Big Change for Star Wars: Rise of Resistance
We’re back with yet another park opening protocol change at Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. This comes as Christmas crowds descend upon Walt Disney World and word of mouth together have meant more guests arriving prior to official park opening.
Official communications about operations for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have been sparse and Disney has been largely silent about its procedures for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance–but we actually have an official announcement on this one from the Parks Blog.
With that said, there’s still reason to believe that what happened today and what Disney has now officially announced could change again in the near future. Either way, we know a ton of you are in the midst of trips and want to be apprised of all relevant info so you can make a semi-informed decision about how to approach Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance…
Beginning this morning (December 18, 2019), the Virtual Queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was not accessible in the My Disney Experience app until official park opening at 7 am. This was despite the turnstiles opening at around 6:30 am, which has been more or less consistent with recent mornings.
This was clearly a planned and coordinated approach, as there were prerecorded in park announcements, and Cast Members were similarly relaying this information to guests as they entered. We were not in Disney’s Hollywood Studios this morning, but huge thanks to reader Tom K, who emailed us a detailed account of his experience.
Here’s what he had to say, in part, about waiting to enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios: “I arrived at HS about 5:15 AM. There were approximately 3,000 people there ahead of me. The lines at bag check were minimal. My spot was about 30 feet in front of the ticket booth — the crowd started at the tap styles. Several said that folks arrived before 4 AM to get there. By the time the tap styles opened, I estimate I was in the middle of the pack.”
Tom ended up seeking shelter from the storm in Starbucks, waiting until official park opening to claim a virtual queue spot. His My Disney Experience app froze at 7:01 am as he was attempting to join boarding group 22. When the My Disney Experience app relaunched, he was able to join boarding group 50. (Ouch.)
Right off the bat, this anecdote illustrates a couple winners and losers of the new (or temporary) approach. The first is that boarding groups are more like a hybrid lottery and first-come, first-served system–at least for the rope drop crowd.
If this continues, there’s literally no advantage to arriving super early. Everyone arriving between 3 am and 6:45 am or so–assuming it takes 10-15 minutes to get through the turnstiles–will have an equal shot at the lowest number boarding groups.
Whether this is a good or bad change is a matter of perspective on which approach is most equitable. We will let you draw your own conclusions here as you undoubtedly already have an opinion one way or the other. Our only quibble, as always, is that Walt Disney World is not communicating its new policies for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in advance, via official channels. However, that’s par for the course and there’s zero reason to expect a change there.
The second takeaway from that anecdote is that the My Disney Experience app is…not great. It’s no secret that Walt Disney World’s IT infrastructure often buckles under high demand, and having a few thousand people trying to simultaneously score boarding passes for the Rise of Resistance virtual queue certainly qualifies.
This means someone arriving at 4 am could end up with a higher number boarding group than someone arriving at 7:01 am just by virtue of one losing at MDX roulette. This will definitely be frustrating, and one unequivocal upside of the unofficial early opening is that it staggered demand and load on the virtual queue.
Per Tom K, boarding passes were still available as of 8:20, but gone before 9 am. It’s worth noting that Walt Disney World started indicating that guests above boarding group 121 were essentially overflow earlier this week, so there’s no guarantee those ~8:20 am boarding groups will get to ride.
The likely reason that Walt Disney World is adopting this strategy is for the deterrent effect on future pre-park opening arrivals. Normally, when a new attraction debuts at Walt Disney World, diehard fans show up at ridiculous hours on opening day–maybe opening weekend–and then rope drop crowds start skewing closer to official park opening.
Here, the first part of that happened and crowds got better for a few days before getting much worse. Christmas approaching is one reason for that, but the better explanation is word of mouth. As information has circulated from unofficial sources–together with nearly unanimous glowing reviews for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance–more guests are aware of what must be done if they want a chance to ride Walt Disney World’s new E-Ticket.
With the busy holiday weeks approaching, this had the potential of spiraling out of control. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is a smash hit and guests are arriving earlier and earlier. The days we’ve visited this week have been bonkers, and these growing crowds outside the gates force DHS to open even earlier to accommodate them. This new policy going forward should reverse that trend, discouraging most people from arriving before 6:30 am.
In addition to this, no attractions will be open to guests prior to 7 am. Guests will be allowed onto Hollywood Boulevard and into the Trolley Car Café Starbucks and gift shops, but will then held prior to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. This thus doubly disadvantages the earliest guests to arrive. If this new policy sticks, there is really no reason to arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios before the published opening time.
As you’ve probably gathered from our previous posts, we’ve been fans of an approach that balances sleep and sanity with being up early to beat the crowds. As such, we’ve been suggesting getting to DHS between 6:30 and 7 am. Late enough to miss being stuck in a sea of humanity waiting for the gates to open, but still early enough to score a boarding pass and beat the crowds throughout DHS.
If we were doing Disney’s Hollywood Studios tomorrow (we aren’t!), we’d hedge our bets a bit and modify that to an 6:45 am arrival. Still enough time to be through the turnstiles at 7 am (or close enough to it), and with minimal time wasted. (This also makes our Skyliner ‘Rise (of the Resistance) & Shine’ Strategy a bit more viable.) Personally, I’d be inclined to arrive slightly later, as refreshing the My Disney Experience app and becoming frustrated if/when it crashes doesn’t sound like a good way of starting the day off on the right foot.
