Does anyone else find Rise of the Resistance and Runaway Railway underwhelming?

[Poseidon Quest]

Now that we've had some time for these attractions to settle, I can't help but feel that these attractions are kind of overrated. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy them both, but I feel that they're lacking, especially in the department of how they use their trackless vehicle technology. I don't think that Rise of the Resistance does anything special, even with having its vehicles move in and out elevators, because the Tower of Terror has been doing that since its opening. Runaway Railway also feels a bit like an empty warehouse and everything is happening at such a chaotic pace that you have a hard time following exactly what is happening. I think that Ratatouille, based off of what we see with the version in Paris, is actually likely to be the best of these attractions coming to WDW because of its pacing and how it uses its trackless vehicles to simulate movement.


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Edit: I've been away a few days, but I didn't expect this thread to be this popular. Since so many people are interested in this discussion, I did do an essay on this in video form recently. I go a lot further into my points if you're interested in elaborating on this.


Edit2: Adding to this discussion, I've done a recent video that ties a bit into why I feel these attractions are underwhelming, because my criticisms have continued to evolve and I've tied them into larger Disney trends as a whole. Not everything in this video is relevant to Rise of the Resistance and Runaway Railway, but it does add a lot of context.

 

[larryz]

Disclaimer: I haven't experienced either.

That said, I think the consensus is pretty clear -- your impressions are not in the majority.

 

[HongKongFooy]

, but I feel that they're lacking, especially in the department of how they use their trackless vehicle technology. I don't think that Rise of the Resistance does anything special, even with having its vehicles move in and out elevators,

Lacking???

How much more could somebody *REASONABLY* expect out of an attraction, anywhere? Rise is loaded with goodies and its effects are crisp.

What more do you want, considering it has the most immersion than any ride on the planet. I'm not saying it's the best ride (it's not) but it is loaded to the gills with things going on, great sound and eye popping visuals and close to perfect effects and quality AA's.

It's a mega E offering.


The one glaring drawback among the trackless style rides like Rat, Rise, Mickey, Mystic and Beast is they have no physical thrills due to the nature of the ride system.

 

[Poseidon Quest]

Lacking???

How much more could somebody *REASONABLY* expect out of an attraction, anywhere? Rise is loaded with goodies and its effects are crisp.

What more do you want, considering it has the most immersion than any ride on the planet. I'm not saying it's the best ride (it's not) but it is loaded to the gills with things going on, great sound and eye popping visuals and close to perfect effects and quality AA's.

It's a mega E offering.


The one glaring drawback among the trackless style rides like Rat, Rise, Mickey, Mystic and Beast is they have no physical thrills due to the nature of the ride system.

I feel that the trackless ride vehicles are completely underutilized. I recently did an analysis on this where I took a look at Rise and Railway and compared them to Pooh's Hunny Hunt and Beauty and the Beast at Tokyo. They use their ride vehicles to tell the story of the attraction through movement and really use limited space effectively. Rise and Railway kind of waste the technology because they are so linear. Take for example the tornado scene in Railway. It seems as if your ride vehicle is supposed to spin around the tornado, and it would have certainly been a cool effect, but it doesn't happen even though the room looks big enough to do so. It's a bit of a head scratcher as to why this technology isn't being used to its full potential despite Disney showing that it's more than capable of doing so in other attractions that have already been around. I've also found on subsequent ride throughs, that Rise's projection effects don't hold up very well, especially with blaster fire. It becomes increasingly unconvincing every time I ride.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I cant wait to try both on my next trip. But watching the ride throughs I'm not as thrilled with what I see with MRR and more eager to do RotR. I know after riding both my view may change, so right now my actual vote is in limbo.

 

[DisneyTransport]

MRR, eh i was underwhelmed in the beginning parts of the ride, but thats just me. But rise... and all the moving parts in it? Amazing. Even thou it has a few glitches still

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Where's the "haven't had a chance to experience them yet" option?

 

[Joesixtoe]

ROTR I think is good, but the drop at the end needs to be longer I think cause it would add a thrill aspect to the ride and then you could truly say this combines all aspects of different ride types.

MRR I think is better than ROTR in an overall warmth feeling type of way.

 

[MrsDoubie]

I loved ROTR. I was upset with myself for waiting in line for an hour to ride MRR. I was absolutely underwhelmed by that ride. It was a one and done for me.

 

[HongKongFooy]

Poseidon, you explained your #4 nicely. Solid points.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Rise is underwhelming as a ride. As an entire attraction with everything working as designed (including cm’s) it is very impressive.

I think spiderman and even Indiana Jones are more Impressive.

 

[Raineman]

I’ve said before that, if Disney developed a Star Trek style holodeck technology for their rides, that it would still not be enough. Not sure how far people expect Disney can go with the tech available and the things that can be done with it.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I haven't ben on MMR yet, by our family was underwhelmed by RotR, and really the whole land. By contrast, I greatly enjoyed SDD, so it isn't that I expected Disney to deliver the moon.

I'd like to maybe give RotR another go, I'm sure my experience was tainted by the frustration of trying to get on the ride, and the glitches we experienced the day we rode it. Just the process of trying to get on the ride was aggravating.

Nobody loves long lines, including me, but at least there's a kind of honesty in a simple line. I don't even mind FP. What I really hate though, is when I jump through hoops on my end, and then a company doesn't deliver. Getting up super early was one thing, and the BG lottery was ever so slightly fun, but then I didn't like not knowing when our BG would be called.

If I don't know when my BG will be called, then I have to keep checking back, and that uncertainty is a bit aggravating. It still feels like I'm waiting, I just can't see it.

