Disneyhanna
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2017
Day Five - Part One: My First Ride on Rise of the Resistance
Skip this post if you don’t want any RotR spoilers!
My exact notes from this morning were “set an alarm for 6:40am on vacation, why am I like this?”
Since HS is the closest park to Coronado, I figured a Lyft would be cheap and more reliable than the buses. My goal was to leave my room around 7 to give me plenty of time to get to the park for an 8am opening for RotR (barring a catastrophe).
Somehow, I managed to request my Lyft by 7:04. Remember when it took me over an hour to leave my room the morning before?
I requested it to pick me up from Gran Destino Tower since I’m always worried they will get lost trying to pick me up from near my room.
I didn’t have great luck with drivers, and was dropped by two drivers that were pretty far away, luckily my 3rd driver was nearby and arrived at GDT at 7:21. The entrance into HS was only three cars deep, so it was very quick and I was dropped off by the entrance at 7:31. Not bad at all!
With tip, it was $13 and well worth not having to deal with the craziness of a pre-park opening HS bus. From what I am hearing about dealing with the skyliner and trying to get to HS these days, I would always choose the Lyft/Uber option for peace of mind. I saw huge lines for the HS bus stop at the resort and didn’t want to chance it.
I made it through bag check by 7:38, despite the very thorough security guy who wanted to through every nook and cranny of my bag! I hope they keep the scanners I keep hearing about, so much faster.
I scanned into HS at 7:40, there was no wait to scan in on the right-most side since most people (such as myself) come in from the left side. It was actually so much quieter than I expected, I think I was at the sweet spot of being later than the people who get there super early to play it safe, and beating the last minute rush of everyone who sleeps in a bit.
For no reason other than it was close, I decided to head to Sunset Boulevard to try and get my boarding pass. As you can see, people were lining up for ToT and RnRC.
I think I was too late to have a short wait for any rope drop rides, so I found a bench and waited for 8:00 to arrive. I ran a speedtest on my phone, and with Verizon I was getting 45 mbps download speeds which seemed pretty great. I used to have Sprint, which was awful in the parks. Closer to the entrance speeds were much slower, so definitely try out a few spots if you can. I’ve never had good luck with Disney wifi so I didn’t even bother with that.
The line to RnRC/ToT kept getting longer as I sat there, I overheard the CM saying it would be about an hour initially and then 90 minutes as it was getting closer to opening. No thanks since I have always been able to pick up a same day FP as a single rider!
Apart from the ride lines, there weren’t that many people on Sunset. It was nice having a bench to sit on, since I knew it was going to be a long day!
I’m not sure if my strategy is applicable anymore, but what I did before 8:00 was restart my phone and make sure all apps were closed. I then opened the MDE app and made sure my friends and family list was just me, and started a timer at exactly 7:59 so I could watch the second hand. The announcement about boarding groups came on at 7:59:45 and you could hear the anticipation from everyone!
I read some tips on here about giving a few extra seconds after 8:00 before trying to join a boarding group (to avoid being too “early” and being locked otu), so I reopened the MDE app at exactly 8:00 and clicked the “Find Out More” button about three seconds after 8:00. The “Join Boarding Group” was red like it was supposed to be, and I clicked right in no problem.
Wahoo, I got boarding group 6! I think my first FPs of the day were at MK, so I was hoping I could ride right away and then head over to MK since I didn’t have any HS FPs.
There was some cheering as people got BGs, and you could definitely see people struggling to figure it out. I’m not sure how it works, but I’m guessing it’s easier for solo people to get a BG since if there is a set # of people per BG, we can “fill in” where bigger groups can’t.
I decided to head to Galaxy’s Edge right away, this time I knew where to go since I had just been in December. I passed Star Tours and it only had a 25 minutes wait, but I figured my BG would be called soon so I skipped it.
My BG was called at 8:12 and given a two hour return time!
I scanned into RotR at 8:15, feeling so special to be one of the first to ride that day! The ride entrance was a bit surrounded by people who were confused about needing a BG, so I felt like a celebrity being let into a VIP experience!
There weren’t very many people, maybe two dozen. We didn’t have to wait at any point during the ride so we were definitely one of the first groups going through. I think the downside was there wasn’t really any time to take things in, though I’m sure you could hang back and take your time if you wanted to.
