Rise of the Resistance...ride discussion (spoilers)

[Jennasis]

We rode Friday and everything was working. It was a great experience...truly innovative and interesting. We loved it.

I will say that when got rescued from the interrogation room there was a delay in which we just sat in the ride vehicles. Maybe it was only 2 minutes but it felt long and it killed the vibe/urgency of the rescue/escape as we just sat there while the CM fiddled with buttons on her console.

Hopefully they can tighten up that timing and move more seamlessly from that room to the ride vehicle and into the next room.

Like all rides, often those pauses are due to loading/unloading issues (someone needing assistance etc) rather than a mistake with "timing".

 

[musika]

With the fairly short (40 inch) height requirement, how many children do you see riding this? My daughter hit 40 inches by 4-years-old, and will be almost 5 when we go. Selfishly, I want to go on this, but don't want to completely traumatize her if it's really intensely scary.

I would suggest showing her one of the Star Wars movies first before you go and see how she reacts. My 4.5 year old loves the movies and has watched most of them (Except the middle three. Because, ugh.) He had zero issues at all with being scared and was totally into it. On the flip side, my more sensitive almost 8 year old was a bit nervous in parts, especially during the First Order portion. Overall though both kids loved it. I would say it is better for kids than the MFSR because mine didn't really understand the idea of hitting the buttons on the side on that one while watching the mission (Luckily I knew enough to give dad the pilot card in a last minute swap!)

 

[only hope]

We rode Friday and everything was working. It was a great experience...truly innovative and interesting. We loved it.

I will say that when got rescued from the interrogation room there was a delay in which we just sat in the ride vehicles. Maybe it was only 2 minutes but it felt long and it killed the vibe/urgency of the rescue/escape as we just sat there while the CM fiddled with buttons on her console.

Hopefully they can tighten up that timing and move more seamlessly from that room to the ride vehicle and into the next room.

Last time I rode it we were delayed about two minutes as well...but the Resistance rescuers didn’t just stand there. They engaged in conversation with us about the escape. We were trying to determine who exactly programmed our droid.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Are we the only ones? Yesterday, we got up early, got boarding group 75 and were all done by 1 pm. And when we finished, we both said, "really?". I don't get what all the hype is about. Trackless was cool but it didn't really build to anything but about 60 seconds of Star Tours. Anyone else underwhelmed?

While I was not underwhelmed, I think I can understand where you are coming from with your comment. Living up to the “hype” - in my case a hype purposely void of almost any information specific to the ride - probably left a high bar unable to to be reached.

I was entertained, but I did feel maybe I would have been really "wowed" if I had some sort of Star Wars knowledge base other than the originally trilogy. I mean, the visuals and everything about it were stunning - the story-line went a bit over my head which I think may have impacted my perception of the attraction.

But we're the weird ones that actually really like MFSR - that ride is a blast in my opinion - so obviously my taste in attractions must be flawed!

 

[YawningDodo]

Maybe we didn't. It was our first time so I have no way of knowing. Now that I've had time to think about it, I've come to realize that,to me, it's actually The Great Movie Ride for Star Wars. Since I find Star Wars entertaining but I'm no super fan, perhaps the ride is not particularly interesting to me. I find the cm interaction as awkward as the movie ride was and not enjoyable.

I was expecting a thrill ride and it was not that, IMO. I wished there had been a thread that said something along those lines before I wasted a morning. I don't consider that a spoiler so I was surprised that it was incorporated in this thread.



Gasp! What? I do love FoP so I've got that in my favor. ☺I'm not always a grump about a new ride.

If you were expecting a thrill ride I can see why you were disappointed. I didn't expect a thrill ride--I'd tried not to learn anything about it but had heard by accident that there were multiple animatronics, multiple ride systems, etc., so I think I had a better (if still very vague) idea of what I was going to experience. I was honestly kind of annoyed that someone let slip there was a drop and I knew to expect it. Oh, well. But I'll take visually rich/story-driven rides over thrill rides most of the time, even though I do love thrill rides (Tower of Terror is my favorite on all of property if we're talking ride mechanism as main criteria).

Have you tried the Hagrid's roller coaster at Universal Islands of Adventure? It might be more up your alley.

