Disneyland 2020: Rise of the Resistance.

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE RISE OF THE RESISTANCE RIDE AT DISNEYLAND.

Yes, it's impressive. Keep moving. 

An officer of the First Order, The Rise of the Resistance

8:59 AM - Disneyland, Main Street, USA.  The street is filled with small groups of people, most of whom are staring fixedly at their phones and tapping rapidly on the screens.  9:01, and some of the groups begin to cheer and high five - against all odds, they've managed to get onto the exclusive digital queue for Rise of the Resistance, the latest addition to Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland.  As they say, the struggle is real.

Unlike everything else at the park, Rise of the Resistance, the incredible new ride which has only been live since January 17th, relies on an online reservation system rather than fast passes or just getting in line.  At 9:00 am every morning, the park unlocks access to the site for the ride, and people can attempt to create a boarding group that will board the ride at some point during the day.

I use the term "attempt" advisedly.  I have no idea what percentage of the park's guests are trying to get a spot in the queue, but it's generally completely full for the day within about five minutes of the reservations site opening.  This suggests that competition for slots is fierce, thereby explaining the high fives on Main Street.

We don't even try on the first of our three mornings at the park - the system requires we download the app and that all our passes be scanned in and linked together while being connected to the Disney wifi network, and we don't get into the park fast enough to make that happen in time for the release of the boarding group queue.

Day two, we're ready - we become one of the huddled clusters of people on Main Street who are staring at their phones as the clock ticks over to 9:00.  Two of us camp on the site, the others jump back and forth from the main page to the access page.  To my mild surprise, I get a spot in line for our group - we're Boarding Group 46, out of approximately 100 for the day (actual throughput on the ride varies, depending on group size - and not infrequent mechanical failures). The system will give us a two hour window to report to the ride and join the actual line.  Karli, who has done a lot of research for our visit, estimates sometime in the mid-afternoon, and she's right, our report time is just after 2:00 pm.

Day three, we decide to try again - it's an exciting experience, and what do we have to lose?  We find a spot with strong wifi, and we're ready to go at 8:59.  Amazingly, I get us in queue once again, there must be some kind of positive energy associated with being a science fiction fan.  This time we're in Boarding Group 9, so we do a quick visit to Star Tours and then head over to Black Spire Outpost and its concealed Resistance base almost immediately.

It seems so limiting to call Rise of the Resistance a ride.  Yes, there is a point in the process where you end up in a seat and get whisked away, but beyond that, Disney has brilliantly expanded the boundaries of the ride experience.

You begin by making your way past a defensive laser turret and through a dusty alien temple* that's been converted to a Resistance base, past lockers of weapons and flight suits, until you are ushered into the ready room by members of the Resistance.  Once there, you're initially greeted by BB-8, and then Rey makes a holographic appearance to explain what's in store for us as new recruits to the Resistance**, and mentions that Finn and a group of Resistance soldiers has managed to infiltrate a First Order Star Destroyer.

Poe Dameron makes a video appearance from his X-Wing's cockpit to confirm that he and his flight group will be accompanying the shuttle that's transporting us to the Resistance training centre at General Leia Organa's hidden base, the location of which must be concealed from the First Order at all costs.

We leave the briefing area, and go outside to board a shuttle commanded by Lieutenant Bek, a Mon Calamari officer, and unexpectedly piloted by Sullustan smuggler Nien Nunb, who we last saw co-piloting the Millennium Falcon with Lando Calrissian in The Return of the Jedi.  Unfortunately, shortly after takeoff we attract the attention of the First Order - our outnumbered escorts are eliminated one by one, until only Poe remains.  Forced to retreat, he promises to send us help as our shuttle is drawn into the waiting maw of a Star Destroyer.

And that's when the experience REALLY starts.  The doors through which we entered the shuttle re-open, revealing a cavernous landing bay filled with First Order officers and a threatening cohort of armoured stormtroopers.  Behind the troops, a panoramic view of patrolling star destroyers is visible through the bay's force field.

We're brusquely ordered into the ship's prisoner receiving area, where more First Order officers bark commands to stand in line as they split us up into colour-coded groups and then usher us into holding cells, where a stormtrooper monitors us from a raised walkway.

