Star Wars Rise of the Resistance Report & Strategy
In this Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance report & strategy guide, we share our firsthand experiences with the virtual queue, what time boarding groups are running out, when Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been opening each morning, crowds, and more. (This is also spoiler-free, which means a bunch of random Galaxy’s Edge and Christmas photos, but nothing from inside the new ride.)
Basically, this is like a mix of a Walt Disney World trip report (but pretty much only the DHS parts) and a recap of our experiences with the operational quirks of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. It should help you develop some strategy and properly prepare to experience what we called not not Walt Disney World’s best attraction in our spoiler-free Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Ride Review.
Paramount to this is the boarding pass system. If you’re unfamiliar with that, you’ll want to start by reading our Virtual Queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Strategy, Tips & Info. That covers everything you need to know, and is essential knowledge if you want to do the attraction. We were blindsided by this on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance’s opening day, although in hindsight, we probably should’ve expected it…
Prior to the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, there were daily communications via blog posts and videos preparing guests for all of Disney’s crowd control measures and to mitigate disappointment. None of that was even remotely necessary, and the slow start of Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was in large part attributed to over-communication, which spooked guests who feared a “crowdpocalypse” situation.
Consequently, Disney’s approach with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Florida has since been one of minimal communication. The virtual queue for the land itself was revealed only a couple of days before the grand opening of Galaxy’s Edge, and that was done quietly with in-room fliers. Few other practical details were provided in advance, much to the ire of planners.
Extra, Extra Magic Hours were the main thing that was announced far in advance. Those were unveiled in the spring, long before Disneyland’s version of Galaxy’s Edge opened. We were surprised to see the reaction to these as primarily negative, and we’ve commented several times that it’s highly likely Walt Disney World regrets offering ExEMH. We loved them, but they’re something that never would’ve happened had Disney held off on the announcement until after Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened at Disneyland.
So it was thus no surprise that no early hours were announced for the debut of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Walt Disney World. Why already explained the why of that in our Walt Disney World Park Hours Extended for Star Wars: Rise of Resistance Opening & Beyond post, and anyone who read that knew there was no way Disney’s Hollywood Studios was actually going to open at 8 am. Suffice to say, the goal was to not scare crowds away by signaling that they were expecting insanity.
Thinking, third time’s the charm, we were expecting insanity. Not necessarily because everyone would be waiting for Rise of the Resistance. Because it’s the Christmas season, so Disney’s Hollywood Studios would be busy regardless. With that in mind, we planned on being there at 6 am on opening morning.
Given that we were burned on opening morning of Galaxy’s Edge by the Skyliner not yet being operational, we didn’t want a repeat of that. We also didn’t want to be burned by buses not starting early enough or taking an Uber and encountering a huge traffic jam. As such, we stayed at Beach Club and walked over. (Next time, we’ll stay somewhere cheaper and Uber–it’s such a waste of an expensive hotel stay.)
There was no line at bag check or the turnstiles when we arrived to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 6 am. While we enjoy being part of opening day fanfare, our approach to these things aims for balance. Getting to the park at 3 am might put you at the front of the pack and mean less waiting in the attraction’s line, but the trade-off is that you’re going to sleep less and wait for security and the turnstiles to open. We’re fine being ~2,000 people further behind in line if it means 2 more hours of sleep.
After breezing into the park, we were surprised to be handed a flier for the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. We joined it immediately, and were assigned to boarding group 33. We then headed to where everyone was being held, waited 20 minutes or so, and started making the slow trudge to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Immediately upon entering the land, the first ten groups were called. At this point, we didn’t really know what to do. Because of the limited use of the virtual queue, we had almost no experience with boarding group pacing. We thus wandered around Galaxy’s Edge for about 30 minutes, getting a feel for how quickly subsequent groups would be called.
I was already a fan of the virtual queue. It gave me a chance to take dawn and sunrise photos of Galaxy’s Edge, eat breakfast, and use the restrooms. (I feared having a 4-hour wait in line, in which case those 2 cups of coffee I drank to start the day would’ve been a fatal error.)
