Disney World’s Rise of the Resistance Shuts Down Hours After Opening, Park Strained as Guests Forced To Head Elsewhere

The popular Disney World ride has been forced to close at Hollywood Studios.

Found in the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge location inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance has remained incredibly popular ever since its opening almost seven years ago in December 2019. Set within the sequel trilogy timeline, Rise of the Resistance blends a variety of theme park technologies to present an altogether original experience set in the classic science-fiction franchise.

Due to its popularity, guests visiting Hollywood Studios will flock to this ride at rope drop or use the paid Lightning Lane Single Pass or Premier Pass options to ensure they get to ride that day. However, those visiting on Columbus Day weekend–an already busy weekend if the Lightning Lane sell-outs are anything to go by–found the attraction closed down.

According to the My Disney Experience app, Rise of the Resistance is currently not operating. Checking Queue Times shows the attraction posted a 60-minute wait time at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, but has not operated since then. There is no confirmation as to why the ride has closed, and hopefully, it will reopen today for the holiday visitors.

As per usual, the closure of a major ride at a Disney World theme park puts strain on other attractions and experiences. Per Queue Times, the most popular attractions all have over an hour wait, which, while common for a Saturday and a holiday weekend at that, is still not helped by the closure of Rise of the Resistance.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is running at a demanding pace, with the newly reimagined Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets and Slinky Dog Dash tied at the top of the board on 85-minute waits. The more telling detail sits beneath the posted times: neither ride, nor Toy Story Mania! at 65 minutes, had any reservation slots left, meaning guests who did not lock in a Lightning Lane return earlier in the day were left with the standby line as their only option.

That pattern points to front-loaded demand, where paid and pre-booked access to the park’s headline attractions is exhausted well before the afternoon, pushing everyone else into longer queues. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run stands out as the exception, posting a comparatively modest 60-minute wait while still offering a return slot for 16:50, which suggests Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was absorbing crowds more evenly than Toy Story Land on this occasion, even with the Rise of the Resistance closure. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway matched Smugglers Run at 60 minutes, leaving little room for low-wait alternatives across the day.

Rise of the Resistance has a reputation for struggling to operate consistently, and even has features in B-mode for lengthy periods at a time. A recently filed permit has raised questions over what Disney plans to do with the ride, but nothing has been officially announced outside of the document filing.

In other news, Rise of the Resistance has been added to the Extended Evening Hours attraction list, meaning guests at Deluxe Disney Resorts will be able to experience this ride during the quieter periods after park closure.

How do you manage a park when attractions go down? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!