Two Big Changes for Star Wars: Rise of Resistance
Walt Disney World has announced more virtual queue changes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios. In this post, we’ll cover how it’ll work & differ from the previous boarding pass system, and offer some recommendations if you’re planning a visit based on our recent experiences.
In case you’re unfamiliar with it, the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue and boarding pass system has been a divisive issue in the months both before the closure and after the reopening of Walt Disney World. We’ve had a roller coaster relationship with the system, visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios more than any other park from last December through this October.
We won’t rehash all of that here since most of you probably are familiar with it, instead fast-forwarding to the weeks immediately before the closure. At that point, frustration was setting in for us and most Walt Disney World guests, leading us to proclaim “this isn’t working.” Things were better immediately after the parks reopened, but came full circle with our latest update, asking should skip Disney’s Hollywood Studios?
Our latest Disney’s Hollywood Studios photo report concluded with some recommendations. The first, near-term step is increasing the attraction’s hourly throughput. The ride-through portion currently accommodates one party per vehicle, which could mean a single rider or a family of 8. Disney has already begun testing and installing plexiglass barriers between the front and back row, which should help immensely. That move alone could increase capacity by 50%.
Earlier this week, Walt Disney World did exactly that. This has already been a positive development (another full photo report coming soon on that) and has alone helped address many of the lottery woes with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Beyond that, we implored Walt Disney World to consider other solutions to manage expectations and make for a more guest-friendly experience in trying to do Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Our recommendations for that included allowing guests with Park Pass reservations to attempt joining the virtual queue without tapping into Disney’s Hollywood Studios, testing an actual random-drawing lottery that guests can enter throughout the day (a la Tokyo Disney Resort), or a way for on-site guests to attempt pre-booking the virtual queue and allowing them to switch parks if they’re unsuccessful. Given that the status quo was a train wreck, a range of alternatives are worth testing.
Thankfully, they’re going to do exactly that. In a new announcement, Walt Disney World indicated that to better help guests visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios plan ahead for their day at the park, they’re piloting a new approach to the virtual queue system for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Starting November 3, 2020, here’s how the virtual queue will work:
- Guests with a valid ticket or annual pass and a Disney Park Pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be able to access the virtual queue system and check for an available boarding group starting at 7 a.m. on the day of their park reservation. This can be done before you leave your Disney resort hotel, or wherever else nearby you might be at that time.
- Just as can be done today, the virtual queue will reopen daily at 2 p.m. for anyone who wasn’t already able to join a boarding group earlier in the day. For this second drop, guests must be inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and access to a boarding group is subject to availability and not guaranteed.
Walt Disney World indicates that it is hoping this new approach will make a day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios more enjoyable and relaxing, as guests no longer need to be inside the park each morning to request a boarding group for the first virtual queue opportunity.
This leaves two big unanswered questions. First, whether guests will be able to book Disney Park Pass reservations for a different park (pending availability) if they are unsuccessful at joining the 7 am virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
If so, that will be a huge improvement for resort guests and theme park ticket holders, who often have same-day availability for other parks. Our guess is that such last-minute changes will be possible. At least, we’re really hoping so!
Second, whether guests will actually have to be inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the 2 pm drop or simply will have to tape into the park at some point during the day prior to then.
We’re aware that Disney’s announcement states the former, but that has literally never been the case in the past with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Up until now, the virtual queue has not used geolocation–it has instead validated whether guests tapped into the park. Our guess is that this remains the case and the announcement is just misworded.
No matter how these questions are answered, this should ultimately result in lower rope drop crowds and a lower-stress day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That should be the eventual outcome, especially over time as word gets out that you don’t have to be in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at rope drop.
Even though this change will be covered far and wide, it always takes time for word of mouth to spread. (It took roughly a month for many guests to realize that Disney’s Hollywood Studios was quietly opening well before the official park hours back last winter when Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance debuted.)
Over time, one unintended consequence of this will be that wait times will no longer peak at Disney’s Hollywood Studios within an hour of park opening. Another likely result is that crowds will not drop off so significantly in the last two hours of the day.
