Skyliner Strategy to Arrive Early for Star Wars: Rise of Resistance
Scoring a boarding pass for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Walt Disney World requires getting up early and being to Disney’s Hollywood Studios prior to park opening. In this post, we’ll cover whether it’s possible to accomplish that by relying on the Skyliner gondolas, rather than paying extra for Uber, Lyft, or a Minnie Van.
With back to back stays at Caribbean Beach and Disney’s Riviera Resort, I thought I’d rise and shine for Rise of the Resistance, and put the Skyliner through its paces. My goal was to see whether it’d be possible to use the aerial transportation to arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and enter the virtual queue before boarding passes ran out for the day.
Before we get going, let’s preemptively address some questions by directing you to our Ride Guide & FAQ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. That addresses almost every conceivable question you could have about ‘best practices’ for experiencing the attraction, and basic info about it. (Before asking a question here, please read that.) In that, we recommend using Uber, Lyft, Minnie Vans (or driving yourself) to arrive at DHS before park opening. In this post, we’ll put that recommendation to the test…
Next, an important caveat: what follows is my purely anecdotal experience with using the Skyliner from the Barefoot Bay resorts to access Disney’s Hollywood Studios, based upon two consecutive days in mid-December. We’ve observed that pre-park opening crowds have been getting progressively worse at DHS and that’s likely due to word getting out about the need to arrive before park opening to have a chance at riding.
As word of mouth continues to spread and crowds build, this should only continue to worsen over the course of the next two weeks as we head into Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Accordingly, your success with this approach may or may not work depending upon crowd levels, when the Skyliner actually starts running, and various other factors.
As covered in our New Extended Park Hours & Positive Changes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance post, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is now officially opening at 7 am for most days in the near future, with the Disney Skyliner gondolas beginning operations at 6:45 am. Since 7 am doesn’t really mean 7 am with DHS, I was curious if the same would hold true with the Skyliner.
Yesterday, I left our Aruba room at Caribbean Beach shortly after 6 am. At this point, the Skyliner was already gliding around overhead, and during the quiet morning hours it was pretty easy to hear the “ding-a-ling” (or whatever the sound is) of the Skyliner cabins from the ground.
Although our room was much closer to the Riviera Skyliner station, I opted to take the longer walk to the hub station. My hunch here was that either Caribbean Beach’s station would start operating earlier or they’d start at exactly the same time. Either way, I’d save time with walking plus the non-stop flight over having to transfer at the Caribbean Beach hub.
After screwing around taking early morning photos for a few minutes, I arrived at the Caribbean Beach station just before 6:30 am to find a modest line. Actually, it was much shorter than I anticipated, which is likely owing to guests being (wisely) risk-averse and not wanting to chance missing out on a boarding pass.
Once again, I stopped for photos rather than getting in this line. Cast Members opened the gates at approximately 6:35 am, and the first guests would’ve been on the Skyliner to Disney’s Hollywood Studios shortly thereafter. I held back for a bit and had a Skyliner cabin all to myself at 6:39 am.
Under 8 minutes later, I was off the Skyliner and already through bag check at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I quickly snapped a few more photos and then jumped in line for the turnstiles. These single-file lines were backed up to the ticket booths, despite the park having opened unofficially before 6:30 am.
Stopping to document this process proved to be a critical error, as it allowed a couple parties to get in front of me, one of which didn’t have valid park tickets, resulting in what felt like a 30 minute slowdown (but was actually 6 minutes, per my timer).
In retrospect, I should’ve skipped the photos–my window was really tight for this. We had a 7:45 am ADR for Topolino’s Terrace, and I didn’t want to be late for that. I had told Sarah that if I wasn’t in the park by 7 am, I was going to bail. On the other hand, I have a knack for getting in the slowest possible lines, so something was bound to happen, regardless.
All told, I waited in line to enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios for about 10 minutes. This was actually the biggest surprise, as we’ve had late arrivals previously with zero wait at the turnstiles.
In fact, this is part of the reason why we prefer a slightly late arrival–not being stuck in the sea of humanity out front without any idea when the park will actually open.
