Virtual Queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Tips & Info
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is using the virtual queue system, unlike other Walt Disney World attractions that use FastPass and/or standby lines. Here, we’ll offer info, tips, screenshots, strategy, and everything you need to know about the My Disney Experience app boarding group system that Hollywood Studios is using.
If you have any questions, please consult our regularly-updated Ride Guide & FAQ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. That includes answers to 40+ questions that were frequently being asked by readers in the comments to this post and others about Walt Disney World’s new flagship attraction.
You might recall that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge used this same virtual queue on the day that it opened to the general public at Walt Disney World…but never again. It could be a similar scenario with Rise of the Resistance only using this for opening weekend, in which case everything that follows is moot and irrelevant. However, that seems unlikely for a number of reasons…
First, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is the flagship attraction of Galaxy’s Edge, and it’s opening to rave reviews (including ours). Even in the off-season, it has remained very popular with high demand. “Competition” to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will remain intense for a long time.
Second, the physical standby line at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is not that long. It’s certainly not as long as the queue at Avatar Flight of Passage, and I don’t even think it’s as long as Smugglers Run’s line. Even if temporary switchbacks were added outside the entrance (a potential logistical nightmare given the attraction’s location near the land’s entrance), there may not be enough of a physical line to contain everyone who wants to be in line.
This wouldn’t be a problem with FastPass+, as Walt Disney World can manipulate the ratio of FastPass (the other form of virtual queue) to standby guests to bump up the posted wait time. Higher posted wait times then act as a means of discouraging more guests from entering the standby queue, thus meaning fewer guests in that line. However, there’s no FastPass+ for Rise of the Resistance, and it’s likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Third, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is currently not particularly reliable and there have already been issues with uptime. It typically breaks down multiple times per day, usually going down for about 25-70 minutes at a time.
Unlike Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run, which has had a great uptime record, things will be a bit more touch and go with Rise of the Resistance. As such, using a virtual queue to act as a ‘faucet’ on the stream of guests–with Disney controlling the flow and having the ability to turn off completely–into the physical line makes a lot of sense.
When Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance breaks down, this prevents Disney from having to dump an entire queue full of people and having disgruntled guests who waited two hours or longer for nothing. Instead, it means flushing a significantly smaller number of guests who can be given paper readmission vouchers.
It also minimizes the impact and “reach” of downtime issues. By confining the impact of a ride breakdown to the smaller number of people in a few boarding groups, it’s less likely to make waves on social media. Other guests and boarding groups in the virtual queue who didn’t already scan in to the attraction will likely never even know the ride went down.
Finally, per the Tampa Bay Times, Walt Disney World representatives have indicated that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is expected to allow reservations via Virtual Queue through the next few weeks; it will then accept FastPasses and have a standby line.
Of course, “expected to” is the operative language here. We have enough experience covering Disney to know those wiggle words when we see them. Expectations change, and it thus shouldn’t be surprising to see the Virtual Queue used for more or less time than the next few weeks.
That’s the ‘case’ for my belief that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will use the virtual queue at least until at least March 2020. In the interest of full disclosure, prior to the opening of Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland opening, I also predicted the park would “deplete its daily supply of boarding passes by 10 am” every day for the entire summer. In actuality, the land used the virtual queue once for like two hours…
To use the virtual boarding pass for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, download the My Disney Experience app before arriving at Walt Disney World and be sure you’re updated to the most current version. Functionality for the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance virtual queue and boarding pass system was actually added to the app code this summer, so if you’ve updated in the last few months, you’re good. (If you don’t have a smart phone, see the Guest Experience Team at the front of DHS, and they can assign you to a boarding group.)
Joining a virtual queue boarding group is as simple as launching the My Disney Experience app and clicking the “Find Out More” button under “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – Access by Boarding Group” window on the home screen.
From there, this will show you the status of the land (it’s always open now) and provides options to check “My Status” or “Join Boarding Group.”
If you haven’t already joined one, “Join Boarding Group” is the button you want. From here, you select party members and click confirm. This process works like selecting people for making a FastPass+, and you can only add people if they’re in the park.
After that, when you click on “My Status,” you’ll see this screen. Those green bars do progress, but it’s still pretty much meaningless until you’re actually called.
(Note that this screenshot was taken immediately after we entered the virtual queue–we were inside the park at 6:06 am on a morning that Disney’s Hollywood Studios officially opened at 8 am.)
We highly recommend enabling push notifications on your mobile device for the My Disney Experience app so you will be notified when it is time to enter the queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
When it was our time to enter today, we received notifications on our Apple Watches and phones.
If you don’t enable notifications, you’ll need to incessantly refresh or check the “My Status” screen in the My Disney Experience app or digital signage in the park to see when you’re up.
