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!
WOW! I’m reading this and now feeling VERY fortunate to have got the experience that we did! It’d been over 7 years since our last visit to WDW and being in town for a different reason, we decided to HS for just one day, Friday, 1/24. We didn’t arrive as early as everyone here did. I did not know to restart the app to max the chance for a low boarding group, and actually didn’t join a boarding group until a little AFTER 7:00 a.m. since that’s when we actually cleared the gates (after the bags I thought I was in and got the ‘not so fast’ message). We were given boarding group 101 (not guaranteed). We were called to board while eating dinner at Sci-Fi (which was slooooow) and made it over by 4:25 p.m.. The ride ran perfectly! Unfortunately, we missed our Toy Story Mania fastpass entry time, but when I explained our long meal and boarding group call to the cast member there, they allowed us on! WHEW! I’m especially grateful now and thought the ride was amazing! Even if all you planned to do doesn’t go as planned….don’t lose hope!!
I forgot to mention that I used my cell phone service – T-mobile – and didn’t experience any lag or problems refreshing quickly…
Hey Tom – My husband & I were at DW the last week of January & we went to HS on Tues. 1/28 & Thurs. 1/30 – both days with the intention of riding RotR – on Tues we got into park around 6:30-6:40 & at 6:57 on cellular (not WiFi) signed into MDX & at 6:59 started refreshing “Join Boarding Group” page until it turned 7:00 (continually refreshing) & when the button lit up to join group then hit it immediately! We got boarding group 41 & rode before noon – on Thurs we weren’t quite as anxious about it but we did arrive into the park about 6:45-6:50 and signed into MDX app, then at 6:59 refreshed the “Join Boarding Group” page ONCE & started tapping the join group button LIKE MAD!!! No more refreshing other than that one & only time just before 7:00…..we got boarding group 3!!!! With a one hour return time….it truly felt like we won the lottery!! :-))
It seems to be a distinct disadvantage to have to rely on a resort bus to get to Hollywood studios early enough to get a low number boarding group OR to get back to your call time if you have returned to the resort midday (mistake). Bus service at Port Orleans French Quarter was an issue, with wait times 45 minutes to an hour for a bus to arrive on a few different occasions. People were frustrated and reporting it. The day we went to Hollywood Studios, we only got to the park at 7, inside by 7:12, and got boarding group 102. We thought we would not get to ride that day, but our boarding time was 3:51-4:51. We were at our bus depot at 3:35. The bus came at 4:30. It did not go to Riverside, thankfully.
We got to the park and almost ran all the way, arriving at the ride with only 3 minutes to spare for our call back time!
Tom, or anyone else with knowledge: any insights into to how well connectivity works inside Hollywood and Vine? I’m wondering if a PPO ADR would be a more pleasant way to begin the day.
For Disneyland you recommend removing tickets of those who aren’t with you. With Disney World would you recommend removing friends/family who aren’t with you in the park for this trip? Does loading up their profiles slow you down?
Thanks so much again for all this helpful information! 1 week from our trip so trying to keep up with all these strategies.
The only time removing really matters is if you have a big group of friends, especially if it goes into a second page and not everyone will be riding. Basically, instead of clicking select all, you’d have to click each name individually, which is what slows you down. If you have 6 people and only 1 not riding, you can still click select all and uncheck the one not riding, etc.
We were at Hollywood Studios yesterday (January 30th) – got into the park by 6:30am. We secured boarding pass 67 at 7:00am. Logged out and back on around 6:45am. The ride was down when our boarding group was called around 2:15. So we left and rode something and returned in a little
Over an hour to find out it was down again. So we left and did another ride and came back and got on the ride. Our boarding pass was honored even though the group had been called. During the middle of the ride, it shut down and we were escorted off the ride. Disney gave us a fast pass for the ride which was honored this morning. Rode with no problems! Great ride! Hope they work out all the glitches soon!!
