How to Ride Star Wars: Rise of Resistance Strategy Guide
The most popular attraction at Walt Disney World is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios. This guide covers how to ride now that the virtual queue is done: avoiding lines or minimizing the multi-hour wait times and strategy for successfully scoring an Individual Lightning Lane at the Galaxy’s Edge blockbuster.
We update this guide regularly based on the latest changes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Last year, Walt Disney World announced that it was “pausing” the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. However, that hasn’t happened even during peak weeks since then, including on occasions when the standby wait has hit 420 minutes. We love Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and consider it the best attraction at Walt Disney World, but I cannot imagine waiting 7 hours!
In any case, the virtual queue is gone for good. In addition to the Disney’s Hollywood Studios headliner having a standby line, there have been a lot of other changes: Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary plus the debut of Early Theme Park Entry for on-site hotel guests plus the controversial Lightning Lane and Genie+ system. Suffice to say, a ton is happening with queueing at Walt Disney World right now. We’re here to break it all down and explain your best and worst options for doing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Before we dig in, one final note: Walt Disney World tinkers with this ride regularly. We’re diligent in keeping this updated and the information here is current as of Late 2023, but things could change. Be sure to check back for the latest info–or subscribe to our free Walt Disney World email newsletter for instant updates about all of the latest news, when discounts are released, etc.
With that said, let’s start in sequential order, so to speak. Although Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is not using a virtual queue anymore, you still might want to be up at 7 am. This is because the ride now uses a traditional standby line and is one of Hollywood Studios’ two Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) attractions.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is actually the most popular Individual Lightning Lane in all of Walt Disney World, routinely booking up before the park even opens. In general, we’re not fans of paying extra for ILLs…with the exception of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. That’s true even after the latest price increase–Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance can cost as much as $25. Our Individual Lightning Lane Info & Tips post covers the why of that and what to do to reserve this ride via ILL.
It’s also worth noting that it’s difficult to book both Slinky Dog Dash via Genie+ and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in the same morning unless you have multiple people trying and use our “speed strategy.” For advice on the latter, consult our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World and Lightning Lane FAQ.
Continuing before Disney’s Hollywood Studios officially opens for the day, there’s the option of Early Theme Park Entry, which replaced morning Extra Magic Hours. Officially, Early Entry is offered at all 4 theme parks every single day and offers 30-minute access to guests staying in on-site hotels at Walt Disney World. (See our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World for more info & strategy.)
Unofficially, Early Entry often ends up being much more than a 30 minute head-start at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which often quietly opens before that and starts operating Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Check out our report on Early Entry at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that covers our experience knocking out the trio of most popular attractions at DHS before the park opened to regular guests.
This brings us to normal park opening time for everyone else. Because you’re almost an hour behind on-site guests at this point and other off-site visitors will be racing to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, this is actually one of the worst times to do the attraction via the standby line.
In fact, wait times for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance essentially have two peaks: about 30-60 minutes after official opening time and in early afternoon. This is the direct result of the park opening race to Rise of the Resistance and another spike following lunch.
If you want the best time to do Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in the first half of the day, line up around 11 am. The posted wait time will still likely be triple digits, but it’s typically falling at this point rather than rising.
This is because the influx of park opening guests is cycling out, and fewer new guests are jumping into line because the wait will conflict with lunch. Objectively, this is the optimal time unless you’re staying late–assuming no ride breakdowns.
In general, later in the day is better than the first half, with posted wait times typically bottoming out about 2 hours before park closing. There are a couple of things you need to be aware of here, however.
First, posted wait times typically don’t drop much after 6 pm. That doesn’t mean actual wait times aren’t still declining, though. Walt Disney World often inflates posted times later in the day to discourage people from queueing up. Usually, an attraction’s actual wait time will be shortest in the last 30 minutes of the night, regardless of posted waits.
This is almost always true with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, too. The one wildcard is ride breakdowns, which are still semi-frequent with this complex attraction. Breakdowns earlier in the day can create a backlog of Individual Lightning Lane guests, and Disney prioritizes those–this means standby will be slow later in the night when the ride has a “bad” day.
The other risk with downtime is that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will have problems towards the end of the night and simply not reopen. A breakdown earlier in the day is one thing–you can always come back later. If it’s the last hour of operations, there are no second chances, unless you have another day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As such, assess your “risk tolerance,” how important Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is to you, and plan accordingly.
That wraps up our revised strategy guide for riding Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. We’ll keep you updated with what you need to know for doing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
As far as current info goes, that’s it. What follows is ‘legacy’ info about the now-defunct virtual queue, preserved for posterity–and just in case it returns…
As with every other theme park at Walt Disney World, you’ll need to start by booking a Park Pass reservation before visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios, usually at least several weeks in advance. The good news is that park capacity has increased significantly throughout summer, so obtaining Park Pass reservations is easier. The bad news is that it’s also easier for everyone else, which means higher attendance and more competition for a Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass. That’s why we’re here to help you improve your odds of success in beating the crowds.