After maybe 30 minutes or so, we saw a friend who got to the park at 2:45 am and was one of the first guests to board Rise of the Resistance. We informed us that it had broken down while he was on it, and he was given a paper re-entry pass.
At that point, we realized it was going to be a long morning, so we headed off to Toy Story Land and other areas of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
I continued taking sunrise photos, we did a couple of other attractions, and then just sat around Echo Lake for a while. The atmosphere there during the day isn’t nearly as good as it is during the evening, but at least few other guests were around and the entire area was open. The stupid dessert party closing off most of the waterfront has put a serious damper on Echo Lake Christmas at night.
Not much of interest happened until ~10:50 am, at which point our boarding group was called. Had we stood in a physical line, this would’ve been about a ~5 hour wait (assuming the queue wasn’t dumped when the ride broke down) with no other attractions experienced, and at least one pants-wetting incident. Thanks to the virtual queue, we did several other attractions, ate breakfast, and chilled at Echo Lake. Most significantly, and I cannot stress this enough, I did not wet my pants. Not even once.
I think we waited in line for Rise of the Resistance around 20 minutes, although I’m not entirely sure because I was preoccupied looking at stuff and taking photos. As we’ve already shared, our ride experience was superb. After our ride ended, we–as the kids of the early 1900s say–got the hell out of Dodge, leaving Disney’s Hollywood Studios just as the crowds were peaking.
Flash forward to yesterday. We arrived shortly after 7 am and had the same smooth experience with security, the turnstiles, and the virtual queue. This time, we got boarding group 51.
After doing a few attractions, we saw reports on social media that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance had broken down for the second time of the day. Between that and crowds starting to get noticeably worse, we decided to walk over to Epcot.
Our group was finally called at 3 pm, and we were back inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios just before 5 pm. We did Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and my opinion of it remains very, very high even on the subsequent ride-through. (At the very least, it’s Walt Disney World’s best new attraction since the 1990s.)
Following that, we did a lap of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and then returned to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for the 6:30 pm stage and drone show.
This was our first time seeing the drones (I had tried from outside the park but didn’t see them two nights prior) and I’m glad we did, but they were not impressive.
The stage show was a nice (albeit brief) atmospheric addition, too. Galaxy’s Edge could really benefit from more entertainment, but I’d prefer more on the ground interactions with guests rather than this kind of scripted thing.
Let’s turn to some strategy. For now, showing up to Disney’s Hollywood Studios well before official park opening but after the unscheduled park opening (when that’ll be is uncertain, anyway), is probably the best approach.
This will give you time to do pretty much everything at DHS before your boarding group is called, and potentially walk over to Epcot or do a table service lunch at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the meantime.
If you’re planning a visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the next few weeks, it’s worth knowing that on non-Extra Magic Hours mornings, the park has been quietly opening prior to published time each of the last three days, but with that time inching a tad later every morning. Boarding groups via the virtual queue were gone by (roughly) 8:30 am on 12/5, 8:15 am on 12/6, and 9 am on 12/7.
The virtual queue filling earlier the second morning is likely attributable to too many boarding passes being distributed the first day, not an increase in demand. Boarding groups being gone later on 12/7 is despite a spread in knowledge and the first weekend (meaning more locals) of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Tomorrow’s EMH at DHS were just extended and now run from 6 to 8 am, but remember, Extra Magic Hours don’t include Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (something Walt Disney World reminded guests of in the alert about the earlier start time). Our guess is that, at minimum, the virtual queue will open at 6 am.
If Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is done with overnight testing and adjusting, we also wouldn’t be surprised if it quietly opened during EMH. Even though Walt Disney World is saying otherwise, this could be a case of “underpromise, overdeliver” or at least managing guest expectations in case the ride is down early. We’ll know for sure after tomorrow, and will report back with planning advice for those of you wanting to take advantage of future Extra Magic Hours morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
That wraps up our Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opening days report and planning advice. What follows on the second page is commentary that’s totally skippable if all you care about is strategy and objective info. Basically, Page 2 offers our assessment of the virtual queue, its winners and losers, etc. We also discuss Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance’s reliability and uptime, and how we wish Walt Disney World would have delayed this attraction until 2020. A bit of ranting and a rambling defense of the virtual queue, essentially.
