VIDEO - Changes to Star Wars Rise of the Resistance aim to increase capacity but may take you out of Batuu

Oct 29, 2020 in "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance"

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Star Wars Rise of the Resistance - increased capacity October 28 2020

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Posted: Thursday October 29, 2020 11:53am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney is continuing to work on increasing the hourly capacity of its signature ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and recent changes have brought in a lot more plexiglass and a trip to another planet.

Since reopening in mid-July, each pre-show has been limited to just a handful of guests, along with just one party per ride vehicle. The ride has struggled with capacity since it opened in 2019, and the the physical distancing requirements of COVID-19 have amplified the problem.

Boarding Groups continue to reach capacity within 10 seconds of becoming available, and many guests are unable to experience the attraction during their visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

For a complete look at the latest changes, see the video below from yesterday for a trip through the queue and full POV of the pre-shows and ride, and scroll down for more details of what's new.

Outside of the attraction, operations is making much more use of available queuing space. The line often begins in Grand Avenue outside of Batuu, and once inside, it snakes around the area in-front of the ride entrance.

The lines start position varies but is often outside of Galaxy's Edge

Physical distancing markers on the ground are dotted around the entire land.

Star Wars Rise of the Resistance - increased capacity October 28 2020

To try to accommodate as many people in the queue as possible, and to keep them 6 feet apart, guests now go for a mid-story break out of Batuu and back to Earth for a trip to the Muppets overflow queue. See the video above for exactly when this occurs, but it's roughly half way in the main Rise of the Resistance queue.

The queue uses the Muppets overflow line

The queue moves outside of the Rise show building

You even get a view of a bit of Studios history, with a look at part of the still standing Streets of America facade that is now hidden from normal view.

The queue ventures behind the show building giving a look at an old set piece

After queueing along the Muppet overflow queue, guests head back inside and are suddenly back in Batuu to continue the story.

Back inside and on-theme, new plastic dividers are now in place in the pre-show area, meaning many more guests can enter the room at one time.

Plastic dividers allow more groups to be loaded into the pre-show area

The transport shuttle is now equipped with similar dividers, fitting many more guests in that was previously possible.

Plastic dividers allow more groups to be loaded into the transport

Depending where you happen to be positioned, it does impact your view of the animatronic figure and other effects on the transport.

The interrogation rooms are now equipped with 4 ground markers to accommodate up to 4 parties, which fits in with changes to the main ride vehicles.

Over the past few weeks Disney has been testing various types of plastic shielding on the main ride vehicles, and they have settled on a rigid panel to divide the front and back rows.

Plastic dividers allow two parties in each ride vehicle

The new dividers mean two parties can now ride in a single ride vehicle, which is why there is now a need to accommodate up to 4 groups in the interrogation room.

Plastic dividers now separate the two rows with 2 parties now being loaded into one vehicle

It remains to be seen how the changes will work out and if Disney will be successful in getting more guests through the attraction. Boarding Groups have continued to reach capacity within 10 seconds since the new changes were introduced yesterday, and the total number of boarding groups loaded did not significantly change.

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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?