Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is arguably one of Walt Disney World’s most immersive and technologically impressive ride experiences. Even those who have never seen Star Wars have commented on how fantastic this ride is. Until recently, the only way you could ride Rise of the Resistance was to procure a boarding group using the MyDisneyExperience app Virtual Queue feature.

However, Disney has now opened the standby line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. This means you can now get in line at any time to experience the ride. While you may have spent time mastering the techniques to get that coveted boarding group, it isn’t going to work as a strategy for experiencing the ride at this time.

Expectedly, Rise of the Resistance can garner quite the standby wait time. It has not been uncommon for wait times to reach above 3 hours at times. Guests have few different options when trying to decide how to experience this ride without waiting for hours.

Choice #1: Rope Drop

The first strategy is to “rope drop” Rise of the Resistance. To “rope drop” means to get to the park before opening and rush to a specific ride once allowed in the park. Resort guests are currently allowed into the park 30 minutes earlier than non-resort guests. Because of this reason, if you are not staying on-site, “rope drop” probably will not be the best strategy for you. Even shortly after opening, the wait times have been jumping drastically. Unless you are one of the first people in the park, you are likely still going to experience a long wait time even shortly after the park opening. However, if you are staying on-site, get to the park as early as possible. I recommend at least 30 minutes before early entry is set to start. They will escort the hoard of people heading to Rise of the Resistance back to the ride once the park opens. If you are in this initial group, it can be a good way to keep your wait time lower.

Choice #2: Wait it out

The second strategy is to wait until the evening. I have been monitoring wait times for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance for the past couple of weeks, and the wait times typically dip under to an hour in the evening. I have seen waits as low as 35-40 minutes in the late afternoon and evening. This is going to be the better strategy for people who are not staying on-site. Additionally, at Walt Disney World, the ride queues remain open until the park closes (pending any technical issues with the ride). This means if the park closes at 9:00, you can get in the line up until 8:59. This is a great time management plan as you will spend your time waiting while the park is already closed, and you will not be wasting time waiting when you could be riding other rides or enjoying dining experiences.

The final strategy is not exactly a strategy but may be an option for some people. Without the use of the virtual queue, it is worth noting that the DAS or Disability Access Service is now easier to use for Rise of the Resistance. As with other rides, you can use DAS to get a return time and bypass physically waiting in the long standby queue. For example, if the ride wait time is 90 minutes, the cast member at the ride entrance will instruct you to return 90 minutes later at which time you will go through the Lightning Lane entrance. This is only applicable if the guest who holds the DAS pass will be riding. This service is only available for those with qualifying reasons that prevent them from standing in a standard standby queue. Please visit Disney’s website for full criteria if you believe you may qualify for this service.

After months of learning how to quickly tap through the virtual queue screens at exactly 7:00:00am, we must now rethink our strategy when it comes to riding Rise of the Resistance. No matter which strategy you choose, the ride is truly an epic and completely immersive experience that shouldn’t be missed.