by Disney’s most ambitious attraction ever delivers a unique experience like never before! Our Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Review is FULL of SPOILERS!
When Disney announced its Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction, it promised an immersive world built around the Star Wars universe. Fans were excited to enter a galaxy far, far away and experience some of the franchise’s most iconic moments.
While the planet of Batuu is a new, never-before-seen world outside of the films, Galaxy’s Edge feels like a hodgepodge of some of the series’ best scenes. Still, as guests gulped down berry-flavored blue milk and boogied in an ancient alien cantina, something was missing. Even though Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run allows visitors to pilot the famous ship, the real theme of good versus evil was absent.
Enter Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, a 15+ minute ride through a surreal Star Wars adventure.
The land’s second phase not only brings a new ride, but it completes Galaxy’s Edge. New dimensions of thrilling adventure are brought to life by fantastic technology. In fact, the tech is so good that it looks like magic! You’ll see Kylo Ren’s lightsaber cut through metal, giant AT-ATs firing at you, and even a realistic hologram of Rey.
There are also tons of featured characters from the most recent Star Wars trilogy. Outside of Rey and Kylo are Finn, Po, BB-8, and an angry General Hux. All come together to tell a theatrical, draw-dropping masterpiece of a story.
Rise of the Resistance gets its name from the immersive adventure. Guests who arrive have “joined” the Resistance and vow to battle the wicked First Order. After a hopeful message from Rey—thanks to BB-8—a transport vehicle awaits those wishing to fight.
The transport is outside and works as the first large-scale ride. Using screens placed around the transport, an audio-animatronic Lieutenant Bek—a squid-like Mon Calamari—you begin the mission. The transport is an amazing ride in of itself. As you stand, holding onto handrails like in a subway or bus, the room shakes, lights flicker, and screens show incoming battleships.
Suddenly, everything has gone wrong. The First Order takes over and pulls your transport into a Star Destroyer. The wall opens—the same wall from which you entered—but now you’re facing cast members in First Order uniforms. They are angry, spitting “rebel scum” as they direct you from the transport. Yes, they are threatening, but behind them is an army of Stormtroopers. There is an exquisite scene with stars and flying ships. The space is massive, intimidating, and beautiful.
Here, you can snap photos and wander before lining up for the second half—the most exciting half. The First Order shuffles guests into new segments before General Hux and Kylo Ren appear. They want to know about the Rebel base on Batuu. As Kylo comes for you, a wall is realistically cut open (how they do that, we still don’t know)! Now, you’re at the dramatic conclusion.
Finn directs R-unit escape vehicles to take you from the ship. You wander through everywhere, whirling by probe droids and escaping enemy lasers! The vehicles are trackless and can move about in any direction. You spin, slide backward, and zoom out of danger’s way! All along, your R-unit is screaming and rotating its head. When Kylo Ren attacks, the danger is real. If Kylo doesn’t seem scary enough in the films, he does here. Disney brings Kylo to life with holograms and audio-animatronics. The towering, masked figure seems like a real menacing threat, ready to chop down anything in his way with a red blade.
Most impressive is how these trackless vehicles move. They slow down, speed up, go up elevators, and even drop! How they do this is unreal and totally mind-blowing. It’s certainly an experience worth waiting hours for.
Overall, Disney has outdone themselves again. Is this the best ride of all time? Many will say undoubtedly so. For us, we put it on par with the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland—still one of the best-told attractions of all time. While both are equally as immersive, Rise is far more advanced. The technology makes movie magic and danger seem real. Also, like Pirates of the Caribbean, this attraction has so many details that guests will notice something new with every ride.
We hoped you enjoyed our Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance review! The attraction opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the Walt Disney World Resort on December 5, 2019. Disneyland’s identical version opens on January 17, 2020.
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