Star Wars Rise of Resistance Ride Report: Modified Queue, Struggles & Success!
Wondering what it’s like to join the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, walk-through the modified line, and do the attraction with the ‘temporary abnormal’ health safety measures at Walt Disney World? In this post, we’ll show you with photos and details about our latest experience doing the Disney’s Hollywood Studios headliner.
After a 4-month hiatus, we’re absolutely elated to be back with a Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride report, which is a time-honored Disney Tourist Blog tradition. Or rather, was from last December through this March. For those four months, these weekly reports were a DTB institution, generating a lot of reader interest and impassioned comments.
Returning to write one is almost like being transported back in time. Personally, I yearn for a return to that simpler time when this was the most controversial thing happening at Walt Disney World. All of that seems trivial now–to the point that it’s hardly worth arguing about whether the system is fair. (My brief view: it’s an improvement, but still imperfect.)
The primary reason our Disney’s Hollywood Studios Reopening Report: A Tale of Two Visits encompassed two days is because we failed at the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass dash the first day. (See our New Virtual Queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance post for info about how the process has been changed since DHS reopened.)
Our first day back, we weren’t in the park for the 10 am drawing our first day, and left before the 1 pm one.
Upon returning, we tried the 4 pm release, but received an error message.
From what we understand, this is pretty common for the afternoon releases, as far less capacity has been allocated to those drops. Your odds are better at 10 am, or in the afternoon if the attraction has had minimal downtime before lunchtime.
The following day, we only tried the 4 pm release.
We each tried different methods (discussed in our Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ‘How to Ride’ FAQ…which could probably use an update now) and my force-refresh attempt was successful.
However, my name was not listed during the process, which is a (new) known glitch. I added only Sarah and then we went to the Guest Experience Team and they were able to add me within about ~15 seconds.
This won’t be possible for solo visitors, but if you’re a multi-guest party, just quickly select members of your party that you see and go to the Guest Experience Team to have them fix it. Don’t hesitate. Milliseconds matter. Since each party receives their own ride vehicle, doing this has no impact on attraction capacity. For boarding group purposes, a party of one is the same as a party of 8.
Even after being called back to the virtual queue, we were apprehensive about actually doing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. However, we wanted to be able to share the full experience…and if we’re being honest, we also just really wanted to do it again. This attraction never ceases to amaze.
Our apprehensions revolved around the frequent ride breakdowns. We’ve literally sat in line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance for hours at a time on multiple occasions when the attraction has broken down in the past. That’s never ideal, but especially not now.
Things started out well. None of the outdoor queue was being used (although that’s not our primary concern, anyway) and we didn’t meet up with the actual line until halfway through the indoor queue.
Once there, physical distancing was being observed by every guest we saw, the markers were thoughtfully placed, and plexiglass barriers had been installed in spots where distancing would otherwise be impracticable.
At this point, we had yet to hear how Walt Disney World was handling breakdowns with modified operations. Our hope is that they’d dump the queue pretty quickly, but we hadn’t yet heard whether that was the case.
Prior to entering the queue, we agreed that we’d bail if there was an indoor stoppage of more than 10 minutes. This might end up being difficult and require breaking physical distancing to pass other guests to exit, but those fleeting encounters would still be far preferable to standing in the same spot for prolonged periods of time.
This might seem extreme, and maybe it is a bit overly cautious. However, it’s important to remember that physical distancing, face masks, and in-queue barriers are measures for reducing risk of spread. None of those things alone or collectively are wholly effective in eliminating transmission.
Face masks provide a critical barrier, reducing the number of infectious viruses in exhaled breath, especially of asymptomatic people and those with mild symptoms. While they substantially impede and reduce airborne viral concentrations, they don’t eliminate these entirely.
Aerosols still remain airborne in confined indoor spaces for hours and accumulate over time. Time exposed and concentration are factors in transmission, which is why such a prolonged stoppage is concerning even with prophylactic measures.