Instead, we’d expect attendance to normalize throughout the day, reflecting the established patterns of every other park at Walt Disney World, including Hollywood Studios prior to last December. Of course, we’ll continue with regular DHS crowd reports to let you know what actually happens, our observations, firsthand experiences, etc.
Ultimately, we’re very pleased with this development and the other steps that Walt Disney World has taken in the last few days to make Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance more accessible, to manage expectations, and redistribute crowds.
With the popular Christmas season right around the corner, it was imperative that Disney changed something, and they’ve stepped up with two big tweaks that should improve things markedly. Of course, this renders obsolete our recent post addressing whether you should skip Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but we are 100% fine with that. Kudos to Walt Disney World on this one!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on these changes to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? Do you think these moves will help, hurt, or have no impact? Have you visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the last month or so? What was your experience? Thoughts on lines and crowds? Success or failure with the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? Do you plan on arriving at rope drop, or will you utilize a late arrival strategy? 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!
Still wondering why they have not increased DHS hours?
This could be helpful or a nightmare.
1- I hope that they can actually enforce the “only people with Park reservations” can try to get a boarding pass.
2- This will only make annual pass holders book day after day of HS so they can try in the morning and if they don’t get one, they just don’t go that day. I think this will actually create MORE people trying to get boarding passes every day.
3- O nice benefit of this is when you ultimately don’t get your boarding pass, you can switch to another park(if available) instead of being stuck in Hollywood Studios all day.
We were there this past week, HS on sunday and wednesday and scored rise tickets both days. PA announced rise queue full @10:05 sunday and 10:15 wednesday. They had the plexi up and 2 parties per vehicle.
That’s Great Frank!! 36 more days till our first WDW visit.
If I’m understanding correctly, you don’t have to be staying onsite to access the 7 am as long as you have a park pass and ticket for that day, correct?
Someone posted this elsewhere yesterday: I just called Disney, and you will be able to access the queue from where ever you are on that morning as long as you have a valid ticket or pass as well as a park reservation.
This is great news! We decided to only allocate one day at Hollywood Studios and take our chances but this new development will make the morning more enjoyable since we’ll already know the outcome. We’re early birds and will most likely be there for rope drop but this will lessen the urgency. I can’t wait to hear how it goes for the next month.
So, from the wording, as long as you have a park pass reservation for Hollywood Studios, at 7AM the day of your visit, you are permitted to try snagging a boarding pass to Rise of the Resistance? You don’t have to be on-site at a Disney property?
Correct
I could be misremembering this or it might have changed…but back in late July when I went, one of my party ended up getting sick and we swapped around park passes the day of (going to HS instead of EPCOT). Has anyone else done this?
Because it seems to me like if you can currently change park pass the day of before scanning into the park, you’d be able to do so even after this new boarding system drops.
Due to crowds, we have not been to Hollywood studios in several years. We are Florida residents and still have not seen Toy Story Land. Ho[pefully we will get to do so in the next several years. It seems unfair to have a ride that breaks down so much. Seems to me, the bugs should have been worked out before opening day.
We just got back from 4 1/2 days in Disneyworld. We were lucky enough to get a boarding pass to Rise. The parks were massively crowded, and I did not see many “mask police”. Lines were long and waits mostly over an hour. Would we go again, not likely. Stayed on property, and housekeeping was nonexistent, citing Covid. If we had stayed off property we would have gotten normal services. Very little food options, excepting Epcot and Food and Wine which was great. Took Uber to Disney springs several nights for dinners. Lines waiting to go into stores were ridiculous. We did have an agent help us pre plan everything, which was helpful, but the Covid restrictions were a massive PITA. We are not annual pass or DVC members. We were two adults no kids. We got to parks early for rope drop which was very helpful, did popular rides with lower waits. Sent hubs on Millenium Falcon and Star Tours while I did our Rise boarding pass (I get motion sickness). Many rides broke down and caused higher waits. Cast members were not Disney cheerful.
I’m sorry to hear that! Our Sept trip was definitely not normal WDW experience either, but we’ve been there so many times that the biggie was to get parents on ROTR and SR, as they hadn’t seen Batuu at all yet.
The Parks were not, and are unable to be “Massively crowded” with Coronavirus limited Park capacities.
