Last fall Disney World opened a new Star Wars themed land at Hollywood Studios called Galaxy’s Edge. This new area features 2 new ride/attractions. Rise of the Resistance opened in December, a few months after the rest of the land. Before you scroll any further just consider this your warning as there may be spoilers in my review.
The way Disney has handled the opening of these 2 rides has been different than previous new ride openings. The Millennium Falcon ride just began offering Fastpass+ on 2/19 which is about 6 months after it opened to the public. Rise of Resistance is limiting riders even more and Disney is making you work for your chance to ride. Currently to ride you will need to get a boarding pass via the My Disney Experience app. This has been a challenge for guests as you have to be in the park right at opening to secure a spot, you can see my previous post with tips for snagging your pass here.
This ride is like nothing we have ever rode at Disney before. There are different parts of the attraction and not just 1 part of the ride, if you don’t care for attractions where you have to walk through this is not the ride for you. Riders must be at least 40″ to ride and could be scary for smaller kids.
The interior line is set to make you feel like you are in a secret resistance base, there are crates with supplies throughout and lockers with uniforms make a line divider. The details in just the queue make the waiting go by faster.
Disney has also incorporated these rock cut out benches throughout the line for your to rest your feet while standing in the long lines.
The first part of the ride begins here, the cast members group riders into 50ish and send you into the first room.
This room is like the pre-show where you will get a briefing from BB8, Lieutenant Bek and Nien Nunb. There is also a hologram of Rey asking you to join the resistance.
As soon as the doors open you will talk through the courtyard and head to the shuttle, be sure to look around to see Poe’s X-wing. This is the only spot in Galaxy’s Edge you can see it.
Once you step in you will see Nien Nunb ready to take you on your secret mission. This shuttle moves around and there is not seats. There are hand rails located throughout so make sure you are near one just in case.
These windows make it appear as you are in space but it can make you a little motion sick if you are prone to that. During your ride you get sucked into a tractor beam by a First Order Star Destroyer. When the doors open you will be stepping out into the First Order docking bay.
This big open room is amazing to see in person and you really feel like you are surrounded by Storm Troopers. They give you a minute to take a few photos before sending the group down the hall to the next part of the ride.
At the end of the hall you are held for interrogation in the detention block. The First Order troops will assign you a color to stand on in groups of 4, you will need to remember the color as these are how you will load into the final ride vehicle.
You are then led to your cell by the troops.
In the cell you can see a Stormtrooper pacing above before Kylo Ren and General Hux comes out to try and interrogate the group. Once they walk away a panel in the wall lights up and then “blasts” open. There are resistance troops on the other side and help get you into the escape vehicles.
The ride vehicle holds 2 rows of 4 each, if your party is bigger or smaller you could be split or next to other guests. The seat belt is much like that on Tower of Terror, where it goes just across the lap.Two ride vehicles go through at a time and run on a trackless system in the floor. The on board droid reacts to what is going on around you and will help get you to safety.
This is where it gets a bit intense for the younger riders. This last part of the ride goes by the fastest. You ride vehicle goes in all different directions as you try to escape from the First Order.
This is the part you have mostly like seen in any spoilers for the ride, your vehicle winds around giant AT-AT legs before the 2 vehicles are split up and a small elevator takes the car up to the 2nd floor of the ride.
Kylo Ren tries to attack you multiple times before finally being blown away by the First Resistance. The vehicle will drive into a loading bay to fly back to Batuu and there is a small drop like a mild Tower of Terror that took the whole ride by surprise.
As you make your way to the exit you can see Leuitenat Bek inside the pod. This is the end of the ride and you are now a Resistance hero!
I am not a huge Star Wars fan but I have seen about half of films and could follow along with the story line of this ride fine but I think Disney did a good job of making this ride fun for even those with limited or no Star Wars knowledge. While this ride does spin your around and has a small lift and drop it was mild in comparison to Smugglers Run. Hopefully Disney will do away with the boarding pass requirement so everyone has a chance to experience this new attraction.