to back up boarding groups by about 7:25
We were at Hollywood Studios on the 26th. Our bus picked us up at the first bus stop at Coronado Springs at 4:50. We were at HS shortly after 5 am. We grabbed boarding passes at exactly 6am. Boarding group 29 The only problem is two people in our group got kicked out or didn’t recognize them in the park. Thankfully, we went ahead and rode Slinky Dog, then I grabbed Magic Bands from everyone in my group while they went and did Toy Story Mania I stood in line at a guest experience umbrella on that side of the park. It was still a long line. At this point someone shared that there were cast members with iPads in front of the great movie ride helping people. I moved to this location and was immediately helped. Our group then went to get in line to ride tower of terror with a 30 min wait time. At 7:15am our boarding group was called. We finished riding tower of terror. (2times with rider swap because one child didn’t want to ride and not old enough to wait by herself). We then headed to Galaxys Edge and grabbed some food and joined our boarding group. We waited about 45-50 mins before our experience started. We were finished and out of the park by 9:30. We did return to HS after a long nap to do our fast passes and were able to ride Slinky Dog again at close of park with a short wait time. Overall my family is not huge Star Wars fans and we are not sure that we would enter the park and get up that early again for this ride. To us it was nothing spectacular. We love Flight of Passage ( never seen this movie either) and will continue to get up early to experience this ride.
We were there on 12/28. Arrived at 6am and we were assigned group 104. Cutoff was 112 so we were glad we made it. The ride broke down around lunchtime and was stuck at group 61 for a couple hours. We were finally called at 5:20. We had already ridden everything and had to kill a couple of hours waiting for our group to be called, but in the end, it was worth it. The ride was awesome!
Sun, Dec 29 experience. Park opened at 6 AM. Arrived at park just after 6:40 AM, arriving via boat from Swan/ Dolphin. There was minimal wait for bag screening and park entry at this time. MDE app took a few minutes to recognize me as being inside DHS.
At 6:47 AM, I was assigned Boarding Group 164, well outside of the guaranteed-to-board 114 cutoff. At this point, all other major attractions in the park had over 60 minute wait times. The Starbucks line wrapped multiple times around the outdoor patio. At this point, I left the park with plans to return later in the day for previously booked reservations.
We had Oga’s reservations at 3:30 PM and a droid appointment at 4:30 PM. When I re-entered DHS, Boarding Groups up to 140 were being called. After spending time in Oga’s and building our droid, I received notification that my boarding group was now available to board. Walked through queue at 5:10. Wait in line to begin Rise of Resistance experience was about 20 minutes. Exited ride at 5:55.
Somewhat by accident, my timing for the day couldn’t have worked out better, and it seems Waitlisted Groups well above 165 would be accommodated with longer holiday hours.
We went on the Dec 28th. Arrived at 4:45 am on a misty drizzly morning. Getting through the gates was very easy and we queued at the center of the park until 6 am. At 6, my app froze and was unable to use it to get a boarding pass. We headed straight to guest services and received a 108 boarding group Ugh! The app said 114 was that last group before backup groups… I didn’t think we would get on until after 5 pm with such a high group # due to the app issue. We enjoyed other attractions and our boarding group was called at 1:30. The boarding groups were being called super fast.
Two tips for success with the app… 1. Be sure to scan your fingerprint at the park gate when you enter with your ticket (We didn’t and the app did not think we were In the park and may have caused my app issue). 2. Keep the app closed until 6 AM. I have heard this makes sure you don’t get stuck and have the freshest data.
While I enjoyed the immersive-ness of the ride, there is way too much going on. It doesn’t help that they move you in multiple directions and you lose sense of where to look and where you are going. I think I will enjoy it more if I was able to ride it multiple times.
There is a lot going on, but the more you ride it the better it gets. We were able to ride multiple days when we went Dec 16-21. It was funny to see the serious cast members trip up a bit when they ask how many and you say 9.
We went on the 27th, arriving at the park at about 5:50am for a 6:00 opening. We didn’t bring bags with us to speed up our entry by going through the no bags line. We got on the app right at 6:00am, experienced a little bit of a lag and got boarding group 64. My teenaged son and I turned right around to go back to the hotel and as we (and others) left the park a cast member said, “Have a good nap!” As mentioned in the article, the ride experienced quite a delay in starting up that day. Our time to enter ended up being around 1:00pm. The ride was really fantastic, although I am a huge Star Wars fan so am not exactly objective. It meant way more to me, having seen the original movie when I was a youngster, than to my son, I think.