After giving the My Disney Experience app about 60 seconds to register that I’d tapped into the park, I opened that (I always do a ‘fresh’ launch of the app for this) and joined the virtual queue. I received Boarding Group 83, which indicated an “Afternoon” boarding time.
Following that, I exited the park immediately–and wasn’t the only one who had the same idea, as there was a (small) line at the DHS Skyliner station. I was back in our room at Caribbean Beach before 7:20 am. I showered and we somehow managed to make it to Topolino’s Terrace by 7:46 am. (You can read our review of that here.)
My boarding group was called at 2:35 pm, and I took the Skyliner from Disney’s Riviera Resort to DHS about an hour after that. Unfortunately, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was down when I arrived and in talking with various Cast Members, it sounded like it had just gone down.
Rather than waiting around for at least an hour for it to reset and be back online, I decided to leave. It was a tough call to make, but I doubt we’ll do another Riviera reservation any time soon, so spending as much time there as possible took precedence. I’m always awake by 6 am, so I can go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for another boarding pass pretty much whenever.
The situation played out similarly today, with the critical difference being that this time I was at the Riviera Skyliner station and it didn’t begin operating until 6:46 am. It was also hot and an ominous mist was in the air this morning, although I’m not sure that’s relevant.
I won’t rehash the play by play here, as the results are almost identical despite the later start time. (Actually, boarding group distribution went slower this morning.)
I think the main takeaway in comparing yesterday versus today is that it’s arguably worth walking over to the Caribbean Beach hub even if you’re staying at Disney’s Riviera Resort. The stroll around Barefoot Bay is pretty pleasant this early, should take around 10 minutes, and almost certainly will save you more time than it costs you.
Those extra ~10 minutes could end up making a world of difference. That’s especially true if you’re awake and out your hotel room door early anyway, don’t mind the walk, and are nervous about being shut out of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Ultimately, I think using the Skyliner for rope dropping Disney’s Hollywood Studios is going to typically be a workable approach, and might actually be the optimal strategy if you’re going to be at DHS or Epcot all day and want the most convenient method. You’re going to get a later boarding group this way, but you also won’t need to be up as early, nor will you be in mass of humanity outside Disney’s Hollywood Studios waiting for security or the turnstiles to open.
However, if you only have one day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, aren’t keen on potentially having to get up early more than once, or are just generally risk averse, using the Skyliner may not be your best course of action. Stick with Uber, Lyft, or Minnie Vans. This is a situation where time is of the essence and “minutes matter.” The Skyliner starting even 10 minutes late or being delayed 5 minutes in the air could quash your chances of scoring a coveted Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass. This is doubly true over the next couple of weeks for Christmas and New Year’s. We’d be more inclined to recommend giving this approach a go in early 2020.
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
Have you used the Skyliner to rope drop Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? Were you successful? What time did the Skyliner start operating as compared to its official hours when you did this? Which boarding group did you receive for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? Would you recommend the Skyliner, or using Uber/Lyft? Do you agree or disagree with our 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!
Hi, all! We’re going to be at DHS on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Does taking the Skyliner from Caribbean Beach for DHS rope drop on that day sound like it’s a good idea? I haven’t gotten a sense from any of the posts I’ve seen on this site if crowds have thinned a bit since December. Just want to be sure! Thanks! 🙂
The Skyliner doesn’t start operating until 7:30 AM. If Disney extends the 7:00 AM open time for DHS through February, then the Skyliner will not be a viable option to secure a guaranteed boarding pass; you’ll likely get a backup boarding pass. If they go back to the 9:00 AM opening time then the Skyliner will be a great and convenient rope drop option.
Doesn’t he say that he got on the skyliner at 6:39a?
I’m curious, does the entire party, (the whole family), need to be at DHS silly early to get in a boarding group or can one of us,(rock,paper, scissors the night before), go early and get all of us in a boarding group and come back to the hotel?
Great question! I am wondering the same thing. Maybe someone will reply soon.
Nevermind! I see the reply now.
The park wi fi is available to use. If you have any trouble there are guest experience cast members that can help get you in queue. Only one person in your party needs my disney experience app, and it works similar to getting fast passes.