Although we are a party or 6, I am the only one planning and the only one with an account. Can I have each download the app on their phones but log on as me on each phone to try to join a group? Thank you for all of your help!
Although we are a party or 6, I am the only one planning and the only one with an account. Can I have each download the app on their phones but log on as me on each phone to try to join a group?
We were there the third week of January, we didn’t go super early because we have little kids. One morning we got in the park at 7:30 and the other morning, we got in the park at 8:30. We scored backup boarding groups in the 150’s. Even with some downtime on those days, we still managed to ride both days.
Is it better to connect to the app using wifi or cellular? Do results vary between the two?
My brother and law and I just used the wifi, the speed seemed fine to us, it was fairly immediate when we got inside the park.
We’ll be going in two weeks and I really appreciate these posts! Do you have a tip whether you use wifi or stick with cell service? Do you go so far as to run speed tests or anything before to find a “good spot”?
I’ve see most reports recommending cellular service over wifi. No tips on speed tests though.
Great to hear. Thanks!
Thank you for this! Great advice!
Is it better for everyone in the party to have their own login for MDX, or can everyone login to the same account?
We’re under 10 days until we get to try this all out!
Thanks for the update! I’ve been wondering why the number of primary groups has been decreasing.
I’d love to know this too. I’ve never let my husband have his own MDX lol
My family left Disney this past Tuesday but my friend and her family are still there. They went to HS yesterday (Thursday) and got backup group 109 (not sure of their process). Just before 3pm the ride went down. It was back up a little after 4pm and was boarding group 80. It boarded up to 94 and stayed at 94 for a bit. At 6:03 she was notified that her backup boarding group would not be called…oh man. It looked so promising since HS would still be open a few more hours. We did notice that in fact the MDE stated that no guarantees would be made after boarding group 78…sigh. Thank you for your post. I’m forwarding to her now.
Super appreciate the insight and the tips.
This is anecdotal not strategic (I use the same strategy as you and others). I visited on Thurs, 1/12–a bit more than two weeks. It was one of the lower 30’s degree morning. That was not the best of days (I’d ridden RoR mid Dec with BG 23 by arriving about 5:30 for 7 opening and allowing entry around 6:50. My BG was called before 8 and the line was short; however, we had an extra 50 minute wait in the first inside queue area for tech issues). On 1/12, I arrived about 6:30 for 7 opening. Entry began the same as before around 6:50 but scanners went out. Still arrived inside at 6:58. App was set to “go,” but experienced close to what yours did which put me about 30 seconds behind: BG 47. OK. Not too bad–figured a call around 12-1. Back-up groups were 81+. At 11:30, groups through 25 or similar were still boarding. Obviously some technical issues. Left for home (30 min away) around 2pm as the BG’s had not advanced beyond the 20’s and rain was falling. About 4PM, my group was called. The worst part was it was too cold for Slinky Dog that early morning (which seems to be the only way to get a ride most of the time). The best part was Star Tours with the newest clips from Rise of Skywalker (love Lando) and finally breaking the 100,00 mark on Toy Mania–72 yrs old and NOT a video gamer–ever. Heading back for onsite stay 2/10-12. FWIW, we always turn off wifi when in the parks. Our AT&T service works so much faster than their wifi. I may have not gotten to that point when trying to join a group on 1/12.
My fiancé and I attended DHS on 1/26. We arrived the park gates at 6 AM, were inside by 620, and waited inside the park to the right (by the bathrooms and wheelchair rentals) to get our boarding group. We used 2 phones, one Verizon one ATT, and we both closed out the app at 659, and reopened it just before 7. We scored boarding group 22. At around 7:45 AM, our group was called. We got all the way to the interrogation chamber (8:35) and the ride broke down. We were escorted off, put into recovery and returned at around 9:45. By 10:10, we were seated in the ride ready to go when it shut down again. Again, we were put into recovery, and came back at 11:15, where we were FINALLY able to ride the ride. Everything was working except for the Kyle Ren animatronic at the end of the ride. We were extremely pleased with the ride, even more so getting to experience the first 3/4 of the attraction 3 times. We later met a random guest experience member who asked us about our day, and gave us 3 fastpasses to use on any ride for the trouble we had earlier today. We truly lucked out and couldn’t have had a better day at DHS.