We really can’t wait to ride but will not be getting to the park at zero dark thirty. Getting a special needs child there that early will just never happen. It’s unfortunate this is the way it will be for a long time.
We went when it was 7 Am opening and arrived at 7:30 and still got a boarding group. This was on the 19th though. After the holiday rush it will be a bit easier I think.
went to Hollywood Studios today. December 30. Arrived about 5 am. Already a large crowd there. We were let in the park at 5:30 and then everyone waited til 6 am when the que could be accessed. We got # 24. Everyone was one a good mood and were cheering as we all went thru the gates. However ROR was not working at first so we had a wait for our boarding group to be called. The wait was worth it as I was blown away by this ride. It is unlike any ride. Want to go again but my son doesn’t want to get up that early again to take me( we rode down here with him) I may Uber
You should tell people to pick up their tickets/will call the day before! And get the tickets check to make sure they’re working so they’re not in line yelling at the poor cast members because they didn’t plan ahead. Also don’t buy tickets on the morning of at 5am online–will call won’t get process up to 24 hours. To be successful in this kind of thing, you gotta be prepare. People need to know that they can’t just show up and hope that Disney will make everything magical in seconds.
Can anyone answer this for me. We had FP for FoP since our windows opened months ago. The other day I got a My Disney Experience update saying my FP had been cancelled and giving me choice of quite a few things oddly including FoP but not actually letting me reserve anything. What gives?
It sounds like you were given a Multi-experience Fast Pass in its place. That means you can use it for any of the listed attractions on that date, at any time that day. Lucky you, if so! Check the details closely, or call Disney to find out for sure.
Eh crap. We arrive Feb 1. Have Feb 2 as HS day with EMH, with the 5th as a second morning there if needed for RoR. When we arrive will depend on if park and emh hours stay the same or not.
Don’t panic yet. There will likely be updates to the hours and EMH over the next couple of weeks. Just keep checking here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/five-day/2020-02-02/
We’re there that week too, but planning HS for Monday the 3rd and maybe another day later in our stay.
Make sure you keep checking the hours too! We were on property 12/8-13 (got to ride it twice and it was amazing). Disney changed the hours for 12/12 to 7 AM but unless you were checking the app or website you did not know about the change in the hours. This change happened on 12/11 during the day. This is one of the best tips our front desk Cast Members told us to do. I do not know if that will be as valid in February, but with this ride, it may be.
We rode Rise of the Resistance Christmas Day and again on the 28th without issue. Get to the park for 6am (or park opening) ON TIME! Reason why…..on the 25th we were there at 5:50 and booking boarding passes at 6am, securing pass #27 seconds after 6am. On the 28th we got to the park at 6:07 and secured pass #97! They are gone within 10-15 minutes of park opening. The buses were running from Pop Century by 5am both days and they sent the stretch buses and many! The gondolas are NOT operating until 7:30am so they were not applicable (hopefully Disney fixes that in the next bit). Rise is unbelievable and worth the effort (and lack of sleep). Once you’ve done your boarding pass you crush the rest of the park. We did ALL of Toy Story Land (pictures too) and Tower of Terror/Rockin Coaster and are by 10am!!! Smugglers Run is usually 60-90 minutes of a wait. Not a big deal really!
Thanks for your awesome page and excellent updates. We await the Free Dining for 2020 as it wasn’t offered as a bounce back this trip (first time in MANY years).
Mandy, your post was really helpful, thank you.
My family and I went to Hollywood Studios yesterday the 29th. We arrived at the park and were through parking gate at 5:30a. It took us about 15-20 to park, get organized, and get to bag check. Bag check was slowed by some highly disorganized groups on our side, but we managed to get to the magic band scanner with at 6a. Through by 6:03a, I had the app ready to go… and got Rise boarding group 117 (backup). We talked to another family that got through the gates at 5:30a, but it was unclear if they were able to queue early or if they were just ready at the 6a announcement, but they got called at 9:45a. I don’t know the exact time boarding group queues stopped. Now the good news, our 117 hit around 1:15p, so the ride was in good working order and moving through groups. We had a Hopper pass for the day, anticipating shenanigans, so we killed time elsewhere at Hollywood and with some Magic Kingdom Fast passes. Even got to do Smuggler’s Run in the afternoon after the crazy morning queues died down (200+ min by 6:30a). The morning power walk in the drizzle and darkness was an experience, no doubt. Overall the land is well done and my family of 4 had fun.
