How to Get a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group

UPDATE: Disney has made a slight change to the Boarding Group process which will take effect on December 20, 2020. Boarding Groups will now become available at 7:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Guests with a valid ticket and Park Pass Reservation for Hollywood Studios will be able to try to secure a boarding group at 7:00 AM and can do so from outside the park. Guests who do not secure a boarding group at 7:00 AM can try again at 1:00 PM when more spaces are released, though for this opening guests must be inside the park, in addition to having a valid park ticket and a Park Pass Reservation for Hollywood Studios.

Boarding Groups for Rise of the Resistance

The anticipation and excitement around getting a Rise of the Resistance boarding group is somehow both a stressful and fun experience all at the same time. My family will certainly have some “magical memories” of waking up at 4:30 AM, rolling out of bed, calling a Lyft and waiting in a massive crowd in hopes of getting a boarding pass to ride Rise of the Resistance. The relief and excitement of actually getting a boarding pass is where it all starts to pay off though. Every member of our party said it was well worth the early wake up after we landed back at Batau from our Resistance mission. Rise of the Resistance is unlike any other ride any of us had ever experienced.

Plan Ahead

How boarding groups work for Rise of the Resistance (RotR) has already changed multiple times since its grand opening December 5^th 2019 and we have updated this guide to the latest known virtual queue system Disney is using. A recent change allows guests to have their first opportunity to secure a boarding group at 7:00 AM, before the park opens. These times are subject to change, as they have been adjusted several times in recent months so be sure to double check! Rise of the Resistance is extremely popular and can run out of boarding pass within minutes of the window opening. If this is a “must do” for your family, you will need to plan ahead and plan on being ready exactly at the start of the distribution time.

How Do Boarding Groups Work?

Before your visit to Hollywood Studios, make sure you have the My Disney Experience app downloaded onto your smart phone. You’ll also need to make sure everyone’s tickets are correctly linked into your My Disney Experience (MDE) and you have Park Pass reservations for Hollywood Studios in advance. In your MDE is where you will actually go to join the virtual queue once the window opens.

We suggest that everyone in your party download the app as there are many technical glitches that can occur during signing up. Multiple people can be trying to get a boarding group at the same time. This is helpful in case one member experiences a technical glitch. We will highlight troubleshooting and common errors at the end of this post to give you the best chance getting a boarding group even when you encounter My Disney Experience technical glitches. Now let’s get into how the boarding groups and virtual queue actually work!

How to Join the Virtual Queue

To join the virtual queue everyone in your party that is planning to ride RotR will need to have a valid ticket and Park Pass reservation for Hollywood Studios. For the 1:00 PM virtual queue opening, all guests must also have scanned their Magic Band or park ticket to enter Hollywood Studios and be inside the park. When it’s time, you be able click the boarding group option in the My Disney Experience app and proceed through the following steps.

Select Your Party

From this screen, you’ll select each guest’s name who is planning to ride. The app may automatically select the names of every guest who has a Park Pass reservation for that day – in that case you can just select ‘Join a Boarding Group’. When you are successful, your boarding group number will show on the app, and it will also show what group they are currently boarding.

Your Boarding Group Number

You can keep checking back on the app to see what boarding group they are up to, and they should send you a push notification when your number is called. We suggest manually checking back within your app and not relying solely on the push notifications. There are also signs posted in a few locations around the park where you can see what boarding group is currently allowed to ride. Once your group number is posted, you are able to ride any time within the next hour.

If you have a lot of time before your boarding group for Rise of the Resistance will be called, you can actually leave Hollywood Studios and remain in the virtual queue. If you have Park Hoppers you can go to a different park or go back to your resort. Just make sure you are back to ride within 1 hour of your boarding group being called!

It’s Time!

Our Boarding Group is called for Rise of the Resistance

When it’s your turn to experience RotR, you will head to Galaxy’s Edge and meet the Resistance forces waiting for you. You will then make your way to the Resistance bunker where they will brief you on the mission in the queue. With the boarding group system the queues are much shorter than they would be otherwise without the boarding groups. It can still vary heavily depending on the crowds and how long ago a new boarding group was called, but general wait times are reported to be anywhere from 15-40 minutes once in the queue. There is a significant amount of pre-show experiences before you get to the actual mission so the line should go by quickly!

Rise of the Resistance is a completely new type of ride experience and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Helpful tips/troubleshooting for getting a boarding group number

Make sure everyone who is riding RotR is linked to one MDE (If you are meeting friends who are not linked in MDE they need to do their own from their own account/smart phone).
Make sure you update your My Disney Experience app to the latest version of the app.
Have the app opened and ready a few minutes in advance of the queue opening.
If you need help, find a “Guest Experience” team member. At Hollywood Studios Guest Experience Team wear blue shirts with the Tower of Terror logo. The Sunset Boulevard Guest Experience team usually has shorter lines since everyone is headed to either Galaxy’s Edge to ride Smugglers run or to Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land. Continue to follow the troubleshoot options below while you wait for a Guest Experience team member to help you.
If your app doesn’t allow you to join right away close it completely and re-launch the app.
Turn off Wi-Fi and use your phone’s mobile data
Make sure you turn on Bluetooth and location access for the app:

Reduce the number of people you are trying to join a Boarding Group with. A common issue is park tickets not updating once someone enters Hollywood Studios. Make the boarding group for as many as you can first, then proceed to a cast member for further assistance. All people in your party will need to be there at the Guest Experience team to prove that the guest having issues was actually in the park.
Look for Disney Cast members with an iPad when it’s time for the queue to open. Try to stand near to them before you even have a problem. This allows you to be near the front of the line in case something does go wrong with Disney technology. They can become quickly overwhelmed because if you are having a problem it’s possible that many other people are having problems, too.

Let us know about your experience with getting a Boarding Group for Rise of the Resistance!

We have had a fairly smooth time getting our Boarding Group for Rise of the Resistance every time we’ve ridden. We hope this guide helps you feel prepared in getting a boarding group so you can experience this amazing attraction, too. This ride is really indescribable and we absolutely love it! Have you ridden Rise of the Resistance yet? Let us know about your experience in the comments below!

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