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
Have you rope dropped Disney’s Hollywood Studios recently? What has been your experience with crowds? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment and strategy? 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!
My family n I arrived HS at 6am for 7am opening 12/24/19 , at 7am when attempting to join a boarding group, the phone said failure n had to try again, got assigned to group 79, sure many people behind us got early times just because their phones didn’t freeze. We were able to complete the ride by 3pm n I think it went as far as 180 for the boarding groups. Seems ridiculous n unfair when arriving at 6am , you then have to depend on your own phone to get u a boarding pass. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t!
My family n I arrived HS at 6am for 7am opening 12/24/19 , at 7am when attempting to join a boarding group, the phone said failure n had to try again, got assigned to group 79, sure many people behind us got early times just because their phones didn’t freeze. We were able to complete the ride by 3pm n I think it went as far as 180 for the boarding groups. Seems ridiculous n unfair when arriving at 6am , you then have to depend on your own phone to get u a boarding pass. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t!
We went yesterday 12/23. Arrived at 6:15 in the pouring rain, made it through turnstiles right before 7, got on the app right at 7:01, we were able to join boarding group 18! We were on the ride by 7:40am!!!
We will be there on New Years Eve! This has been priceless information, and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it! First time going to Disney, and the app shows opening time 6:00 am. Will we just take the first bus of the morning to Hollywood Studios and then jump on the app as soon as we are scanned in? We already have our fast passes and lunch reservations in Hollywood Studios that day, but I’m so hopeful we are able to get on this ride as well! I’m sure with it being New Year’s Eve it will be a challenge. Any other recommendations?
Our family rode a couple of days ago. Looking at the boarding groups some days they will get to low 100’s. Other days high 100’s. I’m assuming due to the reliability of the ride that day.
On the morning we arrived–right around 0700—we made it into the park past the turnstiles just past 0725. We were able to get into the boarding group pretty quickly and were in group 83. We got called around 1430 so we came back to the park around then–by 1330.
The ride is AMAZING!!
Worth getting up for. We took advantage of our early rising and went to Epcot for the Magic Hours. It was a win win for us!
I’ve waited this long, I can wait wait a few more years. This is what makes a trip in my opinion not fun. There is so much to see and do at wdw, I will enjoy the Other parks and not for it my family through the insanity
Our family rode two days in a row 12/17 and 12/18, got to park about 6:30-6:45 and was through ‘styles, in DHS and had boarding groups by around 7:15 with a main insights.
If you are in line past the ticket windows, the line to the far right along the wall sometimes moves faster because if all the ‘styles are operating there are more available on that side.
Go to start of Hollywood Boulevard to join a group as WiFi (and physical space) get overcrowded just past the ‘styles). There are also Cast Members there able to help you with joining a boarding party.
Second day when tried to join a boarding group via MDE app, it wouldn’t allow my hubby to be in boarding group.
DON’T WAIT when MDE app has a glitch, talk to a Cast Member. With the CM’s help, I used MDE for the rest of our group and she manually scanned my hubby’s bracelet and we got the same parking party.
Another advantage with boarding parties and 2 hour windows is that most separated parties will be able to ride together if their group numbers are within 10 digits of each other.
Can I go to the park in the morning and get a boarding pass for my whole family or do they all need to be in the park when I sign in to get the boarding pass?
Everyone in boarding group needs to physically enter the park.
After reading everyone’s experiences I’ve come away with 2 enlightenments, if you will. The first being that this attraction must be pretty awesome. The second being, I am going to wait a very long time before planning a trip and making it a priority to actually ride the attraction. How nice it would’ve been to have ride by Fast Pass Only for Rise of the Resistance. (Which is a form of a virtual queue.) They could be begin by issuing a certain number, then releasing more throughout the day if needed. Much easier to access, no need for opening early or thousands lining up hours before the park opens. Dining services at upscale eateries around the globe have a eat by reservation only system for busy times or all the time at some. Reservations without having to be on property to book would solve so many crowding problems. The boarding system seems to be the way of treating people like cattle, imho.
Got to the park this morning (12/21) at 6:15. Disney started letting people into Hollywood Studios at 6:30, we were in about the middle of the large group of people waiting and scanned in by 6:45. They virtual queue system opened promptly at 7am. It seems like this is the system they are going to use for a while according to cast member.
Update: as of 8:40 the ride hasn’t opened yet.
We went last week 12/9. EEMH were not announced. I spoke to our concierge @ 1030pm the night before, & he said they had “just got word that buses start @ 5, park opens @ 6am”. We got up @ 415 & took the first bus @ 5am to the park. We got through security & turnstiles easily enough & made it up to Starbucks, where we were held back by rope drop till 6am. We attempted to join the virtual queue many times though we were told it would not be available till EMH @ 8am. We repeatedly attempted & were able to join a queue @ 721am! We were in group 33 & did not get a text till 115pm for our group’s boarding. You have 2 hrs to appear for your group. Since we were in line for our Everest FP, we finished that out first & it was actually almost 230 till we got there. The ride purports it is 15+ minutes for the ride but it sure goes fast! While I am a longtime SW fan (I saw the original SW 13x in the theatre in ’77, & was @ MFSR in DL in July), I think I am the only person in the world who was disappointed with the ride. It felt like a massive combination of a lot of other Disney rides though done well. It’s creative & fun, & just a great ride, I’m just not sure I’d ever go through “all that” again. Worth doing once, probably not again.
