Rope Drop Dilemma: Star Wars Rise of Resistance Report
After last week’s “frustrating foray” with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, I wondered if our late arrival strategy might be more of a hassle. We thus set out for Walt Disney World at the crack of dawn yesterday, opting to fight the rope drop crowd at Hollywood Studios. In this ride report, we’ll share our experience and attempt to resolve the dilemma of whether an early or late arrival is the best approach.
We got to the front of Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 6:25 am, where there was already a long line for security. This was the first time we had encountered any line for security at DHS since Rise of the Resistance opened; I’m not sure if it’s an anomaly or lower staffing is the new normal now that peak season is over. Either way, it still only took 10 minutes to get through bag check.
By the time we advanced to the turnstiles, guests had already been entering the park for a few minutes. While even our modest wait at bag check felt interminably long due to the slow/inconsistent pace (seriously Disney, get baggage scanning machines), this was a breeze. The tapstiles were not requiring fingerprint verification, so even though we were initially backed up beyond the ticket booths, we ended up inside the park and under Crossroads of the World by 6:40 am…
At this point, we could’ve continued forward as far as we could to the holding area in front of the stage (in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre). This would’ve been the ideal approach if we wanted to rope drop Slinky Dog Dash or Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run.
However, the crowd up there was already massive, the area looked cramped, and also very bright thanks to the illuminated stage screens…and we hadn’t yet had our morning coffee. Plus, it was a foggy morning, and I felt that’d be perfect for some ominous photos of the Hollywood Tower Hotel:
After that, we waited for what felt like ages but was really just like 15 minutes. We could’ve arrived about 20 minutes later, but the problem with that is things could’ve taken longer. It seems like our existing advice of getting to the park 30 minutes before the official park opening time remains the best course of action if you’re planning on doing rope drop.
At around 6:58 am, we both began refreshing the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Virtual Queue page on the My Disney Experience app incessantly to see if it was live yet. It went live the instant our phones rolled over to 7 am, and we both tried to join boarding groups (for both of us–not individually).
We had zero issues with this process, and scored a boarding group instantly–within maybe 5-7 seconds of the clock striking 7 am. Yet, we were in boarding group 43. Others around us reported higher groups (we heard someone say something as high as the 60s) and lower (in the teens).
That range should underscore the luck of the draw involved, and illustrate why this is a hybrid first-come, first-served and lottery system. While everyone inside the park yesterday at 7 am received a primary boarding group, the return times on those would’ve ranged from the morning hours until late afternoon.
The whole point of us arriving so early was to see if 45-60 minutes spent earlier in the morning meant no park hopping or wasted time later in the day, so we decided to stick around. We thus immediately headed back to Toy Story Land, where Slinky Dog Dash already had a 60 minute wait by 7:05 am.
About 10 minutes after that, the line for Slinky Dog Dash already stretched back to Walt Disney Presents and had ballooned to 80 minutes. The line for the attraction peaked before 8 am at 100 minutes. In other words, the longest posted wait of the day was not in the afternoon, but in the early morning. Same for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run.
Elevated wait times were consistent among all headliners at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and it’s safe to say that the early morning advantage in doing these attractions as walk-ons or with minimal wait has all but evaporated. Had we been at the front of the pack, we probably could’ve done Slinky Dog Dash with an under 20 minute wait, but that would’ve been it.
No more “riding the wave” of the crowd through Disney’s Hollywood Studios, doing everything with a minimal wait before returning to your Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding group. Now it’s essentially a matter of picking one E-Ticket (at best), doing that, and then encountering the longest lines of the day everywhere else.
To compound matters yesterday, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance did not open and begin accepting boarding groups with the park. Still, our goal here was to avoid wasted time by park hopping, so we waited around until 8 am.
At that point, Rise of the Resistance still wasn’t open, so we decided to cut our losses and head out. We also had to get update photos from Epcot, so it’s not like leaving was a tremendous inconvenience. It turned out we made the right call, as the attraction didn’t start accepting boarding groups until around 8:45 am.
