We were up with the birds this morning to grab a coveted boarding group to ride Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios today.
Rise of the Resistance Standby Line
But even though we were up before the Bright Suns, we still had to wait an hour and a half to ride the popular attraction!
Folks have been flocking to Hollywood Studios in recent weeks to ride Rise of the Resistance since it opened last month, often lining up at the park hours before it officially opens to reserve a spot in the virtual queue via the My Disney Experience app.
Rise of the Resistance Standby Line
And even though you can only reserve a boarding group once Hollywood Studios is open for the day and you step inside the park, you still gotta get here really early before all the boarding groups are given out. Typically, guests can expect a small bit of line time, especially if things are running smoothly. But this evening, we were thwarted by a sea of people still waiting to ride the attraction even after their boarding groups were called! The line stretched all the way beyond the entrance to Galaxy’s Edge!
Rise of the Resistance Standby Line
Isn’t a 90-minute wait time on top of getting up hours before what is humanly natural too big of an ask? Don’t get us wrong — we think very highly Rise of the Resistance, but even this seemed like a bit much for us die-hard Disney fans.
Rise of the Resistance Standby Line
While we don’t know what caused the substantial backup, we’re hoping that things will be running more smoothly soon. If you’re hoping to ride Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios or in Disneyland when it opens there this Friday, keep in mind doing so will take a lot of careful planning and a considerable devotion of your time!
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Have you been on Rise of the Resistance yet? Do you think it’s worth all the effort and time spent to ride it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Out of curiosity, what boarding group number were you? While you get there early to get into park, unlike first week you can’t get a head start prior to official opening.
If you were there 1/12, the ride was shut down for an hour or two. Which is why there was a huge backup. Prior to the shut down, we walked right in/on without any wait! Just wanted to share my experience.
I’m hoping they figure out a better process soon. We were at the park for 15 hours waiting for our “guaranteed” boarding group to get called, and the ride broke down 5 times before they cut the boarding groups at 94 the day we were there. Disney was very accommodating since we never got to ride, and gave us a park ticket to come back. However, we won’t be riding again unless things calm down, or they come up with a better system.
We were in group 160 out of 172. We made it into the park a little after 7am having only arrived around 6:45am. We probably waited at tops 40 minutes before getting onto the ride. It is worth though, folks. The ride is stunning, shorter then all the effort to get on it, but just awesome.
About what time do you need to arrive to get a boarding group? I’m planning on going Saturday and I was going to arrive at park opening. Do you need to get there earlier to be able to get in the park quickly enough to get a boarding group?
What is a typical wait time once your boarding group is called? And how does the child swap system work for Rise of the Resistance? Do we really need to wait in the stand by line twice?
We were a an oddity I think, we got there at like 9am and were in backup group 136 on Saturday and got to ride, I think they got out to boarding group 155 that day. Once it got called we had to wait 90 minutes to ride I think it broke down twice while we were in line and missed most of our Star Wars dessert party we had booked. It was such an amazing ride though! My son was so thrilled to ride this ride and was in awe the entire time!
We rode this last Thursday (Jan 9th) We had boarding group 42. We waited about 20 min in line.
Hi, I am going to WDW in June, what do you think the situation with Rise will be by then? Do you think a normal standby line will be open by then or do you think the virtual queue will still be in operation?
We were up early and at HS by 6 to secure our boarding pass on January 10. We got 23. We waited about a half hour once we were called and in the standby line. It was a great ride, but not sure it was worth all of the extra effort to do it. The best part of the day was all of the other stuff we got to do because we were up and moving so early.
Standing in line is not, never has been, never will be, my thing. I drive from NC to Florida so I don’t have to stand innline at the airport. I don’t bring in a bag, so I don’t have to go through bag check at Disney World. I tolerate a small Fastpass+ back up line, but I am fine not to experience a ride or land if there are too meny people. I made one exception to this rule during Extra Extra Magic hours for Flight of Passage, but that was at night, so there was no hot burning orb beating down on me. I have been evey year since Pandora opened and have been able to get a Fastpass every trip for it. Even got one for seven Dwarves Mine Train. Didn’t manage to get one for Slinky Dog last trip, and not even mad. There was a time when I couldn’t afford Disney at all, and before that, there was a time I had to wait until a movie came out on video so I could watch it. I am used to waiting until the hoopla goes down. There will be plenty of new rides to dostract the Disney maniacs “Theme Park ADHD”, and as those open up, they will dispurse the crowds. When I eventually ride Slinky Dog, Rise of the Resistance, or Smuggler’s Run, they may be old hat to you folks, but they will still be new to me.
I feel like the later boarding groups really take a gamble on the ride breaking down and the line being backed up like that. My husband and I got to the park yesterday just before it opened, and when 7 o’clock hit, he immediately went into the app for a boarding pass. We got 42. Our group was called at around 10:40 am and said we could show up as late as 12:45 so we finished enjoying our early lunch before getting in line. It wasn’t bad at all. I do think there must have been some kind of issue, or maybe just the sheer number of people involved in groups 9-31 because until our group got called, that’s all the app showed for the LONGEST time. But honestly, for a new land with two new insanely popular rides, it wasn’t crazy crowded in the morning like I would have expected. And when we were in line, it was constantly moving. I think we maybe waited 30-40 minutes to get on it, which made it well worth the struggle of getting out of bed so early, crowding together on the bus, and then waiting for our group to be called. But then, we did other things both inside and outside of Galaxy’s Edge to occupy our time. But I will say that when we came back to the park later that day for a 4:35 Slinkydog fastpass, the park seemed way more crowded.
Also, not sure what Courtney’s complaining about. The app clearly says that NO boarding pass is a guarantee you’re going to ride. Doesn’t matter if you’re 9 or whatever number they assign the backup groups.
we arrived at the park at 5:30 am. we were allowed inside the park at 6:30 and at exactly 7:01 the app allowed us to request a boarding group. we were group 139…. 12 hours later, we were lucky, and our boarding group was called.
we were not able to ride slinky dog. the line was over 2.5 hours with no fast passes available for the prior month. We did ride smugglers run as single riders. that worked well.
Consider yourself lucky. It broke down while we were on it. Then we were given a pass to come back later. They told us to keep an eye on the app and when the numbers started incrementing we could come back. So we hopped to another park until the numbers started going up. Came back to the ride only to discover that it had broken down again. So then we waited an hour in that line so that as soon as it was up we could jump on it.
Mathew, no way to know, but we’ll keep updating as info emerges.
Sylvia, the wait time for boarding groups is incredibly variable so it’s impossible to say for sure. As for child swap, you’ll talk to the cast members when you arrive for your boarding group. As far as we know, once the first round of your family members rides, the second group will go through the FastPass line (which isn’t operational as FastPass right now, of course).
Anastasia, it sounds like it’s still advisable to be ready to enter as soon as the park opens — probably getting in line a bit before that happens.
A brand new highly anticipated ride has a huge wait time? Unbelievable! Who could have possibly imagined such a thing.
90 minutes? Ha, our friends waited 3 and a half hours on 1/13. We were a back up boarding group, they called all groups that day. They should never have people wait more than 90 minutes in line with virtual boarding groups.
We are coming in Mid February. We have a party of 5. Can 1 person stand in line to get the group time or do we all need to be there? Thanks!
Rise of the Resistance is amazing!! My wife and I rode it twice last week. We arrived at the park around 6:45 and it took about 10 min to enter. At exactly 7am, the boarding groups open and we got lucky with boarding groups 10 and 16 on the days we rode.
With boarding group 10, we were called immediately and had zero wait time. With boarding group 16, we queued for maybe 10-15 min. It seems like we got extremely lucky. We did see long lines for the afternoon and evening.
Oof! Rush to get there early in the morning to reserve a spot and still wait an hour and a half for a ride which has been breaking down a lot? I don’t find that a good use of a very expensive day at the disney . I think we’ll be skipping this one.
We went Jan 4. Arrived early got our boarding pass group 137. We were notified our boarding time was 8:08 on. Our wait line started outside the que. It went pretty fast (about an hour or so) considering how long we had been in the park. Honestly I wasn’t overjoyed about the ride. I liked Smuggler’s Run much better.
I live in the UK and booked my Holiday to Orlando and Disney world over a year ago. Was expecting to get on ROTR when originally booked my Holiday. For myself this was / is a holiday of a lifetime however I am now not expecting to get on the ride and feel that the boarding situation is bring extra guests to the remaining rides has well. So looks like our first vist the Disney world will be our our last.
We were there Sunday (boarding group 147). When we got in line we were quoted a 90 minute wait. Once we scanned in (maybe a 5-10 minute wait) we asked to rider swap due to our toddler. They gave the first party a fastpass so they skipped the 90 minute boarding group wait then gave the second party a fast pass as well. Totally lucked out with the rider swap.
We arrived at 530 am and once 7 hit boarding groups were filled within 11 minutes.
My question would be how would those who can’t stand in long lines due to a disability even be able to ride? From what I have heard, the DAS card isn’t even being accepted for Rise of the Resistance yet.
I agree with Kevin..I have better things to do then waste all day on one ride..So much to do and if I have to wait years to ride it so b it..I’m not a stan that loves everything disney does But I do enjoy Disney..I will b waiting for a better sytem no fp I have no interest..
Hi there,
We are going to Hollywood Studios on Jan 27th and 29th. I see the park opens at 8am that week. Should we be there around 7:30 to be safe? We REALLY want to go on this ride
I wouldn’t wait that long for ANYTHING! It’s one thing to wait for something that you have a pretty good idea you’ll get on it but this looks to be a crapshoot. I’m kind of glad we’re going in December. Hopefully, the popularity would have died down a little bit by then or Disney will come up with a different system. Dare I say paid fast passes? That looks like the way Disney may be headed. I guess January is no longer a good time to visit as if there is a good time anymore.
We were there at park opening on Tuesday, January 14th. Received boarding group 111 and 114 was the cut off for guaranteed ride for that day. About 11 hours later our boarding group was finally called. The line was much past the ride line area at that point. Waited 2 very long hours and as we were about to enter the actual ride area it malfunctioned. At this point the park was closing and everyone was sent away. We were told our cancellation prize for waiting 2 hours for nothing would be a Rise of the Resistance fastpass, an extra fastpass for anything at Disney, and a 1 day park hopper ticket good till 2030. What we received was a Rise of the Resistance fastpass to return the next day and only the next day and a 1 day Hollywood Studios pass good for 2 years. I spoke to guest services and did get the extra fastpass added, but several rides are excluded from use. We had to rearrange our plans to return the next day. It was a great ride, but we were very disappointed in Disney not delivering what was promised, the 2 hour line after having to wait all day for boarding group, and that groups past the 114 cut off were called at the same time as our group and many others with “guaranteed” boarding groups. The boarding groups are not used smartly by staff. 30+ groups are called at once which results in hours in line vs. Calling a few groups at a time and keeping line short.
Katie, I would say yes. (I’m an early bird, so honestly, I’d be there earlier. But from what I’ve been reading/we’ve been seeing, a half hour is probably okay.) Also keep an eye on the park hours because Disney has been changing those with some regularity to adjust for crowds.
Bradley, it’s our understanding DAS is being accepted. From what we know, when guests get their boarding group, they go to the ride at that time and speak to a cast member at the entrance. That cast member will walk them through the process from there.
Lissa, you all need to scan in before you can be added to a boarding group.
We went on 1/13 and arrived at HS at 6:00. Entered park at 6:30. Waited til 7 to get boarding pass group 72. Slight breakdown early on but we got called at 1:30. Loved the ride/experience and thought it was worth the wait. Noticed they got to over 152 groups that day. Passes ran out around 8:20 am so unless it’s a busy weekend, you should be able to get a pass now that the initial surge is over.
My husband and I went to DHS on 1/15. We arrived via Lyft @ 6:45am, went to guest services to take care of other business & while in line their, I jumped on the app @ 7am and scored boarding passes in group 68. We were called to board the ride @ 1:15 pm. We really enjoyed the ride experience!
Left the hotel by car at 6:30. Went thru parking with annual pass. Used handicapped parking. Passholder entrance got family of five thru turnstiles at exactly when the announcement says Rise of the Resistance virtual queue opened. At 7am got #79. At 3:45 they called our group. Got in DAS line at 4. It is 4:43 and we haven’t moved. Lots of people in fast pass / DAS lane because ride had broken down. Lady behind us said this is her third time and she hasn’t made it thru yet. It keeps breaking down. After 25 min of being in a 3’ wide dark hall, guy came thru with free water. Guy behind him had cookies. Chips. Bananas. (What do you do with the peel I wonder?) It has been 45 min now and we know nothing. They do not have announcements like regular rides saying it has broken down. We know nothing. Dark. Three people have disabilities inc one with claustrophobia. I don’t know how long we can wait. I have no idea how long the breakdown will last. I was told if we leave the line we won’t be allowed back in. Perhaps you have to wait until it is officially closed? 48 min and counting. DAS/Fast Pass. I just want announcements to tell us they know we are here, for goodness sake.
After waiting an hour, they let us on. It is amazing. Honestly. I’m glad we went on. But really dislike the process. Rode the Falcon (we rode it twice on opening day.) Hubby no longer likes it. If riding the two, ride Falcon first. We ended up at Star Tours and super LOVE the new tour.