Then when we did get called- surprise! A long line! Why have BG? that's when the experience tipped towards frustrating.

On top of that, the ride stopped while we were in line, or at least It think that's what happened. The line just stopped moving- for half an hour.

When we finally did ride...parts of it weren't fully working.

So then what?

I rode Test Track when it was new, and even though it too initially had reliability issues, I didn't find the wait nearly as aggravating. I could see the line, how quickly it was moving, and make my choice. Same thing when Escape from Gringotts was new. I waited two hours, and the line stopped some, and that was a little frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating as trying to get on RotR.

Inside the ride, I dunno, I find Kylo to be an annoying character. Kylo = sloppy storytelling. He's not compelling; he's just annoying.

Parts of RotR were okay, and kinda neat, but I'm inclined to skip it for a while, and that's not my usual reaction to new rides.

 

[Figments Friend]

YES on 'Railway'.
Didn't really impress me.

Cannot speak for 'Rise' as i have yet to experience it.
Did not have the chance last time i was at the Park.

-

 

[Hcalvert]

I got to ride both in July three times each. Unfortunately, the first time I was on RotR, it broke down and we were trapped inside the chamber for about an hour, but when it got going, it was awesome and I am not an uber-SW fan. As for the MMRR, again on the first ride, it broke down and we had to wait 45 minutes in the pre-show area for it to get going again. That was the only time I got to see the pre-show as the other two times, it was not working. I liked both immensely and am hopeful I will get to ride them again in December. I am also looking forward to the Rat ride when it finally opens.

 

[Giss Neric]

Respect all opinions, whether good or bad. It only becomes a problem when some people rely on other peoples' opinions and formulate their own based on that. If you haven't ridden it, do be discouraged or influenced by the opinions of others. Make your own when you have ridden it yourself. It's their experience, not yours.

 

[Giss Neric]

I haven't ben on MMR yet, by our family was underwhelmed by RotR, and really the whole land. By contrast, I greatly enjoyed SDD, so it isn't that I expected Disney to deliver the moon.

I'd like to maybe give RotR another go, I'm sure my experience was tainted by the frustration of trying to get on the ride, and the glitches we experienced the day we rode it. Just the process of trying to get on the ride was aggravating.

Nobody loves long lines, including me, but at least there's a kind of honesty in a simple line. I don't even mind FP. What I really hate though, is when I jump through hoops on my end, and then a company doesn't deliver. Getting up super early was one thing, and the BG lottery was ever so slightly fun, but then I didn't like not knowing when our BG would be called.

If I don't know when my BG will be called, then I have to keep checking back, and that uncertainty is a bit aggravating. It still feels like I'm waiting, I just can't see it.

Then when we did get called- surprise! A long line! Why have BG? that's when the experience tipped towards frustrating.

On top of that, the ride stopped while we were in line, or at least It think that's what happened. The line just stopped moving- for half an hour.

When we finally did ride...parts of it weren't fully working.

So then what?

I rode Test Track when it was new, and even though it too initially had reliability issues, I didn't find the wait nearly as aggravating. I could see the line, how quickly it was moving, and make my choice. Same thing when Escape from Gringotts was new. I waited two hours, and the line stopped some, and that was a little frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating as trying to get on RotR.

Inside the ride, I dunno, I find Kylo to be an annoying character. Kylo = sloppy storytelling. He's not compelling; he's just annoying.

Parts of RotR were okay, and kinda neat, but I'm inclined to skip it for a while, and that's not my usual reaction to new rides.

I think your frustrations with the BG system and long lines and breakdown played a big role in your overall impression. Would it change if you walked on directly into the ride first thing in the morning and you are in BG 1-10?

 

[FeelsSoGoodToBeBad]

I'm curious to know, for those who have ridden either multiple times: Is having the pre-show integral to a person's enjoyment of the ride? Additionally (this applies more to RotR, it seems), are effects malfunctions noticeable enough to impact someone's enjoyment of the ride if they don't really know what they're missing. I'm very much looking forward to riding both in March ( for a BG), but with no preshow for MMRR and all the issues with RotR, I'm left to wonder how much those might impact our enjoyment of the experience.

 

[Giss Neric]

I'm curious to know, for those who have ridden either multiple times: Is having the pre-show integral to a person's enjoyment of the ride? Additionally (this applies more to RotR, it seems), are effects malfunctions noticeable enough to impact someone's enjoyment of the ride if they don't really know what they're missing. I'm very much looking forward to riding both in March ( for a BG), but with no preshow for MMRR and all the issues with RotR, I'm left to wonder how much those might impact our enjoyment of the experience.

The preshows are integral to the overall story of the attraction, especially if you're not that familiar with Star Wars, but it won't have a big impact to the enjoyment of the ride.

As far as the effects, the most noticeable of course would be animatronic malfunctions, but there are key effects throughout the ride that if broken could ruin the ride experience. First time riders (without spoilers) might not notice it as there are so much to look at but if you've been watching ride POVs on Youtube then you ride it personally, you can definitely point it out,

 

[Paper straw fan]

If I compare the experience to the last Disney ride to have such high demand, I think it’s worlds better than FOP. The ‘wait’ experience is far superior to ‘wiggle around’ on that one. Runaway Railroad honestly is a better experience pre and hopefully soon post Covid. I find that one to be colorful and a feast for the senses, although it’s not one id wait 90+ minutes for again. Perhaps RotR won’t be as fun on the 50th ride as it was the first or second, but I still think it’s going to be a priority for me at HS, unless I just haven’t rode ToT or Slinky in a long time and can only get FP for one.