With “The Mandalorian and Grogu” now playing at theaters, Star Wars is back in the spotlight. This week, let’s head to a galaxy not all that far, far away at the Disney parks and focus on one of parkdom’s greatest achievements.
It is the highlight of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland in California and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, one of the four theme parks at Walt Disney World in Florida. And it just may be the best park attraction in the world. But here’s the thing: As with most rides, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance includes some thrills. Would you be able to handle them? Would you want to?
Unlike a roller coaster or any amusement park ride that is outdoors and easily viewed from the midway, visitors at the Disney parks have no visual cues to observe Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in action and gauge its intensity. That’s because the attraction takes place inside an enormous show building nestled in a wooded area. So, I will do my best to explain what occurs during Rise. That way, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about whether you (or the people who might be among your theme park posse) would be up to giving it a whirl.
What kind of ride is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance?
First of all, it’s important to note that Rise is not a single ride experience. Unlike, say, Mission: Space at Epcot, which uses centrifuge technology to simulate space travel, or the Soarin’ rides at Disney California Adventure and Epcot, which uses (and pioneered) the concept of a flying theater to take guests on an “airborne” hang gliding journey to famous locales, the Star Wars attraction uses multiple ride systems and unfolds across a series of acts to engage guests in its narrative. It therefore takes some unpacking to describe what happens.
The entire experience lasts about 17 minutes. The sheer length of Rise, which is considerably longer than the more typical four-minute-or-so theme park attraction, only begins to hint at its epic scale and sheer wow factor. It is a triumph of park and attraction design, technology, and immersive storytelling. That’s why it is worthy of your careful consideration. If ever there was a must-ride Disney attraction, Rise is it.
But if you fall somewhere along the upper end of the theme park ride wimp spectrum (and you know who you are), you might be nervous about trying the Star Wars attraction. By demystifying Rise and divulging what happens during the experience, I run the risk of ruining the element of surprise for you. Ideally, it would be great if you could try the Star Wars attraction cold, without any prior knowledge. But, if you really want to know what to expect, consider this a big honkin’ spoiler warning–though the focus will be on the thrill-inducing aspects of the attraction, not the plot.
The Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands depict Batuu, a planet created for the parks. Batuu is a trading port that attracts eccentric characters from around the galaxy. At its center is Black Spire Outpost, which includes merchants selling wares in bazaar stalls, a cantina, and some eateries. Oh, and the Millennium Falcon just happens to be docked there. The Resistance (the good guys) have set up a secret encampment in a forested area on the outskirts of the village. This is where Rise is located.
According to the backstory of Galaxy’s Edge, the First Order arrived on Batuu a few weeks ago. A showdown is brewing between the sworn enemies, and you are about to be plopped into the middle of it.
The first act: Blast off
As you make your way through the encampment, you’ll see equipment cabinets and medical supplies stored by the Resistance. For the pre-show that sets the story in motion, you will be led into a briefing room where you will meet a holographic Rey. She will entrust you with some vital information that you cannot divulge to the First Order, or the fate of the galaxy may be doomed. (That, kids, is what is known as foreshadowing.)
For the first act of the attraction, you will board an Intersystem Transport Ship. It is supposed to whisk you away for a short journey to rendezvous on a safe planet. In usual theme park fashion, however, things will go horribly wrong.
This part of the attraction uses motion simulator ride technology, like Despicable Me Minion Mayhem at the Universal Parks, or one of the earliest attractions to use the concept, Star Tours at the Disney parks. Unlike those attractions, however, you stand aboard Rise’s transport vehicle. To give you a sense of the ride intensity, no safety restraints are used. You will experience a sense of space travel as the motion of the vehicle syncs with the action you can see through the viewing windows in the front and rear of the cabin, but it is quite mild.
Throughout this overview, I will use a thrill scale of 0 to 10 to rate the physical intensity of the experience, where 0 means no thrills and 10 means extreme thrills. Note that there are also psychological thrills; I have not factored those in. But if you are okay with the PG-13 hijinks of the Star Wars films, you’ll be fine with the drama you’ll encounter during Rise.