7am? What the hell, that’s barbaric! I’m on vacation, not in the military! They need to do as I have suggested, tweak MDE to show current park capacity levels, and allow you to hop to any park with availability throughout the day.
Maybe change Park Pass reservations to expire after noon if not used, and maybe add a second tier for after 4pm or similar.
They already know exactly where you are in the parks via your MB. This would be so easy to implement.
I’m not bothered by 7am. I mean, in order to get Fast passes and book ADRs on the day they open people used to have to get up at LEAST at 7am, or earlier for other time zones. You can just pop back to sleep afterward whether you win or lose.
Would the Swan-Dolphin be considered on property?
Yes, it is.
This sounds so much better. Our email from Disney regarding our upcoming HS park pass states that only one person per group should attempt to enter the que to avoid potential problems. So does anyone have any suggestions for a party of 10? The ride vehicles seat 8 and on the My Disney Experience we are groups of 6 and 4 but could of course combine them. Thanks in advance for any help. We will have some very disappointed Star Wars fans if we can’t get on this ride yet again! But if we only get four seats we would send the kids…
I would absolutely ignore that advice, and have everyone capable trying to get a boarding group!
Thanks Mrnico! Would you keep our groups separate at four and six people or enter the lottery as a group of ten? I’m thinking increase the chances with two smaller groups?
That’s a good question. I think I would try with two smaller groups, as the CM will usually let you add the others if one group succeeds. That might save you precious nanoseconds needed to click through the process in the morning. Good luck, ROTR is awesome!
Tom, here’s a ‘radical’ idea. return to the original system that sold individual tickets to each ride. charge a base admission price. something like $25. then with magic bands linked to credit cards you and your family decide on your priorities. Rise of the Resistance might cost $25. Small World $10. you cobble together a smorgasbord that might well roughly approach today’s cost per ticket day. but this eliminates the frenzy of trying to cram in as much as possible to justify the entry cost plus it should take pressure off the lines. then those who just like the park-like atmosphere can stroll around and enjoy as they wish while ride warriors can pay as they go. Thoughts?
No thanks!
I still have an original ticket book from my trip as a baby. Not the worst idea, for sure!
rorosne,
As a long time visitor that has seen just about everything, I would not be against this.
Something I haven’t seen said anywhere about this but I think is going to be a problem is Park Pass availability for HS. Wouldn’t resort guests and local APs book HS disproportionately (like, every day they can go), try every day at 7am, and if they don’t get in the queue then re-route to another park? I know it’s taking a risk that you won’t get a pass for another park same-day, but so far, that’s really been a non-issue, especially for the other 3 parks.
We don’t yet know whether you’ll be able to change parks once trying for a RotR boarding pass. That alone might lock you into DHS (or nothing).
What you’re saying could be an issue, though. Even if it is initially, I’d imagine Disney can address that with their allocations.
That could be a big issue – eveyone is going to book park pass for HS and prevent people who truely want to go from getting into HS. Then come 7am those who didn’t get RotR will move the park pass to the other 3. This might cause more headaches with Disney trying to manage park pass allocation across the 4 parks.
Only those wise guest wise enough who didn’t get in will know to check after 7am to see if they now can transfer themselves to get a HS park pass. But, what about any ADRs?
I was just about to write that same thing…..I think this could be a problem with park Pass availability…… I think not allowing people to change parks if they don’t get a BG is not a great idea since I think they want to give people that option to try and lower the crowds if people dont want to be there unless they get a ROTR BG (and thus lower the lines at all the other attractions)…………I wonder if WDW would limit the # of HS PPasses that you can book in a week?
I have to imagine that the intention is some people will switch to a different park if they lose the lotto, isn’t that the whole point of letting people check before they arrive at the park? I think they could address pass availability with allocations; I’m not sure how dynamic the system is but if they have the tech to update FastPass and ADRs on the fly they should be able to do the same with parks. It may make HS harder to book in advance but increase same day availability for it. Also, let’s be honest, the vast majority of the public isn’t going to be trying to game the system like that; it might seem that way in Disney Park fan circles but we have to remember that is not representative of the general public.
I’m worried about the same thing. I think they need to limit how many HS park passes one can reserve in a week.
