Strategies for Smuggler's Run and Rise of the Resistance

[casagray]

It's my first visit in .. a decade? more? and very first time to see the Star Wars land and ride the attractions. I'd like to go on both Smuggler's Run and Rise of the resistance - and I can be there at rope drop.

Besides just fast walking to get in line at rope drop, are there any other strategies for getting on those two rides?

It's been a while, and I've never been in summer, so I have no idea what the lines usually look like (and yes, I'll be on the Disneyland app a lot to see what things are looking like today!!)

Should I pay for Genie+? I only have one day (Thursday, June 20), and was not planning on buying a Genie+ as most of the rides I am not interested in, so the return on the $ doesn't seem worthwhile (rides in bold are the ones I'd like to do).

Disneyland
Autopia
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Haunted Mansion
Indiana Jones Adventure
“it's a small world”
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue

Disney California Adventure
Goofy's Sky School
Grizzly River Run
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
Incredicoaster
Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Soarin' Around the World
Toy Story Midway Mania
WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

Thanks in advance for any advice or insights!!

 

[twodogs]

Do you have EE as a resort guest? If so, you can use EE to ride Buzz quickly and then head to FL to line up to enter SWGE. IF ROTR is operating at RD, head straight to ROTR, ride it. Then MFSR will still be walk on.

If you don’t have EE, you can RD ROTR, as long as it is operating at RD. You will be behind some EE guests that are coming from FL, but not all. Then ride MFSM.

If you are solo on this trip, remember MFSM has single rider, though you are typically assigned Engineer. If being pilot is important to you, you likely will have better luck to go through the SB line, and ask to wait to be pilot.

If you start in SWGE and get both of those done at RD, Buzz will likely have a very short wait still at that time. I can’t advise on RR as we don’t ever ride that one.

I assume you are starting in DL as your park reservation, so by the time you hop to DCA, TSMM will likely have a decent SB wait, but still doable. Monsters Inc likely won’t be too bad.

If ROTR is down at RD, you can either SB for it and wait at whatever point it comes back up, you can try to get on nearer to end of the day when wait times are often inflated (but be aware that ROTR stops operating about an hour before regular park closing time, so don’t plan to try to hop in line right before park close to avoid waiting), or you can buy the ILL$ for it.

Also, if ROTR is down at RD, it usually takes about 45-60 minutes to reset the ride computers. You can ride MFSM a few times and hang out in the area to see if you can be near ROTR when it opens up at around that time.

Have fun!!

 

[foolish_mortals]

Sorry are the ones in bold the ONLY rides you want to do? Are the ones not in bold things you don't plan to ride at all? That would influence my advice. If you are somewhat interested in the non bold ride and have one day and want to visit two parks, buy Genie+

What time do you plan on getting there?

Disneyland closes early on June 20 for Pride Nite so you will lose a non-insignificant amount of time and then crowds usually build around the mix in time. Then after the Disneyland closes DCA becomes busy.

 

[irlandaise]

How quickly do ILLs for Rise of the Resistance get sold out? Could someone aim for rope-dropping RotR and then if that doesn't work out (line is too long, ride is down at opening) still have a chance to buy an ILL for later in the day?

 

[BriannaRuth]

Well, right now (12:50 PM CA time) the Disney app shows ROTR ILL$ are available for 4:45 PM. You don't need to buy G+ to get the app and see what return times are, so you might want to do that just for your own information. Not sure how the special event tomorrow will affect things.

https://www.thrill-data.com/lightning-lane/dlr shows they have been running out on average at about 3PM this week.

Edited to add: According to Thrill Data, sellout times for ROTR wasn't until after 5 PM during Pride Night 6/13 and 6/15 in 2023. So hopefully you'll be good!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

How quickly do ILLs for Rise of the Resistance get sold out? Could someone aim for rope-dropping RotR and then if that doesn't work out (line is too long, ride is down at opening) still have a chance to buy an ILL for later in the day?

I’ve been at Disneyland this week, the ILLs are usually an hour ahead of the current time at most during much of the day. Often the time is like 10 minutes (so basically “now”). As far as I can tell, there is no way to choose the time unlike Disney World, unless I’m just missing something.

Edit to add:
i actually bought one this morning for 11:55 am today at 11:34 am.

I do notice now (6:43 pm) that they are sold out, maybe they go faster later in the day, not sure .

