Secrets of Galaxy's Edge Star Wars : Rise of the Resistance

A last article about Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride, and this one will unveil some secrets of the ride, so if you haven't done the ride yet or didn't watched the videos, or if you're planning to do the ride soon, do NOT read this article, no kidding!

WARNING : MAJOR SPOILERS STARTS NOW

We'll start with these great floor plans of the ride, done by bobbysussman and posted by cgnsnewsreviews. As you probably know, the ride move on two floors, and the first floor plan below shows Level 1, and the next one below it, the Level 2, please note that these are not to scale to the real scene.

Now, there is something very interesting that we learn thanks to these floor plans, and it's about the "Intersystem Transport  Ship", the one in which you board after the pre-show with Rey and BB8  and which will be stopped by a Star Destroyer. If you watch the videos you'll notice that guests enter the ship by a door and the scene with the two Audio-Animatronics is on the right.

Then, when they exit and find yourself in the Star Destroyer hangar bay, they exit by the SAME door, not by the opposite door. 

This Intersystem Transport Ship three minutes ride works like a soft Star Tours to give the illusion of movement, but not too much because guests are standing and they must not fall down. Now, if guests enter and exit three minutes later by the same door how is it possible that they find themselves in the Star Destroyer hangar bay instead than having the same outdor decor where they were before entering the ship? The level 1 floor plan brings the answer: in fact, the Intersystem Transport Ship is on a turntable which is slowly but surely turning so when the gate open again the ship has positioned itself in front of the hangar bay scene ( see floor plan level 1 ).

So i thought that, if right, it means that we should see it somewhere when guests enter the ship. Remember that there is two doors that open when you enter. If you look closely at the ground between these two doors you can see that the groove, right after the first door, is not straight but slightly curved. That's because it's the turning table platform which will start to turn quietly when you will be inside the ship. It's very well done because guests can't guess it when they board, and so they can't guess the turning table trick too. Enlarge the picture below and look at the floor between the first and second door. 

Now, let's talk about the ride Audio-Animatronics. I’m being told that the second Kylo Ren Animatronic, the one at the end with the wall exploding behind him is the one which used to be the Wicked Witch of the West Animatronic in the Great Movie Ride ( though personally i think that the first Animatronic of Kylo Ren in the ride points and moves more like the wicked witch ).



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And the Finn Audio-Animatronic, the one sit under the AT AT walker is the one of the Great Movie Ride scene with Aliens where the Sigourney Weaver AA is leaning against the wall shaking her head.






Imagineers regularly re-use Audio-Animatronics who were in previous attractions, now extinct, so it's possible that it is here the case.

Talking about the wall which explode behind Kylo Ren at the end, the effect is done using the same technique than another wall also exploding at the end of HKDL Mystic Manor attraction, with some panels falling down, revealing the projection of the explosion behind ( watch a Mystic Manor video HERE )



Below, the final scene of Mystic Manor.



Last but not least, one of the best special effect in Rise of the Resistance is the one with the lightsaber cutting a hole in the ceiling, see picture below. Everyone is stunned by that scene and wonder how they did it. Well, a Mice Chat member has posted the explanation on the MC forum, but because it is truly an amazing scene, here is a new warning as it is a major spoiler so if you don't want to know, don't read below!!!



Sometimes it's more fun not knowing the trick but you've been warned, so here's how they do it:
The entire silver metal section of ceiling is one giant disk with a long curved notch already cut into in it. That entire plate rotates around, reveling more of the notch that was already cut into it as it rotates. The curved cutout doesn't appear to rotate/move, however, because the red hot portion around its edges is a projection that is steady, making it appear that the entire silver metal ceiling piece is stationary.

Yep, it is that simple and i add that the supposed laser cut of the ceiling is done either clockwise or counter clockwise, depending in which vehicle you are.

Now, The Imagineering Story part 6 documentary included the video below in which we have a behind-the-scenes look at the final drop sequence of the motion base ride vehicle system.

On Dec 31st, 2019 Alicia Stella has posted this great video giving even more explanations about the special effects used for the ride, including some that i didn't have found the solution like Rey's hologram during the pre-show which is not a Pepper's Ghost effect contrary to what you might think.




I have a "one more thing" for you with this great video of the ride filmed with a wide angle lens by SoCal Attractions 360, allowing - even if there is a bit of distortion from the wide angle lens - to see more of the ride decor!




And that's it for the secrets of Rise of the Resistance, stay tuned on D&M!

Pictures: copyright Disney