Rise of the Resistance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the most technologically advanced ride Disney has ever opened. The 18-minute journey involves a secret rebel base, interrogation from the First Order, uncomfortably close brushes with Kylo Ren and a daring rescue mission, and has sophisticated animatronics and a trackless ride system unlike anything else currently in Disneyland.
With all of those moving parts, though, the ride breaks down frequently. Rise of the Resistance can sometimes break down multiple times a day, often for long stretches. The ride already has modifications for minor breaks, like a scene with a Kylo Ren animatronic that has a “b mode” where a broken piece of wall blocks off the malfunctioning Ren and he’s shown on a screen instead. A room with cannons that dart out between ride cars has stopped the cannons from moving because they caused so many ride breakdowns.
But still, even with those fixes, larger problems happen. In fact, earlier this week, one Disneyland guest reported getting evacuated from Rise three times in the same day. “I’ve been on RoR 3 times today and have been evacuated every time,” the person posted on Reddit. “Sends [sic] thoughts and prayers!”
“I wonder if it will ever get to a point where this is not the norm,” a Disneyland Redditor responded. “It’s an awesome ride so I hope so.”
“At least you made it on,” another replied. “We tried several times today and each time it went down before we could even get to the line. It was not having a good day today.”
These frequent breakdowns cause problems with Rise for several reasons. First, the ride has shorter hours than most other attractions at Disneyland, closing at 9 p.m. even on nights the park stays open until midnight. Second, the ride offers Individual Lightning Lane tickets that cost up to $20 per person, which sell out almost immediately when they become available for the day. When the ride breaks down, everyone who has been waiting in line loses they time they’ve already spent. Thrill Data, which tracks theme park stats, puts the historical wait time average for Rise at 105 minutes.
But when the ride resumes operation after a breakdown, all of the ILL ticket-holders flood the Lightning Lane, and they get priority boarding — so the standby queue skyrockets, sometimes to two or three hours. Thrill Data’s maximum recorded wait time for Rise: 366 minutes.
“This is my nightmare,” one Disneyland Redditor said, “to spend $20 for LL and to not actually get the full ride experience.