Rise of the Resistance, is it worth getting up at 4:45am to get that boarding pass? YES! In our most recent trip to Disney World, we decided to get up early on our first full day to experience the new attraction. This was also our first time entering Star Wars; Galaxy’s Edge. Batuu is fully immersive and we thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.
Our day started at 4:45am in order to get the entire family ready and out the door. Hollywood Studios park opened at 7:00am and we wanted to get to the park no later than 6:15am. Unfortunately, Disney’s resort transportation did not start running until 6:15 and the Minnie-vans didn’t start until 6:30. We scheduled a ride with Lyft, however every confirmed driver ended up canceling on us last minute. After going through about 3 drivers and seeing that the next one was 20 minutes away, I decided to ask a cast member at bell services what he thought we should do to get there in time. He had a Mearz taxi at the ready and flagged him over. The cost ended up being about the same as the ride share estimate, so I would highly suggest just asking for a taxi! Much more reliable.
We arrived at Hollywood Studios around 6:15 and got in line behind hundreds of other people waiting to get into the park. Around 6:20 they started letting guests scan their bands to enter the park. They didn’t allow anyone in stores or in any attraction lines. Starbucks, however, WAS open (thank goodness!) As time approached 7:00am, I checked my app to make sure my entire party was in my travel party and had it ready to refresh. (make sure to wait until you are in the park to open the app or it may not register that you are IN the park) At 7:01 my refreshed screen showed “join boarding group” and I selected my entire party and clicked “join group” – WE GOT IN! We were group 43 and were called to ride around 11:45am. Once we we got to the queue for ROR, it was practically a walk on. I have heard though, that you could wait up to 1hr in line once your boarding group has entered the queue.
Once we obtained our boarding pass, we went to our breakfast reservation at Oga’s Cantina! You can read our review of that experience in our WDW Food review section. We used our fastpass for Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours and watched Beauty and The Beast. (not in that order) Then, entering the single rider line for Smugglers Run, we walked on to that attraction and had a great experience. Some of our party went on that ride again through the single rider line and had a totally different experience. (Having a couple good pilots is key) Quick tip- ride Smugglers Run at the end of the day as the wait time first thing in the morning can be up to 2 hours. In the late afternoon, you can expect the wait time to go down significantly (it was 45 min. standby when we were able to walk on for single rider). After Smugglers run, we were able to score some fastpasses for Rockin’ Roller Coaster before we headed to Dinner at SciFi Dine in Theater.
Rise of the Resistance was THE best attraction that I have ever experienced. I still cannot phathom how they pulled this off! From the time you enter the transport vehicle, you are fully immersed INTO a real story line that you are playing a role in! Look out the back window and you can see yourself leaving Batuu. Look out the front window and you can see where you are going and where you are getting pulled into! Aboard the enemy ship, you are surrounded by storm troopers in a bay that you are walking through. As the First Order troops lead you into interrogation rooms, they stay in character NO MATTER WHAT! They are amazing! Finally, The resistance rescues you and you enter a transport vehicle that winds and twists through the enemy ship and finally takes you back to Batuu. The larger than life effects make you believe that all you are experiencing is real! I still cannot wrap my brain around it all. Worth getting up at 4:45am? ABSOLUTELY!!!
The Mouse Traveler 