The dreaded sign…I was first able to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance as part of a media preview. This was the day before the ride officially opened. I have told you a lot about Boarding Groups, but I had never experienced one, until yesterday.
Just because I had not personally gone through the Boarding Group process did not mean that I didn’t know what was going on. I know a lot of people who have, and they have given me their thoughts about the process. My daughter has also ridden with a Boarding Group, so I have based a lot of what I’ve written on her experience.
Having finally ridden with a group, I continue to stand by my previous assessment that the Boarding Groups are a great idea. The process runs smoothly, any delays that you might have heard about have been because the ride was down. The amount of time from when we scanned our MagicBands until we were off the ride was about 40 minutes. That certainly beats standing in line for 180 minutes, which is the as-I-write-this Wait Time for Flight of Passage. A good part of that 40 minutes was the preshow and the ride. There wasn’t a lot of standing around, doing nothing.
When it is time for your group to board, you will have two hours. If you allow notifications in the My Disney Experience App, you should receive one. You can also check the status of your Boarding Group in the app. If your group has been called, you can see what time you have until you ride. The time listed is when you need to scan your MagicBand or ticket by.
We had until 1:20 to scan, and we arrived at 1:17. We weren’t being as irresponsible as close as it sounds, we had some unexpected problems that I promise you that you will not have to deal with. Even cutting it close, we made it in time.
There is one major piece of advice that I would like to offer if you plan to arrive early and get a spot as soon as they are available at the park’s opening. Make sure that you have the latest version of the My Disney Experience App, and also make sure that it is closed until the moment that the groups are supposed to open. If you aren’t sure how to close an app, do a quick Google search for your particular phone, or ask the nearest six year old. If the app isn’t closed, it might not refresh, and you could miss a chance to get into an early group.
The first couple of weeks that Rise of the Resistance was open there were groups that weren’t getting called. Disney has dealt with that problem by creating what I’ll call “Fingers Crossed Groups”. (I know that isn’t the official term, but it works for me.) After all of the groups below a certain number have been filled, they are still taking people in new groups. People in the upper groups are warned that they might not be able to ride. Those guests will have their fingers crossed that they will be able to ride, hence the name that I created.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance seems to have been running more smoothly over the past few days. When we rode yesterday, we were in Boarding Group 61, and we expected to be called in the middle of the afternoon. Our group ended up being called at 11:20, which was why we cut it close on time. We thought that we would be called much later.
It is going to be interesting to see how things work once Rise of the Resistance opens in California. I am sure that they learned a lot by how things have been working here in Florida, and it should be easy to implement the successful parts out there. I won’t be there to see it (I have no idea when I’ll visit Batuu West again), but I have friends out there, and I look forward to hearing their experiences.
I know that a lot of people are stressing about getting onto Rise of the Resistance, but you really shouldn’t. Arrive at the park early, make sure that everyone in your party is with you, and open the app as soon as the park officially opens for the day. After you’re in a group just keep checking back. The process works really well, and it isn’t nearly as stressful as it sounds.