Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (DHS)

[Nick]

I don’t know I was in there today and it was jammed packed full of people and very busy in GE. SR got up to a 70 min wait and didn’t get lower than 55 from what I noticed. Hollywood studios in general seemed very busy to me.

AP blackouts haven’t begun yet.

 

[sjago13]

Group 20. Followed Nick's advice to line up against the wall and was able to move fast once we got around the booth and all those lines were open. I'll take group 20 considering how much busier it is today vs last sat.

Last Sat showed up at 5 and got group 13.
Today showed up at 5.30 and got 20.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Just got group 62

 

[Tbad556]

Curious to see how the weather affects things this morning. The rain is starting already and the CMs at the ride entrance just took cover. The supervisor at the ride entrance is telling everyone they have time to enjoy other attractions before it opens.

 

[JoeCamel]

Curious to see how the weather affects things this morning. The rain is starting already and the CMs at the ride entrance just took cover. The supervisor at the ride entrance is telling everyone they have time to enjoy other attractions before it opens.

Should be short but intense

 

[Tbad556]

Apparently boarding groups started at 8 today...? 8-10 are being called now. Rain is still coming down.

EDIT (7:25 AM): 8-13 now. Going in.

 

[sjago13]

Groups gone at 7.44

 

[Tbad556]

8:00 AM and off the ride. Got to do the other side this time and I love all of the little changes. I think I prefer the first car that leaves the boarding room, but neither is bad.

I definitely worry about how the “experience” will age over time. Week 2 and the First Order CMs today already have none of the intensity of last week. I think I had at most 2 cast members actually commit to acting like they were angry with our existence. It’s wild how much it changes the experience.

 

[Mad Dog]

8:00 AM and off the ride. Got to do the other side this time and I love all of the little changes. I think I prefer the first car that leaves the boarding room, but neither is bad.

I definitely worry about how the “experience” will age over time. Week 2 and the First Order CMs today already have none of the intensity of last week. I think I had at most 2 cast members actually commit to acting like they were angry with our existence. It’s wild how much it changes the experience.

Sounds like it's going to go the way of Transformers at USF. That harried angered military dialogue didn't last out the first year.....and...like I said before....those parts of four days I spent in GESWL back in November, I can't recall a single Bright Suns comment or any other noticible role playing by the cast members.,,,,and I think the same has happened at Pandora with the language stuff. I don't think it's realistic to expect cast members to keep up an act for an extended period of time. You really need 'live actors',or people, who love to perform, if you want to keep that immersive illusion going....like the DHS Hollywood Streetmosphere & Seuss Landing Streetmosphere people, do so well.

 

[Nick]

8:00 AM and off the ride. Got to do the other side this time and I love all of the little changes. I think I prefer the first car that leaves the boarding room, but neither is bad.

I definitely worry about how the “experience” will age over time. Week 2 and the First Order CMs today already have none of the intensity of last week. I think I had at most 2 cast members actually commit to acting like they were angry with our existence. It’s wild how much it changes the experience.

Sounds like it's going to go the way of Transformers at USF. That harried angered military dialogue didn't last out the first year.....and...like I said before....those parts of four days I spent in GESWL back in November, I can't recall a single Bright Suns comment or any other noticible role playing by the cast members.,,,,and I think the same has happened at Pandora with the language stuff. I don't think it's realistic to expect cast members to keep up an act for an extended period of time. You really need 'live actors',or people, who love to perform, if you want to keep that immersive illusion going....like the DHS Hollywood Streetmosphere & Seuss Landing Streetmosphere people, do so well.

I mean... these are ops cast members. They have a lot to be stressed about now without worrying about having to stay in First Order character all the time as if they’re a character.

They’re still getting paid the same whether they stay in character or not. That’s the problem with trying to force ops to be entertainment and why it always fails.

 

[Tbad556]

Sounds like it's going to go the way of Transformers at USF. That harried angered military dialogue didn't last out the first year.....and...like I said before....those parts of four days I spent in GESWL back in November, I can't recall a single Bright Suns comment or any other noticible role playing by the cast members.,,,,and I think the same has happened at Pandora with the language stuff. I don't think it's realistic to expect cast members to keep up an act for an extended period of time. You really need 'live actors',or people, who love to perform, if you want to keep that immersive illusion going....like the DHS Hollywood Streetmosphere & Seuss Landing Streetmosphere people, do so well.

