We’re here at the grand reopening of Disney’s Hollywood Studios! While we have been so game to hop on our old favorites Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, there was one attraction in particular that we had our hearts set on riding today: Rise of the Resistance!

Since Rise of the Resistance will be operating with a newly modified Virtual Queue system, Boarding Groups will be distributed at 10AM, 1PM and 4PM in the park. Guests are only able to join a group once per day in order to allow other people the opportunity to ride the attraction during their visits to Hollywood Studios.

Despite the park being at a limited capacity, Rise of the Resistance is still the most popular ride in the park. We stepped into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge when Hollywood Studios opened this morning at 10AM knowing that Rise of the Resistance was going to be the hot spot of the morning for most guests.

But, we were still surprised to see how fast the first round of Boarding Groups were distributed this morning! Although we were able to snag a pass, the 10AM distribution window completely filled up within only a few minutes!

Read all about how Rise of the Resistance distributed its Boarding Groups CRAZY FAST this morning here!

While we were in a relatively low Boarding Group at Group 26, we weren’t called back to the attraction until over two hours later at 12:30. Since guests with Boarding Passes have an hour to make their way back to the ride, we arrived at 1:30 to go on Rise of the Resistance.

However we were told by a Cast Member that the ride was down, so we could show our expired pass when the ride opened back up again and be allowed to ride. Although this may not happen every time, be sure to talk to a Cast Member or someone from the Guest Experience team if the ride breaks down during your return window.

Once we entered the queue for the ride, we were distanced apart by markers and plexiglass barriers…

…before being given a number that’s designated for each party. Everyone was asked to follow that numbered dot throughout the attraction.

The pre-shows were similar to what they have been in the past. However, guests were asked to stand on their certain numbers through all parts of the pre-show.

After experiencing the battle on the transport ship that eventually leads to the guests’ capture and transfer to the Star Destroyer, there were markers on the ground for every to stand on that weren’t numbered.

While guests have previously been able to walk around the area, the markers are there to distance people and keep them a safe distance apart from others. However, guests are still able to take photos of the room (because it’s still AWESOME).

We’d like to note that all the Cast Members stayed in character, even with distancing guidelines. So, some of their instructions were pretty hilarious in Star Wars jargon. 😉 When we boarded our escape vehicles, we were placed one party per car before the ride started.

And, Rise of the Resistance was as incredible as ever with all the high-tech elements, entertaining story plot, and epic drop at the end of the ride. While the process of getting on Rise of the Resistance was VERY long today, we hope that some of the problems are smoothed out during Hollywood Studios’ initial reopening.

We noticed that many guests weren’t so lucky grabbing a boarding group spot. So even with the reduced capacity and staggered drops for boarding groups, you might still be unable to ride. We will keep you updated on how Rise of the Resistance operates in the near future, we still highly recommend visiting the attraction if you get the chance. (Poe Dameron is a reason alone to ride it, you know!)

Here’s a look at how the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is working in a newly reopened Hollywood Studios! 

Have you been on Rise of the Resistance? Let us know in the comments below!

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