We went on Dec 17 and 19, before and after the change to opening boarding group requests at park open. On both days, it was very smooth and orderly. On the 17th we arrived just before 6am via Mears taxi (due to a major issue with our room at AKL, one consideration we got was a taxi voucher), and we estimated we were somewhere in the middle of the pack when they started letting people in at 6:40. It took about 15 minutes to get through the turnstiles. Once in, I was able to get our boarding group on the app right away. The CMs were doing their best to keep people moving into the park, and not clotting up right inside the gates, which is probably the reason for the change to opening boarding groups after park officially opens. I were boarding group 52, and we were called at 10:40. We made it through the queue – taking a job from Finn on the PlayDisney app made that part even more fun – and got to the point where we were about to be directed to the rooms before boarding the actual ride part when they instead directed us out of the attraction. We got anytime Fast Passes and instructions on how to know when it was back up – check the app to see when the next boarding group is called. We returned at that time, but it was down, again. I was about to cry. About an hour later it was up again. We rode, or rather experienced, the most amazing thing ever in Disney. Then I did cry.
Even though it was not in our plans, we went again, early on the 19th. This time, boarding groups weren’t available until official park open time of 7:00. We arrived just after 6:00. That was the day after the cold front came through, and it was brisk! (On the 17th, it was warm and muggy, and not comfortable at all!) In the middle of the crowd, it was warm though. LOL. We were let in around 6:30, past the turnstile in about 10 minutes. People milled about on Hollywood and Sunset. We found an empty bench to sit on to wait until 7:00. I got our boarding group right away, we got 43 this time. Then I noticed something really wild – all those people walking around, talking, laughing, they all stopped, dead in their tracks, and there was absolute silence for about a minute. It was really bizarre!
We rode a few rides, wandered around Galaxy’s Edge, Smuggler’s Run had a short wait, so we did that, then it was time for our breakfast at Topolino’s at 9:40. I was a bit nervous because they had just called BG 40 as we were leaving. Our group was called right after we got on the Skyliner to Riviera, at 9:05. Fortunately, the timing worked out perfectly, and we were back at GE by 10:45. Once done with that, we went back to our resort and took a nap so we would be ready for Rise of Skywalker that night at Disney Springs AMC. Yes, I cried again. Lots. Big, fat, ugly cry.
We’re going back in February for FotA, and more … I’m sure the madness will not have abated by then, but it is totally worth it. Oh, and we did After Hours at AK on the 18th (yes, and got up at 5 the next morning!) and rode FoP multiple times. Other than the total immersion and character involvement, I could not say which ride is better, more exhilarating or exciting. I am, however, a devoted, life long fan of Star Wars, so that might give it a slight edge.
Oh, and this lil nugget of an added experience – when riding FoP during After Hours, you go through the Fast Pass line. We have never experienced the full standby queue, having always done it with a FP, so we asked if we could see it. We got a full immersion experience with a totally in-character CM give us the tour of the lab and areas, with lots of added information. I was blown away!
We went to HS on Dec 26th. We left Coronado Springs on a 5:30am bus, arrived by 5:45, immediately went through security & scanning our magic bands. We went to the Right once we went inside in a relatively open space. Beginning at 5:50, using my internet provided, every minute I opened the app & attempted to gain a boarding pass. A exactly 6am the boarding passes opened & I was able to gain slots in boarding group 19. We then went on Star Wars tours, then got in a massive Smuggler’s Run line snaking around galaxies’ edge & received notice that our boarding group window was opening at 7:48. We checked with cast members & they said not to worry we would be done with this ride in plenty of time. We finished Smuggler’s Run & then went straight to Rise of the Resistance. We managed to snag a fast pass to Slinky Dog & then headed to make the kids’ lightsabers We we’re done by 10:30 – Amazing morning! Ride is awesome! Worth all the hype!