Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is a motion simulator and "trackless" dark ride in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland. The attraction will put guests into the middle of a battle between the First Order (including First Order Stormtroopers) and the Resistance and feature an eight-seated ride vehicle known as a First Order Fleet Transport. Comprising of a series of preshows and interwoven ride systems that provide a seamless storyline, the attraction has been described as one of, if not the most advanced and intricate experience Walt Disney Imagineering has produced.
The ride is notably the first trackless dark ride at a Disney park in the United States; such ride systems had previously only been used in Tokyo and Paris. Since it is a "trackless" ride each time guests ride on it, they will be taken to a different route depending on which area their vehicle arrives at.
Announced alongside the land's official announcement at the 2015 D23 Expo in Anaheim, the attraction was originally described as guests "being placed in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance". On November 17, 2018 at a Destination D event, the attraction's name was announced as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Like the rest of the events depicted in the land, the ride takes place between Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.
The attraction was originally planned to open with Galaxy's Edge on opening day, but on March 7, 2019, it was announced that it would open later than the rest of Galaxy's Edge for "phase two".[2]
On July 11, 2019, the opening dates for Rise of the Resistance were revealed with the Hollywood Studios version opening first on December 5, 2019, followed by Disneyland's version opening on January 17, 2020. The Hollywood Studios version debuted to media event attendees on December 3 and 4th, when the attraction was dedicated in a presentation featuring full-sized X-Wing fighters in drone form taking off from behind the Batuu spires before jumping to lightspeed, followed by a stunt show in which Vi Moradi fought a First Order officer while Rey engaged in a lightsaber duel with Kylo Ren on an upper catwalk.
Summary[]
Queue and pre-shows[]
The queue itself plays a substantial part in the attraction. Guests enter the queue through a Resistance base. In the queue, the guests encounter BB-8 and receive a holographic transmission from Rey. She explains that a group of Resistance agents, lead by her good friend, Finn, have boarded a Star Destroyer that is en route to the Batuu system. Believing the base to be no longer safe, Rey explains to the guests that they will be boarding transports to rendezvous with resistance general, Leia Organa, on the planet Pacara. Nien Nunb and Lieutenant Bek are tasked with transporting the guests, escorted by Poe's squadron of X-wings. The doors then open and the queue leads to a Resistance Intersystem Transport Ship and Poe’s escort squadron parked outside readying for launch.
After guests board the ship, they go through final checks and depart the Forest Outpost. In space, Bek informs the guests that he and their escort will get them to Pacara safely. As they prepare to jump to light speed, Bek picks up an unusual signal, so Poe and BB-8 investigate. Suddenly, the convoy is attacked by a squadron of TIE fighters. Poe’s wingmen are both killed while trying to fend the fighters off so they can make the jump, and the guests’ ship is subsequently caught in the Star Destroyer's tractor beam. Poe leaves, promising to come back with reinforcements. The First Order officers demand that they bring down the shields so they can board the ship. Bek informs the guests to not mention the location of the secret base. Aboard the Star Destroyer, the riders are ushered by the First Order officers through a hangar where a detachment of stormtroopers awaits. The queue continues through the hallway and leads into a detention cell, where the riders are watched by stormtroopers and interrogated by General Hux and Kylo Ren. After the two leave the interrogation room to return to the bridge of the ship, Resistance fighters who have boarded the Destroyer cut a hole in the cell's wall, leading guests into the load area where they board a pair of First Order transports, each driven by an R5 astromech droid.
Ride[]
After boarding the transports, Finn informs guests that their vehicles' droids have been reprogrammed to help them escape by taking them down to the escape pods and flying them back to Batuu. For the bulk of the ride, Bek guides guests as they make their escape. Leaving the loading area, the guests ride past several empty transports of the same type as their own (in actuality, these vehicles are going to the loading area for the next set of riders), but avoid raising suspicion from them when their vehicle's onboard R5 units claim to the others that they are conducting a prisoner transfer and the empty transports' droids eventually buy it. After entering a hallway, the vehicles encounter a First Order probe droid, which almost spots them. Then they turn a corner and head towards the turbolifts, only to be caught by a pair of Stormtroopers on a catwalk, who immediately notice the droids are helping the guests escape, fire at the vehicles before sounding the alarm. Turning a corner, the vehicle ends up in a hangar with two full-sized AT-ATs and they split up towards different sides of the room. Finn tells the riders to take the turbolifts down to the escape pods while either taking cover by a doorway or near cargo crates (depending on which part of the room the vehicle has moved to). However, as the droids are still adjusting to their new programming, they accidentally send the vehicles to an upper level, where they get shot at by the walkers and the onboard troopers.
After escaping from the AT-ATs, the vehicles sneak into the bridge of the Star Destroyer, where Kylo Ren is conferring with General Hux about how the Resistance will attempt to rescue the guests. Kylo is informed of the guests' escape and spots them just as the rebel fleet arrives and begins attacking the Star Destroyer. Cornering the riders in the hallway, Kylo ignites his lightsaber and leaps toward the vehicles just as the turbolift door closes. This does little to slow him down, however, as he jumps onto the roof of the turbolift and starts cutting into it using his lightsaber. The lift reaches the next floor as the riders escape.
In the next room, cannons are firing at the Resistance ships outside. Evading the cannons, Finn orders the riders to abandon the ship, which is about to explode, as they encounter Kylo Ren again. He freezes both transports with the Force, pulls them towards him and tells the riders that they have no escape for them. He tells the riders that they will be forced to give him the location of the Resistance base and then he is going to destroy them both. Before he can act, a disabled TIE fighter hits the side of the ship, opening it up to the vacuum of space. Kylo Ren screams in anger as he is sucked out of the hole, and the riders make their escape as debris fall over him. As the air rushes around them, the guests' transports then enter their escape pods, which are then launched with a drop. With some help from Poe, the pods free fall back to Batuu. Flying over Black Spire Outpost, the pods crash land inside the remains of a wrecked ship. Finn congratulates the guests for their escape but has trouble finding Bek. Soon, Bek comes online from his escape pod and congratulates both the guests and the astromech droids for helping to keep the Resistance's base safe from the First Order. Guests then exit their vehicle in the outdoor unload area before returning to the Forest Outpost.