A comprehensive ‘how to ride’ guide might seem excessive, after all, isn’t it just a matter of “sitting down and buckling up”?! However, protocol for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is unprecedented in several ways. The procedure for getting a chance to ride Rise of the Resistance is confusing even longtime Walt Disney World fans, so our goal here is to help you avoid similar frustrations.
If you simply show up at park opening for Disney’s Hollywood Studios and think you’re going to be able to rope drop Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, you’re in for disappointment. To the contrary, your odds are significantly worse if you only do that. It cannot be overstated how different and difficult Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is to experience.
Hence this ride guide and FAQ, so you can plan accordingly, beat the crowds, and have an incredibly efficient day in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Here’s everything you need to know about the attraction and how to access it. While the second section is largely spoiler-free, it does remove some ‘elements of surprise.’
Virtual Queue
What is the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance?
The virtual queue is the sole system for accessing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Rather than FastPass or a standby line, you join this virtual line via the My Disney Experience (MDX) app and are notified when it’s your turn to ride. The process requires a few clicks in-app, but it’s pretty intuitive.
What are boarding groups for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance?
Boarding groups are the means of organizing guests into groups when it’s their turn to ride.
For example, rather than having a set 3-4 pm return time, you might be in boarding group 55. Your return time is not specified in advance, but rather, based upon how quickly the attraction cycles the guests through who are in front of you in the virtual queue. (Plus how many or few times it breaks down.)
When can we enter the virtual queue?
One new positive change Disney has made since reopening is multiple ‘drop times’ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue boarding passes.
You can join the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue at 7 am or 1 pm via the My Disney Experience app.
How can I enter the virtual queue at 7 am given that Disney’s Hollywood Studios isn’t open then?
This is the latest change to the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue, and allows guests to attempt joining from their hotel room or wherever they may be.
For those successful at the 7 am entry time, this effectively removes the need to be at Disney’s Hollywood Studios by rope drop. There are still some strategic advantages to that, but it allows for a more leisurely start to the day.
Is one of the entry times easier for the virtual queue?
Right now, yes.
The 1 pm virtual queue is currently staying open for hours almost every single day. By contrast, the 7 am entry time fills up in seconds. This difference is due to the incredibly low crowds Walt Disney World is currently experiencing–in normal times, both fill up in seconds.
What is the process like for joining the virtual queue?
The steps are pretty similar to the FastPass+ selection process (if you used that before Walt Disney World suspended the service).
With that said, there’s no substitute for seeing for yourself. While it won’t let you complete the process, you can go through the first several steps of joining the virtual queue from home. Be on the MDX app some morning right when Disney’s Hollywood Studios opens and go through the motions. It’s good practice for the real thing!
Disney WiFi v. Cellular Data?
It really depends on your carrier and where you’re located in the park/resort/etc.
We’d recommend doing a quick speed test with both a few minutes before it’s time to join the virtual queue. Anything at or above 50 Mbps should be sufficient, but the higher the better. If necessary, move around to get away from other people or increase your speed to that threshold.
How should we prepare for joining the virtual queue?
This might sound like overkill, but milliseconds matter.
Make sure your phone is fully updated and force close all apps, including My Disney Experience shortly before it’s time to join the virtual queue. Double-check the time on your phone or watch against time.gov, which is what Disney uses for opening the virtual queue.
What’s the best strategic approach for joining a boarding group? Should one person try for everyone, should we each try individually, or what?
Do not try individually–you won’t be in the same boarding groups, meaning you won’t ride together.
We recommend everyone try for everyone in your party. Launch the MDX app about 10 seconds before the official virtual queue entry time and hit the “Join Boarding Group” button. If that doesn’t work, force-refreshing by pulling down “hard.”
Everyone in your party who has a valid Disney Park Pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios should already be pre-selected. The person in your party with the fastest fingers will score the boarding group, while everyone else will receive a “Not So Fast/Already in Boarding Group” message. Just be sure that anyone in your party who tries for boarding passes attempts to add everyone.
Again, it’s good to do a practice run or two at home so you’re comfortable with the process in the My Disney Experience app so you don’t get flustered and mess up. We’ve heard horror stories of readers clicking through too quickly and forgetting to add one of their family members. Don’t freak out if that happens–go to the Guest Experience Team Cast Members stationed at the blue umbrellas.
What if not everyone in my party is pre-selected?
During the process of joining the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue, everyone in your party who has a Park Pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios and/or has tapped into the park (as applicable) should already be pre-selected. However, you have the option to hit “Change Party” before tapping the “Join Virtual Queue” button.