Once your virtual queue boarding group is called, you’ll have up to two hours to enter the physical line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
To enter, you simply walk up to the Rise of the Resistance entrance, which is just inside the land itself.
There, you’ll find a sea of Cast Members with iPads will scan your MagicBand or linked park ticket. Neither of our MagicBands worked, as we had to scan our physical APs. (YMMV.)
I’m not exactly happy that Disney plowed forward opening an attraction that seems like it could use more test & adjust time, but that was the risk taken when the opening date was set way back over the summer.
I’m also not a fan of Walt Disney World not offering Extra Magic Hours at Rise of the Resistance. One way or another, big-spending resort guests should have an advantage with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and that’s not currently the case.
However, I’m a huge fan of the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. It’s really a case of Walt Disney World Operations ‘making lemonade out of lemons.’ Setting aside all of the above issues, this eliminates further potential guest frustrations and minimizes guest headaches. For the most part, tourists can go about their day as normal at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, rather than this new attraction eating up their entire day.
Additionally, as someone who is both an early-riser and a huge fan of same-day FastPass (rather than booking 1-2 months in advance), this system is ideal for me–I hope it continues indefinitely. Basically, it’s like a digital return to legacy FastPass, except with a 2-hour return window instead of a 1-hour window.
It’s also great in that I now don’t have to totally overhaul our 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary. The only new step is “join a boarding group immediately upon entering DHS.” Then, instead of waiting two, three, or seven hours for a ride that may go down several times while you’re there, you can simply go about your touring plan as normal and return to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance mid-morning or so.
Some added strategy and answers to FAQ:
- Get to Disney’s Hollywood Studios well before posted park opening. It’s likely the park will continue to open at 7 am until at least March 2020, regardless of current official park hours.
- Until further notice, the optimal time to arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is ~6:30 am.
- If you’re in an early boarding group and are called back while wait times around the park are low, take your time returning. Do Slinky Dog Dash and other headliners while lines are shorter.
- If you arrive late (in other words, any time after 8 am), consider park hopping to Epcot while awaiting your evening return time. This virtual queue will inflate wait times around DHS, as now the line for every other attraction is effectively a “waiting room” for Rise of the Resistance.
- Boarding groups are called without specific intervals. This is especially true later in the day, and after the ride has broken down. Don’t simply linger around the attraction entrance for hours, thinking you’re almost there. (I say this speaking from experience!)
- Once you’re in line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the wait time should be minimal. Even if the physical line is totally full and backed up to the ride entrance, the wait time shouldn’t exceed 30 minutes (unless something breaks down).
That should answer every question about the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Walt Disney World. It’s a painless process, and intuitive once you’re inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so don’t fret or stress out if you’re still confused. Unlike a lot of Walt Disney World IT, this actually works really well.
Just be advised that the Virtual Queue is distributing all slots very early. On most days, primary boarding groups are gone within minutes and backup groups are fully distributed within the first hour or two that Disney’s Hollywood Studios is open. This is why we currently recommend arriving by 6:30 am. Walt Disney World transportation should be running by then, but you might just be better off taking a Lyft or Uber if you’re visiting during the next few weeks.
We’d also advise you not to worry about the virtual queue too much if you’re visiting at some point beyond Summer 2020. As noted, there’s a lot of speculation and guesses here, and you should expect this to evolve and change in the weeks to come. It’s possible that Walt Disney World will continue using the Rise of the Resistance virtual queue for the next several months (or beyond), but it’s also likely that they’ll switch to FastPass+ at some point or make some other arbitrary change that renders everything I’ve typed here irrelevant. Either way, we’ll keep you posted!
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
Are you planning on visiting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge now that Rise of the Resistance is open? Do you agree or disagree with our preliminary strategy for using the virtual queue? Are you a fan of this system, or would you just prefer FastPass+ or a really long standby line? 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!
I realized this blog post is 3 years old now but I’m curious if the stress of getting is is still there. We’re going next week and I’m a little worried. We have 16 people coming with 6 children. Also, I bought a group ticket over the phone. Will my family be able to see the tickets?
Hello! We are going to Disney in May. We have a reservation at the Hollywood & Vine at 8:15am, and the posted hours (right now at least) say the park opens at 9. Will I be able to get into the queue if we are in the restaurant? I know everything could completely change by the time we get there.
We are heading to Hollywood Studios as a group of 8 (two families of 4) during March Break. Do you recommend that we all link together and all 8 of us try to get boarding passes? Or break it into two families?
I was also thinking half of us use wifi and half not for better chances? Thoughts?
It all sounds pretty stressful and we are only there the one day just for Star Wars.
I would recommend to link all 8 people and each of you should try to get a boarding pass.