We rode Friday and everything was working. It was a great experience...truly innovative and interesting. We loved it.

I will say that when got rescued from the interrogation room there was a delay in which we just sat in the ride vehicles. Maybe it was only 2 minutes but it felt long and it killed the vibe/urgency of the rescue/escape as we just sat there while the CM fiddled with buttons on her console.

Hopefully they can tighten up that timing and move more seamlessly from that room to the ride vehicle and into the next room.

Last time I rode it we were delayed about two minutes as well...but the Resistance rescuers didn’t just stand there. They engaged in conversation with us about the escape. We were trying to determine who exactly programmed our droid.

I experienced a pretty significant delay there on the third time I got cleared from the ride. The CM's did a bunch of back and forth pretending they didn't know what button to push to tune in to the message Finn was trying to send us, asked for our suggestions even though we couldn't see the panels they were working at, that sort of thing. And then the ride did start but we got stopped and cleared before we'd gotten far. So it made me really nervous the other time I had a brief delay there; it could just be loading/unloading issues, but I wonder if it's also connected to larger issues that lead to shutdowns.

While I was not underwhelmed, I think I can understand where you are coming from with your comment. Living up to the “hype” - in my case a hype purposely void of almost any information specific to the ride - probably left a high bar unable to to be reached.

I was entertained, but I did feel maybe I would have been really "wowed" if I had some sort of Star Wars knowledge base other than the originally trilogy. I mean, the visuals and everything about it were stunning - the story-line went a bit over my head which I think may have impacted my perception of the attraction.

But we're the weird ones that actually really like MFSR - that ride is a blast in my opinion - so obviously my taste in attractions must be flawed!

And this could be a factor, too. I haven't obsessively watched and re-watched the newest trilogy, but I have seen all of it, plus I read the main tie-in novel for Galaxy's Edge (Black Spire, which is about the founding of the Resistance base on Batuu). So I suppose I had a better basis for who's-who and what's-what...plus honestly I found the idea of having to abandon the base a bit heartbreaking, knowing what sacrifices were made to establish it. I'll say that my one disappointment in RotR is that Vi didn't factor into its storyline at any point. On the one hand I get it, the majority of guests won't have read the book and don't know who she is. On the other hand, she's the reason the Resistance even has a base on Batuu and I would have liked to see even the smallest nod to that.

Re: MFSR, I rode it twice and loved it the first time when I went through the whole queue and was one of the pilots, even though we did crash the MF repeatedly (in my defense there was a child in the other pilot's seat). The second time I took the single rider line and was the gunner, and it was a resounding "meh." I think the main reason was that the single rider line skips the pre-show and the pre-show was a big part of what sold the attraction for me, but it also didn't help that as gunner I found it really difficult to actively engage beyond wild button-mashing (I had my targeting set to manual but it was very hard to actually hit anything with the limited range of aiming provided by the different buttons). As a pilot I felt like I had a direct impact on the experience; as a gunner I was mostly just along for the ride.

 

[yulilin3]

I keep coming back to the same point. RotR and in some extent MFSR are a new type of offering by Disney. They have moved away from having the guest be a passive bystander and put them in the middle of the story. Some WDW visitors are not used to or open to that type of experience. If you allow yourself to be immersed you will enjoy it ore, even role playing helps, every time I'm at MFSR I get in my mind that i have a job to do to ship the cargo best way I can, and it gets me all hyped up
As far as RotR not being a thrill ride, I don't think I ever saw one comment, not even in the early stages or before the attraction opened, that it would be a thrill ride. No one mentioned that. All the Imagineers said it would be immersive, technologically advanced and long, but never said thrill ride, so expecting something to be something without any real reason to believe it will be is on you. The hype was never about thrills

 

[only hope]

Yes, Vi should have been included somehow. At the very least they could have had some of her stuff in the caves.

 

[lizzilou]

With the fairly short (40 inch) height requirement, how many children do you see riding this? My daughter hit 40 inches by 4-years-old, and will be almost 5 when we go. Selfishly, I want to go on this, but don't want to completely traumatize her if it's really intensely scary.

My 5 year old niece, who is usually OK with rides, said it was scary and declined to go again for her rider swap FP. She wasn't terrified, but it was a bit much for her.