Our strong advice is not mess with this–don’t even check whether they are or are not in your party–simply to click “Join Virtual Queue” as fast as possible. Pausing for even a second to review this screen can doom your chances of success. If, for some reason, someone in your party was not selected, see a Cast Member at the Guest Experience Team stands (look for the blue umbrella) in the park. Adding one person to an existing boarding group is a problem they can fix. No one in your party getting boarding groups because you hesitated or didn’t join due to an error is not a problem they can fix.
Do we need to be in the park for the 1 pm virtual queue opening?
No. However, everyone in your party does need to enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios at some point before 1 pm in order to “unlock” access to the virtual queue at 1 pm. Meaning you could arrive for park opening, take the Skyliner back to your hotel for lunch and a pool break, and try again at 1 pm.
It is not geofenced or based upon proximity—this functionality unlocks in the My Disney Experience app for each guest after they have physically tapped into the park’s tap/turnstiles. You can leave after tapping in and still join during the afternoon entry time from your hotel room or wherever.
You could literally be inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios or in Duluth, Minnesota. The system only validates whether you’ve tapped into Disney’s Hollywood Studios, not your current location. It can actually be advantageous to leave Disney’s Hollywood Studios midday, as that’s when crowds and wait times are worst.
Anything else we can do pre-vacation to improve chances of success?
If you don’t mind monitoring the Disney Park Pass reservations calendar, consider booking multiple days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Even if you’re only going to do DHS one day, it’s savvy strategy to book reservations for DHS on your Epcot and possibly Animal Kingdom days in addition to your dedicated DHS day.
With the 7 am entry time, it’s possible to attempt to score Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding passes from outside the park before you start your day. If you’re unsuccessful, you can change your Disney Park Pass reservations day-of to Epcot or Animal Kingdom subject to availability.
This is our recommendation because it’s always easier to change from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to another park than vice-versa. By the time your travel dates arrive, it’s entirely conceivable that DHS will be fully booked for every day of your trip. Same goes for Magic Kingdom on some dates, whereas Animal Kingdom and EPCOT usually have same-day availability.
Walt Disney World significantly increased attendance caps in mid-July, and it is now much easier to score same-day Disney Park Pass reservations. However, we must emphasize that there is some risk in getting “stuck” with multiple DHS reservations, so keep an eye on the Disney Park Pass availability calendar and switch in advance if this looks like it’s becoming an issue around your travel dates.
Should we buy Park Hopper tickets?
If you’ve read our Money-Saving Walt Disney World Ticket Guide, you know that we typically recommend Park Hopper tickets. They allow you to bounce around, which is strategically advantageous.
For guests who really want to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, we recommend booking Park Pass reservations for at least two days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. However, we also do not believe DHS is a full-day park right now. As with the above day-of switcheroo above, we’d actually recommend reserving 2 days at DHS and 0 days at Epcot—and plan on sticking with those reservations.
Morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and evening at Epcot is our preferred way to experience both parks. This isn’t just personal preference–it’s strategically superior given normal operating hours.
Accordingly, starting your morning at DHS and ending at Epcot can extend your day by a couple of hours. (Additionally, rope dropping Epcot doesn’t offer any advantage–it’s more crowded due to the late opening time.) For this reason, we highly recommend purchasing Park Hopper tickets right now. Read about what to expect and why in our Guide to Park Hopping at Walt Disney World.
Which days of the week are best for visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios?
When Walt Disney World was regularly running out of Park Pass reservations, we recommended doing Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Saturday or Sunday. However, that’s no longer the case and this is no longer our advice. We now recommend any weekday. It doesn’t really matter which one, but Friday is objectively the best by a small margin.
As a whole, wait times in DHS are still lower on weekends. This is because locals are more likely to visit on weekends and less likely to stand in long lines since they’ve done everything before. They are also more likely to be skilled and experienced at doing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, making them tougher competition. It’s like playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers instead of a little league team. (Not that your family should go around trouncing kids at baseball, but you get the idea!)
Can we get more than one boarding pass per day?
No.
Do reservations for Oga’s Cantina or Droid Depot get us spots in the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance?
No.
What happens if we have an Advance Dining Reservation that conflicts with our return time?
Ideally, you should see a Cast Member at the Guest Experience Team stands (look for the blue umbrella) located throughout the park. They can assist with scheduling conflicts.
Failing that, see a Cast Member at the attraction entrance–they are typically pretty flexible.
When should we get to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for rope drop?
If you’re wanting to do park opening, arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at least 30 minutes before the official park opening time. It’ll take around 15 minutes to get through bag check and the turnstiles, that should give you at least 15 minutes to join the masses and be ready to go at official park opening time. See our updated 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary for morning ride recommendations and step-by-step advice for your entire day.
