The Rise of the Resistance attraction in Hollywood Studios has been dubbed Disney’s most interactive and complex attraction ever, so it comes as no surprise that it is also the attraction with the longest line in all of Walt Disney World. WDW Vacation Tips will give you the insider scoop on how to ride Rise of the Resistance without the crazy wait.
What is Rise of the Resistance?
Rise of the Resistance is the star attraction of the Star Wars-themed area, Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This attraction is breaking all of the rules when it comes to theme park rides.
Rise of the Resistance literally puts you in the story as you are shuffled around from place to place after being caught by the First Order. While getting ready to be locked away for questioning, the good guys come and rescue you! You will experience thrills, chills, intense moments, and just sheer awe, which is why Rise of the Resistance is now the number one attraction in Walt Disney World for Star Wars fans and non-Star Wars fans alike.
How Long is the Wait For Rise of the Resistance?
A ride with this much detail and intense IP following doesn’t exactly stay a secret. In fact, many Star Wars fans have actually said that they went to Hollywood Studios purely for Rise of the Resistance. Well, that and the blue milk.
Even though Rise of the Resistance opened back in 2019, it is still sporting multi-hour wait times. According to www.Thrill-data.com (love that site), (not a plug), the average standby wait time for this attraction is still over 100 minutes, and over 300 minutes of busy days, like holiday weekends.
300 minutes… That is 5 hours…
If you think that’s insane, get this. The longest recorded wait time for Rise of the Resistance was 420 minutes, and it’s happened more than once! The most recent time that this attraction racked up this ridiculous 7-hour wait time was 10/14/2022.
What else could you do in 7 hours?
- Watch Titanic twice with bathroom and snack breaks
- Watch every live daytime show in Hollywood Studios (Yes, we did the math)
- Wait in line for a Figment Popcorn Bucket #IYKYK
The point is you could be doing so much more with your time in Disney World than just standing in line! Don’t be the person who waited 7 hours to ride one ride!
Tips to Ride Rise of the Resistance With Almost No Wait!
Genie+ Individual Lightning Lane
While we aren’t fans of Disney’s new pay-to-play system that they rolled out, this is one of the times when we don’t mind it.
A couple of years ago, Disney released the ever-confusing Genie+ system where you could pay a fee to skip the lines at a lot of their rides. What made it confusing was that it is a two-part system. There’s Genie+ that you pay a set price and you can book Lightning Lanes, (much like the old-fashioned Fast Pass system), and then there is the Genie+ Individual Lightning Lanes where you pay a fee for one very popular ride to skip the line.
Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL) vary in cost depending on how busy the park is and how popular the attraction is. Other ILL qualifying rides are Avatar Flight of Passage, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. We could offer all kinds of tips to ride the other attractions without the costly ILL, but for Rise of the Resistance, it is worth every penny.
How Much Does a Lightning Lane Cost
Rise of the Resistance Genie+ Individual Lightning Lanes (that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?), continue to be the most expensive ILL available, despite the new Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster being open. On slower days, especially weekdays you may see ILLs for as little as $15 per person, but on busy days it has been as high as $25 per person.
We know what you’re thinking… For a family of 4, that’s $100 EXTRA to ride one ride! We know, but think about how much you paid for the park ticket. Would you prefer for that to go completely to waste? Think of Rise of the Resistance more as a full experience than a ride.
How to get the Genie+ Individual Lightning Lane
Acquiring one of these passes is the tricky part. While the regular Genie+ system opens up to everyone to book Lightning Lanes at 7:00 AM, the special Individual Lightning Lanes only open up to resort guests at 7:00 AM as a Disney Resort perk. Everyone else will have access to the ILL system when the park opens.
If you are a Walt Disney World Resort guest and book around 7:00 AM, great! You will have no trouble, and you will have your pick of return times. We are not seeing the Individual Lightning Lanes disappear as fast as we used to. (It used to literally be seconds!)
Now, for you non-resort guests, you have to be flexible. The good news is that the data is showing ILL availability after 8:00 AM, but it is spotty. If you see none available, keep checking back every 15 minutes or so and you will likely snag one. Here’s the catch… The return time could be as late as 8:00 PM, a whole 12 hours later.
Purchasing a Genie+ Individual Lightning Lane is the best option for not waiting in line at Rise of the Resistance.
