Star Wars Rise of Resistance Report & Low Boarding Group Strategy

It’s been two weeks since our last visit to Hollywood Studios. Not long in the grand scheme of things, but a veritable eternity when it comes to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance protocol and policies. In this report, we revisit the new Walt Disney World blockbuster attraction, and test out strategy we refined over the last week at Disneyland.

You might recall that our last two attempts at doing the attraction at Walt Disney World didn’t go so well. Our “frustrating foray” with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance detailed a delays and broken effects. Following that, we returned with our “rope drop dilemma” with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which was essentially more delays and a breakdown.

However, after the rockiness of opening weekend at Disneyland, we had tremendous success there doing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Between that and a general desire to see how rope drop, crowd flow/distribution, and wait times had changed (or not) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the last two weeks, we set out for the park bright and early yesterday morning…

After parking, we were once again outside of Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 6:25 am. There was no line for security, which didn’t matter as I hadn’t brought a bag. (Due to the long line the last time we did this.) It only took 2 minutes to get through the no bags line, which is probably more or less identical to how long a normal line would’ve taken.

We then advanced to the turnstiles, heading to the far right to enter. I don’t think we’ve mentioned this before, but I think this is the best approach. At least for now, there’s a construction wall on that far side by the ticket booths that initially blocks direct access to several turnstiles. If you hug that wall, you’ll be able to choose among said turnstiles farther to the right. If you’re in a hurry to enter, this could save you a minute or two.

It didn’t end up mattering at all to us, as we were inside the park and under Crossroads of the World before 6:40 am. The crowd seemed slightly smaller than the last time we did this, but the difference was negligible. Still heavier than when the attraction first opened, but not as busy as the holidays, weekends, or any days when local school districts are out of session.

At this point, I wandered around for a bit while Sarah sought shelter from the cold inside a gift shop. A reasonable crowd was gathered in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to rope drop Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. Ditto in front of Carthay Circle on Sunset Boulevard, where guests were being held for Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Guests wanting to head to Toy Story Land were being directed through the Animation Courtyard archway, with a line forming near Voyage of the Little Mermaid. If we were interested in maximizing our efficiency and doing Slinky Dog Dash, this is where we would’ve been.

Even guests entering the park by ~6:50 am could’ve joined this crowd and done Slinky Dog Dash in under 20 minutes, then “rode the wave” and done Toy Story Mania before its wait time was prohibitive. This line for Toy Story Land is never as bad as it looks, especially as most of the ride capacity is allocated to the standby line early in the morning.

At around 6:58 am, we both closed out the My Disney Experience app. At 6:59:55 am, we both launched MDX with the intent of following Option A in our Star Wars Rise of Resistance Disneyland Strategy Guide, which we found to be the winning approach out west.

Unfortunately, my app took longer than normal to load. Once it did, it froze for a couple of seconds as I was furiously tapping the “Find Out More” button. By the time that responded and I selected both of us to join a boarding group, I received the “Not So Fast” message.

Sarah’s timing in launching the app was perfect, her fingers were fast, and everything went flawlessly for her. She scored boarding group 4 for us. It was a triumph for the ages–now I know what winning the Super Bowl feels like.

I’m convinced that had she not been there, I would’ve been stuck in boarding group 50 or higher. I was “only” a few seconds behind, but those precious moments right after park opening can be the difference between boarding before 8 am and in the afternoon. Executing the best strategy is crucial, but luck determines whether the My Disney Experience app will let you do that.

Our boarding group was called at 7:11 am, and we had a return window of one hour (instead of 2 hours). It was really hard to resist, but we didn’t do Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. This early in the morning, it would almost certainly be firing on all cylinders. As such, there was no “research value” in doing the attraction–there shouldn’t be any issues with broken effects, queue backups, or anything else worth reporting.

As we’ve previously noted, we don’t want to be the rude bloggers who do this incessantly at the expense of tourists, some of whom potentially will not have another chance to experience it. In effect, this allowed two people in a back-up boarding group to take our spots.

Instead, we wandered around Disney’s Hollywood Studios to check out crowds and wait times. Unfortunately, the morning was far from photogenic, so not much on that front.

The first, most interesting thing to report is the line for the Guest Experience Team on Hollywood Boulevard, which was very long. At this hour, it’s safe to assume that nearly every single guest in that line had an issue joining a boarding group.

It’s also worth noting that it took me approximately 2 minutes to walk from this spot to the Guest Experience Team stand at the end of Sunset Boulevard, which had no line.

This underscores both the advantage of walking a little farther for a shorter line, but also having multiple members of your party attempt to join the virtual queue. We hear from some readers (too many in my estimation) who have one member of their party responsible for everyone, which is a high-risk proposition.

My Disney Experience is extremely unreliable, and if you only have one person in your party attempting to join the virtual queue (for everyone in your party), you are putting tremendous faith in their app not crashing or having some other glitch.

You should absolutely have every competent member of your party attempting the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ‘boarding pass dash.’ Whoever is fastest will get the boarding passes, and will lock everyone else out with the Not So Fast/Already in Boarding Group message.

Disney does not officially recommend this approach, but that doesn’t make this bad advice. (It’s probably because this approach means more simultaneous app users, which puts more of a strain on their system.) There’s no downside to you, personally.

One interesting thing we did notice was a huge line for Jedi Training Academy: Trials of the Temple.

Admittedly, I don’t pay super close attention to this, but I haven’t seen such a lengthy line–which ran through the outdoor queue of Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular–in a while.

Wait times in the rest of Disney’s Hollywood Studios weren’t terrible immediately after park opening, but still worse than they were when the virtual queue was in its infancy. Before 8 am, things were already pretty busy.

This improvement is, perhaps, at least partially attributable to the mass exodus of guests in the first couple of hours Disney’s Hollywood Studios was open. Back in December, I bounced over to Epcot a few times at around the same time we left DHS yesterday–unlike back then, there was a huge line for the Skyliner.

One final thing to note is that Walt Disney World has lowered the threshold for backup boarding groups. In the past, backup boarding groups began above 110, with the exact number varying based upon the attraction’s “results” from the previous day. In the last week, backup boarding groups began in the 80-90 range.

Yesterday, backup boarding groups began at 78 (which it reached by the early afternoon). This is not because Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has become less reliable. Rather, it’s likely motivated by a desire to reduce expectations (under-promise and over-deliver) as well as guest recovery options.

Based upon what we’re seeing, daily throughput has remained unchanged. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has its good and bad days, but is frequently getting above boarding group 145. In other words, don’t freak out if you arrive at rope drop and find yourself in backup boarding group 80 or 90. It’s really no different than regular boarding group 80 or 90 a week ago in terms of your chances of getting to ride. (In other words, our Star Wars Sleep-In Strategy is still viable, albeit risky.)

Overall, it was a successful morning that vindicated the strategy we’ve previously advocated. Consequently, we remain of the belief that arriving to Disney’s Hollywood Studios roughly 30 minutes before park opening remains the best course of action if you’re willing to sacrifice some sleep. Unfortunately, even with the best strategy, you can still get unlucky with the boarding pass dash. Scoring a boarding group under 20 requires not just fast fingers, but a lot of luck.

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

Have you been able to score a low numbered boarding group for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? What was your approach? If you’ve done RotR in the last two weeks, what time did you arrive, which boarding group did you receive, and when was your return time? 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!

109 Responses to “Star Wars Rise of Resistance Report & Low Boarding Group Strategy”
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