I think the idea of a boarding pass is great so you can show up to a super popular ride at a given time and enjoy other parks or rides before your boarding time. What I think is plain awful is the fact that you can’t pre-book that window. Handle the booking like a fast pass and that allows families that can’t show up that early with young kids a chance to ride the attraction they planned their trip around. Having to book in the park with all members present eliminates a lot of children or causes huge meltdowns for those that want to try. Disney should be ashamed at their lack of thought for these guests when booking the same boarding time online is a simple solution.
My family of 3 just got back from Walt Disney World and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. Around 10pm Dec 4th we asked at the front desk on bus departure times for Hollywood Studios and were told 1 hour before park opens ( meaning 7am for 8am park opening). A flyer on Hollywood opening details was never dropped off to our 5th floor room???? We considered taking an Uber but instead got up at 5:15am Dec 5th and headed to the bus stop for 5:55am. I bus picked us up at 6:05am for the Studios. By 6:20am we were headed to bag check and the park entrance. Once we entered the park we booked virtual boarding passes and were placed into group 36. Main street was backed up with throngs of people waiting to get to star wars land. Just after 6:30am we began a group march toward Galaxy’s Edge. It was an exciting walk as cast members were lined up on both sides of the walkways from Muppet Courtyard all the way to Galaxy’s Edge waving to the mass of people and keeping everyone on the straight and narrow path. Groups 1 -10 only were able to board so we headed over to Smugglers Run and walked on twice and had about a 10 minute wait for ride 3. Next we headed to Slinky Dog and Toy Story Mania and got on each ride 2 times with hardly any wait. Came across several people who were in line when their boarding time became available and a few were ready to get seated on Mania and got out of their cars before getting strapped in to run for Rise of the Resistance but they had a 2 hour window to get there?? Maybe they wanted to make sure it did not break down again?? Our family boarded the ride about mid afternoon and arrived 10 minutes after being notified. We basically walked on the ride before a short 5 minute wait just outside the ride starting area. Amazing ride, great detail, so many different things going on around you LOVED IT. The next day Dec 6th we used the same plan of attack. Bus from the Lodge at 6:10am and through the gates by 6:30am and got a boarding pass of 11. There was no line of people waiting or headed to Star Wars Land so we walked over toward it much more quietly. Around 8am we were able to board RoR but the line into the ride was much longer almost near the entrance area. Once we entered the wait line and had our bands scanned we were able to book a 2nd boarding pass for Group 28 later in the day. We were in line about 15 minutes and about 50 yards away from the starting area and the ride went down. We were given fast passes to be used on RoR and any other ride we wanted in the 4 parks.and park hopper passes due to the break down. At the time it sounded like RoR would not be starting up again that day?? About 2 hours later we boarded RoR again and the line was 1/2 as long and we got to the same stopping point as before much faster but again the ride went down and we had to exit the lines. This time we were given only passes to get back on RoR. An hour later we got in line a 3rd time and we were able to board the ride this time. It was just as good if not better than the first time on opening day!! We now had a 2nd group boarding slot for RoR and our FP good on anything in any park to use. 45 minutes after our first ride we went on RoR a 2nd time for the day and made it through the line and ride without a problem. We decided against going on a 3rd time or park hopping with our FP so my son went on Slinky Dog and we went on Tower or Terror. Crazy two days but quite memorable!!!
I was at HS on the 7th and was not expecting to be able to ride Rise of the Resistance. My family arrived at 830 for 900 open and were surprised to see Hollywood Blvd empty. I was able to join a boarding group (#120) though I did not believe I would be around by the time it got to our group. I got a message in the evening stating that they were sorry that my group would not be able to board. They gave my a fast pass to use today on any ride (which I used on flights of passage) and a 1 day park hopper ticket. I was pretty happy with that!
Yes, they gave people a fast pass ticket for those that didn’t get on the ride even after getting a boarding pass. Did you see you could use it for every ride, including RotR? For any readers, you can use that for any ride. Even for RotR.