 

[shb5007]

Was able to get my 2nd ride in today. Was 2nd to last BG (luckyyyy). Was also happy that it was reverse from my first ride and I was able to notice some differences.

 

[YawningDodo]

Was able to get my 2nd ride in today. Was 2nd to last BG (luckyyyy). Was also happy that it was reverse from my first ride and I was able to notice some differences.

Lucky! Both of the times I got to ride all the way through I got the same choreography/side each time. I know there probably aren't huge differences but I'm looking forward to (maybe) being in the other vehicle next year.

 

[Leigh L]

Lucky! Both of the times I got to ride all the way through I got the same choreography/side each time. I know there probably aren't huge differences but I'm looking forward to (maybe) being in the other vehicle next year.

Same here!
I didn't realize until after we got home and I started reading this thread that there were two perspectives (and I'd totally missed Finn our first time through - we saw him lying down).

 

[sullyfam]

While I thought it was awesome and really well done, very immersive, I too was expecting a thrill ride so was a bit underwhelmed. I purposely didn't read anything about the ride ahead of time in terms of play by play spoilers, just only kept seeing that it was the "best ride at WDW so far" and "better than FOP." Based on those very generic and general comments, I was expecting a thrill ride of sorts. I knew when we got to the part where we loaded, that it wasn't going to be a thrill ride as there was no harness or anything.

We also got there at 6:30 a.m. on a day when the ride was experiencing a lot of issues. We were boarding group 58, which I originally thought was decent, but because of all the problems we didn't get on the ride until about 6:30 p.m. So after 12 hours in the park, sheer exhaustion and all the build up and "hype" involved, I think that added to us being underwhelmed. I would definitely ride it again but no need to get up at the crack of dawn until they figure out a better system and potentially FP availability.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Like all rides, often those pauses are due to loading/unloading issues (someone needing assistance etc) rather than a mistake with "timing".

No I don't think so.

 

[Jennasis]

No I don't think so.

We rode 3 times on the day after the ride opened. Our first two rides everything ran like clockwork. We got in the vehicle and it went right into the instructions from Finn and then off we went. On our third ride, we sat for about a minute and a half before anything happened.

It's not the ride's timing and there is nothing to "tighten up". When it runs as intended it's wonderfully seamless. Sometimes stuff happens.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

We rode 3 times on the day after the ride opened. Our first two rides everything ran like clockwork. We got in the vehicle and it went right into the instructions from Finn and then off we went. On our third ride, we sat for about a minute and a half before anything happened.

It's not the ride's timing and there is nothing to "tighten up". When it runs as intended it's wonderfully seamless. Sometimes stuff happens.

They need to tighten it up so it always runs like your first two rides. Even with slow unloaders. I'm sure they can do it, this isn't Haunted Mansion or Pirates. It seems to me they wouldn't design such a cool immersive escape sequence with a Resistance fighter rescuing you and hurriedly placing you in a escape vehicle and then say to themselves "well we will just hold people there if someone at the tail end of the ride is slow getting off". The place to hold you would be the interrogation room, where the immersion is maintained.

 

[Jennasis]

They need to tighten it up so it always runs like your first two rides. Even with slow unloaders. I'm sure they can do it, this isn't Haunted Mansion or Pirates. It seems to me they wouldn't design such a cool immersive escape sequence with a Resistance fighter rescuing you and hurriedly placing you in a escape vehicle and then say to themselves "well we will just hold people there if someone at the tail end of the ride is slow getting off". The place to hold you would be the interrogation room, where the immersion is maintained.

They DO hold you in the interrogation room...if you're in the interrogation room (like the group behind you was). Rides have breakdowns or loading/unloading issues. It's just the nature of the beast.

There is nothing to tighten up. But you seem determined to cling to this idea of yours, so carry on. Hopefully your next ride will be more to your liking.

 

[karly05]

I rode this twice last week, Monday 2/3 and Thursday 2/6. Monday 7am open, BG 34, called at 2:13. Thursday, 8 am open, BG 65, called at 2:54.

Loved it! But I was excited by the whole process, standing at the bus stop at Pop at 5:41 am, freezing on Sunset Blvd before dawn, hearing the cheers go up - that was an experience in itself!

