Credit: Inside the MagicIf you thought Disney park tickets were expensive, wait until you find out how much extra it costs to guarantee a ride on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
While Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was met with a mixed response when it debuted at Disneyland, the reactions to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance have always been wildly positive. The attraction combines groundbreaking technology, cinematic scale, and immersive storytelling, making it one of the most ambitious rides Disney has ever created.
Guests are pulled into a full-scale Star Wars adventure, moving through multiple ride systems as they’re captured by the First Order, interrogated by stormtroopers, threatened by Kylo Ren and General Hux, and ultimately rescued by the Resistance. With the whole experience lasting nearly 20 minutes, it’s completely unique – an attribute that has also worked to its disadvantage over the years, with its complexity ultimately triggering extensive downtime when things go wrong. But we digress.
Unsurprisingly, the ride’s impressive reputation has translated to some lengthy wait times over the years. It’s not uncommon for the Rise of the Resistance line to stretch well over 90 minutes, with the attraction typically boasting the longest queue at both Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Guests Shocked By Upcharge For Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
These eye-watering wait times make the line-skipping Lightning Lane service all the more appealing to guests.
While Rise of the Resistance isn’t covered by the standard Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Disneyland Resort, guests can purchase a Lightning Lane Single Pass for the attraction (or, if they’re feeling extra flush, splash out on a Lightning Lane Premier Pass).
The price of a Lightning Lane Single Pass varies, depending largely on how busy Disneyland is that day. As a rough guide, it typically costs around $28.
This month, however, has marked a record-high price for 2025 as Disneyland Resort charged guests a whopping $40 to skip the line for Rise of the Resistance.
Disney introduced the shocking price tag on October 18, when guests noted that Disneyland Resort was surprisingly busy. It has since dipped back down to $29 in the days since, but many have still been taken aback that the park would charge so much simply to ride one attraction – especially when the cost of park tickets is soaring to all-time highs.
$40 for a single ride is pretty wild.
$40 for a single ride is pretty wild. pic.twitter.com/pJJ7GuIalf
— RyanTheme Park (@Ryanthemepark) October 19, 2025
“Not worth it, unless you’ll never come back and it’s you’re only time to ride it,” wrote one X, formerly known as Twitter, user.
Another wrote, “They may as well start selling ride tickets again.”
Many noted that the price tag is especially shocking when you consider how often Rise of the Resistance actually works.
“For $40 they better have Kylo Ren in A mode,” one user wrote.
At the same time, they added that the higher price tag is somewhat necessary to provide greater value to the Lightning Lane experience and lessen its impact on those who choose to use the standby line instead. “In all seriousness, though, I welcome the [increased] cost as an express line is supposed to be fast and increasing the cost reduces the people in it,” they wrote. “Speeding up the process for base ticket guests and providing a better experience for LL.”
Are Theme Parks Going Too Far With Upcharges?
The theme park community has spent a lot of time debating Disney’s increasing use of upcharges. Since eliminating its free FastPass services, Lightning Lanes – plus their equivalents at other parks, such as Premier Access at Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney Resort – have been introduced as paywalls for a more efficient Disney park experience.
At Tokyo Disney Resort, for example, you can use Premier Access to reserve prime viewing spots for parades and fireworks, while Disneyland Paris also utilizes the service for reserved viewing for its stage shows, such as TOGETHER: a Pixar Musical Adventure.
The problem isn’t isolated to Disney.
Over at Universal Orlando Resort, guests were recently shocked by the introduction of Universal Express Single Attraction Access. This service was tested on October 16 for Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Islands of Adventure and Revenge of the Mummy in Universal Studios Florida, with each pass costing $24.99 per person.
Guests have since debated the pros and cons of the service – which admittedly offers a more affordable alternative to the notoriously expensive Universal Express Pass – with some theorizing that it will soon be expanded to cover the resort’s most popular attractions, such as Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Jurassic World VelociCoaster in Islands of Adventure’s Jurassic Park land.
Would you pay $40 to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance?