A little over two weeks ago, we published a complete guide to getting on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. And then Disney changed their boarding policy. And then they did it again. However, it looks like, at least this time, the changes should last through the end of the year, so we’ve put together a new, updated guide for how to get on to the newest attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios successfully with Disney’s Boarding Group virtual queue.
Get to the park early, but not too early
Before this week, there was a serious advantage to waking up as early as possible and getting in line at the front of Disney’s Hollywood Studios as early as 4:00 AM. Under the old system, the first guests in to the park, would be the first ones to be able to join a boarding group, so the earlier you were, the better. However, this old system was causing Disney’s Hollywood Studios to open hours ahead of schedule due to safety concerns, and wasn’t exactly sustainable with large guest levels showing up for the holidays.
However, Disney has changed their policy regarding boarding groups, which are now only be available starting at official park opening.Though Disney will open the park gates early to prevent crowding at the entrance, and guests will still be corralled into holding areas near the center of the park, they will not be able to join any boarding groups until the park’s posted opening time.
With that in mind, we’d advise guests wanting to get on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to still get to the park a little early, but not hours early like before. We’d say plan to arrive at the park 30-45 minutes before opening, so you can get through security, and get your ticket scanned before the park officially opens. Because when it does…
Be ready with My Disney Experience
You may want to set an alarm on your phone for a minute or two before park opening because the second Disney’s Hollywood Studios opens (You can check hours here), you’re going to want to snag a boarding pass as quickly as possible. The faster you can grab one, the sooner you’ll ride, so it is definitely in your best interest to fire up the app ASAP if you want to ride soon.
Going off the first two days of operation for this new system, it looks like boarding passes have been available for the first hour or so of park operations, with backup boarding passes available for about 40 minutes beyond that. So, if for some reason you can’t get into the park just before official opening time, as long as you are in within about 90 minutes of posted opening time, you should be able to experience this attraction (though your boarding group might be one of the last ones).
No evening Extra Magic Hours
Resort guests may wonder how the newly swapped evening Extra Magic Hours might give them an advantage with this new Boarding Group system, and unfortunately right now the truth is that resort guests do not have really any advantage at all over other guests, as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will not be operating during evening Extra Magic Hours at this park. This will likely change once operations are more stable in the new year, but for now, it looks like resort guests will need to employ the same strategy as everyone else when it comes to getting on this attraction.
To recap:
If your head is spinning a little bit from all of these policy changes, here is our best strategy, boiled down to its bare bones:
- Plan to arrive at the park 30-45 minutes before official posted opening time. Do NOT queue at the front of the park earlier than this.
- Set an alarm that will go off 1-2 minutes before the park officially opens. Get ready with My Disney Experience on your device of choice.
- Log in and join a boarding group as soon as the park officially opens.
As long as you can follow these simple guidelines, you’ll almost certainly get your chance to ride on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance this winter!
