Disney Parks Chairman Bob Chapek this evening officially dedicated Walt Disney World's newest attraction - the acclaimed Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
No Star Wars stars were present, as many of them were back in Southern California promoting the upcoming Rise of Skywalker movie premiere. But several film cast members did visit the under-construction Disneyland installation of Rise of the Resistance for a photo op.
The Star Wars cast got a preview of Rise of the Resistance back in California. #GalaxysEdge pic.twitter.com/3JcX0JykEY
— Theme Park Insider (@ThemePark) December 4, 2019
Back in Orlando, we did get to see a couple of "stars" — real-life X-wing fighters, flying above the event.
(Okay, they were drones. But that doesn't make them any less cool to see.)
This was a dedication moment, not an opening moment, as the ride officially opens to the public tomorrow morning. But tonight's ceremony wouldn't have worked as an informal opening moment anyway, as the ride did not open immediately after. For at least the third time during its media preview day, Rise of the Resistance went down.
Granted, the operational challenge of doing ride cams and other on-site video can disrupt operations and lead to media-day downtimes on timing-sensitive attractions such as this. So maybe things will go better tomorrow. But while another day will clear those ops hurdles and give everyone involved more experience, it won't make this audacious production any less complex. Remember, Rise is debuting with no soft open — not even a cast preview. Expect downtimes as cast and crew make the adjustments necessary to keep Rise of the Resistance up consistently.
But the ride will be worth the wait, as I made the case in my review earlier today: Disney's new Rise of the Resistance tops all theme park rides. Or just take a look at the experience for yourself, online, via my full queue/preshow walkthrough and on-ride POV videos. (Spoilers, obviously.)
For those of you on or visiting the west coast, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opens at the Disneyland Resort on January 17, 2020.
TweetStaying in the Coronado and sitting on a bus, actually. I’m not Neil Patrick Harris! (LOL)
Come on Robert! You're OUR Neil Patrick Harris! :-)
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By any chance are you being put up in a nice hotel and ushered around WDW by someone in a red polo driving a rental Dodge Caravan? When they do that, you know something big is about to open lol