We continued watching the return progress in boarding groups, and saw that they were breezing along. So, at around 11 am when boarding group 41 was called we headed back over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Even as we entered the park, we noticed it had been stalled on 41 for a while.
Nevertheless, we headed back to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and saw that a slow trickle of guests were still entering. It wasn’t broken down! Eventually, boarding group 42 was called…and almost immediately thereafter, rope was put up around the entrance of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which had just broken down.
Knowing we’d be in for at least a 70 minute delay plus a surge of guests when the attraction came back online, I opted to take the Skyliner over to Epcot again. The smart move would’ve been doing MuppetVision or some other supporting attraction that didn’t have a long wait, but I still needed photos from Epcot.
Not long after arriving in World Showcase, our boarding group was called. We met back up at the front of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance around 45 minutes later and did the attraction with an average wait. Everything was smooth and firing on all cylinders–no broken effects or unnecessary queue. So that was a plus!
It’s worth noting that nothing we experienced yesterday (the ride opening late or breaking down midday) is out of the ordinary. However, had Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opened with the park and had everything been running smoothly, it would’ve taken roughly 2 hours for our boarding group to be called.
Meaning that in a best case scenario, our boarding would’ve been up by ~9 am, and able to return until 11 am. While that wouldn’t have been sufficient time to do multiple headliners, we could’ve done Slinky Dog Dash plus maybe Toy Story Mania and definitely Star Tours.
Or, we could’ve done one of the three before heading over to Epcot to rope drop Frozen Ever After or Soarin’ Around the World. (We did not do this, but I’m guessing with Test Track currently down for refurbishment, the rope drop crowd is now slightly larger at these two attractions.)
This ‘best case scenario’ also assumes we would’ve been in boarding group 43, and not a better or worse position. True best case scenario would’ve been a group in the teens, and out of the park before 8 am. True worst case scenario would’ve been a crashed app and boarding group in the 80s. A boarding group in the 40s is about middle of the road.
Even though word has gotten out about the park opening and boarding group process, many guests still arrive at 7 am or shortly thereafter. Which, as you know, is too late. This means that until around 7:15 am, there’s still a steady flow of guests into Disney’s Hollywood Studios, all of whom are likely ending up with boarding groups in the 80-100 range, depending upon the day.
Following this, there’s a prolonged lull. Fewer boarding groups are distributed between 7:15 am and 8:30 am than are distributed in the first 15 minutes that the park is open. Meaning there’s usually minimal difference in arriving at 7:20 am or 8:20 am.
Both are likely getting backup boarding groups in the low to mid-100s. In both scenarios, it’s total luck as to whether either or both of those groups are called. Some days, we’ve seen Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance get well above 150. Other days, it doesn’t even hit 120. Obviously, your odds are better with a lower-numbered backup boarding group, but the point is that an hour difference later in the morning is not as significant as mere minutes right when the park opens.
The dilemma is thus whether arriving 30 minutes before park opening for rope drop is still the smart move, or if compromising on a late arrival is smarter. Sadly, the answer remains “it depends.” Is that extra hour of sleep critical to you? Are you staying at a Skyliner resort and wanting to use that to get to DHS? Do you have multiple days to try for a boarding pass? The dilemma remains unresolved because results are inconsistent and thus it really depends upon your preferences/priorities.
Overall, this marks the second consecutive “unlucky” experience we’ve had with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, but it’s worth emphasizing that our fortunes could’ve been much better on a different morning or with better/worse success in My Disney Experience. Just as our luck could’ve been worse back in December when things went so smoothly for us multiple times in a row.
On a final note, more than a few readers have asked us to “pick our side.” We share our ride report results not because we have some agenda–we don’t. One challenge in covering anything Star Wars-related is that many fans have made their minds up one way or another on literally everything before it even happens, and want our posts to fit with their agenda. Some cheered last year when we reported low crowds at Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland because it squared with their narrative. Others cheered at the large crowds for Rise of the Resistance, as it matched theirs. When it comes to Disney’s handling of Star Wars, we don’t have a dog in the fight. We’re simply sharing our firsthand experiences, for better or worse.
