by Is the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride at Walt Disney World and Disneyland a roller coaster?
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is one of the most immersive and creative rides ever designed. However, Rise of the Resistance is not a roller coaster. Instead, Disney uses several different vehicles to tell the amazing, nearly 20-minute story.
Yes, that’s right, Rise of the Resistance clocks in at nearly 20 minutes, depending on how you count it! Disney Imagineers designed about four different ride mechanics for this attraction.
The first is a motion simulation carrier with slight movement. It’s a Resistance ship that finds its way into sudden trouble. You stand in this part and the floor moves around you. Two windows display a battle with the First Order. However, this is a very tame, but very cool part of the ride.
The last three ride experiences use the same vehicle. A trackless ride with eight seats moves guests around. Trackless means that instead of a track like on a roller coaster or even a kids ride like Winnie the Pooh, this vehicle moves about on its own. Really, a computer tells the car where to go whether forward, to the ride, backward or even to stop. Since the car can pretty much go in any direction, it’s one amazing ride – without the scare of a coaster.
That doesn’t mean that Rise of the Resistance isn’t thrilling. Moving backward and spinning around make the rider feel part of the Star Wars galaxy like never before. At one point (this is the third ride method), the vehicle goes up in an elevator.
Finally, what goes up must come down! A very brief drop releases the car into space. There’s a lot of build up and warning that this will happen, but even knowing about it, the small drop feels surprising. However, unlike most roller coasters, this drop is straight down, like Tower of Terror, but much, much smaller.
We hope that this post clears up your questions about what type of experience you’ll have in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Disney wanted to make this a family friendly attraction, but still with some thrills, and they’ve done a marvelous job of it.
