Rise of the Resistance is one of the biggest attractions that Walt Disney World has ever seen. It was known from early on that the ride would be incredibly popular, which is why Disney instituted a virtual queue system for the first time for a single attraction along with it. Instead of simply getting in line, or even reserving a FastPass+ time, guests use their smartphone to secure a boarding group, which then determines when they'll be able to check it out. The virtual queue system has proved all the more important in the era of theme park social distancing, and now Walt Disney World has made a significant change to the way guests reserve their boarding group.
Previously, guests had to get their group at predetermined times, once in the morning, and once in the early afternoon, but part of the trick was that the My Disney Experience app only allowed you to select a boarding group while you, or at least your phone, were inside Disney's Hollywood Studios. Beginning Tuesday, November 3. The first boarding group reservation time will be 7:00 AM, which is before the park usually opens, but you no longer need to be inside the park to make the reservation, you can now do it from anyplace. There will still be a second reservation time, at 2:00 PM, and for that window, guests must still be inside the park.
This may seem like a minor thing but for those trying to get on Rise of the Resistance, it's a big deal. It should make things a little easier and less stressful when it comes to securing that early morning boarding pass. If nothing else, it should help prevent connection issues as we won't see hundreds or thousands of people all trying to access the system from the same cell towers, now that the guests trying to get access will be more spread out. It will also simply mean that the first chance at a boarding pass will be done by the time you walk in the gate, which is one less thing to think about.
I'm not sure if Rise of the Resistance is an easier or harder attraction to get on these days. With social distancing in effect, there are certainly going to be fewer people going through the attraction on an average day, but there are also fewer people in the park trying to get on the attraction, so perhaps it's all a wash.
While Walt Disney World and Disneyland don't always follow the same policies, we can guess that when Disneyland Resort finally does open up, ut will handle Rise of the Resistance in a similar way. The virtual queue process was used there when the attraction opened, and it was only open for a couple of months before the park had to close due to the pandemic, so it will surely be popular with whatever percentage of the normal crowd can enter the park when that day comes.
