Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

[Rich Brownn]

Pirates is an E ticket ride...even with the small drop and the "Cliff Notes" setup... I wish we had gotten a longer version like Disneyland or better yet the expanded Disneyland Paris version, but we didn't... It would be nice to see them one day figure out a way to expand the experience with a restaurant float-through prologue, but we all know that would never happen...

There was a plan at one time to continue the ride past unload, up the waterfall and use the area currently filled with shops and courtyards. Im guessing it was too expensive to actually do.

 

[J4546]

I think RISE is one of the best thing WDI has done in recent years, but thats just imo.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Brought some first timers on it 2 weeks ago.

BB-8, the moving elevator lightsaber, the cannons, and the final Kylo AA were all down.

Very disappointed. Luckily they were still blown away by the scope of the attraction.

That being said: the ride relies too heavily on too many singular effects. With those down, it dampens the whole experience.

 

[G00fyDad]

Brought some first timers on it 2 weeks ago.

BB-8, the moving elevator lightsaber, the cannons, and the final Kylo AA were all down.

Very disappointed. Luckily they were still blown away by the scope of the attraction.

That being said: the ride relies too heavily on too many singular effects. With those down, it dampens the whole experience.

I can see how that would be bad. Thankfully the only thing that was down on our trip was the cannons. My only regret was that I was so blown away by the ride itself that I tried to take everything in all at once. I would have preferred to ride it back to back at least a half dozen times. Too bad that would take all day with the lines being what they were when we went.

 

[George]

Brought some first timers on it 2 weeks ago.

BB-8, the moving elevator lightsaber, the cannons, and the final Kylo AA were all down.

Very disappointed. Luckily they were still blown away by the scope of the attraction.

That being said: the ride relies too heavily on too many singular effects. With those down, it dampens the whole experience.

Full disclosure, I was 2.5 years old at the time of my first visit to MK in 1972. I didn't always play super close attention to things and there was a 3 or 4 year period in the 90s when I didn't set foot on property. I put out all those caveats because I'm not a 100% sure I'm correct (I know this is weird because in the modern world we all have to act certain even when we're wrong), but I feel like ride maintenance is not anywhere near what it used to be. Its always disappointing when I'm in a Disney themed recreational area with a newbie and we ride something that I dearly love and have been hyping up only for lots of stuff not to work. There's also no recovering from it. "Imagine the same ride, but when you're in the elevator you can see Kylo's light saber cutting through the ceiling. Also, imagine his AA moving around and such. See, now its really super awesome."

I feel like there was a long period of time when I didn't have to routinely make such excuses. I do remember the first time this happened. Universe of Energy pre show and the Radok blocks weren't turning (this was post the date in 1984 when they finally started working). Really annoying. I didn't even turn to my friend to explain what was supposed to happen. You could explain what was supposed to happen, but the coolness of the effect was impossible to impart.

 

[Bocabear]

oh man those Radok Blocks were amazing... Such a shame they did not fix and reuse them somewhere in the new "World Celebration Future, Discovery, Nature, Thing area....

 

[Haymarket2008]

Full disclosure, I was 2.5 years old at the time of my first visit to MK in 1972. I didn't always play super close attention to things and there was a 3 or 4 year period in the 90s when I didn't set foot on property. I put out all those caveats because I'm not a 100% sure I'm correct (I know this is weird because in the modern world we all have to act certain even when we're wrong), but I feel like ride maintenance is not anywhere near what it used to be. Its always disappointing when I'm in a Disney themed recreational area with a newbie and we ride something that I dearly love and have been hyping up only for lots of stuff not to work. There's also no recovering from it. "Imagine the same ride, but when you're in the elevator you can see Kylo's light saber cutting through the ceiling. Also, imagine his AA moving around and such. See, now its really super awesome."

I feel like there was a long period of time when I didn't have to routinely make such excuses. I do remember the first time this happened. Universe of Energy pre show and the Radok blocks weren't turning (this was post the date in 1984 when they finally started working). Really annoying. I didn't even turn to my friend to explain what was supposed to happen. You could explain what was supposed to happen, but the coolness of the effect was impossible to impart.

Fully agree. Have been going for over 30 years and the level of detail with maintenance feels like 1 step forward, 2 steps back lately. Sometimes they'll give a ride or experience the love it deserves,.... but for every one of those, theres at least two more that are struggling. And have struggled for years.

 

[Kamikaze]

Brought some first timers on it 2 weeks ago.

BB-8, the moving elevator lightsaber, the cannons, and the final Kylo AA were all down.

Very disappointed. Luckily they were still blown away by the scope of the attraction.

That being said: the ride relies too heavily on too many singular effects. With those down, it dampens the whole experience.

The ride is definitely not as good without the turbolasers and Kylo A-Mode. 100%.

But the 'singular effects' thing is how every dark ride is. If you go into a scene and that scene isn't working, it sucks. For example, if Madame Leota isn't working when you swing into that room the whole ride suffers.

