The Wonderful World of Disney Magical Holiday Celebration to show more of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Nov 28, 2019 in "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance"

Posted: Thursday November 28, 2019 9:35am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

“The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” kicks off the holiday season Thursday, Nov. 28, from 8-10 p.m. EST, on ABC and will offer more footage of the upcoming Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance attraction.

According to Disney, there will be several Disney Parks sneak peeks, including an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, opening in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on Dec. 5, 2019, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.

More details of the “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration”:

Join hosts Matthew Morrison and Emma Bunton along with co-host Jesse Palmer as they present the two-hour primetime special on Thanksgiving night from Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Resort in California.

Musical performances include the following: 

  • GRAMMY® Award-winning icons Sting and Shaggy perform duets and solo numbers from Walt Disney World Resort, including a new festive reggae version of “Silent Night (Christmas is Coming).” 
  • GRAMMY® Award-winning rock band Portugal. The Man performs “Happy Christmas” and “Merry Christmas Everybody” from Disneyland Resort.
  • Three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning group Pentatonix will sing a cappella renditions of “Deck the Halls” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” from Walt Disney World Resort.
  • Singers Ingrid Michaelson and Andy Grammer perform an all-new original holiday song from Disneyland Resort.
  • International pop star Ally Brooke sings “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” from Walt Disney World Resort.
  • Singer-songwriter and TV host Emma Bunton (‘Baby Spice’), performs “Santa Baby” from Walt Disney World Resort.
  • The Tony, Emmy, and two-time Golden Globe -nominated artist Matthew Morrison performs a medley from Walt Disney World Resort of “When You Wish Upon A Star” from the upcoming album “Disney Dreamin’ with Matthew Morrison” and the classic “Let it Snow.”
  • Acclaimed two-time Billboard-Award winning electronic violinist Lindsey Stirling pulls all the strings for “Carol of the Bells” from Walt Disney World Resort.
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HoustonHorn5 days ago

Or they could build attractions that work as intended. I think my biggest issue was the first time, I didn't see A-mode Kylo, and from our perspective, we couldn't see ship Kylo, so it was nonsensical. But I see your point. I was fortunate to have ridden Rise when it was fully operational - cannons and all. It was spectacular how many different elements all worked together to make a marvel of an attraction - from the first preshow until the final "landing" back on Batuu. Then the cannons broke, but I had still always seen the Probe Droid working and never had B-mode Kylo. Well, the Probe Droid went down for me in my 2023 trip. Then this year Kylo was down. It's just so frustrating.

mickEblu5 days ago

I happen to think Kylo Ren B mode is more effective than Kylo Ren A mode

Marc Davis Fan5 days ago

"Kylo is not here today but he'll swing by in his spaceship and say hi through the window"

mergatroid5 days ago

Whilst true the other option could be that whenever there's problems with Kylo they just close the attraction down whilst they try to get him working again. So it's kind of a situation on whether people would prefer to be able to ride it without Kylo or not ride it for x amount of time (or at all depending on the time) when he goes down. Personally I would prefer the attraction open in B mode than shut completely unless in A mode. The only concern with this way of operating would be that they think "Well there's no rush to get him working today because we have B mode". It's kind of like a double edged sword really, ideally the ride would never break down or malfunction but when it does it's kind of good for those who are desperate to see it even though the experience isn't as good. Perhaps if there was a way to find out whether it's in A mode or B mode before riding it would be the best way of operating it? However how would Disney do this without breaking the theming? If there was a sign saying "We're operating Kylo in B mode right now" it wouldn't look right. If they had a sign saying "Kylo is not here today as he's currently on a mission" then most wouldn't understand it either. Perhaps you could ask a CM before joining the queue, however that would only help a small % of the guests as many wouldn't even know there were different modes to begin with.

HoustonHorn5 days ago

When I was there for Thanksgiving, I had my first two experiences with the final Kylo in B mode. The first time, our transport was in the back, and it made no sense whatsoever. The second time, we were in front, so we saw Kylo in his ship in the "window," so there was at least some semblance of what was going on. To me, that isn't B-mode. That's just broken.

Disone5 days ago

You misunderstood the theming and brilliance of the story telling that is going on here. Disney put so much thought into star wars Galaxy's edge to make it their most immersive experience to date... You see General Hux and the first Order took out the shuttle, greatly limiting the Resistance ability to transport their new recruits. It was a fairly genius tactical move on the general's part and is definitely given the first order an advantage. :)

vikescaper5 days ago

Maybe I didn’t word it properly but we did both single rider and standby. We did single rider first and was fully expecting to head down the hallway. We did standby afterwards because the wait wasn’t long. They walked us through the briefing room and straight to the hallway as the shuttle was down.

JohnD5 days ago

Single rider purposely routes down that backstage hallway. If you want to be fully immersed, don't do single rider.

vikescaper5 days ago

I probably had my worst experience on Rise this past Sunday. For the first time, the shuttle was not working so we were routed down the backstage hallway to get to the Star Destroyer. We also got B-mode Kylo Ren at the end. We also decided to try the single riders line and felt that it wasn’t worth it since we save about 8 minutes (we timed it and it was a 42 minute wait compared to 50 for standby).

The Lochness MonstaNov 10, 2024

I wish they would have gone with the Mickey and Minnie seating. Rise has some of the worst in WdW. You are crammed in with strangers and can't reach the front bars. And if you manage to grab the bars it looks really awkward like you're getting on Tron Lightcycles.

networkproOct 31, 2024

It might make it worth riding again. We havent ridden it in the past two years as more than 30ish minutes waiting isn't worth it to us. The only variability in the ride is which vehicle you get assigned to which determines which elevator you go up. That said, its still much better than the button slapping coaxium ride.

JohnDOct 31, 2024

My observations. 1. If you remember anything, if you want to be fully immersed, do NOT ride Single Rider. 2. You go down a walkway by the exit intended for CMs. 3. Your first stop point is by a standard door with a rectangular window. You have a hidden view of the starcruiser. Think C-3PO and R2 waiting to board the Falcon on the Death Star. 4. The wait is counter-intuitive. You're not immediately plugged in to board the cruiser. You wait about every 6 groups from the briefing room to allow the single rider group to collect. Maybe 10 min. 4a. You're figuratively taken "outside" the experience. By that I mean, you only hear the music as the guests exit the briefing until after they have entered the starcruiser and the doors shut. Its like an out of body experience. 5. When enough have collected, you're escorted through the normal door into a normal hallway which connects with the briefing room waiting area. 6. All simgle riders are escorted into the same briefing room then together into the starcruiser. 7. On the FO ship, single riders wait at the same collection point to be dispatched. This is where the single rider portion takes effect. One got put with another group. 10 others were sent to the same meeting room waiting point. Two from the "regular" queue joined. 8. The rest is the same after that. if you don't have single lightning lane, its a good option. Otherwise, I prefer Rise with LL.

JohnDOct 30, 2024

They're still experimenting with it. I jusr rode LL. They told me about single rider as I exited. Will do later today.

PurduevianOct 15, 2024

It all comes down to $$ Does this hurt ILL sales? How much extra does it cost to staff Does this improve the GS enough that they are more likely to buy something now that they aren't stuck in line?