Still have unanswered questions about the attraction? Read our Ride Guide & FAQ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which covers everything you need to know. If you’re planning on visiting the new land, you’ll also want to read our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Guide. 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
Which is your preferred Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance strategy–getting up early to make it for rope drop or sleeping in a bit and taking your chances? If you’ve done RotR in the last few weeks, what time did you arrive, which boarding group did you receive, and when was your return time? (More data points helps other readers make informed decisions!) 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!
We were at Hollywood Studios on thursday the 16. I thought about ubering since we were staying at All Star Movies, but decided last minute to take the bus instead, bus came at 6:00 we got to the ticketing at 6:45am…. My partner had her phone open ready to go and then mine open. We were told by a nice couple to keep the app closed and right when you hear the announcement to open the app and join. My app crashed, My partner got us group 24. 🙂
We rode the ride at 10:15am. It did go down once or I think we would have been on it earlier.
It really is luck of the draw with groups and what everyone’s phone was doing.
Thank you everyone for posting their experiences it really helps you plan a little bit better. If I didn’t have this site I would have been at the park at 4 am thinking it would have made a different, but really you were right arriving only 30 minutes early to the park.
Now I haven’t seen that many people in a LONG time, made me a little uncomfortable But everyone was there for the same reason and the group around us was routing everyone on. 🙂
Tomorrow is our last day and I’m going to try again. 🙂
I’ve got an app question. Tom, you mentioned that you and Sarah both had your phones and were refreshing the app. That made me wonder – should all members of our party have their own logins on the app? Right now, my husband and I just use one login on the app on both phones – we don’t both have our own logins. I’m thinking we’ll need to have our logins if we both want to try to get a boarding group for all of us (us 2 plus 3 kids)?? I have T-Mobile and my husband has Verizon. Any idea if TMobile has okay reception? I always just use Wi-Fi. Thanks!
I had mine logged in, and My partner was logged into her account. Make sure everyone is linked up so if one gets in they can choose everyone together.
I hope that helps.
Hi Jen,
Thanks! To clarify, i think you mean you both have the app on your phones and you both each have a separate account and login? Right now, my husband and I just use one account with one email and password but have it on both our phones. I think we should each have our own if we’re going to both try? Otherwise if we’re both in the app at once, signed in as same account, might get messed up? Thanks!
We went back in December before the new ‘rope drop’ system went into effect. So we had to get here early and queue outside the ticket booths and wait for the tap stiles to open. They opened them about 40 minutes early and we made it through i n pretty good time. (Everyone was pretty reasonable in the lines.) We got BG 34 and had a return time around 10:45Am We did Star tours with absolutely no waiting. Then went and had some breakfast at docking bay. Did SR via the single rider line. (Hint, there are two sets of stairs when you get to them. Be sure to look for the ones on your left. People seemed to be overlooking them.) The only downside to single rider is you are not very likely to get a pilot assignment. Not an issue if you have already had a turn at being the pilot.
Given the experience the author noted, I would suggest getting there 30 minutes early is the best option if you really want to do the ride. (Totally worth it in my opinion.)
Tom – One thought on the seemingly randomness of the BG with the Park Open process. I wonder if two factors might be considered. Size of group you have in your app AND how many times you have already gotten a low BG in the past. This is all data that Disney has available before the app is every made available each morning. They know from the taps who is in the park (and right now) will want a BG. They totally could be doing some algorithms between Turnstile open and Rope Drop to attempt to spread the crowd out over the day. It would not surprise me if they take into account how the ride performed the day before and how many people actually got through the ride.
If you have a large group looking to ride ROR does everyone have to indiviudally get a BG once we are all in the park?