As for the wifi, we went to Disney’s Hollywood Wednesday and I used the wifi with the My Disney Experience app and I was able to get us a boarding group #17!
The ride was awesome!
Will having a maximum of 3 fast passes impact the ability to join a virtual queue?
Not at all.
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work the two times you went.
It was our first visit to DHS, and the first attempt was successful.
I think it’s purely random and there is no way to be certain to get a boarding group. It’s like a lottery.
Two days at the park with both days being inside the park at or prior to opening time of 8 a.m. and haven’t gotten a boarding group pass and on the ride yet. NOT an easy simple process AT ALL! First day came through the ticket gate at 8 am. and had the app open and immediately tried but all boarding groups were full. Second day came 30 min. early and entered the park and had the app open waiting till 8 when the queue opened up and still got stand by boarding group 114 which they never got even close to for that day. There is no rhyme or reason as to how it works since hundreds were standing around attempting at the same time and some get early numbers while other late and others none. And it all happens withing the first minute or two of the park opening. It is VERY frustrating.
I agree! Worst system I’ve used. No guarantees a Disney ticket equals the rides you want. So what’s the point?
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work the two times you went.
It was our first visit to DHS, and the first attempt was successful.
I think it’s purely random and there is no way to be certain to get a boarding group. It’s like a lottery.
Going to Hollywood Studios FL tomorrow. My question is my wife and I have been sharing one my Disney experience account on two phones.
1). Can we both check the VQ using the same account at the same time?
2). If I have her setup her own account the Magic bands won’t be linked to her account so how can she get the boarding number?
We use one account on two phones and just race to see who can get it to load first on their phone. Wouldn’t make a second account.
Thanks, Sarah. Fingers crossed!
We went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios this morning (Feb.26, 2020) and had the chance to ride Rise of the Resistance.
There is NO need to arrive that early. Just make sure you are inside the park (once you scan your card) before 8am. We were at the security point check at 7:33. At 7:45 we were sitting in the park, getting our phone and app ready. At 8am I opened the app, click “join boarding group”, select my party and VOILÀ.
We were in boarding group 17! I was so excited. We came from Canada so it was our only shot.
Our group was called at 9:20 and we immediately headed to the ride. No queue.
It was great and I’m glad we did it!
Hi, me and my family have tickets to Disneyland only, NOT the hopper ticker for the Disney California Experience also. Can we still show up at the Disney Hollywood Studios (which is on the California Experience side) area early to scan our tickets So that we can join the virtual queue.
Thanks!
I think you might be confused. Hollywood studios is in Orlando, FL, Disneyland is in Anaheim, California. If you have tickets for Disneyland in California then you will need everyone in your party to enter Disneyland before opening and join the virtual queue at park opening time.
Hi! So everyone but one of our group has an iPhone. Is that enough for us to go to Guest Experiences?
Once I’m in the queue, can I leave the park and still hold my spot?
Yes
Tom, you mentioned the park officially opened at 8:00 a.m. when you went, but you were allowed to join the virtual queue at 6:06 a.m. Is this still the case–that you can arrive early and join the queue before the park officially opens? Or does the virtual queue open when the park officially opens, regardless of when they let people in?
Also, you mentioned Hollywood Studios has been opening at 7:00 a.m. recently. Does Disney publish this earlier time, or if you show up at 7:00 a.m., the park and rides are open even though the calendar said 8:00 a.m.? Thanks for your help!
Was just there yesterday. Park officially opened at 8:00 and that is when you can join the virtual queue. They allow people into a small area of the park at 7:30. Correct park hours are on the My Disney Experience app.
Shirley, were you able to get on ROR yesterday? Some posts below got there early and still couldnt get in the virtual queue. Thanks
Mark. We got boarding group 81 and were on the ride around 4:00 pm. It was a good day with few ride stoppages apparently. ROR boarded groups up into the 100’s both days this weekend.
Do you need to be in the park or the parking lot to access the virtual queue?
Everyone who wants to board the ride has to be in the park.
You need to scan your card or magic band in order to join the virtual queue.
Quick question on ROR. We are 3 families visiting the parks together. I got all of our FP together. I have 11 people connected to me, will this hinder my chances of joining a boarding group, should I get each family (smaller number) to try and join their own boarding groups? TIA
Just had the experience. Got there at 6:15. They didn’t open the doors until 7. Then crowds went in. We weren’t allowed to do the virtual cheque until 8. It was a lottery. Woke up so early, and got a backup group time. Everyone in the park is clicking at the same time. What a disappointment. Waking up early for a lottery….
