Rise of the Resistance: The Greatest Attraction On Earth!
Rise of the Resistance made its Disneyland debut on January 17, 2020 and there are no words in the English language to describe its magnificence. They literally have yet to be invented because what my friend and I experienced was nothing short of euphoria wrapped in toffee, dipped in chocolate and eaten by George Lucas, and that’s putting it lightly.
The sign of heartbreak
As of now, one can't just stroll up and stand in line to ride this attraction. You must first try to secure a boarding pass (find the story of that harrowing tale on a previous post) to be recruited to join the Resistance. Once you get notice that you have been chosen, an alert will come to your phone for you to head on over to the outskirts of Black Spire Outpost and join the other new recruits for your mission.
The line queue is spacious and even has built in seats along the walls. Uniforms and artifacts hang along the walls and are in display cases, such as X-Wing fighter pilot uniforms and other goodies. The moment comes where you are asked how many are in your party, then you are waiting to be ushered into the next room. Buckle up Buttercup because the next 18minutes of your ride experience life will be forever changed.
We were ushered into the Resistance control center where we got our mission orders by BB-8 and a breathtaking hologram of Rey to meet up with General Leia Organa at a secret location. The mission briefing also included messages from Poe Dameron and Lieutenant Bek on video screens I believe. I might or might not have fainted twice already by this point, so my memory might not be the best.
After the video ends we are ushered... outside? Everyone looked confused as to where exactly we were and how we got there. We walked past an X-Wing fighter and waited for about 2 minutes before we were loaded onto a transporter ship for what I now know is the first portion of the ride. The ship is standing room only, so we stood watching a screen of Bek telling us that Poe Dameron is escorting our ship, along with other X-Wings. It was all fun and games until the room felt like it was moving, and the room started to shake. WHERE WE ACTUALLY MOVING?! I looked over at my friend that was looking around with tears in her eyes just repeating, "this is the greatest thing ever" and I had to agree. Dameron must leave us and go for help because dun dun dunnnnnn. We got captured by the First Order Star Destroyer! Eek!!!
The door opens and we are greeted by 3 soldiers of the First Order telling us that we are "now in control of the First Order- leave the ship and prepare for interrogation." When they move there is a room full of Stormtroopers and here is when I lost all feelings in my legs. There were audible gasps and whimpers of excitement and joy. Is this really happening?! How is this not even "the ride" yet? Also, how can I permanently live right here, in this spot with the Stormtroopers? I felt as if I was literally in a Star Wars movie. The ship is HUGE and being on it and seeing it was an out of body experience. I kept looking at my friend who kept saying, "we haven't even got on the ride yet, have we?"
We line up with other recruits that were held captive and the First Order keeps you in check and in line. I am not sure how these cast members got their jobs, but they all need Oscars. At one point I asked my friend "wait are we really captured?" Disneyland has a way of taking you out of everyday life and creating a moment that you wish could last forever. After being lined up we are taken into a room and above us Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux are discussing our interrogation and out of nowhere, my boy Fin comes out of nowhere dressed as a Stormtrooper breaks us out and people announce that they are with the Resistance and are here to help. We are quickly ushered onto a hijacked First Order Fleet Transporter that is being piloted by a R5 unit programmed to take us to an escape pod.
The next 5 minutes were a blur because I was floating above my body at this point. The trackless vehicles are amazing and everything that can happen does happen! First we are being shot at by Stormtroopers while Bek was speaking to us through a transport radio, Fin tries to help us escape, and then we come to a room with 2 life size AT-ATs. As my friend and I were screaming and crying in utter joy our vehicle gets on a life and Fin says to go down but instead we go up! Totally unexpected by this and I was living! The rest of the ride was an out of body experience literally. Kylo is cutting metal with his light saber, using the force to control the ride vehicles, yet we managed to escape. How you ask? We enter these escape pods and it turns into a motion stimulator ride just like Star Tours. IT WAS EVERYTHING. As we exit the escape pod we are back outside where we see Bek has also crash landed. We are taken to an unloading station and the ride ends.
I literally had chills writing this because my spirit was right back on that ride. This ride is worth the price of admission alone. I can't wait until my father and mother get to experience it. This ride delivered on every aspect and there was no weak link. Who thinks of making an attraction 18minutes long?!! Disneyland does and they do it well!