One person can do it as long as everyone is listed on your friends and family list on the MDE app……….It is recommended that several people in your group trying at once to book for the whole group in case one of the phones has a delay….there are 3 methods listed in a previous post on this blog if you scroll through………
We have a conference in June. We won’t get into the park until at least 1 any day. Is there any other way to ride RoR except the boarding pass? From reading these, it doesn’t sound like I have a chance of getting a boarding pass if I don’t get there early.. Any suggestions?
As of right now (and this could def change by the time you go) the only way to get a BG is to be there at park opening (or slightly thereafter to get a backup BG). If you want to assure yourself of riding, get to park 30 mins before it opens, get a BG at opening and then come back later in the day to rid. If you get a low number, you can go to Guest relations and request a higher number in order to ride later in the day.
On somewhat of a side note here, are there any new tips for riding Smuggler’s Run? What would be advice for getting onto this ride, mad dash at rope drop? Are the posted wait times fairly accurate for this ride as well? Thanks!!
Since guests must be scanned in to DHS to use the app for a boarding pass at 7AM (or whenever park opens on any day), the park is the most crowded it will be all day at that time. I found it better to be there at opening, get my boarding pass, ride whatever had a short line, but then to return later in the day. By doing that, I had no trouble in the evening getting on to Smugglers Run. Keep in mind, though, this may not hold true on a weekend or during any of the upcoming “busy” times such as Spring Break, Easter, etc.
I agree your best bet is to ride later in the evening. We were there Friday evening of MLK weekend and about 30 minutes before park close the lines were the shortest all day, unless you are towards front of rope drop group. Single rider is always an option but definitely better experience to be a pilot or be with people in your group.
I’ve said before but I’ll say it again. A lot of the problems stem from the fact there are only 6 working attractions for an entire theme park. They could have done so much more with toy story land. One simple thing that would help fill up time esp those with smaller kids is a well themed play ground a la the boneyard at AK. They desperately need more stuff to do at this park.
We’re there next week. Right now the DHS opening time is listed as 8 am all week. I know when RotR first opened park opening times were “fluid” is this still the case? What time would you recommend we get to the park? TIA!
Ooopps! My bad After hitting submit I double checked the hours and they’re now listed at 7am. Guess I have my answer
Hi Lori,
Hollywood Studios still opens to guests before posted opening time. If you arrive by 6:30, you should have enough time to go through security and scan into the park. They hold everyone away from rides and attractions though until the park opens. Boarding Groups also go active at Posted Park Opening time, so you’ll need to wait until 7am to get out your phone and start trying to obtain the boarding pass.
My daughter and I went yesterday (1/15). After reading your tips and gathering info from friends who had successfully achieved boarding as well, we made our plan. We arrived at DHS at 630a, we’re through bag check and in the park by 645. Despite being poised and ready, we got boarding group 87. TBH, we were thrilled. It was our only day to try and I would rather a late group than a standby. I had used the waiting time to secure some fast passes distributed though the day in case we needed to kill time. By watching the app I was able to determine that they were calling 11-12 groups an hour so we had a good sense of when we would be called and chose our other rides with that in mind. My advice to my friends that are going tomorrow and anyone else. If it matters to you to get on the ride THAT DAY… Be in the park early enough that you’re not stressed, turn off your WiFi, and be ready to try. Odds seem to be totally depending on how many people are trying with you and I would expect weekends are probably tough. I can easily say that at least 75% of the people in line with us on every ride were in Star Wars shirts, so it’s clear that Slinky Dog was not the priority lol. You just wander until you’re called. Oh… And it was TOTALLY worth it! I was blown away
Do you actually need to enter the park to get a boarding pass ? Can’t you do it from the hotel or outside the turnstiles? Does everyone in your party need to be there or could just “Dad” get the boarding pass and return to hotel ?
everyone has to be in park to get a boarding pass. if YOU DIDNOT ENTER YOU CANNOT GET IT.
Yes, the news is true, each person that wants to ride RotR must tap or otherwise scan into the park in order to be eligible for a boarding pass.
Can’t you do it from the hotel or outside the turnstiles? NO! Only if you tap/scan into the park.
