How to Ride Rise of the Resistance in a Boarding Group | Disneyland

Rise of the Resistance at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland sent a surge of adrenaline and excitement through us—both the amazing ride AND the incredibly stressful process of trying to SIGN UP for the ride. As of now, there are only two main methods for how to ride Rise of Resistance: join a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group. This post will outline EVERYTHING you need to know to help you join one of the highly sought-after boarding groups for Rise of the Resistance, to experience the incredible ride for yourself.

Ever since the Disneyland Rise of the Resistance opened the new attraction has burst on the scene with a flurry of popularity. Here’s the problem: so many people WANT to get on the ride, but the ride has LIMITED capacity.

You can’t expect to walk in to Disneyland at noon and expect to be able to get into a Rise of the Resistance boarding group. Here’s how to ride Rise of the Resistance and beat the Rise of the Resistance wait time!

Before You Go

• Read our guide on how to score the cheapest flights
• Review our carry-on packing list 
• Learn everything you need to know about traveling through airport security
• Pack the right travel cameras and comfortable travel clothes
• Book your stay at an affordable Anaheim hotel. We like this one.
• Secure your car rental here or here
• Plan which of the nearby restaurants you’ll eat at, like Splitsville at Downtown Disney
• Get a good ol’ fashioned paperback LA guide that includes Disneyland & Orange County. We like this one.

Disclosure: We received comped Disneyland entry in exchange for review. As always, all opinions are very much our own!

How Many Rise of the Resistance Boarding Groups Are Available?

82 boarding groups are guaranteed entry to Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland daily.

If you’ve been assigned to a group higher than 82, don’t give up just yet, because you’re in a backup boarding group. In a backup boarding group, you may have the chance to board Rise of the Resistance, but it is not guaranteed, and only after every other boarding group has finished. So if you’re boarding group 83, you might still have a good chance; boarding group 115, better luck next time.

How to Ride Rise of the Resistance

If you want to experience Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland, make sure you follow these steps to increase your chances. The demand for the ride has been absolutely bonkers because it is one of the best Disneyland Star Wars rides.

Remember, the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland sometimes fills up just after one minute. This means that if you don’t get assigned to a boarding group in those crucial first minutes, you won’t be able to experience Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland that day.

There’s no FastPass, no MaxPass, or standby line for this ride, so following these strategies to get into Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland is the only way.

Getting to Disneyland early is always a good idea, especially if you’re visiting Disneyland with toddlers, but it’s absolutely essential if you’re trying to ride Rise of the Resistance.

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1. Download the Disneyland App

One of the most important things for how to ride Rise of the Resistance is the Disneyland app.  Make sure you have it downloaded before you get to Disneyland, as when the time comes to claim your spot, you don’t want to be wasting any time!

The app is absolutely crucial to securing your spot in a Rise of the Resistance boarding group.

Your boarding group information is tied to your park admission ticket. You need to make sure that your tickets are linked to your account in the Disneyland app. Also, it’s important that you make sure that your Disneyland app is up to date.

TIP: Download the Disneyland App and link your tickets into your account at least the day before you plan on visiting Disneyland.

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Visit here for more information on the Disneyland app.

2. Enter Disneyland before it opens

To secure your spot in a Rise of the Resistance boarding group, you’ll have to be in Disneyland the minute the boarding groups become available. These spaces are available immediately at park opening time.

Like we said, Rise of the Resistance is so popular, that every single boarding group spot can sell out within the first minute.

With that being said, we can’t stress how important it is to get inside Disneyland before the park opens. You’re allowed to go as far as the end of Main Street USA before the park officially opens. Make your way into Disneyland, and be ready with your Disneyland app to wait for the official opening time.

The opening time varies depending on the day and time of year, but typically is 8 or 9 AM. Make sure you check what time the park opens in advance! On the day of our visit, it was 8 AM.

Check out the Disneyland schedule here before you go.

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3. Get your Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group Pass

When it’s approaching opening time, navigate through the main page of the Disneyland app to the button that says “Star Wars Rise of the Resistance — Access By Boarding Group.” If you try to join a Rise of the Resistance Boarding group too early, the app will pop up with an error telling you that you can’t join a group yet.

As soon as it’s opening time, join a Rise of the Resistance boarding group!

TIP: Keep refreshing the app to see if the button to join a boarding group is active. We almost missed our chance for the Rise of the Resistance ride at Disneyland because we weren’t refreshing it at first! You might be too late if you wait until the button is activated on its own without refreshing.

Tap the “Star Wars Rise of the Resistance — Access By Boarding Group” button once it’s clickable.