We were at DHS on 12/6. We were surprised with the early opening that day, and were on a bus to DHS at 7 am (expecting a 9 am opening) when we saw wait times on DME. Got Boarding Group 74 at 7:35 am. Rode around 5:45 pm.
I love the VQ. I think it rewards those who get there early (even we weren’t that early, honestly) and have RotR as their main goal. Also, once we had our BG, we were able to ride headliners easily – SDD, TSM, RnR – and walk around and enjoy our time, instead of waiting on line.
It’s evident they are testing some approaches out, and I bet they settle into something (even if short term) by this Friday. As someone else said on another site “pack your patience.”
The ride is phenomenal. I couldn’t keep my jaw off the ground. The rest of the world was awesome. My boys had a fly by encounter with Rey and it was 5 seconds of magic in a day of great experiences.
I assume you have read Disney War, which talks quite a bit about the pre-scheduled opening day. Sometimes it can be good for a work team to have a deadline (even a very hard-to-reach deadline) to get projects moving.
Brain Carmp – I said Disney War, but meant “Building a Better Mouse”.
Does everyone in your group have to be there to join the boarding group? Or is it like a fast pass and if I have them on MDE I can request for everyone? Thanks!
Yes, everyone in the group must be scanned into the park before getting the boarding pass.
This is my first time to Disney World. When you say scan, you mean Magic Band? Is that correct?
Birdy, whether you have a magic band or any other form of ticket, you use it to scan into the park. Therefore, once you’re in the park, you can access the boarding queue.
Erik, Thank you. When I access to the boarding queue, I will get some forms of ticket showing my boarding group or applied in my Disney World app? I am asking because I will be HS for two or three days with very little kids. I plan to go early and get myself VQ one day and get my wife VQ another day. If her identity like Magic Band or Disney World app is needed, I need to use her Magic Band or ticket to access the HS that day.
So if you don’t have EMH because you’re not staying at an on-site hotel, what are your chances of getting a boarding time on days with EMH?
On Sunday 12/8/2019, the EMH at DHS was 6 am – 8 am. First boarding group was announced at 7:30. It was boarding groups 1 & 2. Don’t know if that helps anyone, but at this point I figured an additional data point couldn’t hurt.
I booked a reservation at Disney World resort hoping to gain an advantage in riding Rise of the Resistance. I saw on my Disney application that boarding passes were being issued at 5am. I called the front desk and was told that the free transportation provided by Disney (i.e. Disney buses) would not start running till 7:45 am. Those staying onsite at Disney and relying on free transportation now have the disadvantage.
You’ve missed one major complaint that has really upset a huge number of people. Parents with young kids, people with disabilities and the elderly. Only a certain set can get up ridiculously early to get on queue. Can you see parents of young kids dragging their kids out that early to get a boarding pass? Or people with disabilities or the elderly getting to the parks multiple times in one day? They’ve eliminated the DAS for this ride!!! I have tried multiple times now to get on this ride but have failed. It feels like Disney, even with the huge number of Make-A-Wish visitors, has completely forgotten about people with challenges. I saw a father desperately trying to explain to his young autistic child, in full Star Wars gear, that they wouldn’t be able to get to ride the ride this vacation. They waited specifically for this, got the DAS, and Disney had no sympathy. I have a physical disability and I cannot visit the parks super early or multiple times in one day, it’s impossible for me. And I have two small children that I can’t drag out at six in the morning to get on a virtual queue. Both days that I was there I heard many heart wrenching stories of people not ever going to be able to ride this. And Disney had zero sympathy. I am extremely disappointed….
I feel bad for those with disabilities that aren’t being accommodated.
Not so much for people with small kids (I have two small kids and fall squarely in this user group).
There is a difference between can’t, and something being less than optimal. Is it super fun getting the little ones up early? No, I don’t enjoy it one bit. But it’s physically possible and, for better or worse, part of the Disney experience now if you want to beat some of the crowds.
Tom,
I’m hoping to get a strategy about the CA version of the ride upon opening. My family is planning a trip to Disneyland about a week after the opening of ROTR. We should be staying for at least a few days, but I do want to effectively strategize to make sure that we don’t miss out. We all know that the CA and FL experiences are seldom interchangeable. I am looking forward to you input.
