FastPass+ Tier Changes & Star Wars Ride Added at Hollywood Studios

One of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge rides is being added to FastPass+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and attractions are again shuffling tiers ahead of Walt Disney World’s big debut of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. In this post, we’ll detail the changes, share tips for which FastPass+ reservations to book, and offer predictions.

For starters, the new attraction being added to FastPass+ in Galaxy’s Edge is sadly not Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (more on this later). Rather, you’re now able to make to fly the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, as FastPass+ reservations for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run are now available in the My Disney Experience app for February 19, 2020 and later.

Beyond this addition, there are tier changes for other attractions. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is now one of two tier 1 attractions, along with Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land. This duo will presumably be joined by Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at some point in the future, as well as Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway…

Tier 2 is now comprised of Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Star Tours: the Adventures Continue, Fantasmic, Frozen Sing-Along, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, MuppetVision 3D, Disney Junior Dance Party!, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, and Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage.

Given that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opens on March 4, 2020 and reservations for it were not added to My Disney Experience with this latest change, it’s probably a safe assumption that the attraction will not have FastPass+ when it debuts. Rather, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is probably being added because Runaway Railway won’t offer FastPass. It’d be a bad look if all three of Walt Disney World’s newest attractions didn’t offer the service.

With that said, we do not anticipate Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway using a boarding group system like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, unless it’s also unreliable and plagued with downtime issues. We haven’t heard anything to suggest that this is the case, meaning it’s highly likely to be standby only.

The reason for making Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway standby-only is pretty simple, and one we went through prior to the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge last year: crowds. FastPass+ effectively allows guests to be in two places at once, whereas the standby line is an effective and efficient way for the park to soak up crowds.

In an undersized park like Disney’s Hollywood Studios, this could be important. While we haven’t seen the park’s capacity tested yet, that could happen once Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is added to the mix. At this point, we’re not talking phased closures or anything like that–more like unpleasant congestion and overcrowded restaurants.

As for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, we do not anticipate it being added to FastPass+ any time soon. Walt Disney World initially indicated that the boarding pass/virtual queue system was about addressing demand and would only last for a few weeks, neither of which are true.

The virtual queue system is ideal for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance because it remains incredibly unreliable with delayed openings and multiple breakdowns per day being common. The virtual queue is the same concept as FastPass+, but without the return time windows. Unlike with FastPass+ (which is often booked a month or more in advance), this allows Disney to offer return windows on the fly based upon real-time ride conditions.

This means that if Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance goes down, Walt Disney World can immediately pause the calling of new boarding groups, and resume only once the attraction is back up and the backlog of guests that were already called has started to cycle through. This approach is much more dynamic and minimizes the headache and confusion of having to constantly issue “anytime” FastPasses.

Overnight test and adjust continues on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and our expectation is that it will not offer FastPass+ until it’s deemed sufficiently reliable. (Maybe averaging only one breakdown per day? That seems more reasonable.) It’s a complex attraction with multiple ride systems and a couple of trouble AAs, so that could be a while.

This is borne out by Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland. Per Disney, that version of the attraction was in roughly the same state when the one at Walt Disney World opened over a month earlier. That means that the west coast version benefited from over a month of additional full-time test and adjust…and it’s still having the same downtime woes.

New attractions being unreliable, especially envelope-pushing ones, is hardly a novel or unprecedented thing. This has happened countless times before. The original Test Track is probably the best example, but the main difference there is its opening was actually delayed for nearly 2 years due to problems during test and adjust.

As for when Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will be sufficiently reliable to offer FastPass+, we don’t have a crystal ball. There could be some epiphanic moment overnight that solves everything by tomorrow. (That seems doubtful.) It could take months of tweaks and software upgrades to get everything running more smoothly and downtimes minimized. (That seems more likely.)

Aside from rumors that we don’t deem credible, we aren’t privy to what issues Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is currently having. However, if a time traveler from January 23, 2021 visited us and said that Walt Disney World just announced the ride would be getting FastPass+ in February 2021, we would not be shocked. We’d be more surprised if it dropped the virtual queue before this summer. Anything between this summer and 2021 seems like 50/50 odds.

This is part of the reason why we caution guests against waiting in our FAQ & Ride Guide to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Its popularity is not going to die down. (To the contrary, the easiest time to ride was the week after opening!)

Even when the virtual queue is eventually abandoned, Rise of the Resistance is going to trade one high-demand, limited-supply system for another. Anyone without an extended on-site hotel stay is going to be in a long standby line, because that attraction will be perpetually fully-booked before the 60-day mark. In the meantime, it’s entirely possible that problematic effects will be eliminated. (Just ask Indiana Jones Adventure about that.) But I digress…

Overall, these changes in FastPass+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios seem like a positive move for the vast majority of guests. The Huge Hollywood Studios FastPass+ Change from last summer that made every stage show tier 2 option was a mostly bogus move to redistribute crowds, and I don’t think we met a single fan of that change.

Now that Walt Disney World has seen that the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge did not cause a crowd cataclysm, it makes sense to restore some order to things–especially with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance still causing frustrations.

As for strategy, selecting Slinky Dog Dash as your one choice from Tier 1 plus Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith as your two selections from Tier 2 is the optimal approach. Tower of Terror and Fantasmic are also good back-up options if one of the above Tier 2 FastPasses is unavailable. Anyone with an upcoming trip that booked under the old tiers should swap out their previous Tier 2 picks for these if possible, as you’ll save far more time with these rides than the shows you likely picked.

Even though it’s a new and shiny FastPass+ option, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is not a good choice from the top tier of FastPass+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Its lines do get really bad in the morning, but they always subside later in the day. (Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is basically a “consolation prize” for those who don’t score Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding groups–which is also what it is for those who can’t score Slinky Dog Dash FastPasses now.) Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is a good attraction to do mid-afternoon or later, or anytime via the Single Rider line.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, 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 clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run being added to the FastPass+ lineup at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Disappointed Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance aren’t being added? Have any predictions as to when either of those will join the lineup? Do you agree or disagree with our analysis? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!

87 Responses to “FastPass+ Tier Changes & Star Wars Ride Added at Hollywood Studios”
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