Everyone in the party needs to be scanned into the park. Here’s a tip, don’t have the app open until the entire party has scanned and entered. I had the app open and ready when I entered, but it didn’t recognize the other members of my party as being there (even after a reset of the app!) I had to use my wife’s phone and those precious moments fumbling around moved used from boarding group 40 to 109.
Thx Chris!
would love to hear from people who are there now or have been in past few days about what time skyliner has been opening at CBR. We’re going to HS on Christmas Eve and just trying to get an idea of whether the 6:35ish opening time for skyliner that Tom experienced is fairly standard now that they’ve pushed HS opening to 7am every day.
Hi all, Do we require phone data to join the virtual queue or is there wifi available when we enter the gates. It has been mentioned that everyone in your party must in the park to access the tickets. Once we are in, can I get 4 passes for our family on my phone/disney app or do the kids and hubby all need to have the mydisney app too. Sorry for the stupid question, but we are travelling from Australia and it’s our first trip and really can’t miss this opportunity Thanks
Disney does have WiFi however it can be impossible to use when the park is full. It may be worth checking into a US SIM card for your cell phone (often available at the airport). Alternately, a prepaid cell phone (smartphone) is about US $100 and you can buy a month of service including data for $100. You could also check with your carrier and see if they have a pay by day data plan.
I meant $30 for the data..
I disagree with this. There are areas within the park that can connect to Disney WiFi, and in addition, the ping time on a WiFi connection is going to be A LOT faster than connection through a broadband network. This article describes this, in detail:
https://touringplans.com/blog/2020/02/17/tested-wifi-cell-service-better-rise-of-the-resistance-boarding-groups-at-disneys-hollywood-studios/
My wife and I were planing on coming in February. Can we use our car to get around the park and to Hollywood? Is that possible?
I’m staying at CBR in January and was wondering about exactly what you covered in this article, thanks! Hopefully for the week of 1/20 the crowds die down and boarding groups will last longer.
[email protected] I am going the week of the 26 can you email me and let me know w=how things are going with the slower crowds and what to expect. Thank you in advance.
Thoughts on whether it’s still a good strategy if you’re coming from the Pop/AoA station and have to transfer? I’ve got a couple mornings where I’ll take a Lyft for sure because I’m hoping for a low boarding pass number, but if I could sleep a little longer and save a little money on at least one of my rope drop mornings….
I stayed at Pop last week and took the skyliner as soon as it started running for when they had EMH in the morning (park opened at 6am). Skyliner wasn’t supposed to start running until even 7am, but it was running at 6am that day quietly and against what I was told when I asked the day prior. lol. I was in the park before 6:30am, but boarding groups didn’t even open/go live until 7am (again, this wasn’t supposed to start until 7:45am according to Disney). I grabbed one as soon as the app showed they were available and was in boarding group 16. Was called around 11am to ride. I feel like if you get on the skyliners as soon as they start running, and you join a boarding group as soon as you tab into the park entrance…you should get some boarding group. As long as you’re in the park 60/90 mins before “official” park open, I feel like you’ll get a group. It’s mostly people getting locked out that wait until “official” park opening to try and join a boarding group.
Good luck, and may the force be with you!! 🙂
We’ll be there marathon weekend in January, staying at AoA. I’m interested in seeing if/how things change after the Holidays. I’m really banking boarding passes still being in effect, but with a higher success rate using Disney transportation. Getting up at the crack of dawn and using Uber/Lyft just isn’t in the cards when you’ve got 3 littles (9,6,3) in tow.
The funny thing is, even the cast members don’t know the schedules. We asked about using the Skyliner and they said the don’t know till the day before what the times would be. Disney is really doing all this on the fly (no pun) based on the crowds increasing. With out stay last week, the Skyliner opening got earlier and earlier as the weekend approached.
And with that, they change the process again! Now all groups open at 7 am although they start admitting at 6:30. That should actually make the Skyliner an even more attractive an option!
Anyone, how does your party get in the same boarding group, or does it matter? If we have 5 people and we all hit the app as we arrive in the park, does it matter what group we are in, as long as we are in a group ?