Same experience as you today. Then the ride broke down and we didn’t get to ride at all. Pretty disappointing
Do you have to be in the park in order to use the Ap to get into a group? We’ll be there on 4/8, which is Spring Break, and I’m certain it will be insane! I’ve been told that DHS does not open until 9 am that day by reservations. I’m trying to gage/plan best recommended outcome. If the Ap comes alive at 7, and you can be outside the park, I’ll be at the ready! What I wasn’t understanding is if you have to have entered the park in order to even join the virtual queuing? And if that is the case, is the park just opening earlier than published on the regular? I really cannot fail on this!
Everyone wanting to go on the ride MUST be in the park before trying to obtain a boarding group.
You may (and should) enter the park about an hour before posted opening time but the virtual queue will not open until the posted opening time. At the beginning they were doing some surprise openings but things have settled down and they are strictly opening the queue at posted opening time. That said, you should recheck the opening time frequently as your trip approaches because they frequently adjust the hours earlier if they see a demand.(usually within a week before) I would not be surprised if they change the opening to earlier but may not do so until end of March. Everybody in your party must be scanned into the park to enter the queue.
In my disney app, I could create fast passes for me and my wife and three kids, and not all of them had phones. It seems like that was enough “linkage” to allow me to create the boarding pass.
Regarding physically being “there” it really isn’t tracking location; but the app can tell if your party’s tickets have been scanned. that’s how they know if you are in the park or not. That’s why it is important to get in before 7:00am
may the force be with you
If I have 5 in my party and they are all linked to my Disney app, can I get a boarding pass for all of them like I did for fast pass? If the children do not have phones, do they need to be physically there? I read somewhere that all had to be there, but I thought maybe in this blog that you said that if we were linked together as one party that one person going could work?
In my disney app, I could create fast passes for me and my wife and three kids, and not all of them had phones. It seems like that was enough “linkage” to allow me to create the boarding pass.
Regarding physically being “there” it really isn’t tracking location; but the app can tell if your party’s tickets have been scanned. that’s how they know if you are in the park or not. That’s why it is important to get in before 7:00am
may the force be with you
We flew down there Thursday Jan 23 to go to Hollywood Studios on the 24th, basically for the sole purpose of riding Rise of the Resistance. Cheap tickets from Atlanta ($60 round trip).
So the stakes were high and we really needed to pull it off. This thread was helpful.
What you need to do ahead of time: Get your party (we had five) set up on one or more devices. I had my Google Fi pixel 3 plus an ipad with data. Both had the disney app and our group was set up. If you aren’t grouped your “party” will just be you.
How early do you need to be there? As many others have said, early enough to be inside the park (i.e, ticket or magic band was scanned) and able to stand by on your device BEFORE 7:00am.
Whoever is inside standing by at the stroke of 7 will almost certainly succeed. Those coming a minute or two later may not.
So you DON’T need to show up at 600 like we did. We had to play it safe and we stood in a huge well mannered group of people (couple thousand?) that all got in the park by 6:40, probably. You probably could show up at 630 and be fine because you would be in the park by 6:50. But again, it depends on how much you leave things to chance.
So once you are in the park, you just need to open the Disney app, click on the “Find Out More” button on the Rise of the Resistance banner, then click “My Status”. Here is where you will live until 7:00am. The button to join a boarding group is grayed out and will suddenly become clickable at 7:00am. BUT you need to keep refreshing; you can either go back and forth to the previous page, or what I discovered was a long pull on this page would refresh it. I just pulled down and let go again and again and again and again…..
At about 6:59:35 the button became clickable and I hurriedly clicked it, selected the other four members of my family, and hit confirm, and we were in boarding group number 39, which ended up being eligible at around 10:00am. Others who waited maybe a minute more ended up in boarding group 112. (which was around 5pm).
LASTLY one trick MIGHT be not to use the park wifi. Just use your phone’s data plan; turn off the wifi because if it is clogged it might slow you down. In the end, my boarding party reservation was done through my data ipad.
Lots of stress! Psychologically we were preparing ourselves to blow it because it was all new to us, but in the end we got in. And of course, the ride was really really groundbreaking and amazing.
It is really the only place where Disney cast members are allowed to be rude to you; because they are just playing the part of the First Order.
Hope this helps y’all and greetings from Atlanta
If I have 5 in my party and they are all linked to my Disney app, can I get a boarding pass for all of them like I did for fast pass? If the children do not have phones, do they need to be physically there? I read somewhere that all had to be there, but I thought maybe in this blog that you said that if we were linked together as one party that one person going could work?
You say to be in the park before 7 am. However the day that I am going, the park doesn’t open till 8. Was this an extra magic hour day? Or does the park usually open early? This is my first time at Disney. Thanks!
Dusty, sorry I didn’t see this until now. The park opens its doors early so you can get inside, but none of the attractions are working until the official “opening time”
In your case if the park opens at 8 you should get there around 7ish so you can be IN the park when they open up the app for reserving boarding groups.