After a brief wait, General Hux and a masked Kylo Ren pay us a menacing visit, but are called back to the bridge before they can begin to interrogate us.

As we ponder our fate, there's a flare of energy and a massive hole appears in the cell wall - Poe Dameron has delivered on his promise, and we're being rescued by Finn and his Resistance team.  As two of the soldiers urge us to strap into our seats in a commandeered 8-seat First Order Transport Vehicle piloted by a black and red R5 astromech droid, I have a brief epiphany:  the last 20 minutes has actually been nothing more - and nothing less - than the most sophisticated example of line management that Disney has ever come up with.

Once we're strapped in, our R5 attempts a direct run to the escape pods, but a probe droid blocks our path.  We rapidly reverse and seek another route, only to be confronted by a pair of stormtroopers who open fire on us.

KT video frame

As laser rounds char the walls of the corridor, we once again retreat,  and enter a mammoth garage, where a pair of towering AT-ATs loom above us. Our path blocked once again, we back onto an elevator as Finn and more of his group return fire at a squad of stormtroopers on a catwalk.

As we take an elevator up, a startled officer in an AT-AT cockpit points us out to a stormtrooper who grabs for his blaster rifle and opens fire.

Attempting to find a safe refuge, our droid driver makes a bad choice, and we find ourselves below the bridge, where Hux and Kylo Ren shout orders at the crew as the Resistance fleet erupts from hyperspace and launches an X-wing attack.

A female voice announces, "Sir, the prisoners have escaped!"

Kylo Ren spins and looks down at us.

"How brave - but ultimately hopeless.  There's nowhere to run!"

The shuttle reverses again and seeks a new route.  As we board another lift and blast doors close behind us, a masked figure leaps down from above and stalks toward the transport as he activates a flaming scarlet light saber:  an angry Kylo Ren is in pursuit.

KT video frame

His anger is immediately demonstrated as the blade of his light saber plunges through the ceiling of the elevator and he begins to cut his way in.  We quickly leave the elevator and pass through a bank of ion cannons that recoil and return to firing position over our heads as they thunder away at the attacking ships that are visible beyond the gunports.  As we pass glowing red battle damage in the ship's hull, Finn commandeers the intercom system and warns all Resistance personnel to abandon ship.

Then a voice speaks from behind the shuttle.

"There's no escape! You will tell me the location of the secret base, and then I will destroy you, and the Resistance!!"

Kylo Ren has found us.

KT video frame

As he rages at us, a sudden wind springs up from behind as the ship's hull is blasted open behind him, threatening to drag Ren into the vacuum of space.  Structural beams collapse around him, giving us an opportunity to make a getaway.

We finally find the escape pods - there's a moment of free fall as we drop precipitously from the bay, follow Resistance X-Wings through a conflagration of exploding ships, and then glide through the clouds and back to Batuu, where we breathlessly leave the pod and return to the real world.

 

The Rise of the Resistance provides an astonishing and unique experience, it's  exactly like being part of a Star Wars movie.  The 17 minute multi-level escape through the Star Destroyer is a whirlwind combination of action and narrative that keeps you on the edge of your transporter seat for the entire time without giving you the feeling that it's a "ride" - there are no tracks or guides for the transporters, and the incredibly detailed interiors and views create a complete illusion of being on a gigantic starship in the middle of a battle between fleets.

The actual Disney cast members do a superb job as soldiers on both sides.  The members of the First Order who assault and pursue you during your Star Destroyer escape are a combination of sophisticated video projection and animatronics, but the result is completely convincing.  The impressive degree of involvement by so many of the actors from the final trilogy is the final touch - the only other thing they could do to enhance the rider experience would be to put you in a costume.

I'm very glad that we were able to get reservations twice - the first time, I wanted to take pictures and record the experience somehow, which hampered my ability to enjoy what was happening (a realization that made me put my phone away about half way through our escape run.)  The second time, I was simply along for the ride, and what an incredible ride it was.  Long live the Resistance!

- Sid

* Come to think of it, there seems to be a lot of this sort of thing in the Star Wars universe.  I wonder how the Catholic church would feel if a bunch of militant aliens set up a base at St. Paul's Cathedral?

** The Galaxy's Edge timeline falls between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, so presumably we're part of the fire lit by the spark of the Resistance.