This land expansion at Hollywood Studios had been in the works for years and opened in phases in 2019 - with the biggest attraction Disney has ever done finally opening in December. That means that our visit to see the most popular attraction arguably ever created anywhere took place within two months of opening. And as you can see from this image below: crowds for this thing are nuts!
In order to be able to ride this ride, you need to be able to claim a "boarding pass" number for each member of your visiting party. And in order to claim a boarding pass before they're all given out for the day, you have to get to the park EARLY. We hopped on the Disney bus at our resort at 5:30am and were standing in this crowd - through security - by 6am. Disney cast members slowly let people enter the park slowly after 6:30 and then everyone waits until 7am to access the Disney app on their phone to claim their boarding pass. It's stressful because all boarding passes are given out within a minute of the app going live at 7am! Cody and I both had to refresh our phones a couple of times between 7:00 and 7:01 and finally were able to claim boarding passes for our group - the very last boarding group number given out that was guaranteed to ride the ride that day. We were so lucky and so relieved - so much of the anticipation for this trip was built around this ride!
This is where we stood waiting to claim our boarding group pass for Star Wars, and then as soon as the rides opened up, we headed straight back into Toy Story Land - another new park expansion that had opened since our last trip. The theming in Toy Story Land is incredible, and it has one awesome and popular ride, too. Slinky Dog Dash is a family coaster that was built for a younger crowd but is just as much fun for adults and older kids, too. It also develops VERY long lines throughout the day so we were super lucky to only wait about 15 minutes in line after heading straight there after park opening.
It's now a new favorite for our family. (Except Jaden - there's only two roller coasters Jaden will ride, and they are both mountain coasters over in the Magic Kingdom). ;)
After exploring the Toy Story area it was finally time to step foot inside Star Wars Galaxy's Edge - at long last!
Disney upped the "wow" factor with this place. Worth the wait and the money just to see it in person!
We explored the shops and eateries, followed Storm Troopers around and then went to ride a classic favorite Star Tours and catch the Indiana Jones stunt show before grabbing lunch.
And in the afternoon with still some time to kill before our boarding group number was called, we made our way back to Galaxy's Edge to "fly" the Millennium Falcon!
The line for this ride actually takes you underneath, behind... and eventually... inside the Falcon itself! And the attraction was so fun and well-done. Your family/friends group sits in the Falcon cockpit - each with an assigned role to play in piloting the ship. Cody and I were both the "captains" and got front row seats for the flight! I even got to initiate hyperspeed. ;)
And as soon as we "landed" the Falcon, our boarding group number was called for the ride we had all been waiting for - "Rise of the Resistance." No pictures of this ride - but I did get some videos during the pre-show and pre-staging areas (shown below). It's hard to put this attraction into words, but it's so immersive and so phenomenal. You feel like you are actually in a Star Wars movie, and it's one that we could have ridden over and over again. You'll just have to book your own trip to Disney and ride it yourself to fully appreciate it. It's one of a kind.
After an almost full day at Hollywood Studios, we departed to our resort for some rest and then headed back over to the Disney Boardwalk area to catch our UNI basketball team in action at the ESPN Restaurant! We were so exhausted that Brandon fell asleep on the table. ;) A big and good day!