We went last week 12/9. EEMH were not announced. I spoke to our concierge @ 1030pm the night before, & he said they had “just got word that buses start @ 5, park opens @ 6am”. We got up @ 415 & took the first bus @ 5am to the park. We got through security & turnstiles easily enough & made it up to Starbucks, where we were held back by rope drop till 6am. We attempted to join the virtual queue many times though we were told it would not be available till EMH @ 8am. We repeatedly attempted & were able to join a queue @ 721am! We were in group 39 & did not get a text till 115pm for our group. You have 2 hrs to appear for your group. Since we were in line for our Everest FP, we finished that out first & it was actually almost 230 till we got there. The ride purports it is 15+ minutes for the ride but it sure goes fast! While I am a longtime SW fan (I saw the original SW 13x in the theatre in ’77 & was @ MFSR in DL in July), I think I am the only person in the world who was disappointed with the ride. It felt like a massive combination of a lot of other Disney rides but done well. It’s creative & fun, & just a great ride, I’m just not sure I’d ever go through “all that” again. Worth doing once, probably not again.
PS We were also told that you can only join one boarding group all day, so it was not possible to do the ride again. Believe me, we tried. :/
We’ve been twice this week and the initial crowd takes a while to get through the turnstiles. Some of our group got shuffled because of the ticket booths forcing the crowd to the left or right so while we were in group 49, they were in 76 even though they started out right behind us in the massive (and aggressive) crowd of people there between 6:15 and 6:30. Even arriving early, we weren’t through the turnstiles until after 7am.
We were there last week on rode it twice! Aside from a rainy Christmas party (Thursday), a rainy day at DHS (Friday), and an insane crowd level at MK (Saturday night), it was a fantastic week.
Our experience: We got there early Wednesday 12/11 (6:30), joined the queue once in, and then Lyft’ed over to AK – group 55. Friday (12/13) got there at the same time, went in around the same time, stayed at DHS, and got group 20.
Loved the ride and we thought it was worth the effort. I’m 51, my wife is 50, oldest daughter is 17, youngest daughter is 12. The 12 yr old is NOT a Star Wars fan, but thought the ‘experience was awesome.
Group 55 put you on the ride at what time of day?
I guess that makes sense. I hope I’m able to make it on! (Unrelated: I’m super excited that Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be open when we go!)
When trying to access the virtual queue for a boarding pass through the My Disney Experience app, how did everyone connect to the app? Through Disney Wifi, or your cell provider? Has anyone noticed a performance / advantage regarding accessing the virtual queue of one over the other?
Thanks!
It didnt matter. I was on LTE, wife was on Disney wifi, and we were both able to get in “line”.
Thanks for all of your help! My family rode the ride this morning 12/20 and all agreed that it was worth getting up for. You do have to get there early because there’s a big crowd of people and you will need to be early to get through to scan your magic bands no matter when they open the gate. We arrived before 6:15 and didn’t get through until just after 7:00. We were group 63 and rode around 11:30.
thank you!
We will be traveling with family on different tickets…will linking our family accounts to try to get boarding passes all together? I’m guessing that this roulette system could mean even if we arrive together, we could still be given very different times? We are already able to make their fastpass selections bc we are linked, so will this work the same way? I know we all have to be IN the park, just trying to figure out this piece. Thanks
If you are linked and all scanned in the park at the same time, one person will be able to select everyone in your group to get in the same boarding group.
Like Ann Marie said, when you’re boarding group is called, you select your “riders” from the people you have linked on the app. So make sure you all have the app on your phones (same login), and that all the info for the people in your party is correct. If you can book FastPasses for everyone in your group, you’ll be able to do the same when confirming your boarding party.
We are going in April, I’m hoping they have a better system in place by the time we go there! Wouldn’t it be easier just to add these to the FP+ system? I really don’t get the whole point of the boarding groups, and it seems like it’s just a hot mess right now.
“Wouldn’t it be easier just to add these to the FP+ system?”
One of the big problems is that the attraction is still unreliable, and with overnight testing and adjusting, should (at least in theory) be improving in reliability each day.
Accordingly, it’s hard to predict weeks or even days in advance how many FastPass+ to distribute for it. The same-day boarding pass system is more nimble and dynamic.
By now, they should have enough data to know what to expect. The fact that a ride breaks down is nothing new and the lack of a backup plan from operations is nothing new as well. Releasing fast passes in waves is a solution to the ” how many to release question”, imho. Now that the blackout dates for many passholders has begun, the FP system should be easier to implement. In other words, they should let their resort guests have fast pass options and “execute order 616”. (The 6th letter in the alphabet is F and the 16th is P = FP)