When you should leave your hotel room in order to arrive by then is a different matter entirely and depends upon where you’re staying and the mode of transportation you use. Don’t cut things too close–Walt Disney World transportation usually takes longer than anticipated.
How do we time our arrival if we score Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance spots but want to arrive late?
A good rule of thumb is that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance averages about 12 boarding groups per hour. However, due to its reliability woes, sometimes that can be as low as 0 per hour or as high as 18 per hour. Over the course of most days, it averages out to about 10-14 per hour, though.
Accordingly, if you’re boarding group 48, you could plan to arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios around 4 hours after park opening. Boarding group 60 could do 5 hours after park opening (and so on).
When will crowds subside?
Currently, Walt Disney World attendance, crowds, and congestion have all increased dramatically as compared to even a few months ago. Demand still far exceeds supply for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. For every boarding pass that’s distributed, there are several guests who want to experience the attraction.
Is it safe to rely on Walt Disney World transportation for getting to DHS in time for park opening?
Yes.
If you’re staying at one of the Crescent Lake resorts, it’s easiest just to walk to DHS. For other resorts, the buses and Skyliner, are also once again reliable for arriving at park opening. Still, guests who stay at BoardWalk, Yacht & Beach Club, and Swan & Dolphin should walk rather than using boats or the Skyliner. Walking is far and away the fastest and best way to arrive in the morning.
What time is Rise of the Resistance running out of boarding passes?
There is no set time, but it has been occurring in under 10 seconds of boarding group distribution times.
Going forward, we expect this trend will continue.
Does everyone have to be present to join or can we send one ‘runner’ to the park?
For the 7 am entry, the only requirement is a valid Disney Park Pass reservation. Since DHS isn’t open at that hour, entering the park isn’t even possible for that.
For the 1 pm entry, everyone in your party must tap into Disney’s Hollywood Studios before they’re eligible to join the VQ.
What if we’re all near the park?
Nope.
It’s not based upon proximity–this functionality only unlocks in the My Disney Experience app once you physically tap into the park’s tap/turnstiles. It’s worth noting that you can leave after tapping in and still join during the afternoon entry time from your hotel room or wherever. The system only validates whether you’ve tapped in, not your current location.
Can we leave the park once joining the queue?
Yes. You could go back to your resort and take a nap, eat lunch, etc.
How do we know when we can return?
If your phone has push notifications for My Disney Experience enabled, you’ll receive an alert that your boarding group has been called.
Failing that, the “My Status” screen on the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance screen displays the same information.
Does Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance accommodate Disability Access Service (DAS) card?
Yes, but this is still truly first come, first served.
That means everyone must join the virtual queue first, which means arriving and going through that just like everyone else. To take advantage of DAS, go to the FastPass return line once your boarding group is called.
What about Rider Switch?
Yep, same process as above.
How long is the average wait once in the physical line?
Assuming nothing breaks down and the attraction didn’t just return from being down, around 20-40 minutes.
Boarding groups are fairly small in size, so if you get lucky and return at the “right” time, most of the queue will be empty and you’ll practically walk on the attraction. Time it poorly and things can back up quite a bit, and you might be in a line that’s closer to an hour long. We’ve been in line when the ride breaks down and ended up having to wait over 2 hours.
Should we just wait to do Rise of the Resistance until our 2024 Walt Disney World trip?
We wouldn’t recommend it for both the reasons identified immediately above and below.
Additionally, this is a very complex attraction with a lot of practical effects, some of which may not exist forever. Just ask anyone who rode Expedition Everest or Indiana Jones Adventure the first year those attractions were open how the original rides compare to today.
This is pretty complicated…is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance worth jumping through all of these hoops?
It’s complicated to understand because it’s new and different, but once you experience it in person, it’s really not that difficult.
Moreover, as we write in our spoiler-free Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Ride Review, this is one of Walt Disney World’s best attractions ever. It’s absolutely worth the effort.
When will this all die down?
Never? Maybe when your kids have kids?
Flight of Passage is just as popular today as it was ~6 years ago, and still can be a hassle. And that’s for a ride based on Avatar–this is Star Wars. Don’t wait.
Ride Info for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Will I like this if I’m not a huge Star Wars fan?
Much like you can enjoy Splash Mountain without ever seeing Song of the South or Flight of Passage without ever seeing Avatar, you can enjoy Rise of the Resistance without ever seeing a single Star Wars film.
Fans of the franchise will likely get more out of it, but the ride works on multiple levels and the storyline requires no prior knowledge to understand. In fact, our favorite character in Rise of the Resistance is new for this attraction!
If I have a YouTube channel dedicated to complaining about how Disney destroyed Star Wars with the last movie, will I enjoy this?
I hope not.
What’s the heigh requirement?
