When we planned our trip to Disneyland, we hadn’t paid much attention to the fact that it timed up with the opening of the new Rise of the Resistance ride in Galaxy’s Edge. I knew exploring Galaxy’s Edge would be on our itinerary, but a new ride opening wasn’t on my radar. Honestly, if it was, I might have thought twice because I hate crowds at Disneyland!
Being married to a Star Wars fan, I’ve been exposed and indoctrinated, but I wouldn’t consider myself a fan. I have a deep appreciation for the magic of Disney, and I knew I would appreciate all the detail that went into Galaxy’s Edge. What I didn’t expect was that I’d leave a full fledged Star Wars fan.
Rise of the Resistance is unlike anything Disney has ever done. When they call it an “experience,” they aren’t kidding. From the new technology they incorporated, the storytelling, to the actual ride itself- I was truly impressed at every single inch of it. There are a million places to get spoilers, so I’ll just focus on how to get on the ride. It never even crossed my mind to take pictures because I was so immersed in taking in every inch of the ride.
There is a catch to getting on this ride! They clearly anticipated how well this ride would be received because there is no standby line and Fast Passes aren’t available. If you want to ride Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland, you need to have a Boarding Group.
How We Got a Boarding Group
- Scan your ticket in at the Main Gate. If your ticket is not activated, you will not be able to get a Boarding Pass.
- Download the Disneyland app. Do this before getting to the park.
- Use a Magic Morning. When you buy more than a two day ticket, you are granted a Magic Morning, which means that you get early access to the park. However, so do many other people. We were in line for the Main Gate (already past the security check point!) at 7:30 am the morning we got Boarding Passes. We were let into the park prior to 8:00 am, then once the rope dropped at 8:00 am, we rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.
- Stay off the Disneyland WiFi. Boarding Passes are released at exactly 9:00 am, which means everyone is trying to do the same thing at the same time and if you’re all trying it on the same network, your chances aren’t great. We have 5G, which is what we used when we got Boarding Passes.
- Get out of the Park. After we rode the two rides in Tomorrowland, we left Disneyland. We had heard that you must be within the general Disneyland area, but away from the crowds who could potentially clog our network connections. We hadn’t had breakfast, so we went to La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney. It’s right on the edge of the plaza between Disneyland and California Adventure. We ordered food and waited for 9:00 am.
- Only link the tickets for those in your party who will be riding. Luckily, both kids were tall enough to ride. We had all four tickets linked in the Disneyland app (which is really a great idea regardless). However, if you have people who will not be riding, or will be joining you later and haven’t scanned in, temporarily remove them.
- Have the app open and refreshed prior to 9:00 am. AJ and I used both of our phones in an attempt to get Boarding Passes. The app will periodically kick you out, so make sure you are logged in, refreshed and ready to go prior to 9:00 am.
- Watch that clock and get those fingers ready! The Boarding Pass button appears on the home screen of the app. I had that open, and was watching the clock and completely ignoring my children starting at 8:59. As soon as it hit 9:00, I was able to hit the “Join Boarding Group” button and was lead through the screens until I saw the message that we had received a Boarding Group. Honestly, I cannot remember what the screens in between said because I was trying to click through them as quickly as I could.
“Join Boarding Group” at 9:00 am
Following all of the steps above, I was able to get Boarding Group 22 for all of the tickets linked to my app! To give you an idea of how well that ranked, they had been going up to anywhere from 100-150 when we were there.
AJ was doing all of the exact same things I was and the first few times he was denied. When that happened, he would go back and try again. I think he tried a total of 2-3 times until I go accepted. Then, since our tickets were linked, he was unable to get one for that day.
Overall, I think Disneyland came up with a really brilliant way to distribute Boarding Passes for Rise of the Resistance. I couldn’t even imagine the chaos that would come with opening a standby line, or the stampede that would ensue if they offered Fast Passes. Galaxy’s Edge is in the very far corner of the park and there were a large number of, shall we say, very serious fans.
If you are planning a trip to Disneyland in the near future, I hope these tips help you! At first, I thought all of this effort was a little over the top and I was mostly doing it to placate AJ and be a good wife. But, Rise of the Resistance is truly so incredible, and worth the extra early morning and effort to get a Boarding Pass. I won’t wait 45 minutes to ride Peter Pan, but I’ll trek across the park through the throngs of people waiting in line at the Main Gate to get a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Pass! LOL!!
Have you ridden Rise of the Resistance? Drop your tips to getting a Boarding Pass, or your thoughts on the ride below. I’d love to hear what you thought and what worked for you!
Thinking about a trip to Disneyland soon and need a great place to stay? We stayed at Hotel Indigo Anaheim on this visit and loved it! You can read more about our stay here!
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