The pre-show stuff was neat, even though I have extremely limited knowledge. I basically know the main characters’ names and that’s about it!
The Rey hologram was really cool, I could tell the big Star Wars fans were just having the times of their lives already!
We headed to the shuttle next, which is the first “ride” of the experience.
There was so much to look at but I definitely felt like I had to keep up with my “group” from the pre-show room.
Perhaps if you’re later in the day and things are running a bit behind, you might have more time to take it all in.
The shuttle is really cool inside, I’ve got no clue who this guy is but he was talking during our entire ride. Clearly my knowledge of Star Wars is very limited! My mom and I watched the original trilogy a year ago or so for the first time, but I confess I only partly paid attention. I'm more of an MCU gal, sorry!
The shuttle holds quite a few people, you stand the entire time and hold onto railings as it simulates flight. It’s not that much motion (you are standing after all) so I think most people could handle it, since the motion is real and not screen-based.
There are a lot of things to look at inside so if you can ride multiple times, I’d stand somewhere different each time.
I didn’t really have any idea what was going on, but true Star Wars fans will absolutely love this I’m sure!
We “landed” after being intercepted, and finally were at what I think is the absolutely coolest part of the experience, the First Order star destroyer bay!
Somehow I ended up being one of the first off the shuttle, I think since it’s just easier to move around when you’re solo since you don’t have to collect your entire group. The perk of being off first is a chance to take photos (if you have your camera ready) before anyone else is in them!
An example of the ride vehicle is on the side, guarded by stormtroopers.
Seeing all of the stormtroopers is absolutely amazing! It’s unbelievable in person, the room is so huge and on another scale. The ceiling is so high and it just feels massive.
I wasn’t super prepared for photos on this first ride, but (spoiler) I was able to ride again the next day and will have some better photos from that ride.
Everyone was oohing and ahhing and taking a ton of photos, but they only give you a minute and then start herding you to the next room.
Even the hallways are cool to look at, and the First Order officers are quite scary!
Everything is so immersive, despite my limited knowledge I still found it very fascinating. The First Order officer guiding us was roasting people left and right, nothing harmful but just things like “stand on the orange, you do know what orange looks like don’t you?”
Everything was going so smoothly, no waits between anything which I think would take away from the immersion.
I was in the back row, darn! I think the front row would be ideal for immersion but since there are only 8 per vehicle, you can see well from any spot.
Some dude (ha) on the screen talked to us, and we were off!
The trackless nature of the ride is unreal, it made everything so realistic and unpredictable.
There is a lot happening at one time so you won’t be able to catch everything, meaning I think you can reride many times and get something new out of it each time!
The AT-AT walkers were indescribable, they are so gigantic and it really just shows how much Disney has put into this ride.
RotR is definitely on another level compared to anything Disney has ever done! It truly felt like I was part of a crazy escape mission!
We escaped Kylo’s wrath! I think some parts would be a bit intense for the kiddos, but if they have seen the movies they will be fine.
The last part is the most thrilling since there is a drop as your escape pod leaves the ship, but it’s pretty obvious when it is going to happen and you can brace yourself a bit. Definitely not as bad as ToT where most of the scariness is from the buildup of anticipation. This is also where there is simulated flight, which I think is the only part of the ride that would be problematic for people with motion sickness. For those who cannot handle that, I would think you can go through to the star destroyer bay and then exit by asking a CM, although if it’s a First Order officer they may heckle you a bit first!
We landed safely and were congratulated on a successful mission.
What an absolutely incredible experience! I think it is best when it’s seamless like I experienced since it adds to the sense of urgency. I’ve heard about people having to wait between each section, which would definitely take away some of that, but it also would probably give you more time to appreciate all of the details of the theming.
I was done with RotR at 8:35, so overall it was about a 20 minute experience without any waiting. I really enjoyed myself, but I think it’s definitely going to be especially meaningful for a Star Wars fan. Two thumbs up from me and worth all of the hype!
Wait times were pretty high at Hollywood Studios from the park opening BG rush, about 45 minutes for most rides and then 120 for Slinky and Smuggler’s, so I decided to head off to MK since I had planned my FPs there. MK was opening at 9, so I thought I might even make it to rope drop!
Overall a great start to my morning, I was so happy that I got an early boarding pass and didn’t have to wait around all day or stress about getting back to HS after being called.
