Earlier this week, we visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios along with our friends, Es & Rick Cohen and Sue & Mark Bernstein. We rushed there early to try and get on Rise of the Resistance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Unfortunately, the ride was closed. We moved on to the only other ride attraction in this area. With trepidation, we asked a passing guest how it was. He said it was great and not as rocky as Star Tours. I knew this one was a flight simulator and I’d tended to avoid those types of rides. But his reassurance persuaded us, and we got in line.

Indoors was comfortably air-conditioned as we snaked through the line and climbed up several ramps to the boarding station. Along the way were several interesting scenes.

Finally, we got to the boarding area. Two of us were assigned as pilots, two as gunners, and two as engineers. The attendant described our roles and what we had to do. We piled inside the craft in that order. I was a gunnery officer. I was to look for a flashing button by my station and push it when I wanted to fire weapons. Did our actions have any effect on the scene? Who knows? It was fun to think so. The craft held six seats in rows of two, so it worked out perfectly for our crew. We fastened our seatbelts and prepared for liftoff.

What followed was an awesome thrill ride as we zoomed through space, down into canyons, and across planetary landscapes and jumped into hyperspace. Enemy fighters shot at us and we fired back. I was too dazed to follow the story, if there was one, but the ride must be called Smuggler’s Run for a reason. I would agree with the assessment that this experience isn’t as jarring as Star Tours. It was great fun if you don’t mind a little jostling around. I’d love to watch the video by itself to see the scenes that went by so fast.

Once done here, we headed over to the “Frozen” singalong show. We relaxed inside in a comfy chair and listened to a retelling of the Frozen story along with music. It was a very pleasant interlude with a rousing grand finale that included a surprise snowfall. This one is a great feel-good experience.

After eating burgers at the Backlot Express, our crew headed next door for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Loud booms and explosions accompanied this exciting demonstration of movie magic.

We tried to get on Micky & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, but that ride had technical issues and shut down. Meanwhile, Rise of the Resistance was up and running again but had too long of a wait. By now we were hot and ready to leave before the afternoon thunderstorms arrived. I’ll still have to come back for the Star Wars ride I keep missing but our next Disney trip will be to Epcot.