Thousands of Disney fanatics lined up outside the opening gates of Disneyland as early as midnight on Jan. 17 for the new addition to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, according to the OC Register. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is the first-ever trackless ride at the park and is identical to the one opened on Dec. 5, 2019 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.

A virtual queue via the Disneyland app is used to call groups of attendees, themed as boarding groups, in order to decrease the amount of traffic around the physical location. The virtual queue will continue to be used as needed, but for perspective, Disney World still utilizes the system for this attraction despite being open for several months.

We were lucky enough to experience the attraction during opening weekend, so we will be providing a spoiler-free review of our experience as well as tips to help you gain a boarding pass.

As it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the lines to enter Disneyland were some of the longest we have seen. Despite only entering the park at 7:45 a.m, 15 minutes before opening, we were able to secure boarding group 40, but all passes were gone within a few minutes. Our group was called at around 12:30 p.m.; however, once we entered the line, the attraction shut down for around an hour and a half due to technical difficulties. Realistically, we expected delays due to the anticipation that the ride had never run with such a large influx of people.

We finally reached the front of the line after about two hours of waiting. Neither of us are huge Star Wars fans, but we both were able to understand the storyline. The pre-ride show explains the premises of the story, and cast members working on the ride are dedicated to portraying members of the First Order, enhancing our experience.

Our biggest tip is to simply be prepared: link your entire party’s tickets on the app so that everyone can try their luck. We would also recommend not putting pressure on getting passes. The system is random and not first come first serve, so there is no guarantee you will be granted admission. However, there are other Star Wars experiences such as Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, which has been revamped with a few new scenes from Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.

In our opinion, Rise of the Resistance is ultimately something worth experiencing; however, whether to wait until the excitement dies down in order to go depends. Die-hard fans should put this attraction at the top of their list, but the casual Disney-goer should wait until the ride is operating without technical issues, hopefully in the next few months.