You must be at least 40″ tall to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
What rides does Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance compare to?
Not much at Walt Disney World.
It’s a bit like a dark ride, except trackless and mildly exhilarating. Think somewhere between Spaceship Earth and Dinosaur, with some qualities of Tower of Terror. The trackless dark ride element is comparable to the upcoming Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot. (Ride vehicle pictured below.)
Is it family friendly?
Absolutely. There’s the aforementioned height requirement due to a drop and a variety of boilerplate health warnings, but otherwise this is okay for all ages.
Is the drop intense?
No. The drop in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is more like the one in Pirates of the Caribbean than the ones in Tower of Terror. It might catch you by surprise, but it’s more of a “haha” thrill than an “aaaahhhh” thrill.
That still sounds too intense–is there a ‘chicken exit’?
Yes, and we’d highly encourage you to utilize it, as over half of the attraction occurs before boarding a ride vehicle.
If you don’t want to ride, simply notify a Cast Member at the point where they’re assigning colors. They will direct you to the exit at that point.
Any issues for guests with motion sickness?
If you’re fine doing Toy Story Mania, you’ll be fine here. The ride portion utilizes a trackless ride system, and the vehicles have nimble and dynamic ‘dancing’ movements.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is not like motion simulator like Star Tours or even Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
Wait a second…Toy Story Mania…is this 3D?!
Nope. There are some screens, but no 3D.
The Toy Story Mania comparison is most apt because of the way that can spin you around at times.
Is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance better than Smugglers Run, Slinky Dog Dash, Frozen Ever After, or Flight of Passage?
Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
The only one of those that even belongs in the same conversation as Rise of the Resistance is Flight of Passage, and although they’re very different attractions, we’ll state this without equivocation: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is better than Avatar Flight of Passage.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is one of the top 10 Disney attractions in the world, on an epic scale that’s only rivaled by Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure at Shanghai Disneyland. Whether it has the same longevity as all-time greats like Haunted Mansion and (regular) Pirates of the Caribbean remains to be seen.
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
Do you have any questions this FAQ failed to answer? If you’ve done Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, do you think there’s anything else first-timers should know? Do you agree or disagree with any of our advice or answers? 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 visited DHS on January 11, 2020 and thanks to the tips in this guide and comments we were successful in getting into Booarding Group 21.
We arrived at DHS at 5:30am, got through security quickly as noted here we left all bags in the car. When we reached the gates, all gates were at least 15-20 persons deep. We found the far right hand gates to have less people and got in line.
Waited until 6:15am when they began park entry. This is where we learned you don’t want to be in the far right hand gate, but the 2nd-4th from the right, because the far right gate is a single scan gate and the others are doubles and move people faster.
We entered the park around 6:18am and moseyed down Sunset where we were stopped right near the restrooms. Waited there until 7:00am when the fun began.
There were 4 in our party, all linked to one account in MyDisneyExperience. We disabled WiFi on all 4 phones. Each cell phone was logged into MyDisneyExperience as the main account holder, so we had 4 phones logged into a single account. At 7:00am the crowd got audibly anxious as we were all tapping and swiping to no avail.
Here’s what worked for us: When you get into the MyDisneyExperience App, click onto the ROTR. You will see two tabs, one labeled Status that you can click, and one labeled Join Boarding Group, which will be grayed out. We found that clicking on the ROTR>Status button takes you to a landing page that you can quickly refresh as soon as 7:00 drops. The Status page will then offer a button to Join the Boarding Group, which once you select takes you to another screen where you have to select the linked members of your party (like FP selection) then you confirm.
We received Boarding Group 21. The couple next to us, following the same procedure received Boarding Group 41. After chatting, they entered the park slightly later than we did, which added to my theory that your boarding group eligibility is based on the order groups enter the park.
We chatted with some folks while in line for TSM who were staying on property and didn’t arrive at DHS until after 7:00am due to Disney Transportation, and they were not able to get a Boarding Group. You should have seen their faces when we told them we were at DHS at 5:30am, and there were 15-20 people deep already at every gate. Luckily for them they had a few more days and hopefully the tips we shared helped them out.
ROTR is an awesome experience, and I had fun PG-rated-in-good-fun-trash-talking to the Imperial Scum, er, I mean Imperial Cast Members. Thank you to the authors of this site and the many fans who posted here to help others like us be successful, because we only had one shot on this trip!
Oh, and who else is stoked about the new Tron ride?!