After Hours Tickets
The next best option is purchasing an After Hours ticket for Hollywood Studios. If you are on an adult-only trip this is the hands down best option! We had to bump it down under Genie+ because if you have kids or early birds in your party, keeping them up past midnight is akin to torture.
After Hours events are separately purchased tickets that you can use in lieu of a regular park ticket. These events are on select days and at select parks. For a little more than the cost of a park ticket, you can roam through a completely EMPTY park and ride everything, including Rise of the Resistance, with NO LINES from 9:00 PM – 12:00 AM. You can even enter the park as early as 7:00 PM and catch the Fantasmic show. Bonus: this ticket includes unlimited free popcorn and Mickey ice cream bars. Win.
Hopping in Line at the End of the Night
It’s an old Disney World trick that if you jump into the queue one minute before the park closes, you are still sure to ride the ride no matter how long the line is. (Unless it breaks down, of course…)
Not only will the line be much shorter than during the day, you will also be one of the only people left in the park when you get off the attraction, so you can get some awesome pictures!
Note: This hack is what we recommend for a lot of attractions, like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but the results will not be the same at Rise of the Resistance. Unlike other attractions where you will wait very little at the end of the night, ROR will still hold an average of a 50-minute wait, even AFTER the park closes.
That’s just impressive. It’s not great, but hey, it’s not 300 minutes! And it didn’t cost you anything extra!
Rope Drop
Rope Drop is the best Disney World hack for riding your favorite attractions before the mid-day crowds descend upon the parks. Rope Drop means getting to the parks before they actually open, and wait for Cast Members to “drop the rope” on the themed lands for the crowds to enter. You can generally go through the turnstiles and enter the park about 30 minutes before the park actually opens.
Until Galaxy’s Edge opened, this was a great hack. We all remember the record-setting crowds of people in Hollywood Studios before it opened all standing shoulder to shoulder to snag a virtual boarding pass for ROR. Boy, we are soooo glad that is gone. But while we don’t need to be in the parks to get our ILLs anymore, the crowds are still pretty significant in Hollywood Studios in the mornings.
We’re not sure if it’s out of habit from those early Galaxy’s Edge days or if people are just hoping that the old time hack of Rope Drop will work for Rise of the Resistance, but let’s just say, this should be your last option for having the shortest wait time for ROR.
Wait times for most attractions are highest in mid-day, so if you are among the first wave of people to make it to Galaxy’s Edge in the morning then you might only wait about an hour. By 10:00 the wait times increase dramatically.
Bonus: Stay at the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
When traveling on the Galactic Starcruiser you will get a day on Batuu that comes complete with one lightning lane per person for Rise of the Resistance. Of course, this is one of the most expensive ways to ride Rise of the Resistance but on the plus side, it was also the most immersive way! For more on our experience on the Galaxtic Starcruiser, you can go here.
Is Child Swap Available for Rise of the Resistance?
Yes, this attraction offers a rider switch option, and the good news is most rides at Disney World with height requirements have the rider swap option available. In order to use this service, find the Cast Member in front of the attraction line and ask about Rider Switch. This will allow one or more people in your party to hang back with your little one while the others experience the attraction. Once finished with their experience, they can trade you places and stay with the little one while the rest of you enjoy the experience.
Can you use DAS on Star Wars Rise of the Resistance?
Yes! If you are utilizing DAS while on vacation this is a ride that works with that system. The steps are the same as with any other DAS reservation you would make. Once you enter Hollywood Studios you can book a DAS for Rise of the Resistance in the My Disney Experience mobile app or by visiting a Cast Member at the entrance to the ride.
Is Rise of the Resistance Worth the Wait?
This one just comes down to your priorities. This ride often has a long wait and is known to break down rather frequently. I would say I would not let waiting in this line stop you from experiencing the other things you want to do on your day at Hollywood Studios.
Which of these tricks is your favorite way to ride Rise of the Resistance? Let us know in the comments!
I am a mother of three that has refused to grow up. Adulting is for the birds, so I go to Disney World every chance I get for that magical escape from reality. I believe that Haunted Mansion is the best ride in all of the Disney Parks, and I am fervently in team Happily Ever After for fireworks spectaculars, (sorry, not sorry, Enchanted). Finally, I hope I never grow tired of skipping down Main Street, USA, and my dream come true would be “friends with” the Fairy Godmother in my old age.