Continued in Part Two: Three Hours in Magic Kingdom
Skip this post if you don’t want any RotR spoilers!
My exact notes from this morning were “set an alarm for 6:40am on vacation, why am I like this?”
Since HS is the closest park to Coronado, I figured a Lyft would be cheap and more reliable than the buses. My goal was to leave my room around 7 to give me plenty of time to get to the park for an 8am opening for RotR (barring a catastrophe).
Somehow, I managed to request my Lyft by 7:04. Remember when it took me over an hour to leave my room the morning before?
I requested it to pick me up from Gran Destino Tower since I’m always worried they will get lost trying to pick me up from near my room.I didn’t have great luck with drivers, and was dropped by two drivers that were pretty far away, luckily my 3rd driver was nearby and arrived at GDT at 7:21. The entrance into HS was only three cars deep, so it was very quick and I was dropped off by the entrance at 7:31. Not bad at all!
With tip, it was $13 and well worth not having to deal with the craziness of a pre-park opening HS bus. From what I am hearing about dealing with the skyliner and trying to get to HS these days, I would always choose the Lyft/Uber option for peace of mind. I saw huge lines for the HS bus stop at the resort and didn’t want to chance it.
I made it through bag check by 7:38, despite the very thorough security guy who wanted to through every nook and cranny of my bag! I hope they keep the scanners I keep hearing about, so much faster.
I scanned into HS at 7:40, there was no wait to scan in on the right-most side since most people (such as myself) come in from the left side. It was actually so much quieter than I expected, I think I was at the sweet spot of being later than the people who get there super early to play it safe, and beating the last minute rush of everyone who sleeps in a bit.
For no reason other than it was close, I decided to head to Sunset Boulevard to try and get my boarding pass. As you can see, people were lining up for ToT and RnRC.
I think I was too late to have a short wait for any rope drop rides, so I found a bench and waited for 8:00 to arrive. I ran a speedtest on my phone, and with Verizon I was getting 45 mbps download speeds which seemed pretty great. I used to have Sprint, which was awful in the parks. Closer to the entrance speeds were much slower, so definitely try out a few spots if you can. I’ve never had good luck with Disney wifi so I didn’t even bother with that.
The line to RnRC/ToT kept getting longer as I sat there, I overheard the CM saying it would be about an hour initially and then 90 minutes as it was getting closer to opening. No thanks since I have always been able to pick up a same day FP as a single rider!
Apart from the ride lines, there weren’t that many people on Sunset. It was nice having a bench to sit on, since I knew it was going to be a long day!
I’m not sure if my strategy is applicable anymore, but what I did before 8:00 was restart my phone and make sure all apps were closed. I then opened the MDE app and made sure my friends and family list was just me, and started a timer at exactly 7:59 so I could watch the second hand. The announcement about boarding groups came on at 7:59:45 and you could hear the anticipation from everyone!
I read some tips on here about giving a few extra seconds after 8:00 before trying to join a boarding group (to avoid being too “early” and being locked otu), so I reopened the MDE app at exactly 8:00 and clicked the “Find Out More” button about three seconds after 8:00. The “Join Boarding Group” was red like it was supposed to be, and I clicked right in no problem.
Wahoo, I got boarding group 6! I think my first FPs of the day were at MK, so I was hoping I could ride right away and then head over to MK since I didn’t have any HS FPs.
There was some cheering as people got BGs, and you could definitely see people struggling to figure it out. I’m not sure how it works, but I’m guessing it’s easier for solo people to get a BG since if there is a set # of people per BG, we can “fill in” where bigger groups can’t.
I decided to head to Galaxy’s Edge right away, this time I knew where to go since I had just been in December. I passed Star Tours and it only had a 25 minutes wait, but I figured my BG would be called soon so I skipped it.
My BG was called at 8:12 and given a two hour return time!
I scanned into RotR at 8:15, feeling so special to be one of the first to ride that day! The ride entrance was a bit surrounded by people who were confused about needing a BG, so I felt like a celebrity being let into a VIP experience!
There weren’t very many people, maybe two dozen. We didn’t have to wait at any point during the ride so we were definitely one of the first groups going through. I think the downside was there wasn’t really any time to take things in, though I’m sure you could hang back and take your time if you wanted to.
The pre-show stuff was neat, even though I have extremely limited knowledge. I basically know the main characters’ names and that’s about it!