 

[Haymarket2008]

The ride is definitely not as good without the turbolasers and Kylo A-Mode. 100%.

But the 'singular effects' thing is how every dark ride is. If you go into a scene and that scene isn't working, it sucks. For example, if Madame Leota isn't working when you swing into that room the whole ride suffers.

Fair point re: Leota. That being said, her downtime compared to a Kyle AA is not even in the same universe haha.

The thing that I'll give almost every major dark ride over RotR is the fact that there is SO much more detail in them. Haunted Mansion and Pirates are so much more visually interesting and have so much more that can pick up the slack if one or two effects aren't working as intended.

Hot take, I suppose. But it's just how I feel.

 

[UNCgolf]

The ride is definitely not as good without the turbolasers and Kylo A-Mode. 100%.

But the 'singular effects' thing is how every dark ride is. If you go into a scene and that scene isn't working, it sucks. For example, if Madame Leota isn't working when you swing into that room the whole ride suffers.

To an extent, yeah, but rides like Pirates and Haunted Mansion generally have a lot more happening than a single effect in most (not all) scenes. I think Rise does suffer from the ride generally relying on one major effect/AA per scene.

 

[Rich Brownn]

To an extent, yeah, but rides like Pirates and Haunted Mansion generally have a lot more happening than a single effect in most scenes (not all scenes). I think Rise does suffer from most of the ride relying on one major effect/AA per scene.

In the old days, certain figures malfunctioning would be an immediate downtime. When I worked Pirates, it was the auctioneer... if he went down, the ride was to go 101. Of course, that was back when Imagineers had some clout and Disney considered show to be a core.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

In the old days, certain figures malfunctioning would be an immediate downtime. When I worked Pirates, it was the auctioneer... if he went down, the ride was to go 101. Of course, that was back when Imagineers had some clout and Disney considered show to be a core.

Not excusing poor maintenance (which is the core issue here), but the parks are so under built that they can’t afford to take attractions offline for things like the auctioneer going down anymore

 

[Rich Brownn]

Not excusing poor maintenance (which is the core issue here), but the parks are so under built that they can’t afford to take attractions offline for things like the auctioneer going down anymore

The auctioneer rarely breaks down. But Imagineers no longer have the authority to close a ride for "bad show"

 

[marni1971]

Not excusing poor maintenance (which is the core issue here), but the parks are so under built that they can’t afford to take attractions offline for things like the auctioneer going down anymore

That’s why it’s now up to management discretion to close a popular ride even with multiple broken key effects. Some still have the balls to do it. Some don’t.

 

[marni1971]

There was a plan at one time to continue the ride past unload, up the waterfall and use the area currently filled with shops and courtyards. Im guessing it was too expensive to actually do.

Yes. Quite a bit of structural mods were needed. It was decided it wasn’t worth it for the cost and time needed.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Yes. Quite a bit of structural mods were needed. It was decided it wasn’t worth it for the cost and time needed.

Any idea what kind of show would have been featured in that area? My instinct is that it would have been related to the POTC movies, but there's so much potential for an extension to the WDW Pirates I'd be curious to know what they had in mind.

 

[Rich Brownn]

That’s why it’s now up to management discretion to close a popular ride even with multiple broken key effects. Some still have the balls to do it. Some don’t.

I don't know if this is changed, but sometimes it depends on who gets charged for the downtime. Once, there was noise coming from the turntable load at WEDway. Management wouldn't close it, because it was still working so the downtime would be charged to them. Once it finally broke, the downtime would be charged to maintenance. As a result, something that could have been fixed quickly now took much longer.

 

[Mike S]

Brought some first timers on it 2 weeks ago.

BB-8, the moving elevator lightsaber, the cannons, and the final Kylo AA were all down.

Very disappointed. Luckily they were still blown away by the scope of the attraction.

That being said: the ride relies too heavily on too many singular effects. With those down, it dampens the whole experience.

Same here except I had the elevator lightsaber.

Seeing how much goes wrong with this ride after experiencing full show mode just a week after opening hurts. It’s so amazing when everything works.

 

[marni1971]

Any idea what kind of show would have been featured in that area? My instinct is that it would have been related to the POTC movies, but there's so much potential for an extension to the WDW Pirates I'd be curious to know what they had in mind.

Nope. Current unload would have become a new showscene. The ramp up would have been show, with unload at the top. For once I’m inclined to agree the net gains weren’t worth the time and money and extended closure required.

 

[marni1971]

I don't know if this is changed, but sometimes it depends on who gets charged for the downtime. Once, there was noise coming from the turntable load at WEDway. Management wouldn't close it, because it was still working so the downtime would be charged to them. Once it finally broke, the downtime would be charged to maintenance. As a result, something that could have been fixed quickly now took much longer.

Interesting, thank you. I guess it depends on many variables. I know of quite a key effect - one surrounded by other effects - on a very very popular attraction that required a 3rd shift closure that would run well into the next day to repair. It only affected a small part of the ride, the ride could easily run without it but the decision was made to keep it closed until the relatively easy fix - once accessed - was made.