AHHHH!! No spoilers or at least give warning.
i’ve been closely following all these posts, even though we have no trip on the horizon, and by the time we do, i’m guessing the boarding group system will have passed (or, maybe not? who knows). but my feeling kind of goes along with the spontaneity post and the recent pro-disneyland posts- this whole notion gives me anxiety. i would be a wreck trying to get one of these groups. i would freak out if something didn’t work according to the instructions and probably lose my chance. that just doesn’t sound fun or enjoyable. i like planning,but this is enough to about give me a stomachache. i know everyone says the ride is so worth it, but so much stress.
I’ve noticed that the blogs understandably are focused on getting the absolutely most efficient strategy and tend to give the impression that if things don’t go perfectly your day will be ruined. Tom even admits his slight delay would have likely put him in group 50 rather than group 4, which is still guaranteed boarding at some point in the day (possibly before noon if the ride is running smoothly).
Even worse case scenario of not getting on the ride at all isn’t the end of the world. If this is a once in a lifetime trip, that sucks but there’s plenty of other things in the parks to enjoy. The ride I was most excited to go on for my first and thus far only trip to Disney Land was Indiana Jones and guess what? It was closed the entire time I was there, but I still had a blast.
Jared is correct.
Beyond this, we have several posts discussing our results when showing up to DHS much later. The vast majority of the time, you’re not going to get shut out if you arrive at or shortly after park opening, even if something does go wrong.
There are a few horror stories–but similar stories exist for virtually everything at Walt Disney World.
In anticipation of our March 1 trip, I have been practicing joining the que at 7am from home a few times. You can get all the way to the “not so fast” message about not being in the park, but a good way to feel out how it will work. We will try March 2 with March 5th the day to try to do Mickeys Railway and maybe 2nd try fro Rise Of The Resistance. Will be looking for your report on Mickeys Railway to see how that might work.
Thanks for mentioning this!
Practicing at home is a great idea, and we strongly recommend doing this. It familiarizes you with the process, and makes it easier to ‘instinctively’ make selections in each step, without having to process what you’re seeing on the screen for the first time. Even if it only saves a split-second, that time is valuable!
Yes and I have logged lots of practice scoring fast passes which has helped knowing how the app behaves. My wife calls me the fast pass ninja.
I’ve been on RotR twice, in boarding groups 7 and 16. I haven’t yet experienced the ride fully functioning. This morning my app would not allow me to join a boarding group until after I could hear people cheering with excitement. I heard somebody yell “Yes, group 43!” before it finally let me join a group. I got group 53. They seem to be running slowly today so I’m going back into the park later to ride and hope that I get the full experience this time.
I wouldn’t have known I didn’t get the full experience if I hadn’t read a comment from somebody in one of your recent articles, so I’m glad Disney have a backup.
Thanks for all your detailed updates on this. We’re going Feb 11 and will have one shot. The opening time is set for 8am, and I’m anxious to see if they will stick to that and how the later time will impact distribution.
I’m so happy you do this for us Tom! We are doing Disneyland on March 18th and hoping this works for us. I can’t wait to experience this ride!
We were in Hollywood Studios Jan. 24th and followed your advice. We Ubered to avoid crowded buses and got there at 6:30 a.m. We got through security and admissions and were waiting in front of Frozen in a big crowd by 6:45 a.m. We both had Wifi off and phones going. My husband got our boarding group just before 7:00 a.m. Mine didn’t open until 7:00 a.m. We got boarding group 32 and went straight to Smuggler’s Run. The line never stopped moving. After we finished Smuggler’s Run, our Rise of the Resistance group was called. We were through both rides by 9:15 a.m. We were lucky enough to have no breakdowns so the strategy worked like a charm.