Just to be clear, those who stayed at the hotel didn’t ride on RoTR
We were in HS yesterday got in bag check line at 6:30, didn’t get through until 7:12 (I cannot believe how slow our line was moving). Got into Boarding Group 117 at 7:18. I ended up getting sick (not contagious) and had to leave at 8:30. Husband took me and our 2 year old back to the hotel, he and our 4 year old had a fantastic time at Oga’s and Savi’s and riding rides. We met back up with them at 4 since I didn’t want to completely waste my money and we walked around Batu and rode TSM (I had managed a fastpass for later in the day). After getting off Mania with my 4 year old we found that our Boarding Group had been called at 5:50. By then I was ready to go back to our hotel and husband & 4 year old were drained from being being up since 5:30. There was quite a line next to Rise of the Resistance and I was leery of a long wait especially since we would have to do rider swap with our 2 year old. We reluctantly made the decision to skip it, much to my chagrin. I can’t believe how absolutely packed Batu was yesterday on what was supposed to be a “low crowd” day. I wonder what the actual numbers were.
Hopefully we can save up and try again in a few months! We were bummed to miss out, but hadn’t known if RotR would be opened when we booked our vacation so husband got to do everything he had planned. That just would have been icing on the cake.
Does anyone know if you can make FastPasses in another park for the day you are attempting to secure a Boarding Group for ROTR, since boarding group assignment is not ‘technically’ a FastPass?
The FastPass system doesn’t have anything to do with the ROTR boarding groups. You can max out your FastPass reservations and still get a ROTR boarding group. We did this when we were there 4 weeks ago.
We had a party of eight (mine and my sisters family) that arrived at HS by 6 AM on January 6. Lines were already 50-75 people deep. Gates opened around 6:20 AM and we headed straight towards toy story land to wait until the online queue opened at 7 AM. all boarding groups were filled within three minutes! We were talking to some folks in the line while waiting to get into the park and they said the same thing happened the day before due to holiday crowds. we got into the online queue at 7:02 AM and we’re boarding group 117! I’ll boarding groups that day after 133 were on the waitlist. We Didn’t get on the ride until 7 PM at night. My advice would be if you want to get on this ride, don’t mess around, get to the park at least 45 minutes early. The wait was worth it!
We’ll be visiting in a few weeks with a party of 12 (3 families). Has anyone tried to get a boarding pass for such a large group? Wondering if we should split into 2 parties of 6…
My party of 14 worked today. Make sure that all are linked and that you can make plans, like fastpasses, for them.
Yes, we’re all linked. Appreciate the feedback DC!
Did you all have to be in the park?
Rode on 13/01, got in the park 15 min before opening time (7am). Clicked to get a boarding group right at 7am, got BG15. Boarding group was called 15-20 min later, attraction was still empty and everything running smoothly. Overall a great experience, but really required a very early arrival. Went back to the hotel later to pick the rest of the party who didn’t want to do the early morning drill.
So not all parties need to be present when you get your reservation? You basically have 2 hours before you are called? Do I understand this correctly?
Everyone in your party has to be in the park when you GET the boarding group but they do not have to be there when your group is initially called. Yes, you have 2 hours after your group is called to show up.
Couple questions:
We don’t have magic bands and will have to get our tickets (already purchased) at the ticket booth for our visit this Friday Jan 17th. Should we be ok to arrive at the park at 6:30 and be inside by 7 to try to get a boarding pass to Rise of the Resistance? Anything else I need to know about having to get our tickets that morning that might require us to be at park earlier?
We Also have a park hopper on Friday Jan 17th and plan to start at Hollywood Studios. I was unable to get fast passes at 2 parks for the same day so I split our group with the fast passes and got my kids fast passes at Epcot. We are doing rope drop at Hollywood studios that day. Any chance Rise of the Resistance won’t let all 4 of us get a boarding pass because half my group has fast passes at Epcot that day? Worried there will be some sort of system glitch and we won’t be able to get all 4 of us boarding passes on Rise of the Resistance.
Boarding group is separate from FP, the key to getting a boarding group is being at the turnstiles early enough to be in park before 7 a.m and getting in the virtual que.
If I am managing for my entire party (group of 8), but only 6 of us want to ride and get a boarding pass, will I be able to only select those 6 people for a pass. The other 2 members of our group do not plan on entering HS at park open. I am assuming since the 2 non-riders haven’t entered, it won’t be an option to select them. I just wanted to make sure my entire party didn’t have to enter HS for part of my party to get a boarding pass. Thanks in advance!!
Only select the people in your group who you want to get boarding passes. It will still let you select others on your list, even if they are not in the park. However, it will return a warning and say that not everyone is in the park and you will have to start all over and perhaps lose out on boarding group 30 and end up with boarding group 130 a minute later. Yes, they go that fast. Thus, be sure you get it right the first time.
Thanks, Jeff! I’m already practicing grabbing my group by pretending to select Fastpasses Hoping for fast fingers on Feb 2!
What happens if you are successful getting a boarding group, but it conflicts with reservations for building a lightsaber or creating a droid – experiences that would be non refundable at that point (~$300)?