I had watched a ton of videos beforehand and was still impressed. I was orange both times, but had different paths - 2nd time I got to face the AT-AT! Pretty sure everything was working both times - certainly all the major stuff. Each ride there was one thing I didn't quite catch because I was looking at something else at the time.

I rode FOP for the first time on this trip, too, and loved it. I don't want to choose between them because they are so different and each great in their own ways. I will say I couldn't care less about Avatar but found FOP an awesome ride, and conversely I think a lot of my enjoyment of RotR came from my familiarity with and affection for Star Wars.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

They DO hold you in the interrogation room...if you're in the interrogation room (like the group behind you was). Rides have breakdowns or loading/unloading issues. It's just the nature of the beast.

There is nothing to tighten up. But you seem determined to cling to this idea of yours, so carry on. Hopefully your next ride will be more to your liking.

Yes they need tightening. The ride is down many hours a day we all know it.

If they just tightened up that part where riders are rescued so that they could be seamlessly transported into the next room that would be great. As it is...it's a great ride. But knowing how Imagineers want to plus things and make it perfect I am sure they will iron out that delay after rescue and all your future rides will be more to your liking. Or maybe not...since you are happy as is.

 

[osufeth24]

I'll add on Friday when I went on it, we were literally the very first people on the ride, and first car. When we were seated, we probably sat there for a good couple of minutes. I thought for sure we were going to be escorted off the ride. But eventually whatever the delay was they got, and we did the whole thing with everything working. Apparently the ride shut down at some point while we were on the ride as people mentioned they were escorted out around 830am (we got off the ride at 840).

Felt bad for the CMs as they were trying to stay in character, but running out of things to do.

 

[ninafeliz]

We rode last Wednesday, Feb 5. It went down while we were in line in the morning and we got FPs to return, we used them at around 11:30 when it went up again and didn’t have any wait for the first preshow. I just now watched a full ride through by blogmickey, and have a few random thoughts on the ride.

1. we were completely rushed off of the transport ship and through the huge hangar in the Star destroyer. I took a few photos as we walked, but no one stopped for photos or even dawdled. Then we just waited in the hall for maybe 10-15 min before being put into the colored groups and into the interrogation room. I wish we could have spent some of that time in line really looking around the Star destroyer. It was amazing, and on the ride through I watched people were milling around and taking some photos. I hope next time I can notice more, I think that room and the AT-AT room were the ones that really wowed me the most.
2. When they put us on the colors on the floor prior to the interrogation room they really stressed, over and over again, to remember our color (in character). Based on some other comments I gather people were not following color when they got into the vehicles, they must be trying to stop that.
3. We rode in the opposite vehicle from the one I saw on the video, I wasn’t sure I would remember but it wasn’t that hard once I saw the POV, it came back to me. We were up front for the probe droid and went up the elevator in front of an AT AT, not beside it.
4. I completely missed seeing Finn when we rode. Is he an AA or an actor? On the video he looked real, but I’m wondering if they would have a CM there all the time or if it was just a pretty good AA.
5. I think we didn’t have the full version of the very last Kylo Ren. I might be just misremembering, but it seems to me that he just kind of turned toward us but in the video he got nearly sucked out of the ship after a hole was blasted into my the side of the ship. Is that possible? I don’t see how I would have missed or forgot that entire scene but maybe I did. Is it possible he just stood there and turned toward us? Is there a video somewhere of alternatives to that scene when it isn’t working fully?
6. There were so many details I missed, I really want to ride again just to have time to look around and see things both again and things I didn’t see at all. I just found out we might come back in April, so I hope I can ride again then.
7. while I was amazed by it and loved it, I kind of wish they had built an equally amazing thrill ride. After we rode my kids and I discussed whether we liked this or Hagrid’s best, since we just got to ride that in December and it has similar breakdown issues and is the newest ride there that is said to be amazing. My oldest son actually said he likes this Better, I can’t decide. They’re just different. I liked Hagrids for the....funness (I know that isn’t a word) of the ride, I liked this for the amazingness of the ride. I’m not sure I can choose. Based on one ride each I’m going to say I had more sheer fun on Hagrid’s, but was awed by this. Both were great though.