From the very beginning, obtaining a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance has been a stressful experience. When the parks reopened, there was hope that Disney used the downtime to rethink the process and improve it. They did, but not by much. Instead of one boarding group distribution time, there were three. Now the Rise of the Resistance boarding group times have changed again starting tomorrow, July 24th.

Fewer Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group Times

The change, announced today, drops the 4 pm distribution time completely. It also moves the 1 pm distribution time back to 2 pm. Given that the 4 pm group was frequently never even activated, this change is not a surprise.

Unfortunately, this change means even fewer guests will have a chance to ride what is easily Disney’s most popular attraction. This is in part because the ride breaks down sometimes multiple times a day, or needs to be reset, or is temporarily shut down for ride vehicle cleaning due to COVID-19 safety measures. We were fortunate enough to experience the attraction on the first day of reopening, but on our second visit, our boarding group was not called until after the park had closed.

We got our passes in the 1 pm group the day we did not get called. This experience is exactly why Disney has pushed back the second distribution time as it may become clear by 2 pm that the first distribution group may take the entire day. There is no sense it creating false hope for hundreds of guests if none can truly exist. All it does is create a backup at guest relations.

Advantage to Hotel Guests

Because of this change, there is an even bigger advantage given to hotel guests at this time. On our second visit since the reopening, we arrived at the parking lot at roughly 9:35 am. By the time we had parked and reached the security checkpoint, it was 10 am. Unless you arrive just early enough to enter the parking lot and have enough time to get scanned into the main gate before 10 am, there is a very good chance you won’t get to ride. Disney resort hotel guests don’t have this problem as the Skyliner drops them off with more than enough time to enter. No backups in the parking lot to worry about.

For more on the changes to Rise of the Resistance, including a discussion on getting a boarding group, check out our video below or on YouTube.