Rise of the Resistance opened at Disneyland on January 17th! This much-anticipated ride had people camping outside in the wee morning hours! It was all chance whether or not you would get on. This ride had everything! Big effects, scenic, and great storytelling. One word comes to mind: MASSIVE! Was the ride totally amazing? The answer is YES!

I braved going on opening weekend and the crowd level at DLR wasn’t as bad as I thought. I think the idea of the die-hard fans on opening weekend freaked some ppl out because the park seemed relatively empty. I rode on Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

 My friend picked me up at 6 am – it was still dark outside and we made our way to Disney. 35 minutes later we were getting off the exit and arrived at the Parking Lot Entrance. There were cars that were lined up past the overhang. I’d say it was about 6:45 am by the time we got to the parking cashier. By the time we went through security and waited for the tram, it was about 7:15 am. We waited in line for them to open the gates and get scanned in. The line was almost to California Adventure.

We get into Disneyland by 7:35 am. This is what it looked like just by City Hall. All of Main Street, up to the areas where you enter the different lands were open. As the minutes went by, more and more people kept flocking.  These are all the people trying to get on Rise. My party grabbed some breakfast from Jolly Holiday and there were tons of people seated and eating. Everyone is checking their phones and you hear debates on what the best chances are to get a boarding pass. (PS. a boarding pass is pretty much a waiting list to get on the ride.)

Slightly before 8 am, they open the rest of the park.  Everyone is going to different places.  We had 3 people in our group (all passes linked in our app) and we all went to Galaxy’s Edge. Our heart rates are soaring as we eagerly stare at our phone at 7:59 am — we all have the app open. 8 am on the dot hits and we all try for a boarding group. The option to join a boarding group wasn’t lit up for 2/3 of us and the 3rd person in our group was able to get in and we got Group 49. WALLAH!  The guy around us gets 84. Within SECONDS the boarding groups have closed — No more passes for the rest of the day.  With boarding group 49, we got called to go to the area around 2 pm.  We had to wait in line for the attraction which probably took about 30 minutes before entering the first part of the attraction.

MY TIPS TO GET A BOARDING PASS

• Download the Disneyland App and link everyone’s pass to your party.
• Delete anyone that is not in your party. It will slow you down if you have to uncheck people.
• The more people you have in your party, the better the chances. Each person has a chance.
• You MUST be scanned into the Disneyland park before opening to be able to get a pass. So does whoever else is in your party. If some of you aren’t scanned in, you won’t get a pass.
• California Adventure sign-ins do not count. You have to be scanned into Disneyland.
• There are two screens for you to be able to get a pass from. The main screen where it says “STAR WARS: RISE OF THE RESISTANCE – ACCESS BY BOARDING GROUP”. Click the “Find Out More” Button.
• The second screen – you hit the three lines to the very bottom right of the menu, there is an icon that says “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge”.
• Don’t be on the main screen as it doesn’t just light up. I could be wrong on this…but I haven’t heard of such a thing happening.
• If you have a seconds clock, use that. Open the app when it’s turning 8 am and get on a boarding group!