Today marked the highly-anticipated grand opening of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The attraction opened to rave reviews from even the toughest critics, and despite experiencing some brief downtime in the early morning hours, operation has run rather smoothly throughout the day, with most Boarding Groups accommodated. However, as we near the end of park operations for the day (DHS closes at 10:00 PM), it appears that later Boarding Groups will not be able to experience the attraction.
Distribution for Boarding Groups, the virtual queueing system that’s been in place since the land’s opening (but was never put to use until today due to low crowds), ended earlier this morning at 9:00 AM with just over 150 Boarding Groups scheduled throughout the day. Currently (as of 7:30 PM publishing time), the attraction is now boarding Groups 97 – 108, and at an average of one new boarding group per six minutes, it appears they will not be able to accommodate many of the later groups. (Those reportedly affected range from group 137 to 154.)
In order to make up for it, it appears that Disney is distributing both anytime FastPasses to the Rise of the Resistance attraction and 1-Day Park Hopper Tickets to all guests who were promised a boarding time and will not be able to experience the attraction today. This is surprisingly generous of Disney, especially since plenty of warning was given that joining a boarding group did not guarantee the ability to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Annual Passholders who have been waiting all day to experience the new attraction have taken to social media both to inform other guests in later boarding groups and to express their frustration and hopes that they’ll be able to ride it before the first day is officially over:
Disney is giving free tickets to guests they weren’t able to accommodate that they issued boarding passes! pic.twitter.com/vBlcPRb1wf
— Ryan (@DisPhotography_) December 5, 2019
If you are in one of the later Boarding Groups and receive one of these messages, do let us know!
I’m in group 115 and it stopped at 108😣
I, for one, am totally disgusted with Disney at the moment. My partner and I wasted an entire day at Hollywood Studios, waiting for a chance to ride Rise of the Resistance, only to be eventually informed that will not be permitted to enjoy the attraction. Once again Disney failed to deliver on an attractions opening day and they allowed far too many undesirable guests into the park. My partner and I were under a non stop virtual assault by various cretins and louts throughout the day, constantly jostling us and making unwanted contact due to the high volume of visitors. I do not understand why Disney does not screen it’s visitors, as it was painfully clear that a majority of the visitors were there simply to clog the line of Rise of the Resistance and congest the common areas. These cretins simply do not appreciate Disney or Star Wars and were there to simply to make the day miserable for real Disney guests.
Please tell me you’re joking…
My wife and I got this message and the 1 day hopper and the fastpass but now I need to know how to use it on the Rise of the Resistance.
I was in group 112. At about 6:45, with group 108 the last listed, the ride shut down. It opened again about an hour later. I finally got on at almost exactly 12 hours of my entering the park. In the indoor line, a guy behind me asked me if I had received the same message he had–that he wouldn’t be boarding (he had a lower number than I had!), and that he would be getting a free Fast Pass for the ride.
That’s great… I’m glad they are offering something. Disney usually does not let crowds test thier product… in fact I have in the past thought if Disney is letting us do it…we are all ok. However I don’t thiink this is the case after our gondola ride in November. I think they are will.to risk a but more than the usual Disney garuntee.
We are passholders love Disney …live out of state… We were stuck in a gondola in November for more than 40 minutes and my 5 year old has his first panic attack and literally were offered nothing not even an apology. It course my dear was that we would be there for much longer and the recorded voice and intercom seemed just as unsure.
I made the kids get on the next gondola so they would not be scarred or think less of disney magic but it definitely has stuck with me.
Maybe they need to actually reevaluate some of thier new products and let people know they are still.in the testing process and guests could decide whether that participate or not…