I hope not. Definitely could've just been bad timing on my part. Guess we'll see. I did hear some "Bright suns" this morning though.

I mean... these are ops cast members. They have a lot to be stressed about now without worrying about having to stay in First Order character all the time as if they’re a character.

They’re still getting paid the same whether they stay in character or not. That’s the problem with trying to force ops to be entertainment and why it always fails.

Oh without a doubt and I don't blame the actual CMs one bit. After working 2.5 ish years in attractions myself, I know damn well I would eventually stop being as invested too. Especially if I had to be at the ride by 6 AM or sooner constantly while dealing with the chaos of everything.

My point was strictly your second paragraph which you worded far better than I could this morning. It's such an incredibly large part of the experience in my opinion and I'll definitely be sad if it eventually fades away.

 

[Nick]

Gonna try and get on this thing again tomorrow. We’ll see if I decide to actually do it though

Btw, I hear Bright Suns all the time when I’ve been to the land.

 

[Mad Dog]

I mean... these are ops cast members. They have a lot to be stressed about now without worrying about having to stay in First Order character all the time as if they’re a character.

They’re still getting paid the same whether they stay in character or not. That’s the problem with trying to force ops to be entertainment and why it always fails.

I completely agree. It's. as I said, it's unrealistic for Disney or Universal to expect regular cast members to do a job real actors get paid extra to do.

 

[OLSinFLA]

I completely agree. It's. as I said, it's unrealistic for Disney or Universal to expect regular cast members to do a job real actors get paid extra to do.

Jungle Cruise: hold my beer

 

[Alicia]

Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror Cast Members still do a great job in keeping the theme.

I agree the land needs real Entertainment, but I think the First Order CMs in Rise can keep up not smiling and being pretend rude forever just fine.

 

[bob albert]

Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror Cast Members still do a great job in keeping the theme.

I agree the land needs real Entertainment, but I think the First Order CMs in Rise can keep up not smiling and being pretend rude forever just fine.

Eh sometimes.

 

[Tbad556]

Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror Cast Members still do a great job in keeping the theme.

I agree the land needs real Entertainment, but I think the First Order CMs in Rise can keep up not smiling and being pretend rude forever just fine.

I'm honestly going to disagree here a bit. They may still deliver a decent amount at those attractions, but it's totally hit or miss at this point. Just last week while waiting for Rise, I rode Tower and not one single CM I passed was in character. Greeter position was chatting with the other greeter. The merge position just rushed everyone into the preshow. The load position gave the most half-hearted spiel I've ever seen. And this is not rare for me to experience.

Same thing goes with Potter attractions. When Hogsmeade first opened, that land was full of heart and Potter-obsessed nerds running the place. It doesn't quite have that same touch anymore.

I still don't mean any of this as a slight to the ops CMs. It just feels like an unfortunate inevitability for any given attraction eventually and is part of why I try to experience these new things while they're still fresh to everyone including the CMs.

 

[rhino4evr]

If you make it a job requirement to stay in character, than that’s all she wrote. Cast members not willing to participate can work another attraction...

 

[Tbad556]

If you make it a job requirement to stay in character, than that’s all she wrote. Cast members not willing to participate can work another attraction...

There's an incredibly small number of attractions at Universal or Disney that don't actually require you to stay in character. Every ride I've ever worked taught me the character bits I should incorporate and I never really worked a big new headlining land like WWoHP or Galaxy's Edge. It's just not something you can successfully enforce on ops CMs who are paid nothing special and it's why @Nick mentioned the importance of differentiating between ops and entertainment.

 

[mainejeff]

The great thing is that this is causing the park to open more night time hours....even if it is early mornings. My plan now is to get back to my hotel room by 6:00pm most nights and be in bed by 8. I'll probably wake-up by 3:00am to be at the park by 4:00am. Can't wait!