I’m a non Star Wars fan who absolutely loved RotR and am excited to hopefully experience it again in December, but I’m actually more relieved by this news for other reasons. I already know Runaway Railway is going to be an instant fave for me, so I’m hoping this new 7 am, don’t have to be in the park system will reduce the number of people rope dropping and I might actually be able to get on MMRR without spending half my day in line or maybe be able to squeeze in a second ride. I already have Oga’s and Holiday Dine ADRs, so if I can pull off both RotR and MMRR, I’ll be more than satisfied regardless of how the rest the day goes. Overall this seems like a positive development for rope droppers and non rope droppers alike.
Whoa! We’ll be there Sun-Tues for a quick visit and were planning on HS Monday 11/2 and MK Tuesday 11/3. But wdyt should we switch days? Idk if lines will be any better on the first day of the switch but at least not as many people would know about it so we’d have a better chance at getting a pass? AHHHH
I just got the email announcing this and am so, so glad. Allows us to avoid unnecessary rope-dropping AND to potentially switch to another park if we don’t get in at 7 a.m. Totally positive development.
Would love for on-site preference given how pretty much every other on-site perk has been eliminated currently but you can’t have it all.
Who gives a rip for what they do now – Disney screwed over thousands of us with this. If we had known the idiotic style in its fullness (they hide their massive incompetent rules & stupidity with this), we would’ve bypassed Disney altogether. To advertise this ride & you get the total of 40-50 seconds (literally – queue closes within 30 seconds each of the 2 times it “opens”), then not allow paying patrons the opportunity to ride is horrible. And they obviously hate having to deal with it because their employees are rude & uncaring when you ask a simple question. It was the most craptastic place on earth – stole our money & gave squat for the vacation we saved & planned for. I hope Universal runs rings around Disney – it was certainly better in every aspect. Disney Sucks!
If you’re getting whisked around the whole time, what’s plexiglass going to do?
Fully agree. We have gone to WDW once a year since we’ve had kids and just got back a week ago. It was an absolutely horrendous experience, not going back until they drop the Covid lunacy.
This is such a relief. We’re in the crowd of crazies who are headed there Thanksgiving week, and this news makes it so much easier to manage expectations. I’ve recently realized that we might be in the minority – Hollywood Studios is our family’s favorite park (discounting my Magic Kingdom nostalgia), and I was considering skipping it this trip after reading about the crowds and the lines and the RoR frustrations. The last time we were there Toy Story Land was new, so missing out on even seeing Galaxy’s Edge was going to be a huge bummer (esp since 4 of 5 of us are huge Star Wars nerds). This news and the fact that (just this morning!) we were able to score a previously booked solid ADR for the Seasonal Dine at Hollywood & Vine is a game changer for us. Tom, we’ll definitely be looking out for your posts on how this change turns out and any new strategies as a result. Thanks for being our Go To when were planning our Disney trips!
Could they tweak the system to only allow people using Disney Resort Guests internet to access the process at 7A instead of anyone at all? That could give resort guests a bit of a perk for staying onsite.
I don’t know about validating via WiFi network, but they could certainly make this a perk for on-site guests only. Even as an Annual Passholder, I would be 100% on board if that approach were adopted.
Then have the 2 pm drop be for everyone.
I like the split with the 7-resort/ 2-APH. I am just imagining the family from out of town who flies in and has one shot trying to compete with ALL of the local APH every single morning who could just try every morning from their home and if they get it head to the park at 10.
Dumb,
what about the people who live in the area that pay thousands of dollars a year for annual passes?
Only allowing Disney Resort guests with the Disney internet to access at 7 AM would not work. We are military retired and love staying on-site at Shades of Green We’ve stayed there the last 10 years for Thanksgiving. They have their own internet system which doesn’t “talk” directly to the Disney internet system. We would be locked out.
FYI: To anyone staying at SOG I’ve learned through experience not to change anything on your reservation close to the 60 ADR mark. Since the systems aren’t fully integrated, change freezes the account for about 3 days. I added one person to our room at the 60 mark and was locked out from the “plus 10 day” ability for the first several days. I was able to reserve everything I wanted but it was one day at a time.
Thank you Tom for this site and the work you do.
Linda