Also today seemed pretty busy compared to earlier in the week

 

[LKing]

How quickly do ILLs for Rise of the Resistance get sold out?

We're planning a WDW trip and someone on those forums directed me to the thrill-data site. I'm not sure how accurate it is for DL. https://www.thrill-data.com/lightning-lane/dlr

 

[casagray]

Thank you! Delayed flight means we aren't quite going to make roo drop, but I now have some solid strategies!

 

[Barefoot On A Plane]

How quickly do ILLs for Rise of the Resistance get sold out? Could someone aim for rope-dropping RotR and then if that doesn't work out (line is too long, ride is down at opening) still have a chance to buy an ILL for later in the day?

We waited to long to buy ILL and none were available as of 4pm (June 9th) so don’t wait too long to buy. Just keep checking the app. I dropped the ball and we had to wait in a LONG standby line….

 

[mom25kiddos]

Thank you! Delayed flight means we aren't quite going to make roo drop, but I now have some solid strategies!

Do come back and tell us how it went-have so much fun!

 

[Weber Prof]

One of my favorite vloggers did a RISE recon video about how to find the time that works best for you. Many online folks are saying not to rope drop RISE because 1. the ride is often down at opening so then you have wasted the time to walk to the far side of the park, 2. wait times drop about an hour after opening, 3. consider times during parades or other entertainment options. As LS King noted,
I also find Thrill Data very useful to check trends in ride waits for DL.

 

[OlliePop27]

One of my favorite vloggers did a RISE recon video about how to find the time that works best for you. Many online folks are saying not to rope drop RISE because 1. the ride is often down at opening so then you have wasted the time to walk to the far side of the park, 2. wait times drop about an hour after opening, 3. consider times during parades or other entertainment options. As LS King noted,
I also find Thrill Data very useful to check trends in ride waits for DL.

I love Thrill Data!

I think data is wonky this week for DL because of the two early closures for Pride Night. It seems to have impacted crowd flow all week. Last week and next week will probably be a better guage of the summer data.

Also, RISE ILL sell out times will be off Tuesday and Thursday this week because the park closes at 8, so less availability than usual.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

One of my favorite vloggers did a RISE recon video about how to find the time that works best for you. Many online folks are saying not to rope drop RISE because 1. the ride is often down at opening so then you have wasted the time to walk to the far side of the park, 2. wait times drop about an hour after opening, 3. consider times during parades or other entertainment options. As LS King noted,
I also find Thrill Data very useful to check trends in ride waits for DL.

I was at the park Sunday 6/16 to Wednesday 6/19. Rise was broken at rope drop every single day as far as I could tell.

 

[LKing]

Respectfully, because a ride is not open, or is temporarily closed, does not mean that it is broken. Both Rise and MMRR are trackless. My understanding is that it takes a lot to ensure that everything is working properly, and the ride is safe, before they can open it in the morning. There is no set time for the ride to be cleared to open. Sometimes the clearance is quick. Sometimes it isn't. Personally, I've never heard someone share that it was open at rope drop, but I suppose it could happen. For what it is worth, Indy is also frequently not open at rope drop. However, Indy usually gets the before Rise or MMRR.

Apparently hats falling off are a common reason for the trackless rides to be temporarily closed. Hats and fallen objects can block sensors which cause the ride to shut down. CM have to clear the ride of guests (which can take 15-20 min), retrieve the dropped objects, repair any damage, and then run a clear/pass of the ride before they can open it again. Again, sometimes this is quick. Sometimes it isn't.

Guests peeing or vomiting on rides can also cause them to temporarily close. Several people in this forum have shared that they get sick on motion simulating rides like Smuggler's Run or Star Tours. A lot of people don't realize that Rise has sections of motion simulation as well as a Guardians type drop. I don't know it as fact, but I would imagine that guest "accidents" are more common on Rise than on other rides.

 

[casagray]

I didn't get on Rise.

It was down - for whatever reason - for a majority of the day. Short of hanging out by it all day, and skipping everything else, I might have been able to get on it, but even then I'm not sure...waits looked to be running from

I'll have to hope that next time I go I get a lot more lucky.

I also found that rides like Roger Rabbit now make me seriously dizzy.

So my day didn't go as planned, but it was Disneyland, so it was still great.