As an example, think of being around a smoker in an unventilated room versus passing a smoker outdoors. (For more info, see generally this Science Magazine article.)
Thankfully, we ran into no issues with the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance queue backing up or stopping. To the contrary, the entire indoor queue moved smoothly up until the first pre-show room.
The parties both in front of and behind us were very mindful of physical distancing, which also helped. It ended up being one of the best runs we’ve had on the attraction.
However, it’s worth noting here that our experience is not necessarily indicative of what you’ll encounter. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is still breaking down. A lot. Our friends over at BlogMickey experienced such a breakdown yesterday while in line, and the queue was not dumped as quickly as it should’ve been.
We sincerely hope that Walt Disney World corrects this. In terms of risk, this is far worse than guests eating and walking outdoors (not that either are ideal), and the latter is guest behavior that Disney has addressed. To Disney’s credit, they’ve been quick to make adjustments, so hopefully that happens here.
When getting to the first pre-show, each party is assigned a number that will be relevant in the briefing room and subsequent scenes.
WARNING: Minor spoilers of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance prior to the actual ride-through portion of the attraction follow…
Guests then stand on this same number in the briefing room as well as the outdoor scene that follows, as well as aboard the Intersystem Transport Ship.
On the day we did Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Cast Members were not filling all slots. This was presumably being done to prevent backups.
Aboard the Intersystem Transport Ship, each party again has their own space with more than adequate physical distancing.
All of these spots afford stellar views of Lt. Bek, one of the greatest Star Wars characters ever and our ride or die homie.
This proceeds as normal, with the First Order directing each party to exit one by one.
Not only is this done with physical distancing in mind, but also with thematic integrity. As always, the First Order Cast Members really help make this attraction.
During Cast Member preview days, there were photos of the hangar bay backing up with nowhere for people to go.
This was quickly remedied and, to our knowledge, has not been an issue since. There was no one else in this room when we exited the ITS, and even the next hallway was totally devoid of guests.
Upon being assigned our slots for interrogation, First Order Cast Members made some hilarious and in-character quips about hand sanitizer.
Kudos here–this is something that could break theme or the illusion of the experience, but they integrated it seamlessly. (It truly cannot be overstated how much of an asset these Cast Members are to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.)
In the interrogation room, there’s once again hand sanitizer (far left corner).
You’ll be in here with only one other party. In our case, that meant only one other person. No markers on the floor, but plenty of space for physical distancing.
Each party receives their own First Order Fleet Transport ride vehicle.
And that’s it. The rest of the attraction is as normal. Only one minor effect was not working on our ride-through (and I think that might actually be turned off), but you wouldn’t notice that if you’ve never done it.
Ultimately, this was an incredibly satisfying experience on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and we are really glad that we opted to do it. The coolest parts, from our perspective, were seeing how the Cast Members adapted to the new health safety measures. Not only did they seamlessly integrate them into the attraction, but they made things that should’ve been impediments and turned them into assets.
If it’s your first time experiencing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the coolest part is obviously not going to be that, but the overarching experience itself. And what an experience that is! As before, we’d highly recommend making every effort and jumping through every hoop in order to have a chance at riding Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. While the potential for downtime and being stuck in one spot of the queue is concerning, you can always remove yourself from any uncomfortable situation if it comes to that. All things considered, we highly recommend doing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance if you can. To increase your chances, consider making Park Pass reservations at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for two days–you can always switch one to Epcot at the last minute, but going the opposite direction might be more difficult.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you been done the new multi-drop Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass dash? At which time (10 am, 1 pm, or 4 pm) did you have success? What were your thoughts on the modified experience? Any breakdowns or queue stoppages? Will you be attempting to join the new/modified virtual queue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Do you plan on arriving at rope drop, or will you utilize a late arrival strategy? 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!
Tom, can you please tell me the type of masks you like? I can’t find the post where you mentioned the specific brand. Thanks.
Dumb question but how do you force reload the app?
