If you are in Disney’s Hollywood Studios right now, wondering why every line seems endless, there is a good reason. The park’s most in-demand attraction is down, and the ripple effect is being felt across the park.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the centerpiece of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, is showing as not operating in the My Disney Experience app. Figures from Queue Times show the ride’s last posted wait was 60 minutes at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with no operation recorded since. Disney has not shared a reason for the closure or a reopening time, though holiday visitors would welcome it coming back online later today.
For many families, this one stings. Rise of the Resistance is the ride people plan their mornings around, whether that means arriving for rope drop or paying for a Lightning Lane Single Pass or Lightning Lane Premier Pass to lock in a spot. Since it opened in December 2019, almost seven years ago, the sequel-era adventure has drawn huge crowds with its blend of ride technologies and a fully original Star Wars storyline.
And this is not just any Saturday. Columbus Day weekend was already proving crowded, with Lightning Lane sell-outs telling the story before the closure even happened.
So what does the rest of the park look like? Queue Times shows every major attraction above the one-hour mark, typical for a holiday Saturday but made tougher by losing the park’s biggest draw. The newly reimagined Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets and Slinky Dog Dash are tied at 85 minutes, and Toy Story Mania! is at 65 minutes. The catch is that all three were out of Lightning Lane availability, so anyone without an earlier return is stuck in standby.
This is classic front-loaded demand. Paid and advance access to the headliners disappears early, and by the afternoon, everyone else ends up in the longest queues of the day.
There is one bright spot. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was at a relatively reasonable 60 minutes with a 4:50 p.m. return time still up for grabs, a sign that Galaxy’s Edge was handling crowds more evenly than Toy Story Land even without its flagship ride. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway also sat at 60 minutes, but genuine short-wait options were hard to find.
Today’s downtime is not entirely out of character. Rise of the Resistance has a track record of operational hiccups and has sometimes run with elements in B-mode for long periods. A recently filed permit has fueled speculation about changes ahead, though Disney has made no official announcement beyond that paperwork.
On a more positive note, the ride is joining the Extended Evening Hours list, so Deluxe Disney Resort guests can enjoy it during calmer after-hours sessions.
What is your game plan when a headliner closes? Tell us in the comments below.
