How To Get On Rise Of The Resistance Disneyland

Tad's note: As of Nov. 22, 2021, Disneyland is testing Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland without a virtual queue. During this time, Disneyland may implement a virtual queue as needed. Check the Disneyland app for ride wait times or news about the virtual queue the day of your visit. At park opening, the Critter Country entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge may be closed, so plan to enter near Frontierland.

I like to think we had pretty much mastered joining the virtual queue (also called a Boarding Group) for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland in the few short weeks that the ride was open in 2020. But then COVID-19 happened, and the ride and both Disneyland theme parks were closed for more than a year. Now that Disneyland reopened, we have been able to board this incredibly rad ride again! But be warned, recruits: There has been a disturbance in the Force, with new changes to the process, leaving us as padawans once more in training. The changes are positive, however, with a second opportunity to join each day and now the ability to confirm your party before it's time to join.

The Disneyland virtual queue process differs slightly from Disney's Hollywood Studios' process. The good news is that park hoppers who start their day at Disney California Adventure Park also have an opportunity to join the second virtual queue each day. (At Disney World, both joining opportunities are reserved only for people with Disney's Hollywood Studios reservations that day.) Disneyland's two theme park entrances make park hopping a quick and easy process, so this difference makes toadal sense to us. Let's go over how to join a virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. May the Force be with us always.

You may have noticed that the home screen in the Disneyland app changed slightly with a new Virtual Queue box. There are two rides offering a virtual queue. Disney California Adventure has a virtual queue for WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure. Don't let that confuse you. The Join Boarding Group button in the Virtual Queue box on the app home screen is where you want to be to access all of the virtual queues. When you tap that button, you'll see Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance appear under Disneyland Park. We added a screenshot (further below in this guide) of the next page with the two theme parks at the top of the screen. If you are looking to join both queues, we have a hopful post on how to use Disneyland's virtual queue system.

How to Join a Boarding Group for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland

Time is of the essence! Boarding Groups are distributed in seconds. I'm not trying to send your anxiety into hyperdrive, but am trying to set reasonable expectations. Even with the park at full capacity, demand is high and seats are limited. Yes, the ride is that good. To allow as many people as possible to ride, guests are allowed to join one Boarding Group per day.

You'll need to be as prepared as possible and ready to go when the window opens. We will go over how to prepare, how to join and what to do if you are lucky enough to score a Boarding Group.

When Can I Join a Virtual Queue?

Disneyland recently released some new instructions for joining the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. You will only be able to join a virtual queue if you have valid admission and a Disneyland Theme Park Reservation that day, linked in the Disneyland app. Guests now have two opportunities per day to join a virtual queue at Disneyland (morning and afternoon):

7 a.m. PT — Before park opening for people with reservations to start their day at Disneyland. You do not need to be scanned into a park or on Disneyland property, but you do need a ticket and a reservation.
12 p.m. PT — You must be scanned into either Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park (if you have a park hopper).

In order to give as many guests as possible the opportunity to join the Resistance, each guest can enter the virtual queue no more than once per day. So if you luck out in the morning and join a Boarding Group, you cannot try again for the afternoon. (You can, however, try to join the virtual queue for WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure at noon if you have a park hopper.)

One hour before these enrollment times, a new button appears. You can tap Confirm Your Partyto select or remove party members. That way you do not waste precious time during the boarding process or encounter unknown problems when you only have seconds to act.

The Disneyland app has a new Virtual Queues menu with a "Join Virtual Queue" button. When you tap it, you'll be taken to a screen that has the theme parks at the top. The app defaults to Disneyland and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. But if you were trying for WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure, you would have to tap Disney California Adventure. You can read more about that in my post on Disneyland virtual queues.

Prepared, You Must Be (Advance Planning Tips)

If Master Yoda were with us, I'm sure this would be his advice. You'll need to prepare. The attraction's virtual queue is only accessible via the Disneyland mobile app. Make sure you have a valid park ticket and theme park reservation for Disneyland Park to access the virtual queue system on the morning of the day of your park reservation. You will get this before entering the park.