I give the first act on the Intersystem Transport Ship a thrill rating of 2.25. For comparison, Minion Mayhem and Star Tours rate 3.25 on the thrill-o-meter. Nearly everybody should be fine with the thrills delivered here. They are equivalent to the sensations you might experience aboard a fast subway car that navigates some small hills and turns.
The second act: Oh oh!
For the second act of Rise, you’ll be walking through the Star Destroyer. The size and scope of the massive carrier is impressive. When the door of the ship opens, you will be greeted by a phalanx of armed stormtroopers. You won’t experience any physical thrills here, but you will experience some deeply immersive and highly impressive storytelling.
The third act: Dodge the blaster bolts
For the third act, which is the heart of the attraction, you will be whisked onto Star Destroyer Fleet Transports. The eight-passenger vehicles are highly sophisticated and use trackless ride technology. Instead of guide tracks, onboard computers determine the path, speed, and motion of the vehicles.
The action is frenetic, but not overly wild. The vehicles speed up, come to sudden halts, spin a bit, and execute other evasive maneuvers as they try to avoid detection, dodge fire, or otherwise get out of harm’s way. At one point, your vehicle will board an elevator and rise perhaps 25 feet into the air to the upper levels of the Star Destroyer. I give the third act a thrill rating of 2.75. It is not as wild as Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, which uses Disney’s Enhanced Motion Vehicles. Like Rise’s first act on the Transport Ship, virtually everybody should be able to handle this part of the attraction.
The finale: Let’s get the heck outta here
For the fourth and final act of Rise of the Resistance, Disney combines three ride systems. This is where things get a bit hairy. But only a bit.
Major spoiler alert: You and your mates aboard the Fleet Transport will, in fact, make it out alive from the Star Destroyer and to safety. But you knew that, right?
Your Fleet Transport will lock down onto an escape pod. The pod is actually a motion base, that, like the Intersystem Transport Ship in the first act, will move in sync with projected action to simulate space travel. Remember how I wrote that you will rise about 25 feet in the air earlier in the attraction? Well, what goes up must come down. To get away from the Star Destroyer, your escape pod will suddenly plummet in space before your droid can regain control and pilot you back to Batuu.
Here is how Disney accomplishes the effect: As I indicated, the trackless ride vehicle is locked down onto a motion base. The motion base is then coupled with a drop tower-like mechanism to deliver a freefall. Think Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but instead of a 199-foot drop, Rise drops perhaps 25 or 30 feet. It is startling, but not nearly as thrilling as the Tower of Terror. I give that terrorizing attraction a 7 on the thrill scale.
For the final act in the escape pod, I assign a thrill rating of 3.25. That is the same as the rating for Star Tours. The motion simulator thrills are similar (although the duration of the experience is much shorter), and, although it includes a drop, the freefall sensation is not all that intense. If you are okay with Star Tours and similar motion simulator rides, you should be okay with Rise of the Resistance.
Who can (and should) go on Rise of the Resistance?
With a relatively low height restriction of 40 inches (102 centimeters), children as young as 4 might be tall enough to ride. That doesn’t necessarily mean they should. The same goes for tweens, teens, and adults. Sure, thrill rides are supposed to be thrilling but regardless of height or age, the thrills that Rise delivers may not be appealing to some people. That should be a personal decision.
Still, Rise is relatively mild when compared to many other park rides and attractions. Some roller coasters, of course, are incredibly extreme. While Disney World and Disneyland do not have any Six Flags-level coasters, they do offer some thrills that are considerably more intense than Rise.
How would you rate the thrills on Rise of the Resistance? Do you think most young children could handle the attraction?
My wife, who will now pass on Star Tours, loves this ride, has ridden it multiple times, and will keep riding it. She is good with the trackless vehicles and less screens. She also loves Railway which uses similar vehicles.