Rise of the Resistance is one of the best attractions – if not the very best attraction – in all of Walt Disney World. Guests wanting to go on Rise of the Resistance have to secure a virtual boarding pass and wait in a virtual queue before entering the regular line.
Unfortunately, the process to get a virtual boarding pass is one of the most frustrating experiences in Walt Disney World.
How to acquire a boarding pass has changed a few times since Rise of the Resistance opened in 2019 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As of the date of this article, guests have two chances each day to enter the virtual queue – 7am and 1pm. You can attempt to get a boarding pass from any location using the My Disney Experience app as long as you have a valid ticket and theme park reservation.
The issue lies in the fact the boarding groups vanish in seconds. Literally. Checking the code, we can see approximately when the boarding groups are marked full. The 7am slot typically fills up in about 7 seconds. The 1pm slot can sometimes be a bit more generous filling up in about 9 seconds.
But, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to secure a boarding pass if you click on the ‘Join’ button the second it appears. You can hit the button, add your group and click confirm well within the first couple seconds and you may still end up on the outside looking in.
Our Most Recent Experience
We consider ourselves savvy Disney guests and we practice the best tips and tricks to get a Rise of the Resistance boarding group. The goal was to plan multiple days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in order to give ourselves multiple chances to experience Rise of the Resistance. We understand this a luxury many visitors won’t have.
We went 1-for-4 in our Rise of the Resistance boarding group attempts. Our lone success was at the 1pm window on our final attempt. While we eventually succeeded, a family visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios for just one day would be shut out. It’s maddening tapping ‘Join’ immediately when it appears at 7am and seeing a “All boarding groups have been distributed” error. It starts your magical day on a sour note.
What Can Be Done?
Countless guests are left feeling confused and frustrated each day. Ultimately, there’s not much Disney can do at this stage. They built an amazing attraction that has low capacity and plenty of dependability issues. Even on a perfect day most guests won’t be able to experience the ride.
The best thing Disney can do is keep Rise of the Resistance running as smoothly as possible. That may sound silly, but the ride frequently has technical problems. Increased uptime means more boarding groups can be offered and more guests can enjoy the attraction.
Hopefully Disney will learn from this poor guest experience and design rides with improved capacity in the future.