Does everyone in your party need to be there or could just “Dad” get the boarding pass and return to hotel ? Dad can scan/tap into the park and return to the hotel and laugh at the rest of you suckers that didn’t get a boarding pass.
This is a concept covered in the RotR FAQ by Tom and is one grasped by thousands of people every day. You want to ride? Get to the park before open, get scanned/tapped in, wait for official park opening, open the mde app and lock in your boarding group.
Hi,
I’m wondering if anyone has experienced getting a BP at the same time you have a Dinning Reservation? I understand you need to cancel those 24 hours in advance so I’m not sure what I’d do if our group was called to board just as we were heading to a meal? Anyone have thoughts or experiences with this? Thanks,
Hi angela, where is your dining reservations?
Once your boarding group is called, you have 2 hours to return. If you’re in the park when your group is called and it’s less than 30 minutes to your reservation, head straight back to the ride entrance, inform them of your reservation and kindly ask for a Fastpass to allow you to return as soon as your meal is over. Almost any other scenario should allow you time to return in your 2 hour window. If you still can’t make it in the 2 hour window, go straight to RotR as soon as you get done with your meal, kindly explain the situation and ask if they’ll either allow you in line now or if they’ll provide a Fastpass to return at a less busy time.
With everything that’s happened with the ride in the first month+ of being open, I’m sure they’ll find a way to accommodate you, should this situation arise.
Thanks for taking the time to reply Erik.
It’s in DHS at Sci-Fi Drive in. Sounds like we can make it work.
Fingers crossed we get a BP.
Yeah, I’d have concerns if it were outside the park, depending how far away, but inside, you should definitely have plenty of time. Hopefully you get called earlier so it’s not even an issue and you can enjoy both the ride and dinner without worrying about the other.
We had this situation last week. Had a reservation at the Brown Derby, had checked in and was waiting to be seated, when our group number was called. I told the CM’s our dilemma that our boarding group had just been called. They said go to the ride, don’t miss your allotted time, because they will not extend your time slot. Come back to the restaurant after the ride and we will fit you in, you may have to wait a little, but we will fit you in. They did tell us about the two hour time slot, and also told us if we stayed and dined there, we would not make it back in time. However, we decided to stay because there were three other groups of people I overheard them give the same advice and assumed the wait time later for the restaurant might be much longer. Since we were only having the Cobb salad and then notified our server we were in a hurry, we were out of there rather quickly and made it to the ride in plenty of time.
Good info Dorene. Did you happen to ask any castmember at RotR what would have happened had you been late due to a preplanned reservation? Just curious. I would think they’d be accommodating to most people due to the various circumstances that could prevent someone from getting there. Either way, was nice that the restaurant was willing to accommodate had you chose that route.
Our dining reservation at Oga’s was during our callback/ride time on a day when ROTR was running shakily all day (lots of breakdowns) so we opted to ride while it was up and missed our time. We just let them know once we arrived at Oga’s and all was well.
We are arriving on thec25th of this month and would like to ride the Skyliner over. What time do it start running in the morning? What is the best way to get to the park?
Kim,
Depends on which resort you are staying at. Not all resorts are on or near a skyliner station. That said, they usually run earlier and later than the parks. Check on line for times. Depending on resort, you many have to get up very early to make it to DHS 30 minutes before Park Open.
Best of luck and I hope you enjoy your visit.
What about Fastpasses for Slinky Dog, Toy Story, Tower and Coaster? Did you try to get those to bypass the long lines?
You have a two hour window to report for your group once called so you should have time to work it out
Sure sounds like Disney screwed the pooch on this one. There is no way this virtual queue system is any better than standing in long lines, and it sounds like the entire park dynamic has been affected.
I’m starting to think that a DHS visit would be an entirely wasted day now. If I get there late, I already know I have NO chance of actually riding this attraction. Can I even walk through Galaxy’s Edge without being in a boarding group? I may blow it off and head for EPCOT instead.
