Rise of the Resistance is Disney’s Next “Yeti” Ride

What do Star Wars and a Himalyan Yeti have in common?

There are so many brilliant attractions at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme parks. From the animals of Kilimanjaro Safari to the screams of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, there is something for everyone on a Disney vacation.

Two of Walt Disney World’s most beloved rides, Rise of the Resistance and Expedition Everest, have both got thrills, surprises, and incredible Disney Park theming. As Lightning Lane experiences, the Disney attractions have proven popular with Disney Guests at the Central Florida Resort.

But it appears that Rise of the Resistance in Galaxy’s Edge is the next “Yeti” ride when it comes to ride operations, and even the Force can’t fix it.

After seeing the Yeti rip up the Expedition Everest roller coaster’s tracks, Guests soon find themselves face-to-face with the terrifying creature inside the mountain.

The animatronic Yeti is an impressive twenty-five feet tall, making it one of the largest and most expensive animatronics at the time of its construction. Sadly, it is now in an eternal motionless state, called “B-mode.” Disney Imagineers have installed strobe lights to give the Himalayan beast the illusion of movement, but Disney World Guests continue to wonder if the Yeti will ever be “fixed”.

A few months after Expedition Everest opened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom – back in 2006 – the Yeti’s framing split, threatening catastrophic malfunction if it were to be operated further in “A-mode”. It is speculated that the problem was caused by damage to the Yeti’s concrete base structure, which is unlikely to be repaired until a major refurbishment occurs because the design of the Disney Park attraction limits access to the Yeti.

Joe Rohde, the famous Imagineer in charge of designing Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park, said of “Disco Yeti” at the 2013 D23 Expo:

“You have to understand, it’s a giant complicated machine sitting on top of, like, a 46-foot tall tower in the middle of a finished building. So, it’s really hard to fix, but we are working on it. And we continue to work on it. We have tried several ‘things’, none of them quite get to the key, turning of the 40-foot tower inside of a finished building, but we are working on it… I will fix the Yeti someday, I swear.”

Of course, Rohde retired from Walt Disney Imagineering in January 2021 and never got to complete the promised repairs to the Yeti animatronic.

Now it looks as though “Disco Yeti” has competition, for there is another popular Walt Disney World ride that seems to be permanently stuck in “B-mode.”

Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort Guests have continually noticed a major issue with the Disney ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Galaxy’s Edge.

Since its eagerly-awaited opening in 2019, Star Wars fans have sometimes queued hours for their turn to join the Resistance in an epic battle against the First Order, in this high-tech, unique experience. But it seems that this high-aspect can prove to be tricky to maintain.

In the Batuu ride, Guests trying to escape encounter Kylo Ren and General Hux atop the ship’s bridge, discussing the Resistance Base. As riders flee, Kylo Ren jumps down and ignites his lightsaber as the ride vehicle enters a lift. The riders then enter a room with three cannons firing at the Resistance, which they pass under and make it into the next room.

Coordinating the movement of the large cannons with the ride vehicle has meant that for a long time now, Rise of the Resistance has been stuck in “B-mode,” where the cannons do not move. Guests who were lucky enough to see the “A-mode” version of the Star Wars attraction are finding the “B-mode” version underwhelming, especially after seeing videos of the fully-functional ride online.

As noted, Expedition Everest’s Yeti is a tricky animatronic, with issues that prove difficult to fix without major, expensive work on the structure of the mountain itself. With Rise of the Resistance, it appears a mechanical fix is required for the cannons but costs and downtime worries are postponing the work.

The Walt Disney World version of Rise of the Resistance was last seen in “A-mode” sometime around December 2021, while the Disneyland version was last seen in “A-mode” around April 2022.

We don’t have any answers yet on when either Disney Resort will potentially close the Batuu ride for maintenance, but when they do, it will almost certainly cost the Walt Disney Company money in Lightning Lane purchases.

The Star Wars-themed land is set between Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in the Star Wars timeline, and features two attractions – Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run and the continually popular Rise of the Resistance.

Wait times have been consistently high since the virtual queue was removed, with Guests excited to see sequel trilogy characters like Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and the adorable droid BB-8. And the immersive technology usually blows Guests away.

One of Disney’s Individual Lightning Lane experiences, Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom closed for a lengthy refurbishment in 2022 but with no solution for the broken Yeti in sight.

We’ll have to see if either of these “B-mode” attractions operate in “A-mode” ever again, but for now, it looks like the Star Wars cannons and “Disco Yeti” have something in common.