Sorry for filling up you comments with the same remarks. I didn’t see the last one post, saw i thought it might have glitched. My apologies.
thank you for addressing the issues of people planning for a posted opening time but the park opening literally hours earlier than that. i’m not there, nor is anyone i know, so it doesn’t affect me, but i find it overwhelmingly unfair. i can imagine a lot of families who planned based on 8am and got nothing. a lot of them probably don’t know about the blog tips. rightly so, disney should be going out of their way to accommodate those people. it’s not right. with two small kids, we managed one morning to make it in september for EEMH by about 6:15, so i feel for those families in that situation, it isn’t easy, especially if you don’t know ahead of time. at least in september we knew about EEMH.
Tom, I’m hoping you give us some good strategy’s on the California opening. My family and I are coming from Arizona about a week after the opening, and I want to be successful. And CA and Florida experiences are seldom interchangeable.
Much thanks for the insights – and very glad you didn’t have a line accident! :). We’ll be there Dec 21 to 26 – any further advice on how early to get there in those days??
If you are staying at a Disney resort, you will need to pay for transportation to get there early. The free transportation system will not run till 1 hour before the “published” opening time. I called the front desk and they stated transportation would start at 7:45 for the 9:00 opening.
We’re at the Poly, but will have a car, so we’re good there.
We are staying at wildnerness Lodge and in Saturday , Dec 7 th were at the bus stop by 6:30. We boarded the bus at 6:42 and it left at 6:46. ( we were told it was a 6:45 am bus to early breakfast by the front desk the night before). It went directly to hollywood studios , no other resort pickups and got into a virtual queue by 7:04. Boarding group 56 and got to ride a little after 3 pm
Wonderful experience , like being in a movie
Once your boarding group is announced, how much time are you given to get yourself back to the RofR queue?
2 hours. He mentioned it in the article.
We will be at HS in the 29th and I have been curious if they were going to extend EMH. If they stop extending them by the end of the month, would they open up early like they have been in days without EMH?
I think it’s worth noting that long queues or first-come-first-serve boarding groups aren’t the only way to ration demand for limited capacity attractions.
In Japanese parks, lottery based distribution methods are very common. Universal Osaka used this for entrance to Harry Potter during opening, and Tokyo uses it for multiple stage shows.
I wonder if this would have gone down better, or caused more frustration?
We were at Disney before the premier of Rise of the Resistance, and I’ve never used the/a virtual queue. I am familiar with the old paper fast pass distribution. I really like the idea of it because it lets you be in two places at once. I understand the problems it creates (i.e. instead of guests being in line they are somewhere else).
My armchair park management ideas would be to implement it at all the headliners at each park (e.g. slinky dog, flight of passage, sdmt) but as a a benefit only for onsite guests and only one per day. This would alleviate the complaint where even when staying on site some fast passes aren’t available at 60 days out, and would be an added incentive to get people on property. I’m sure it would introduce other headaches, but it’d be way more enjoyable to rope drop some of the headliners to join the virtual queue, ghost out on the crushing sea of humanity, and enjoy some of the other attractions with ease in that first 60-90m.
Can you leave DHS and come back for your boarding group? (staying at CBR for Skyliner)
Yes. I literally joined a group and then took the Skyliner to CBR earlier today, worked fine.
As for timing – My guess is that the releases of ‘ The Mandalorian’ and ‘Rise of Skywalker’ had something to do with it. Some of the locales in Mando look strangely similar to Batuu. So it seems the perfect time for others to book their trips in 2020 during this holiday season – not so much to hit up WDW this month.
We were there this past week, not because of Star Wars opening but to celebrate my daughter’s sixteenth birthday. This last week was CRAZY busy at all parks in Disney. We didn’t even try to attempt HS on Thursday because we knew it would be busy with die hard Star Wars fans. I wish Disney would’ve waited till 2020 to open Star Wars too. It stinks because with the holidays it makes it even crazier with wait times and enjoying the parks.