Yes, you can do everything you want in Galaxies Edge without a boarding pass… Except ride the Rise of the Resistance ride.
I see both positive and negative of this. But what is positive to me may be negative to you. Guess it depends if you looked at Universal Studios last summer with 10 hour waits for the Harry Potter ride as a good thing or not. If you’re in a 10 hour line, do you think you’d get much else done in the park. If so, I guess it’s a good thing. Otherwise, having a virtual spot in a line is quite nice and does allow for your to do more with your time.
Either way, there’s always something to do.
There is plenty to do ‘while you wait'”. And yes, you can visit Batu without a boarding group. There’s not necessarily ‘hours to do’ in Batu, but certainly plenty. And then you can go to the rest of DHS.
If you have Park Hopper, then getting over to EPCOT is fairly easy. If you do not have park hopper, then you have to consider is there enough other attractions at DHS to keep you busy to your liking until your BG is called.
Right now there are just too many variables to get a handle on how any particular day for ROR will go. It is only in it’s second month of running, so we’ll see how it goes. I’d much rather have the virtual queue than to stand in line. (No ‘refreshers’ in the queue.
I completely appreciated the virtual queue! And yes, it is WAY better than standing in a physical line. If they weren’t going to offer FP+, this is truly the next best thing – it’s basically a bonus FP! With a little preparation, a little sacrifice of sleep and a little patience, we were able to ride it two days in a row with otherwise minimal disruption to enjoying the rest of the park. We also went to AK during our trip and the morning wait for Flight of Passage was 230 minutes. That’s almost 4 hours! I could only imagine if RotR was on the same system, to Erik’s point, you’d be in line your whole day. The ride was really amazing but certainly it would not have been worth that kind of wait time and wasted time.
“We had zero issues with this process, and scored a boarding group instantly—within maybe 5-7 seconds of the clock striking 7 am. Yet, we were in boarding group 43. Others around us reported higher groups (we heard someone say something as high as the 60s) and lower (in the teens).”
Do you think it’s at all possible, your BG assignment is based on order of when you got into the park? If you were to show up and be first in line, would you get BG 1? That would somehow make more sense than randomly assigning a hundred different BG’s to everyone who seemingly started the process at the same time. That’s probably not how it works, but just thought I’d float a theory I had.
Eirk,
That’s not a bad thought that ‘arrival time’ might play into it. I tend to think it is probably a little more random.
My thought was that maybe group size and previous BG assignments might play into it also, but it is more likely that they fill them as quickly as possible in ‘blocks’ of 20 or 30 groups at a time. Randomly assign groups until full in the ‘blocks’.
Maybe the imagineer for the virtual queue will one day provide some insight. (Not likely.)
What time does the parking lot open? Two hours before park opens? We are going in February and right now opening says 9:00am. I don’t want to show up any earlier than I can actually get in the parking lot. Thank you
I noticed the same thing for our trip starting January 29th. I asked the travel agency about it and she said they aren’t updating the opening times all at once, only like a week at a time. So if they need to they can change open time to whatever the want like 7:30 or 8. So keep checking!
I was there in December for a 7am opening and asked one of the parking attendants. She said they get people in the parking lot booths at 5am (I don’t know if it’s just 2 hours before park open or always 5am), but that before that time there is no gate blocking you from entering before that. From what I’ve been told, you should be ok with 2 hours before park opening.
We were there in early December, a few days after RotR opened and got to the park verrry early in order to be sure we got into a boarding group. We had missed getting in by mere minutes a few days earlier! The parking booths were not quite open when we arrived, but there was a cast member directing cars to the side and around the booths. So no matter when you arrive, you should be able to park without a problem.
My teenage daughter and I will be visiting WDW this summer in early July. I know the parks will be busy and crowded. We want to explore the Star Wars addition and I’ll try for a fastpass for Smugglers Run but we really don’t want to go through this complex hassle for Rise of the Resistance. Do you find the lines for Star Tours, Tower of Terror and Rock-n-roller coaster are super long because of all of the additional guests waiting for their boarding groups?