The Rey hologram was really cool, I could tell the big Star Wars fans were just having the times of their lives already!
We headed to the shuttle next, which is the first “ride” of the experience.
There was so much to look at but I definitely felt like I had to keep up with my “group” from the pre-show room.
Perhaps if you’re later in the day and things are running a bit behind, you might have more time to take it all in.
The shuttle is really cool inside, I’ve got no clue who this guy is but he was talking during our entire ride. Clearly my knowledge of Star Wars is very limited! My mom and I watched the original trilogy a year ago or so for the first time, but I confess I only partly paid attention. I'm more of an MCU gal, sorry!
The shuttle holds quite a few people, you stand the entire time and hold onto railings as it simulates flight. It’s not that much motion (you are standing after all) so I think most people could handle it, since the motion is real and not screen-based.
There are a lot of things to look at inside so if you can ride multiple times, I’d stand somewhere different each time.
I didn’t really have any idea what was going on, but true Star Wars fans will absolutely love this I’m sure!
We “landed” after being intercepted, and finally were at what I think is the absolutely coolest part of the experience, the First Order star destroyer bay!
Somehow I ended up being one of the first off the shuttle, I think since it’s just easier to move around when you’re solo since you don’t have to collect your entire group. The perk of being off first is a chance to take photos (if you have your camera ready) before anyone else is in them!
An example of the ride vehicle is on the side, guarded by stormtroopers.
Seeing all of the stormtroopers is absolutely amazing! It’s unbelievable in person, the room is so huge and on another scale. The ceiling is so high and it just feels massive.
I wasn’t super prepared for photos on this first ride, but (spoiler) I was able to ride again the next day and will have some better photos from that ride.
Everyone was oohing and ahhing and taking a ton of photos, but they only give you a minute and then start herding you to the next room.
Even the hallways are cool to look at, and the First Order officers are quite scary!
Everything is so immersive, despite my limited knowledge I still found it very fascinating. The First Order officer guiding us was roasting people left and right, nothing harmful but just things like “stand on the orange, you do know what orange looks like don’t you?”
Everything was going so smoothly, no waits between anything which I think would take away from the immersion.
I was in the back row, darn! I think the front row would be ideal for immersion but since there are only 8 per vehicle, you can see well from any spot.
Some dude (ha) on the screen talked to us, and we were off!
The trackless nature of the ride is unreal, it made everything so realistic and unpredictable.
There is a lot happening at one time so you won’t be able to catch everything, meaning I think you can reride many times and get something new out of it each time!
The AT-AT walkers were indescribable, they are so gigantic and it really just shows how much Disney has put into this ride.
RotR is definitely on another level compared to anything Disney has ever done! It truly felt like I was part of a crazy escape mission!
We escaped Kylo’s wrath! I think some parts would be a bit intense for the kiddos, but if they have seen the movies they will be fine.
The last part is the most thrilling since there is a drop as your escape pod leaves the ship, but it’s pretty obvious when it is going to happen and you can brace yourself a bit. Definitely not as bad as ToT where most of the scariness is from the buildup of anticipation. This is also where there is simulated flight, which I think is the only part of the ride that would be problematic for people with motion sickness. For those who cannot handle that, I would think you can go through to the star destroyer bay and then exit by asking a CM, although if it’s a First Order officer they may heckle you a bit first!
We landed safely and were congratulated on a successful mission.
What an absolutely incredible experience! I think it is best when it’s seamless like I experienced since it adds to the sense of urgency. I’ve heard about people having to wait between each section, which would definitely take away some of that, but it also would probably give you more time to appreciate all of the details of the theming.
I was done with RotR at 8:35, so overall it was about a 20 minute experience without any waiting. I really enjoyed myself, but I think it’s definitely going to be especially meaningful for a Star Wars fan. Two thumbs up from me and worth all of the hype!
Wait times were pretty high at Hollywood Studios from the park opening BG rush, about 45 minutes for most rides and then 120 for Slinky and Smuggler’s, so I decided to head off to MK since I had planned my FPs there. MK was opening at 9, so I thought I might even make it to rope drop!
Overall a great start to my morning, I was so happy that I got an early boarding pass and didn’t have to wait around all day or stress about getting back to HS after being called.
Continued in Part Two: Three Hours in Magic Kingdom
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If I’m going to wait 50 minutes for something, it won’t be for small world.