You’ll then need to add the members of your party to your boarding group. It might take several hair-raising seconds until you find out if you’ve confirmed your boarding group spot, due to the thousands of people that might be using the app simultaneously.

4. Wait for your Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group Time

Each Rise of the Resistance boarding group has a two-hour window to get in line for the attraction.

Once assigned to a boarding group and time, you’re free to enjoy the rest of your time at Disneyland however you see fit. Make sure you’ve enabled push notifications on the Disneyland app!

Once it’s time for your boarding group, you’ll receive a push notification letting you know it’s time to make your way over. Then, you’ll have to wait in line for however long the Rise of the Resistance wait time is that day.

Alternative Method: How to Join a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group Without a Smartphone

If you or no one else in your party has a smart phone, there’s still a way to join a Rise of the Resistance boarding group at Disneyland.

Here’s how. Take your physical park tickets to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters FastPass kiosks to get assigned to a boarding group. You’ll be given a paper ticket that assigns you to a boarding group.

It’s absolutely crucial that you make it over to the Astro Blasters kiosks as soon as you possibly can. Since you won’t be able to get to the kiosks until right after park opening time, this lessens the odds of you being within the first 82 Disney Star Wars Rise of the Resistance groups.

Trying to join a boarding group through this method honestly isn’t ideal, but at least Disneyland has provided a way for guests without a smartphone to experience the ride.

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Rise of the Resistance Review

On our recent trip to Disneyland, we were lucky enough to experience the Disney Rise of the Resistance ride ourselves. We really had no preconceived notions, but we can honestly say that we were blown away by the whole experience.

The process of joining a Star Wars land Rise of the Resistance boarding group is pretty straightforward. We only wish that had known to refresh the app more! Luckily, we still got assigned to boarding group 66. A few more moments and we would have missed out completely on trying the Disney Rise of the Resistance ride.

Our boarding time was around 3PM, and we decided to head over to the Star Wars Galaxy Edge Rise of the Resistance area about an hour beforehand. We had plenty of time to ride Smugglers Run and stroll through Galaxy’s Edge while waiting for our time. The park wasn’t TOO busy when we visited in February. Therefore, our Rise of the Resistance wait time was only about 20 minutes or less.

Warning: Possible Rise of the Resistance Spoilers

The whole Disney Rise of the Resistance ride experience is immersive from the start. An audio-animatronic BB-8 droid greets you, filling you in on your mission as new Resistance recruits. Next, you board a shuttle which simulates takeoff and space travel. While traveling through space, you’re fired upon and captured by a Star Destroyer.

The excitement of Rise of the Resistance comes to a whole ‘nother level when the Star Destroyer captures your crew. Once the doors of the shuttle open into the Destroyer’s cavernous hangar bay, our jaws dropped. The scale of the attraction, the number of stormtroopers, and the attention to detail here wowed us.

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The Best Ride at Disneyland

Captured by First Order crewmembers (played by evilly in-character cast members), you’re then escorted to a cell to await interrogation by Kylo Ren. Here the Star Wars Galaxy Edge Rise of the Resistance ride takes another turn when the Resistance shows up to break you out.

As you escape through the bowels of the Star Destroyer, you’re pursued by Kylo Ren and his stormtroopers.

The audio-animatronic effects are particularly impressive. Without a doubt they’re the most immersive and realistic effects I’ve seen in any ride at any park. It’s easy to suspend your disbelief and imagine that you’re really part of the Star Wars universe on Rise of the Resistance.

My absolute favorite part of the ride was rushing by life-size AT-ATs with blaster fire whizzing past. An absolute wow moment, literally a dream come true for any Star Wars fan!

Since the Disneyland Rise of the Resistance ride opening date, the attraction remains incredibly popular. Attraction isn’t even the right word for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland. It’s really more of an experience. The sophisticated audio-animatronics, immersiveness, and dash of thrills make Star Wars Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland unlike any other ride you’ll find at the happiest place on earth.

Now that you know how to ride Rise of the Resistance, make sure you give it a try your next time at Disneyland! It’s really worth the bit of extra effort involved to join a Rise of the Resistance boarding group, and without the boarding group process I’m sure the Rise of the Resistance wait time would be positively heinous!

Plan the rest of your Anaheim trip! Check out which hotel we stayed at walking distance to Disneyland and learn about luxury bowling at Downtown Disney!

Heading to LA next? Check out our LA 5-Day Itinerary, LA Bucket List, the best places to eat in LA, the best drives in LA, our essential tips & tricks for Universal Studios Hollywood, and consider decorating your own cake at the Ace of Cakes chef’s studio!

Also, learn about the epic West Hollywood Carnaval, the best dog-friendly hikes in LA, and why we think LA is freaking awesome.

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