We can't discern much from the "small drops" categorization, because if you look at what is
currently categorized as having "small drops," that includes attractions such as Soarin' Around the World, Star Tours, Dinosaur, and even... Peter Pan's Flight.
But it also includes Kali River Rapids, Frozen Ever After, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Slinky Dog Dash, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which do feature substantial, although indeed small, drops.
So, Rise of the Resistance could either have no
true drops, or it could indeed have, say, something like a fairly controlled 30-foot drop.
What we
can discern is that it will
not have drops at the level of Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, or the like, since that would categorize it as having "big drops." But we already knew that.
Also, like Flight of Passage, the "escape pod" could quite easily go
up and down, allowing for multiple small drops throughout the journey back to Batuu, similar to Flight of Passage.
My main hope (and optimistic suspicion) is that they will take advantage of the fact that the vehicle is descending from the second floor, i.e., include a "true" drop like those on Big Thunder, Pirates, Kali, Frozen, etc.