Link all accounts and have one person make the reservation, like you do for fastpass. All members of the party have to be in the park at the time the reservation is made.
I believe you can link your whole party together on the app and just have one person do it.
Boarding Group distribution changes this morning. They didn’t open the virtual queue until 7 AM. Even though I was about 40th in line I still didn’t get on until boarding group 44.
Yup. Us too. We went with the strategy that we’d get a group or not, since we rode Sunday. I was surprised that nothing was assigned until 7am. We arrived at park opening, about 7 minutes to tap through and are boarding group 84. Groups closed at about 7:20. Just got called back at 2:35pm
Can you tell me exactly how this works to get a Boarding Pass for Rise of Resistance? From what I am reading and keep reading in all the Blogs…. you need to get there way early and then what? While after you get into the park then you can get on the My Disney Experience app and try to get the boarding pass? I’m not wanting to get up that early for that and not a Star Wars fan but seems like we should ride it…/ just unsure how it works exactly
Yes, it’s amazing how adrenaline can keep you going, and you can always sleep when you get back to Australia. You may get a shock though going from the extreme heat of Australia to the bitter cold of NY, but at least Orlando will be a nice in between. Have a fun, safe trip!
I know! Record breaking heatwave to below freezing. Brrr, whiskey will help. Thanks for your well wishes
When morning extra magic hours resume in February at DHS, will they only let in resort guests if they keep opening the park before official park open? I know RoR wont be running during magic hours but you could probably get into a boarding group right?
I am curious about what breaks down on this ride. I am quite familiar with things i attempt to fix remaining broken but what is presenting so much trouble here? Is it mechanical or some kind of software issue? Anyone know?
My understanding is that it’s the trackless ride portion that uses RFID pucks in the floor to direct the cars. If connectivity gets weak, they miss a puck and get out of sync. They are trying to boost connectivity so it happens less. But when it does they have to do a whole reset.
I realize this is not the topic under discussion, but as a strategy: if I were going to WDW and DHS specifically for RoR and anxious about being there early for a boarding group I’d stay at Boardwalk or the Swan/Dolphin and walk the path and rely on my own two feet (control freak says what?). We did it from Yacht Club in Oct, drinking our coffee on the way, and it was about a 15 min walk. I also realize this isn’t possible for everyone due to cost/mobility issues but it’s a good strategy for the determined!
I totally agree, if it’s at all possible to do this, that makes the most sense. Buses run late or infrequent, skyliner can stop often, parking lots get backed up, etc. The only thing that’s nearly certain is the walking path between those epcot resorts and Hollywood Studios will be open. I just wish it was safe to walk from Pop Century over to HS. I don’t travel to May, so fingers crossed they open up fastpasses before then and I’m able to get one!. 🙂
Why is it not safe to walk from Pop Century? That is the resort I am staying at
This is what we did Sunday. We stayed at the Dolphin and started walking over to HS a bit before 6:30. We took our 3 kids and my 3 year old was the youngest I saw that early! We were boarding group 75 and got in around 3pm to ride.
That is true! Jet lag really takes it toll on me, but we are going to be in New York for 5 days before heading to Orlando so hopefully we will be OK by then. Keep up the great work. We love your blog. It’s been helping us plan since our first trip 4 years ago.
Make sure you stay awake all day when you first arrive in NY and resist the temptation to take an afternoon nap. Should help with jet lag.
Thanks Melinda. This is our 4th trip to the states. Everything I try never works. I just know I’m in for a few days of no sleep. But that’s fine, adrenalin will keep me going. We have an action packed itinerary that we are very excited for.
We will be staying a CBR. Our decision was based mostly on the skyliner. We have a 10day park hopper, we have penciled in 2 days at HS. I think on our first day 27th I think we will uber/lyft over there to arrive about 515AM (6AM opening) hopefully that will guarantee a boarding group. Our 2nd day there, we will probably just sky line over. Can’t wait. We leave Australia for USA tomorrow 😀
Whenever we make that big of a time zone change (albeit in the other direction), jet lag has us wide awake at about 4 am. If you’re anything like us, that early morning wake-up call shouldn’t be too tough the first day. Have a great trip! 🙂