I would really like to know this also, exactly how to refresh. Please help
My wife and I and our 3 young children visited Hollywood Studios on July 16th and were unsuccessful in getting in the virtual queue at both 10am and 1pm. All spots were gone in seconds both times. By the time I selected our party, and submitted, I was told no spots were available. We prepared ourselves for a potentially frustrating experience at Hollywood since it has never been an easy park for us to visit with young children. While I was very dissappointed we wouldn’t get to experience the attraction this trip, especially for my 6 yo son who was excited to ride it, I was frustrated to find out the parties around us in the Runaway Railway queue at 10 am that got a boarding group had experienced the attraction mutlple times already. To have the opportunity to finally experience Rise of the Resistance for an infrequent visitor (or more importantly for those families who may only be able to afford a once in a lifetime trip) essentially left up to chance and the hopes that you don’t refresh your phone a milisecond too late is troublesome. I understand the system can never be perfect, but I believe that individuals who have not yet experienced the attraction (which I would think could be tracked with your My Disney Experience account) should at least have an opportunity to join a boarding group over returning riders. That said, our overall experience returning to WDW last week was outstanding.
I agree with you. I know that Disney has the technology to do this, because if you stay on property at a hotel, BEFORE Covid 19, they allowed you to pick Fast-passes, months in advance to rides. You had to use the initial Fast-passes FIRST, then you could get additional ones. This is not the case I believe, if you stay off property. Either way, the technology IS there, and they should tweak it for Covid 19. Perhaps you should call guest services or write a letter to Disney highlighting your experience. It’s a shame this happened to you because it really is, as Tom says, an amazing ride.
What about cast members who work inside rides? They’re in there for hours, and even with a mask that’s a lot of time in a confined area where hundreds of people are transiting.
I live in the Florida Keys, and have little opportunity to visit Disney World. I really want to see Rise of the Resistance, but if there is a drawing each day, it is very possible I will not be able to see the attraction, thus causing me to waste a lot of money on transportation, park passes, motels, meals, etc. for no return. I would recommend that Disney allocate a percentage of “Rise” tickets to advance reservations, so that I can time my visit and be assured that I can experience the ride, yet allow others to vie for tickets on the spot.
We have a party of 9. Should we still try to get a boarding group for the whole party at once or should we split it into two somehow since the max a ride vehicle can hold is 8?
Get a boarding group for the whole party & they will put you in two different ride vehicles.
We went last Thursday. Arrived in Galaxy’s Edge about 9:55. A few seconds after 10 we were number 7 in the Q. We walked through quickly. The transition areas were the longest waits and made me nervous. No breakdowns. My first ride was awesome!
We arrived to HS at 9:45am on Saturday 7/20 and walked into the gates effortlessly. Hit the virtual queue on 10am and got group 9. We were called to join the line at 12 and the ride broke down for about 30 minutes on that line (thankfully we were in AC). The ride was incredible (it was our 2nd time riding it, first time pre-COVID), and well worth it as far as we were concerned.
That said, MMRR stole the show! My girls (7 and 10), hubby and I LOVED it and we rode it twice, Both very different, but same ride technology. It’s just so wonderful to be back in the parks that any minor setback is no big deal for us.
Over three months of DHS being closed. A top tier attraction with known reliability issues and it appears that the issues continue, even with decreased capacity. One would think that Disney would have been working round the clock during this down time to remedy the reliability issues? And yes. I realize that construction and such was halted. The reality is this attraction could have received three months of IT work with no guest interference, in a manner that was safe for the engineers and personnel involved.
Doing such work can require a lot of employees. It’s very expensive, and they also had to spend that time developing dozens of new procedures and installing infrastructure. It’s not safe nor financially smart to focus a lot of energy on fixing reliability issues right now. There are other priorities that simply have a greater effect on WDW’s financial viability.