I believe there is a two hour window for responding to a boarding group call. How much time does it take to build a lightsaber or create a droid? In any case, if something like that should occur I would find a Guest Services CM and see if they will bump up your boarding group to a higher number so that you will be called later in the day.
The reservations for Droid Depot seemed flexible. We had one for 9:15a but came in at 8:15a and they let us go in. That might not always be the case, but between the 2hr window for your boarding group and the flex at Droids and Savi’s you should be ok.
can 2 people get a boarding group then leave park and come back later in the day at the specified time.
Yes, although the boarding group does not specify a time. You just have to guess when it will called based on how high the number and how fast the groups are being called. You can always check the status in the app to see what the current group being notified is.
Hi everyone! All of Tom Bricker articles on the ride were excellent as we prepared for our 1-day trip to DHS along with all the comments and feedbacks from ‘travelers’ and ‘recruits’- I just had to 😉 My husband and I went on January 5, which I think was close to the last day of the holiday break before kids returned to school so… we were ready for the worst!
We benefit so much for tips so here are our takeaways from our (super crazy and long) day trip:
-Parked at DHS at 5:45am
-People were already lined up! By 6am we were in line. Public announcements were made to inform people about the Rise of the Resistance Ride and what to expect.
-6:10am- park opened. It was very strange to walk into a park that was actually closed. The boarding passes were not going to be available until 7am so we didn’t really know what to do. The line for Starbucks was insane and we were so anxious and we keep walking like zombies following a huge crowd that were walking towards to Toy Story Land and Galaxy Edge. We got stuck in a mass of people by the coffee shop market we staff blocked the path. There, everyone just waited for the app to open the boarding passes. And the countdown began. Literally, people were counting the outline, making me more nervous. Following instructions of previous comments on this blog, I close the app because I had read that it didn’t refresh properly if you were already on the boarding pass page. At 7am, I went into the app for it to FREEZE!!!! It was the longest and most infuriating minute of my life! My husband quickly pulled me out of the crowd and we ran (we were told not to we did anyways, whoops) towards Guest Services (with green umbrellas). Luckily we were very close to them and they swiped our ticket right away. At 7:04am, we were already boarding pass #134! To get a better idea of how sad I was, over 125 had a warning of no guarantee. I was devastated. Five stages of grief all at once.
*Lesson: once inside the park, locate guest services and stand near them with your tickets in hand so in case your app goes rogue you can just stretch the tickets to a staff person with a tablet- and voila! I should’ve done that in the first place. Technology is great went it works but don’t rely on it- don’t!
-We decided to hang out and took advantage of the early morning start to take down popular rides: (in order) slinky dog, Toy Story Mania, Rock N Roll Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Millenial Falcon (which has a single rider line that’s super quick- downside: you don’t ride with your mates and you can only be an engineer- not a pilot or fighter, sorry).
-Around 4:45pm, we checked the app and noticed that our boarding pass was called! I never got a notice. Maybe I didn’t set it right. Glad I checked every hour which I recommend.
-I cried as I walked into the attraction and the staff cheered me- It was very sweet.
-Amazing ride. Off my bucket list. Would you do it all over again, someone asked? Maybe not hahaha (I find your lack of faith disturbing, was their answer 😉 )
Hopes this helps! Best wishes! BTW- The Cantina was actually our favorite Galaxy Edge experience hahaha! Try to get reservations in advance. They also accept walk-ins but save your spot if you rather avoid lines. Cheers!
Great information! Thanks so much!
Silly question, I am currently managing my booking for the whole of my party using “my Disney Experience” and my wife doesn’t really want it on her phone.
Will she need to have it also installed on her phone to get a boarding group or can I do it for both of us from just my phone?
They notify you of your boarding group and window via the app, but you actually use your Magic Band to enter the ride. One phone will totally work.
I’d love and answer to the same question. I plan to be in the park early etc. with my husband and two boys but only 3 of our 4 man group will have phones and the app. Since I’m the managing guy for the group can I join/manage the boarding Ground for all of us? We have magic bands all linked through my app. I just want to make sure we are all together in the same group m
It is very similar to when you are planning fast passes, you know, where you select the ‘who’ is participating in that fast pass?
You alone will click the Join Group button and then next thing it does is prompt you for who is in your party (I believe it defaulted on everyone already selected who is linked to you). When you have everyone selected (or unselected if necessary) , then you continue, and it will assign all of you to the same group. It’s very easy. The hardest part was managing my own terror and anxiety. 🙂 I had to have a friend by my side because the adrenaline rush was making me shake. lol. Enjoy!
Can someone please tell me, Is there wifi once inside to open the app for the ROTR queue. We do not have data on our phones so will be relying on wifi Thank you
There is wifi in the parks – login to that before the time to get the boarding pass so you are ready. I do think people were having issues logged into the wifi at times getting the boarding pass versus using data but it should work. I just did mine without wifi because I did not want to chance it.
