Yesterday was a very big day at Walt Disney World as the newest attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Rise of the Resistance, finally opened to the public. It was a wild day by all accounts. Walt Disney World used a virtual queue system for the new ride which was filled up for the day within only a couple hours, and based on most reactions, the ride itself is truly something special.
But, of course, these attractions are massive undertakings with a lot of moving parts, and you can never really know how they'll hold up under the stress of a full day of functionality until that day comes. For the most part, it seems Rise of the Resistance held up well, but there were some issues, including a ride evacuation.
It seems the breakdown happened about 7:30 in the morning yesterday. Something happened that stopped the ride and the ride was cleared. Everybody who was pulled off the ride was given a pass to return later, and about an hour later Theme Park Express reported that people were reentering the attraction.
There were no other significant stops to the attraction on day one, and so in all honesty, this feels pretty close to a best case scenario. Rise stoppages happen, they suck, but this one looks to have been handled efficiently and it was only a minor problem.
Considering just how massive Rise of the Resistance actually is and how much is going on it's honestly more than a bit shocking that the first day jitters weren't a bit worse. Hell, Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is still dealing with semi-regular downtime problems several months after opening, also bees.
The bigger issue with Rise of the Resistance may be that it's too popular. Reports are that virtual queue boarding passes for Rise were gone within only a couple of hours again this morning, and that the park opened early, but wasn't publicly advertised to be opening early. This means that a lot of people who may have planned vacations around the new attraction may be missing out. Even those willing to stand in line for hours simply don't have that option.
If nothing else, it seems that anybody who thought that not enough people were interested in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge may have to reevaluate their position. While it's hard to tell just how long crowds will be like this, what seems clear is that if crowds were small during the land's initial opening, it may very well have been because those planning big vacations to Walt Disney World decided to hold off and wait for the entire land to be complete, which was one of the reasons suggested for the early lax attendance.
Disneyland is likely taking notes. Rise of the Resistance will open there next month, and we'll likely see a repeat of what's going on at Disney's Hollywood Studios there.