Firs thing you should know is that there are no FastPasses for Smugglers Run at least as of right now). HS announced that neither of the 2 Star Wars rides would have FP when they opened. They also rearranged the TIers and put SDD, TOT, RNR, TSM, etc all in Tier 1 so you can only get 1 of those rides as a FP………As of right now, it seems that all of the rides are busiest in the morning when the park opens for Rope Drop since everyone is there to get a BG for ROTR and disperses across the park waiting for their BG to be called…….Things could change by July so I would check back periodically and see if the rules have changed……………
As other poster said no FP for GE rides. It is possible that the boarding passes will not be in use during summer.
nobody really knows and i actually asked Tom this is another post and he could only speculate as to when they might drop the BG system and initiate FP+…………He def left it open ended because anything can happen, but his best guess was in May if i remember correctly…
When my husband and I were there in November we used the single rider line four times for Smugglers Run. All but one of those waits was under 15 minutes. Having ridden the ride in August when it opened we knew it wasn’t crucial for us to be in the same “pod” when we rode. Definitely recommend trying that route.
We went on January 9th and arrived at 6:15, got into the park around 6:40 and claimed a table in one of the open areas with no expectation to run to a rope drop ride. We were planning on going straight back to hotel after getting a boarding group. Once 7am hits we were able to get boarding group 26 for our group of 7. We decide to stop in Galaxy edge and see if they would start boarding shortly since we got such a low boarding group. By 8:15 they still hadn’t started boarding any groups so we made our way to the front of the park. Right as we were about to exit at 8:30 they started loading boarding groups. We immediately turned back around and headed towards the ride. By 8:40 our Group had been called.
I was there the same day doing the same thing as you. Arrived around 6:15, through the gates by 6:35. I decided to get coffee rather than rope drop anything (I was just coming off of Dopey weekend, so I NEEDED it!), and I was in the Starbucks line when we hit 7:00. The couple behind me got boarding group 52, the ones in front got 85. I was 25. All logging in right at 7:00 – so it’s definitely a little crazy. I was solo so I don’t know if I had fractions of a second advantage because I didn’t have to check off anyone else on the app before I hit the button.
By 7:05 the wait times were crazy. I met Woody and Bo Peep and then waited 30 minutes for Alien Swirling Saucers because I didn’t feel like walking around the parks too much (remember my legs were coming off the Dopey Challenge! 😉 ) I don’t think my group was called til about 9:30. But I got on so I’m happy!
Me, my wife, and 3 kids “did” Rise of the Resistance on January 3rd. We did almost exactly what you did in this article. We got there around 6:20 and headed towards Tower of Terror to get somewhat away from the masses. Started refreshing and got boarding group 63. We rode tower of terror, then went to All Star Movies and had breakfast, and then hopped over to Magic Kingdom. When they got to boarding group 61 around midday we hopped back to Hollywood Studios assuming we’d be called soon. Except the ride broke down, so we rode the skyliner a few times, met Olaf, and eventually said screw this and went back to the hotel to swim.
We got the kids dressed for the pool and our boarding group was called. ugh. So we hopped on the bus and went to Hollywood Studios and saw the line for Rise of the Resistance stretched all the way back through the tunnel. We walked to the front of the line to talk to someone and they told us the ride was broken down again. They offered us fastpasses for the next day (it was now 7 p.m.) and we gladly accepted and went back to our hotel. It was a super frustrating experience. We learned our lesson to not even show up to the park until our boarding group was called.
Our original plan was to do the ride a couple of times during the trip, but after the way the whole process hijacked the entire day we decided it wasn’t worth it and went along with our trip.
Appreciate you sharing this experience. We are going tomorrow. Helps keep expectations in check. It’s beyond frustrating they are having so many break downs. They should have worked more kinks out before opening. I’d rather not even have it be a possibility for our trip than try to work an entire day around one ride!
I suppose one would be SOL if this were to happen but they don’t have a ticket for the next day?