Disney’s Hollywood Studios Tips and Tricks to get the most of your One-day Adventure!

How to get the most out of your day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Rise of The Resistance

Voted # 1 ride by our family – This ride is AMAZING!  The virtual queue is the only way that you can access this ride.  The virtual queue becomes available at 7 AM on the day of your reservation.  You can do this from your hotel room if you are staying within a few miles of the Disney Resort or as you travel to the park.  Set yourself an alarm!  You want to be on the app a few minutes early to make sure you have internet connection, and you are ready!  At 7 AM (it may be a few minutes after) the queue becomes live.  I encourage two of your party to be on devices trying to get a spot.  We were successful after just a few seconds of trying.  Once one of you gets a spot, you are good!  Your whole party should be included as long as you are linked together on the app.  Only one of you will be able to sign up for your party because they only allow each person to ride once a day.  I HIGHLY recommend that you take this seriously.  This ride is super awesome and so worth it! 

If you miss this opportunity, no stress!  Set your alarm because the queue reopens again at 1 PM.  This time you must be in Hollywood Studios Park.  Try to get in on the morning queue and use the second queue as a backup option!   Make sure you have push notifications on, so Disney can send you updates on the virtual queue once you have secured a boarding group.  This ride is worth the little extra effort to prepare!

Parking

The parking lot opens one hour before the parks open.  We recommend arriving a few minutes before the parking opens.   You will quickly get through the parking area and will be able to park closer to the park.  Remember that the trams are not currently being used due to COVID so the further you park, the further you walk! At the end of the day, you will be even more grateful your car is closer to the park!  We were able to enter the park immediately and were riding the Millennium Falcon before the park was officially open.

Arrive Early and Stay Late

The shortest lines for the most popular rides will be early and late although check the app for ride time updates while you are waiting in line.  You may find that the wait for your favorite ride has dropped!  Most people head to Star Wars first so you may choose the opposite and head to Tower of Terror and Aerosmith first and hit Star Wars later in the day.   But if building your own light saber or droid, or shopping at the cool depots is at the top of your list, head over to Star Wars first, those lines get long!

Galaxy’s Edge makes you feel like you are in a Star Wars Movie

Galaxy Edge: 

Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon are the only rides in Galaxy Edge but there is so much more to explore and discover!  Take time to check out the shops and restaurants! Grab some blue milk while you’re there! Savi’s Workshop is where you can build your own light saber to take home with you! Droid Depot is the spot for building your very own droid! The lines for the shops can get very long so be prepared if this is important to you.  Check the park reservations section of your app to see if reservations for the Oga’s Cantina (restaurant), Savi’s Workshop, and the Droid Depot are available. 

  • Rise of the Resistance – see #1 above for review
  • Millennium Falcon – Voted # 2 by our family – we recommend you ride this multiple times, if you are able, so you can experience being the pilot, engineer, and gunner.  All of them are fun! Which one is your favorite?
The pilot really pushes the buttons and pulls the levers to “fly” the Millenium Falcon.” All the roles are fun! If you get their early enough and stay late you may get lucky enough to try them all! Which is your favorite?

Toy Story Land

While in Toy Story Land you could cool off and avoid the crowds while watching Walt Disney Presents and see about how Walt Disney started all of this!

  • Slinky Dog Dash – Tied for #5 by our family – We really enjoyed this fun family friendly roller coaster.  Usually there is a long line unless you get lucky!
  • Toy Story Mania – Tied for #5 by our family – We love this arcade style game where you ride around shooting and trying to score points.
  • Alien Swirling Saucers – Voted # 9 by our family – Fun saucer ride with a toy story twist!

Sunset Boulevard

While you are in Sunset Boulevard you may consider visiting Lightning McQueen Racing Academy.  It is a cute racing show with Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks!

  • Rock’n Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – Voted #3 by our family – Super fun and fast indoor rollercoaster.  There are lots of twists, turns, and loops but no big drops.  It’s one of our favorite rides in the whole park!
  • Tower of Terror – Voted #4 by our family – It’s a literal drop tower so if you don’t love drops you may want to avoid this one.  Some people love this and others use this opportunity to take another ride on Aerosmith. Expect to wait 60+ minutes.

Grand Avenue

While in Grand Avenue you may consider resting and enjoying the air conditioning while visiting the Minnie and Mickey Show and Muppets Vision 3D.

  • Star Tours – Tied for #5 by our family – It’s a new experience every time you ride.   This is one of the first 3D rides made and it is still well loved!

Hollywood Boulevard

While in Hollywood Boulevard you may consider watching the Frozen Sing Along Celebration or checking the schedule for when a Motorcade may come by!

  • Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway – Voted # 8 by our family – We enjoyed this cute Mickey and Minnie journey with all their friends. 

Entertainment

There are only 9 actual rides in Hollywood Studios open during this time but there are many other amazing experiences. Although many of the shows and the character meet and greets are currently cancelled, there are still several ways to enjoy characters and experiences throughout the park.  They are continually opening more and more of the show up and I encourage you to view as many of them as possible – especially when they reopen Indiana Jones!

Motorcades throughout the day have replaced parades and character meet and greets and are a fun way to see the characters.  Motorcade times can be found in the Disney World app under “Entertainment” and are usually held outside of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

Lightning McQueen Racing Academy is a fun experience for young and old, especially if you are a Cars fan.  You are in the audience of an “actual race” with Lightning McQueen.  There were some really fun places to take photos in the building too!

Frozen Sing Along Celebration is a fun sing-along show the whole family can enjoy and may be a relaxing way to beat the heat and the lines in the middle of the day.  You may need to arrive an hour before your actual show time in order to get a spot.

Walt Disney Presents, the Minnie and Mickey Show, and Muppets Vision 3D are also a great way to beat the heat and the crowds and rest and enjoy your afternoon.

Food

  • We ate at the Docking Bay in Galaxy Edge.  The food was not the greatest, but the atmosphere was pretty cool!
  • Disney World is very family friendly, and you can take backpacks onto every ride in the park. Feel free to bring extra food, waterbottles, and supplies. We were not impressed with the availability or quality of the food in several of Disney’s parks. You can also save a lot of money by bringing in your own food.

Hollywood Studios is awesome! We hope that you enjoy your time there as much as we did!!

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