Though Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has been open for several months now, demand for this attraction is not slowing down, with throngs of guests flooding Disney’s Hollywood Studios every day to try and experience this new ride. Making matters worse is Disney has basically done away with early morning openings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios due to sweeping cuts, which has made getting on to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance even more tricky, as there are more guests than ever all competing for a spot on this blockbuster attraction.
With all of these changes in mind, lets take a look at how to get on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in February 2020.
Expect Regular boarding groups to be gone in 60 seconds, backup boarding groups in five minutes
Back in January 1, 2020, when Disney’s Hollywood Studios was opening at 7:00 AM, the majority of regular boarding passes were gone by 7:10 AM, and “backup” boarding groups lasting until around 9:00 AM, two hours after the park officially opens. However, with the park now opening an hour later, there are more guests than ever trying to naba spot on this attraction, and regular boarding groups are almost always gone within the first minute of the park opening, with backup groups (which do not guarantee a ride and are only called if there is enough queue space at the end of the day) now gone in around five minutes.
Because of this new trend, here’s our suggestion for making sure you are able to experience this attraction when you visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
- Make sure you are in the park and through security by 7:30 AM
- Turn off the in-park wi-fi and close all apps (including My Disney Experience) around 7:45 AM
- Open JUST the My Disney Experience app at 7:57 AM so it can load, and then stay on the home screen. You’ll need to scroll and tap the home screen a few times if it loads quickly so your phone doesn’t go to sleep before 8:00 AM.
- At EXACTLY 8:00 AM on the dot (it’s helpful if you have a watch that counts down the seconds for this step) select “Find Out More” You should see “Join Group” on the next screen, select it and then choose your party as quickly as you can to get your boarding group.
- If you don’t see “Join Group” on the screen exactly at 8:00 AM, immediately select “Check Status” and then you should see “Join Boarding Group” on the next screen, and then from there you can select your party and get your boarding group.
Though this sounds like a lot of steps, this is the most reliable way we’ve found to get on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance with the 8:00 AM park openings, and though its basically luck of the draw if you get Boarding Group 6 or 60, we’ve had no trouble getting a guaranteed boarding group using this method. However, once you secure you’re boarding group, there are some additional steps you need to take to ensure you get to experience this attraction.
2. Make sure you are inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios well before your boarding group is called
In the past, guests visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios have had a two hour window with which to return to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance after their boarding group was called. However, in recent weeks, Disney has shrunk that window down to a single hour, which means if you are at your hotel room or park hopping at Disney’s Animal Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom when your boarding group is called, you might miss your window.
Our advice in this situation is that if you leave the park, be to keep an eye on boarding group progress, and when you see that there are twenty left before your number, start heading over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. So, if you are Boarding Group 56, and you see boarding group 36 being called, you need to make sure you are in the park as soon as possible so you don’t miss your boarding group, especially if you are park hopping or hanging out at your resort and will need to take Disney transportation to get back to the park.
3. If you have a later boarding group, prepare for long in-queue waits
Due to recent increased technical difficulty with this attraction, there has recently been less time to call guaranteed boarding groups, which has led to large numbers of both guaranteed and backup groups being called at one time in the afternoon and evening hours. And unfortunately this has meant that guests with high boarding group numbers have had to wait much longer than normal in the physical queue of this attraction.
However, in an effort to keep guests happy while waiting in this line, Disney has been taking some interesting measures, with characters like Rey, Chewbacca and Vi Moradi coming through the queue periodically, talking to guests about the mission and taking pictures. n addition, to prevent any “hangry” feelings, Disney has been coming through the queue with fresh fruit, chips, and bottled water for guests who have been stuck for awhile, especially during ride downtime.
