How to Get into Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland
As an annual pass holder and Disneyland fanatic, I was dying to ride the new Rise of the Resistance ride in Star Wars Land when it first came out. The problem was, every time I went to Disneyland it was IMPOSSIBLE to get in! So I called the amazing people at Disney to see how I could get into the ride and they gave me some tips. Here is how I got a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance:
1. Download the Disneyland App
Many of you may already have this app on your phone. If not, make sure you have this app downloaded before you get to the park.
First, make sure you are logged into the app and have all members of your groups tickets/passes attached to your app. I got signed out for some reason and noticed at the last minute, this could have destroyed my plan!
Then, take some time to familiarize yourself with the app. These boarding groups go so quickly that if you are not on right as the park opens, you will not get in. Find out where you need to go.
If you are unsure, here are the steps to get to where you need to be:
1. Open the app.
2. At the top of the app you will see a map of Disneyland and below it you will see a picture and then the title ‘Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – Access by Boarding Group‘. Underneath that you will see a button that says ‘Find Out More‘, click that.
3. Once you get to that page you will see two buttons ‘My Status‘ and ‘Join a Boarding Group‘. Keep this page open right around the time the park is set to open.
2. Get to Disney Early! Like Really Early!
I was not thrilled to hear I needed to be at the park an hour before the park opens, especially because I was planning to go on a Friday, when the park opened at 8AM! MAKE SURE YOU GO ONLINE AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TIME THE PARK IS OPENING THE DAY YOU ARE PLANNING TO GO. I am not an early bird and hate to get up early but I am SO glad I did. I got into the parking garage right before 7AM. I chose to walk to the park instead of taking the tram. I thought this may cut down on time waiting for the tram and to get through security.
When I got to the park entrance around 7:15AM every single line into Disneyland was PACKED! I was panicking and not sure if I would be able to get a boarding group. The lady on the phone from Disney told me they sometimes let people through the gates early and she was not wrong. I got into the park at 7:35AM on a day the park opened at 8AM.
One thing to keep in mind while you wait, the boarding groups are not assigned until the official park opening time. So even though I was in the park at 7:35AM I could not sign up for a boarding group until 8AM.
Another thing to keep in mind, the lines to get into Disneyland were so long that I worried I would not get in by the time the park opened. I asked a Disneyland Cast Member if I could enter California Adventure, since the lines were much shorter, and sign up for a boarding group. The answer is, “NO!“. You have to be scanned into Disneyland, NOT California Adventure, in order to be eligible to get into a boarding group. So again, get to the park early and make sure you are scanned into the park before the park opens!
3. Be Scanned into Disneyland & on the App at Park Opening
This is very important! Once you are in the park, make sure you are on the app and watching the clock closely. I cannot tell you how fast these boarding groups go. As the clock changed from 7:59AM to 8:00AM I instantly clicked ‘My Status‘ and then ‘Join a Boarding Group‘ and I got boarding group 54. The people next to me did it at the same time and got group 70. The app states that groups 71 and up only will be called if all other groups get through that day. These groups fill up within the first seconds to minutes of the official park opening. BE as fast as you can!
That’s it! It is pretty simple but keep in mind there is no guarantee that you will get assigned a boarding group even if you follow these steps. These are tips the people at Disney gave me and these are the steps I followed to successfully get assigned a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. It is extremely difficult to get into this ride so if you are like me and need to get in. Try this out and see if you too can get in!
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out by email or social media! If you’re reading this and you are able to get into a boarding group using these steps, screen shot your boarding group and DM me on instagram and I will repost on my story! I hope this helps you all get into the ride! It is one of the best rides, if not, the best ride in the park! It is 100% worth getting up early for!
Want to find out more about what the ride is like? Keep checking back for my full review of Rise of the Resistance ride!