Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, a next-generation, super-headliner attraction opened today at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, completing the 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge expansion.
A mobile Resistance gun turret tucked into a scrubland forest marks the entrance to the most epic indoor dark ride in Disney theme park history. Rise of the Resistance is an innovative attempt to integrate at least four different ride experiences—trackless vehicles, a motion simulator, walk-through environments, and even an elevator drop—into one of Disney’s longest attractions ever.
SPOILER ALERT! Here is our complete POV of the entire Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance attraction, including the full queue, all preshow, and the full ride.
The adventure begins as guests explore the Resistance military outpost, laser-carved out of ancient stone. An animatronic BB-8 rolls in, accompanied by a hologram of Rey (Daisy Ridley), who invites you to seek refuge from the First Order at General Organa’s hidden headquarters.
Several dozens of guests at a time exit the briefing room to board a standing-room-only shuttlecraft piloted by Nien Numb, a character seen in Return of the Jedi; as the ship breaks orbit, guests feel the rumble and see Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac) accompanying the transport in his X-Wing.
Before you can reach your destination, a Star Destroyer snags the shuttle in its tractor beam and sucks the transporter, recruits and all, into its belly. When the doors to the shuttlecraft reopen, riders have been convincingly transported into an enormous hangar, complete with 50 Stormtroopers, TIE Fighters, and a 100-foot-wide bay window looking into outer space.
Cast Members clad as First Order officers brusquely herd the captive guests into holding rooms to await their interrogation by none other than Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson, appearing again as a Musion hologram following his role as Bill Weasley in Universal’s Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts).
Before long, you’re making a break for it in an eight-passenger (two rows of four seats) troop transport with an animatronic droid as your driver. The car is capable of traveling in any direction without a fixed track.
The ride blends dozens of robotic characters and enormous sets with video projections that create some of the most overwhelming environments ever seen in an indoor ride.
One sequence sends you in between the legs of two towering AT-ATs while dodging laser fire from legions of Stormtroopers, while another puts you face-to-face with the Solo-slaying
Kylo Ren.
In the epic finale (spoiler alert!), you’ll survive an escape pod’s dramatic crash back on Batuu. Be prepared for a brief but exhilarating drop enhanced by digital projections.
With an immersive experience that lasts about 20 minutes from first preshow to final exit, Rise of the Resistance will blow your mind. As far as physical thrills go, it’s less intense than Tower of Terror or Dinosaur, but if you have a very weak stomach the escape pod scene could loosen your lunch! The ride has a 40″ minimum height requirement, and child swap is available. FastPass is not offered for Rise of the Resistance at this time, and no single rider option is available.
Access procedures for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
can be found here.
To learn more about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, check out our post called A Guide to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. For all there is to see and do at Walt Disney World, check out The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.
And in a galaxy not so far away, the ride will launch on January 17, 2020, at Disneyland. If you are visiting Batuu’s sister planet, you might want to get The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland.
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