Hollywood Studios: On the Rise ride again
RECREATION experience to endure for this process, which is the only virtual queue at Disney World. The resort has also suspended its FastPass+ reservations system during the initial reopening stage.
Lucky group 40 got the call around 2:45 p.m. After checking in, it was about 15 minutes of stop-and-go walking through the queue, indoors and outdoors, before we got to the room with BB-8 and Rey, then about 15 more minutes before getting into the ride vehicle. I think we saw every intergalactic crook and cranny of the queue, including the swiveling space with the general and the big room with all the stormtroopers.
Riders are instructed, in a stern, themed way, to sanitize hands before boarding. Cast members are still acting out the story, which is not full of laughs. But the father-son duo in the wedge-shaped pre-show with me were fun. The elder told dad jokes involving Capt. Kirk to the mortification of the younger one.
We were divided into smaller groups than usual, and it appears the system is one traveling group per vehicle, which is built to seat two rows of four riders apiece. If you’re alone, like I was, you have a car to yourself. (I’ve heard of similar experiences with its sister ride Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.)
I’m just going to say that’s eerie. But it makes the story even more personal. Kylo Ren is all up in your business, and he’s got a lightsaber with your name on it. street, including those for Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Those attractions all had waits of more than 30 minutes throughout the day. And when one goes down, it makes the others longer. Plus, visitors waiting around for Rise are hitting up those other popular attractions.
This is not to say that it’s crowded on the normal scale of things, circa 2019. But it felt like you’re coming across more people than at Magic Kingdom or Epcot, in my experience.
Here’s something to like about Hollywood Studios. There are lots of benches, nicely spaced, with backs. I didn’t see any with those pointed stickers that say “you can’t sit here.”
DHS has always been a good park for people watching, and the benches help keep that so. (Ditto for BaseLine Tap House, which has less available seating than before but good angles.)
Hollywood Studios, like the other Disney parks, are highlighting characters in new ways because meetand-greets have been suspended. To be honest, I was feeling grumpy until I heard “Nothing Can Stop Us Now,” the theme song of Runaway Railway playing. That’s when Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse motored up the main drag in separate cars, flanked by Chip, Dale and Pluto. It happens quickly, but effectively.
A similar Pixar-themed moment happens that includes the Green Army drummers and Buzz Lightyear in a Buzzmobile, among others.
I also spotted Chewbacca and Rey interacting with guests from an upand-back position in Batuu, the base planet of Galaxy’s Edge.
There are two relaxation stations — code word for “places it’s OK to take off your mask” — at Hollywood Studios. One is winning my prize for most immersive relaxation station, which is a phrase I’m sorry I just typed. If you go, check out the jagged edge walls and relax in Galaxy’s Edge, between the Rise ride and the marketplace. On one hand, Disney probably wants to discourage people from swinging by just for photo ops, but then, Disney fans make a purple wall famous that way. Nothing can stop them now.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios, of course, is following all the restrictions that we’re getting use to: You must have a face covering, submit to a temperature screening and obey physical distancing guidelines. In addition, Disney parks are requiring dayspecific/park-specific reservations in addition to the normal ticket or annual pass.