Are you able to see the current progress of boarding groups in the app? Like does it say “now boarding group XX” somewhere so you can get some idea of how soon you’ll be able to ride?
Yes. I just opened the app and it says now boarding Groups 15-32, and I’m not even at the parks.
Awesome..thank you!
Visited Hollywood Studios on New Years Day (1/1/2020) and had a very positive experience. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and took a Minnie Van to HS at 6:30 AM. Got to park a little after 6:40 AM. Bag check was quick and through turnstiles just after 6:50 AM. At 7AM I got on app (using cellular data -Sprint – no WiFi) and received boarding pass 17 for our party of 6! Our group opened around 7:40 and we were at the ride around 8AM. Minimal wait and we were on. The ride was incredible and worth getting up at 5:30 for!
That sounds like a wonderful experience! If you don’t mind my asking, how much was the Minnie Van ride from Port Orleans French Quarter to HS?
Any idea if this will be the same process for the ride at Disneyland?
I rode last week. Got boarding group #69 at 7:00 a.m. Some people right around us got groups well over 100, which meant they didn’t get to ride that day. Group was called at 1:30, but we got stuck in the queue line after our boarding group was called. 2 and a half hours later the ride was still shut down, and we were all sitting in a cave. Upon exiting, we had our magic band scanned but no guarantees we would be able to ride later. It was a disaster. While huddled in one of the caves of the queue line, they did bring us water periodically, but no information. We burned an entire afternoon. Add that to the whole “show up at 7, but wait seven hours until you can ride,” and the 2 hour wait times for the other attractions, and it was not a cool experience. We did get to ride at the end of the night, but the ride was still glitching. Disney referred us to a guest experience, who told us he couldn’t do anything and told us to go to guest relations. We went back to the ride, and another blue-shirt actually helped us, and gave us additional fast passes as recompense. It is a very tough system to navigate, and a lot of people were confused, unhappy, and dissatisfied.
Disney is overbooking Rise of the Resistance. I spent $508.83 for one day (3 guests plus meals), waited 10 hours and was unable. With the app, they should have the technology to previously inform guests.
I’m going in during the 3rd week in February 2020, it states on the app that the park opens at 9am. Is this the correct opening time? what time should i arrive?
I’m going next week and first they backed up opening from 9-8. Today I got notice that it backed up to 7. I think it’s too early to predict!
Bella how did you get notice of the time change for opening?
Touring plans is tracking my dates and they sent me an email. I checked the app and saw it had changed!
Here’s my experience on 1/3:
5:30 am: Arrived at Hollywood Studios with my family of 5 and my sister’s family of 6.
6:00 am: The gates opened. After scanning cards and fingerprints, we quickly moved through the park and waited in the crowd building up at the entrance to Galaxy’s Edge. Meanwhile, we tried to link our two families in the Disney World app so that we could all request the same boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. The app appeared to have us all linked together.
7:00 am: Restarted the app and requested a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance for our entire party. The request stalled and gave me an error message that members of my sister’s family were not in the park, which was clearly not the case since they were there with us. Frustrating! Why did the app show them as eligible to be added to my boarding request if it wasn’t going to allow the request to go through? Tried again with same result.
7:01 am: Requested boarding passes separately for our two families, resulting in boarding groups 115 and 145 respectively. I would have done it this way in the first place if the app hadn’t tricked me into thinking we were all properly linked together!
We got in line for Smuggler’s Run and made it through that ride with probably 30 minute wait, which was the advantage of being early and waiting outside Galaxy’s Edge. Spent the rest of the day doing other rides. Had FastPass reservations for Indiana Jones, Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours.
I tried not to worry about ROTR, since I heard they made it past boarding group 145 the previous day. However, later in the afternoon, the ROTR went down with technical difficulties and we all got notified our boarding groups would not be accommodated. My sister’s family got a free ticket to come back the next day with a special FastPass for ROTR, but my family did not since our boarding number was over 125. Fortunately, after waiting in line at Guest Services for an hour, they made an exception and gave my family the same deal.
Came back next day at 11am and got right on ROTR. Awesome experience and thrilled that everything worked out in the end.
Glad to read this. Maybe I missed it in the article–but for your family… did you each individually have to board on the app? Or just your family and sister’s family individually? My husband and I are going next week and we’re obviously linked together, but the article makes it sound like we have to each log in to the app. I want to make sure that we’re in the same boarding group obviously. TIA!
Only one person has to log in and select a boarding group for your entire party as long as they are all linked to that account. You can verify this by trying to generate a FastPass and it will ask if you want to add more people. The names of anyone else who is linked to that account will be listed. Same procedure for getting a boarding group.