2020 is here and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is about to be a bi-coastal attraction at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. However, though we’ll have to wait a few more days to see how this attraction fares at Disneyland, we’ve been keeping a close eye on how Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has been performing at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and have put together a fresh new guide for getting on this blockbuster attraction.
1. Expect regular boarding groups to be gone in 10 minutes or less, with backup groups following at around 2 hours
Though this varies slightly from day to day, since January 1, 2020, we’ve seen the majority of regular boarding passes gone by 7:10 AM, mere minutes after opening. We’ve already covered Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ new opening procedure here if you need a little refresher on how they are handing out boarding passes, but it bears repeating: if you want to experience this attraction, plan to arrive at the park 30 minutes early so you can be scanned in and ready to go at 7:00 AM.
If for some reason you are not able to get a regular boarding group, Disney has been allowing guests to join “backup” boarding groups until around 9:00 AM, two hours after the park officially opens. Of course, these “backup” groups do not guarantee a ride and are only called if there is enough queue space at the end of the day, but if you don’t mind hanging around Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the evening these backup groups are a good option.
2. Keep an eye out for downtime
Though checking and re-checking boarding group status in the My Disney Experience app won’t make your wait any less, one thing you might want to look out for is downtime (which typically occurs when no new boarding groups are called for an hour or longer).
Over the past few days, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has been experiencing a lot of technical difficulties, which has resulted in significant downtime, which has not only pushed boarding group times out further, but has also led to a lot of waiting for guests in the actual queue (more on that in a second). In addition, if you are in a backup boarding group and you see a lot of downtime, you might want to make other plans for your evening, as you probably aren’t going to be getting on the attraction that day.
3. Hang around the attraction close to boarding time
Though Disney doesn’t really want guests hanging around the attraction entrance, if you see that your boarding group is going to be called soon, you might want to head over a little bit early, as this provides several benefits, depending on the situation
- If there isn’t anyone visible in the outdoor portion of the queue, you can head right in as soon as your boarding group is called and minimize your wait in the actual attraction line.
- If there are a lot of people visible already in the queue, you can take advantage of the two hours you have to return to the attraction and do something else for a little while after your boarding group is called. Typically, the outdoor queue only gets super crowded when there is a lot of downtime, and while it may seem counterintuitive to walk away from the attraction when your boarding group is first called, Disney typically slows down adding new boarding groups when the queue is full (or overflowing), and if you can occupy yourself for 20-30 minutes outside the attraction while new boarding groups aren’t being actively called you can save yourself some time in line!
4. Don’t hang around hoping for Extra Magic Hours operation
Though Disney has been working hard to accomodate as many backup boarding groups as possible during an operating day, if you have a high boarding group number and are hoping you can still experience this attraction during evening Extra Magic Hours as a resort guest, don’t try to stick around the park, as Disney has announced that this attraction will NOT be available at all following regular park close.