I was there on Thursday and didn’t make the queue at 10 or 1 because it fills In less than 1 min. Was able to get in the virtual queue at 4 with a return time of an hour and a half. I honestly didn’t know anything about break downs because we boarded with no issues! We used rider switch since my kids are too little to go on. I waited in the actual queue for maybe 20 mins, it was all the way outside, but moved constantly so it was okay. Luckily I, than my husband got on with no issues! Definitely an unexpected ride experience if you’ve never been on before! I’m not a Star Wars fan but wanted to try it anyway and it was unlike anything I’ve ever been on before. They did a really good job.
I just watched a YouTube video where the ride broke down, and the group was held in the indoor cue for 1 1/2 hours. There was no mention of an option to leave and get called back in the Fastpass line (which happened to me pre-Covid). I hope this gets adjusted because it seems like a terrible idea to me.
Yikes.
There’s no excuse for Disney not dumping the queue and making announcements…but also, why aren’t guests advocating for themselves? Even absent an announcement, there’s always the option of leaving and talking to a Cast Member (or asking to speak to a manager and explaining concerns) on the way out.
I went Saturday but it had significant down time. I was there before 10,am. Logged in and got group 42 with about a 3 hour return time. Knew I was in trouble when I checked over an hour later and my return time was….3 hours! Decided to leave at 2:30 because while it now showed a 70 minute return time, it was down again! I was called at 6pm but since I was sitting in my recliner I didn’t make it! I’ll try again when it’s cooler. The heat really got to me Saturday .
Thanks for sharing your experience!
The heat has been brutal lately–we were debating doing an evening at Epcot over the weekend, but it never dropped to a comfortable temperature (even at night), so we opted against it.
Thanks! Helpful to know about the party glitch and and workaround. We’ve never ridden before and it sounds like 10am is really a must–it’s great that you got on at 4pm, but that sounds like a very risk strategy, especially for out-of-towners who don’t have multiple days to attempt to get a pass.
I wonder if Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will convert to boarding pass. The consistently very high waits for that seem miles above what is safe in the covid era, and are only going to get worse if Disney gradually increases park pass capacity.
“I wonder if Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will convert to boarding pass.”
I doubt it. First, MMRR is incredibly reliable–especially as compared to Rise of the Resistance. No need from that perspective.
Second, whether the wait is short or long, the same amount of the wait is indoors. When the line gets significantly longer, that added time is all outdoors. (Personally, I’d feel safer in a 2 hour outdoor line than a 15 minute indoor one.)
I don’t love the idea of a 2 hour wait in the heat, but that actually does make me feel better that the queue is not all indoors. We haven’t been yet. Hope to get to try it on our August trip.
Friends went opening day, got in 9:40 and were at ROTR waiting to click before 10am. Got Boarding Group 28 which didn’t get called until 3:30pm because of breakdowns. Only groups 54-58 made it in that day at all, so. Def shoot for 10am, sounds like. Half of 1pm’ers would not have gotten on.
Like above pic, they also said the line stayed same the whole 1.5-2hrs it was down, they saw same people sitting and waiting. Probably were afraid to leave and not make it in at all. They said group 11-14 was group called during break down and the app wasn’t updating correctly so they came back three or four times in person over the four hours in between other rides to check.
Hubby wants to go on and I don’t care. Seems like a lot of work to get on.
It really does. The extreme lack of reliability is absurd. Shouldn’t have opened it if it constantly breaks down. And I’m a Star Wars fan.
It wasn’t that bad. With the park opening now happening at 10 am, I felt like I at least had a chance to get on. Just have to have your phone ready and logged in to MDE at 9:59. I wish I had taken a picture of literally EVERYONE with their phones out refreshing for the virtual queue to open. We snagged some in group 19, and were able to ride pretty much everything else in the park, plus have lunch by the time my boarding group was called. We rode this, then basically headed to the car, our day complete. Huge difference from before where I felt like I had to get up at 3 am on a Disney Day to try and get a boarding group. It helps that all the other ride times seem manageable as well, so you feel like you are doing more than standing in line all day too.