For the later opportunity, you must also have a valid Disneyland ticket and theme park reservation, but you must have entered Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park (with a Park Hopper ticket) by the second enrollment time. Guests beginning their day at Disney California Adventure Park may then enter Disneyland Park with their Park Hopper ticket after 1 p.m. for their Boarding Group.

Here are some tips and guidelines for preparing to join the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance:

Before you arrive, download the latest update of the Disneyland mobile app.
Link your entire party's tickets in the app. You may have done this in order to make a park reservation, but you may have other users who need to link. Do it all in advance.
To link tickets, open the Disneyland app. Tap the three lines on the bottom right corner, tap Tickets and Passes, then tap the + icon and link the ticket of each person in your party.
You can now link all tickets to one Disney account or to each Disney account in your party.
Some guests with older tickets may not be able to link until they have entered a theme park and received a new ticket at the turnstile to link. That means they can only attempt the second chance to join a Boarding Group that day. Croak!
Turn on Notifications — for Apple, open settings, tap Disneyland, tap Notifications and turn on Allow Notifications. For Android, open your settings, tap Apps & Notifications, tap Notificationsand turn on Disneyland.
When it's approaching the time to join the queue, close the app and reopen just to make sure your app has reset.
Be in a safe space (not driving a car or on another ride at the time) and try not to be in the Disneyland parking structures, which never have a good signal.
Use a speed-checking app to make sure you have a good signal. Areas vary based on your carrier. Guests in the park may want to turn off Wi-Fi and use data instead.
Pack phone chargers to bring to the park. You want to stay fully juiced so you don't miss any notifications!

Do or Do Not. There Is No Try.

How to join a virtual queue:

Set an alarm for five minutes before the reservation window opens so you can prepare.
Make sure you have a strong phone signal (and are not on the Disneyland Wi-Fi).
Open the Disneyland app.
Locate the Disneyland Virtual Queue box on the home screen and tap the Join Virtual Queue button.
The app will default to the Disneyland Park tab and you'll see Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at the top. Tap Confirm Your Party.
Make sure your party is correct or tapChange Party to edit.
Anyone who has a reservation that day and is currently linked to your app should automatically be selected for your party. (For the second opportunity of the day, all party members should have entered a park.)
Note the new "Refresh" button on the bottom of the screen.
In the seconds leading up to the eligibility period, repeatedly tap that.
You can also refresh the app by dragging your finger down on the screen far enough to see the refresh bar appear (with date and time).
You can have someone else in the party pull up a world clock and count down the last five seconds, so you can start repeatedly refreshing the app a few seconds before enrollment time. As soon as the blue "Join Virtual Queue" button appears, tap it.
After you tap Refresh, hopfully you'll see your Group number!
For the second enrollment period of the day, you'll need to make sure all tickets have been scanned at the park entrance or it will not go through.
You'll confirm and receive updates.
You can have multiple people attempt to get a Boarding Pass for the group, but once the first person secures a Boarding Group, the other people trying will get error messages. If the tickets are only linked to one account, you can have multiple party members try to join. But as soon as one person gets in, everyone else should stop trying. Disneyland does not have a Friends and Family list to link your entire party like Disney World. A cast member has recommended that only one person attempt to join, but we have also had success with more than one person attempting to join. You never know who has the fastest signal!

The Force Is with You!

You were successful on your mission to obtain a Boarding Group! Hip, hop, hooray! Here's what you need to know:

Admission to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is subject to capacity. Being assigned to a Boarding Group does not guarantee entrance to the attraction.
Guests may be assigned a "Backup" Boarding Group. These are called only if all other groups are called and there is extra capacity for additional guests. The number can vary based on the day.
Boarding Groups above a certain number may receive a push notification in the afternoon or evening that tells them that they will not be boarding. The Boarding Groups move at different rates each day, and we expect each day to be a little different to account for breakdowns and varying park hours. We recently received notice about 4 p.m. (park closed at 7 p.m.) that our Backup Boarding Group of 138 would not be boarding that day.
Guests who use Disability Access Service (DAS) must also join a Boarding Group. The DAS users can talk to a cast member at the ride entrance once their group is called. The DAS will be noted on the rider's ticket. Once the cast member confirms you have DAS, they will direct you to a separate queue to scan your Boarding Group codes. The line for people with disabilities joins the standard queue just before the pre-show experience begins.
If you have a tadpole who cannot ride, ask about Rider Switch at the ride entrance.
Go enjoy the rest of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure while you wait for your group to be called. You do not have to stay in Disneyland Park while you wait.
To check your group's status in the app, click Join Virtual Queue on the app's home page. It will tell you which groups are boarding.
You can also find the status information on signage in the park.
You can view your party and remove guests from your party in the app.
A range of Boarding Groups is accepted at a given time. The app may say, "Now Boarding Groups 5-14."
Boarding Groups receive push notifications when it is time to ride. (But keep checking the status on your own just in case.)
When it is time to board, you will receive a boarding pass with a scan code. Read the part that says "Please Return by." Most groups have an hour to return. It can vary, so read it carefully.
We had Group 6 one day but we did not even get called until 11:49 a.m. How quickly the groups move can vary greatly per day from park opening to several hours later.

Even if your Boarding Group gets called and you are in line, there is no guarantee that you will get to ride. That can be toadally frustrating, but that's the reality as Disneyland works out breakdowns for this complicated ride. Did you know the attraction is one of the most technologically advanced that Disney has ever created? It utilizes FOUR different ride systems! When the ride breaks down, it can take an hour to reset it. But we promise, once you do ride it, it is toadally worth it. If the ride breaks down while you are in line, you may receive a Multiple Experiences pass that allows you the choice of coming back to ride Rise of the Resistance later, or you can choose from a list of other rides such as Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

Yes, Boarding Groups usually do fill quickly — in seconds — so you need to be ready to go. The slightest hesitation or error can mean you cannot get a Boarding Group. If you are not lucky, go make the best of your day at Disneyland. But if you do acquire a Boarding Group, you are free to enjoy your day without standing in a long line. With reduced time indoors, your wait when you arrive will be primarily outside the building. The first part of the pre-show is unavailable during the Disneyland reopening period.

If you have a very high backup group number, you are not likely to ride. It's not impossible, but every day is different, so there is no way to know if and when a particular group will be called. If you see a lot of ride breakdowns, like we did on a recent visit when we were in a Backup Boarding Group, you might get a notice that says the ride has reached capacity.

If you are lucky enough to join a Boarding group at 7 a.m., you are not eligible to join a virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance at noon. Each guest may ride once per day. That gives the most amount of people a chance to experience this exciting ride. But you can try to join the virtual queue for WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure! as long as you have scanned into Rise of the Resistance by noon. When we have a late boarding group for the morning ride, the guests who would prefer to ride the other ride in the afternoon can remove themselves from the first queue and try for the other ride at noon.

If you were unsuccessful at 7 a.m., you can try again at noon. If you are park hopping, you will have a choice to make at noon. You can go for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure! at Disney California Adventure at noon. Remember that the app defaults to Rise of the Resistance, so you will have to select Disney California Adventure Park to access the WEB SLINGERS page and start refreshing the app just before 12 p.m.

*A virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance may be implemented to deliver the best possible guest experience, so guests can enjoy the rest of the park while waiting for their turn to ride. The Disneyland app will have a dedicated module, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge – Status and Access, available from the main page. Learn more about Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and the virtual queue experience by visiting Disneyland.com/starwars.

Are you excited to potentially ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance? Prepare to have your mind blown! You'll want a multi-day ticket for multiple chances to join. Good news! Your favorite froggy friends have discount multi-day Disneyland Resort tickets and hotel bookings to save you some green.

Related: Our Galactic Guide to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland

Related: How to Use Disneyland's Virtual Queue System

Stay cool!

Keep hopping, Tad!