The ride was resistant when technical glitches held up a preview of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance for three hours on Wednesday. But once it opened, the Force was strong with this one.

More than 500 media members from around the world were gathered at Walt Disney World for the groundbreaking ride, which makes its public debut Thursday.

The marquee feature of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios is one of the most important new attractions to open at Walt Disney World in years. The long-awaited addition to the new themed land is the finishing touch on a $1 billion expansion at the park. A nearly identical Star Wars land at Disneyland in California will open Rise of the Resistance in a month.

It is the most complex ride system Disney’s Imagineers have ever designed: a trackless vehicle that moves laterally, vertically and spins smoothly around realistic animatronic characters and laser canons and life-size AT-AT walkers, the four-legged robots used in battle by the First Order.

Riders zip past massive AT-AT walkers aboard a First Order Star Destroyer as part of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the new attraction opening Thursday at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. [ WALT DISNEY WORLD | Matt Stroshane, photographer ]

It may have felt a little too ambitious when the ride stalled for most of the morning. Even after it resumed, there were brief outages later in the afternoon.

But once the ride was running, the action was non-stop and the fans, such as actor Josh Gad of Frozen, were gushing. Gad surprised Disney guests on Tuesday at the park’s Frozen singalong (he’s Olaf), and he got to ride Rise of the Resistance that day as well.

He tweeted that it is "the most impressive ride I have ever been on."

“I do not think people are ready for the scale, the scope, the surprises & the immersiveness of this soon-to-be iconic attraction,” Gad gushed. “Folks, it’s a game Changer.”

#RiseOfTheResistance is the most impressive ride I have ever been on. I do not think people are ready for the scale, the scope, the surprises & the immersiveness of this soon-to-be iconic attraction. Folks, it’s a game changer. Congrats to @strowbridge & the team of Imagineers🙌 pic.twitter.com/uZ7TamhkN0 — Josh Gad (@joshgad) December 4, 2019

It’s the kind of buzz Disney has been looking for since it opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in California in May and in Florida at the end of August at a cost of $1 billion — each — on the nearly identical lands on both coasts.

Disneyland has had two quarters of attendance declines, despite the opening of the 14-acre Star Wars land that was supposed to generate fan furor. In the lead-up to the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, admission prices were hiked and space was cleared for what was expected to be crushing crowds that never really came in California, though Florida fared better.

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“Disney World, and more importantly Disneyland, needs Rise of the Resistance to be a bar-raising game Changer,” said Rick Munarriz of the Motley Fool investment site.

Between the extensive queue that features multiple rooms of themed content and the ride, it can take a full 20 minutes to get to the ride vehicle, even if there is no line.

There’s a plot to the ride as well. The guests are “recruits” asked to keep secret the location of the Resistance base.

Riders enter the Ready Room and encounter BB-8 and Star Wars heroine Rey. Actor Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the films, recorded hologram scenes for the pre-show.

“A covert Resistance team lead by my friend Finn has infiltrated the First Order Star Destroyer that is now headed to this system,” Ridley said as Rey for the attraction.

As the Ready Room doors open, the recruits find Resistance pilot Poe Dameron’s distinctive black and orange X-Wing with ball droid BB-8 behind the cockpit. Next, riders are filed into a shuttle transport, which is captured by the First Order and they enter the cavernous deck of a Star Destroyer. There’s a 100-foot screen showing outer space action, and dozens of stormtroopers are lined up to create a menacing presence.

And this is still the queue. There are still two more scenes to march through before climbing into the trackless vehicle that is supposed to be a First Order transport shuttle.

Oscar winner Doug Chiang, the executive vice president and creative director of Lucasfilm, was along for the ride with reporters on Wednesday and he was grinning the entire time, like a kid in a candy store. Film sets are created with facades without ceilings and use green screens for big spaceships. The theme park lands are the first time that a full-scale Millennium Falcon or a X-Wing starship has been built.

Oscar winner Doug Chiang, executive vice president and creative director of Lucasfilm, grins as he and other riders board a transport shuttle in the queue of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistence, an ambitious new attraction opening at Disney's Hollywood Studios Dec. 5. [ LUIS SANTANA ]

“This is the real deal,” he said, as he admired the squadron of storm troopers on the gleaming deck of the Star Destroyer. He said he has ridden it several times in recent days, but still gets a kick out seeing his creations come to life.

After a 20-minute queue, the guests board the vehicle that they are told is taking them as prisoners to meet Kylo Ren, Darth Vader’s grandson and the baddie of recent Star Wars films. Realistic animatronics show him plotting with one of his underlings before demanding the riders spill the beans on the Resistance.

An animatronic Kylo Ren is a menacing feature as part of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the new attraction opening Thursday at Star Wars: Galaxys Edge at Disneys Hollywood Studios. [ WALT DISNEY WORLD | Walt Disney World ]

The ensuing chase is loaded with movie magic, from walls that explode with smoky pock marks from laser gun shots to Kylo Ren’s light saber slicing through the ceiling above the riders. The while the vehicles smoothly zip past huge AT-AT walkers and laser cannons, and with a literal drop it turns into a simulator ride that takes off to flee to safety.

With thousands of Star Wars fans expected to descend on the park Thursday morning, a Disney spokesman said the park is heartened that despite the hiccups, the ride glitches smoothed out for the rest of the day. They expect that with the rave reviews the fans will stick it out.

The operating hours for Hollywood Studios will be extended for this, opening at 8 a.m. and closing at 10 p.m., but be aware that in the past Disney has opened the park early on opening day if there’s a huge line waiting to get in.

Admission is $109, but there are discounts for seasonal flex tickets, midday tickets and multiday passes at disneyworld.disney.go.com.

Times staff writer Daniel Figueroa contributed to this report.