Walt Disney World Resort has spent years refining its most ambitious Star Wars experience, but it's still experiencing some major issues.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was conceived as a fully immersive environment, one that places guests inside the remote outpost of Batuu rather than recreating familiar film locations. Every detail operates in-universe, from costumed cast members to evolving storylines tied to the sequel trilogy.
At the center of the land sits Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, a sprawling, multi-system attraction widely positioned as Disney’s most advanced ride. It blends trackless vehicles, motion simulation, and large-scale sets into a single continuous narrative experience.
Guests are recruited by Resistance fighters, including Rey (Daisy Ridley), before being captured by the First Order and transported aboard a Star Destroyer. Encounters with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) unfold across multiple environments, creating a cinematic ride structure unlike anything Disney had previously attempted.
The attraction debuted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in December 2019, followed by a second version at Disneyland Park in January 2020. Its launch drew unprecedented demand, with virtual queues and extended waits becoming the norm amid frequent downtime.
A Difficult Week for Disney’s Flagship Ride
At Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Rise of the Resistance is now experiencing a renewed stretch of operational issues.
On March 27, the attraction failed to open with the rest of the park for the third consecutive day. As of 10:50 a.m. EST, it remained closed, with cast members blocking access to the queue.
The same pattern played out earlier in the week, with guests turned away on both Wednesday and Thursday. For many, the closures have disrupted carefully planned park itineraries built around securing a ride on the attraction.
The ride did briefly operate during Early Entry, a perk allowing Disney hotel guests to enter the park ahead of general admission. That window was short-lived, with the attraction shutting down again soon after opening.
Operational data reflects the scale of the disruption. According to Thrill Data, the ride recorded 326 minutes of downtime on March 26, 175 minutes on March 25, and 72 minutes on March 24, alongside additional interruptions earlier in the month.
These figures remain lower than those seen during the attraction’s early years, when technical issues routinely sidelined the ride for extended periods. Even so, the current run underscores how complex systems continue to challenge long-term reliability.
Persistent Technical Limitations and Guest Frustration
Rise of the Resistance was always an engineering outlier. As a first-of-its-kind attraction, it combined multiple ride systems in ways that left Walt Disney Imagineering without a clear operational precedent.
That complexity continues to surface in smaller, more visible ways. Guests have frequently reported missing or modified effects, particularly during periods of reduced functionality.
The attraction’s cannon blasters, originally designed to move dynamically, are often static. Meanwhile, the Kylo Ren audio-animatronic is periodically replaced with a B-mode projection sequence showing the character escaping in a ship.
Despite these compromises, the ride’s core experience remains widely regarded as one of Disney’s most impressive achievements. When fully operational, it delivers a scale and level of immersion rarely matched in modern theme parks.
Broader criticism of Galaxy’s Edge has also persisted since its debut. Early reactions pointed to high food and merchandise prices, limited ride capacity, and a lack of familiar characters, which some guests felt made the land less accessible.
Others have taken issue with its heavy reliance on the sequel trilogy, arguing it narrows the land’s long-term appeal. Disney has since begun adjusting that approach, particularly on the West Coast.
From April 29, 2026, Disneyland’s version of Galaxy’s Edge will expand its timeline, introducing characters such as Darth Vader, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker into Black Spire Outpost.
The shift will also reposition existing characters. Kylo Ren will move to Tomorrowland, while Rey will remain tied to the Resistance Camp, marking a broader recalibration of the land’s narrative scope.
Disney is also set to introduce changes to the land's other attraction, Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run. With the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu (2026), it will integrate Din Djarin and Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, into a ride previously criticized for feeling like a lackluster video game.
Have you experienced issues with Rise of the Resistance at Disney's Hollywood Studios?
