I have not been to Hollywood Studios since the Star Wars area opened. I know nothing about the new rides and just wondering if they are must dos if my kids have not seen any Star Wars and I could care less about Star Wars. Mostly curious about Rise of the Resistance as I feel that we would have to RD it as I don’t want to pay for ILL. I am sure it is a favorite ride for many but is it because of the actual ride or the theming.
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Rise is more than a ride.
Without giving too much away, the first part puts you into a kinda movie type experience which leads to the second part which is a ride. And the ride includes some new features (to Disney anyway).
You don’t need to know about the movie.
The Millenium Falcon is like Star Tours but where you have a role to play in flying the spaceship.
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I’m going to reiterate what Nicky said: Rise is one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. It feels like you’re in a movie, regardless of the familiarity with the movies. It’s an absolute must-do.
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I was afraid of this response. Now I have to build it into the plan somewhere!
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I actually disagree here. I think my experience on Rise was enhanced because I watched episodes 4-9 before going to SWGE.
I think it is an excellent immersive experience and did go on it 6 times during a 4 day trip BUT if I hadn’t seen the movies or didn’t care about the franchise, I think it’s skippable. I think knowing the characters is helpful in making it amazing.
I don’t know how old your kids are, but we opted out of it for our 4 year old as I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to distinguish fiction from reality. I didn’t want him to think he was actually in danger.
Side note: we went on ROTR during the last hour of the night on a CL6 or CL7 day and we had about a 30 minute wait. This is a good plan but can fail you if it goes down while you’re waiting.
I’ll also add - I’m more likely to skip things that I’m not totally sold on - we did NOT do ToT or RnRC on our trip 
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How old are your kids? My kids rode when they were 9 and 6 last year and enjoyed it but were a bit intimidated and didn’t want to ride this past trip. They actually really like Smuggler’s run for the gaming aspect of it. If your kids like arcades/video games, I imagine they would like smuggler’s run, especially if they get to pilot.
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I know nothing about Star Wars but I was satisfied with paying for it once. Quite the experience and it’s pretty long too!
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I knew one of the character by name. The rest - not really. And I have watched eps 4-9, just none of the characters used in the ride stood out for me lol!
I agree that some knowledge is useful and would make it more fun, but the whole “ride” is pretty unique.
I think it’s easy enough for kids to work out they’re on one side and some characters they encounter are “baddies” (or vice versa perhaps).
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Both DS4 and DS8 loved the Falcon! When my youngest piloted though, I was green afterward 
DS8 is a huge Star Wars fan (watched all episodes, has the LEGO Star Wars video game, built a droid, etc) and Rise was great for him. He said it was his favorite ride of the entire trip.
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I think Rise is skippable if you’re not a SW fan. Falcon ride is fun, especially if you like video games.
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I am thankful my 10 year old is pretty good at piloting. He convinced the 7 year old to be a gunner on this last trip and that made things much more smooth haha. It is definitely a different ride if you don’t have decent pilots!
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My kids are 7 and 9 with the 7 year old who gets a bit motion sickness. He was too short last time to do any major rides so kind of unknown on how he will do. I’m thinking end of the night since slinky dog was my daughters favorite ride last time and so hoping for multiple rides with RD and genie+. My husband and I have watched the movies so I know the characters and story just have never been a big fan.
I also plan on skipping RnRC since my kids are too short and will skip TOT unless DD9 wants to ride.
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We repeated a lot of attractions - and we did the Falcon three times.
First time - DH and DS4 piloted. It was not great and DH had an ear infection - he never went back on it
Second time - DS7 and my mom piloted. I told my mom it was a motion simulator and she might not like it. She didn’t listen and CLOSED HER EYES WHILE PILOTING. Also slightly green
Third time - DS7 and my sister piloted. People followed directions and left their eyes open. Best ride we had.
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I do enjoy it and it is a great ride, I just wouldn’t put your family through a bunch of hoops thinking you have to get on it.
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I agree generally that it’s enhanced by knowing the characters, but wouldn’t say it’s skippable! It’s a must do at least once. There is simply nothing like it – it’s so immersive.
After you do it once, you can decide if it’s worthwhile to go again. Since the “ride” is not super thrilling (in the sense of drops, speed, etc.), it’s not as mindbending after the first time. But it’s still cool every time for me.
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The Falcon IMO is best if you are a Star Wars fan. It’s very cool and something I hit up every time I’m in DL / WDW at least once. But it’s not anywhere near the level of immersion as Rise.
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I see your perspective - it is the wait time that kind of makes it questionable for me. If you could go on it via standby in 30 mins or less, then I think it is worth it…but waiting hours? For a non-fan? That piece makes it not worth it to me.
And I can’t even think about how much I spent on ILLs for this ride 
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Yeah, there just isn’t anything I’ll wait more than 30 minutes for with our 10, 7 and 4 year olds. But we are fortunate to go a lot which makes that easier. Plus we’ll pay for ILL to avoid waiting
I would say waiting up to an hour is worth it. Even when it says the wait is longer than that, it often isn’t. The ride experience is about 30 minutes and often I feel like the posted wait time includes that.
But yeah, going at RD or late at night (after first Fantasmic showing) is best.
I’d agree with Jeff that I wouldn’t consider it skippable. It is generally considered one of the two best rides (Flight of Passage being the other) featuring lots of new technology in the parks. It is hard for me to answer how much is due to being a SW fan and how much is just an immersive feel combined with exciting technology, but I think it is a ride everyone should experience at some point. Now maybe it doesn’t work this trip due to timing and wait times, but it is a MUST DO sometime at least even if you’re not a huge Star Wars fan…
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