The Perfect Day in Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
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Are you planning a trip to Walt Disney World and are overwhelmed at all the different rides, food, shows and don’t know where to start? In this article we’ve helped you plan your PERFECT day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World
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Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World is one of our FAVOURITE parks (we’ll say that about all of them, I mean, we literally said that about Animal Kingdom in our Perfect Day in Disney’s Animal Kingdom article - how are you meant to pick!?). Similar to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it is widely known as a “half-day” park, as in, you can visit this park in half a day. After a few big expansions over the last decade, including the addition of Toy Story Land and Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, we strongly disagree with that, and we think there is plenty to do to entertain you for a full-day (or more!) at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
ROPE DROP
First and foremost, if you’re a Disney Parks newbie, and you missed our Perfect Day in Disney’s Animal Kingdom article, we’ll explain the term “rope drop”! This term is used to signify being there right when the park opens for the day. Historically, cast members used to hold up a physical rope to block off guests, and once the park opened, the rope was dropped and guests could enjoy their day!
Whether or not the best time of day to arrive at a Disney Park in the morning is up for debate, but we are passionate “rope droppers”. We love to arrive well before the park opens, get in as soon as it opens, and have an “hour of power” where we rush around and try to do our top 2-3 things in the park. We feel that if you can knock off a few of your must-do attractions first thing in the morning, it relieves a bit of the pressure and allows you to enjoy the rest of your day at a more relaxed pace.
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SO, to start off your perfect day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’re going to arrive 30-minutes before park opening. Now, if you are a Disney Resort guest, you will likely have early entry, which, as of writing this article, is 30-minutes before park opening. You can use the Walt Disney World app to check park opening hours and early entry hours, as these may change day to day. Nonetheless, whether you are arriving for early entry, or regular rope drop, get there 30-minutes before the time YOU are able to get into the park.
Guests with early entry will definitely have a clear advantage with their morning, getting 30-minutes ahead of regular day guests, but we recently went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the first time without early entry and we were still able to make really good use of our day (well, aside from Rise of the Resistance being down messing with our plans!).
Star Wars Rise of the Resistance is one of the most popular rides in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World
Once you’re scanned into the park, you’re going to head straight to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Some will argue to avoid this area, but we stand by this method! If you’re unsure which direction this is in, you can ask a cast member, or just follow the crowd, as majority of guests will be heading this way. To start the day, you’re going straight for your first ride, which is going to be Rise of the Resistance. A lot of people will suggest leaving this until the end of the day, but in our experience, the line never gets that short, and it’s best to get it out of the way early. Now, Rise of the Resistance is notorious for being down first thing in the morning (sometimes for a big chunk of the day). We are the crazy people who ignore the cast members telling you it’s closed and to enjoy other attractions, and instead camp ourselves out the front of the ride waiting for it to open. We’ve had some luck with this method, and the ride opening up within the first half hour, but we’ve also had some not so great luck with the ride staying closed until the afternoon (see our 2023 video). In the latter case, to be fair, the cast members did say they expected the ride to be closed for multiple hours. Although, when the ride did open, literally one minute before it opened, they were still saying it was closed and they weren’t sure when it would open. It’s your risk to take!
As a side note, Rise of the Resistance is one of our TOP 3 rides of all-time. While it experiences the most ride closures of any ride we’ve ever experienced, this ride is absolutely worth waiting it out for. It is probably the most immersive and technologically advanced ride we’ve ever been on (hence all the issues), and we’re blown away by it every single time. It’s a really great ride because it has enough thrill for those adrenaline seekers, but it’s tame enough for those who aren’t necessarily thrill seekers.
If you have early entry, and you’re lucky and the ride is actually open, you will walk straight on and if you don’t, you may have to wait about 45-60 minutes depending on the day. If you don’t have early entry, and you’re lucky, Rise of the Resistance may stay closed during the early entry time, and open up for you at normal park opening! If you get to the ride and the wait time is already super high, don’t freak out too much. Often with rides like this, cast members will put the wait time up right away, predicting the surge.
TIP: If you want to avoid waiting in a long line for Rise of the Resistance, you can look to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane through the Walt Disney World app. This will come at an extra cost, but will allow you to select a return time and skip the line later in the day.
If Rise of the Resistance is closed, and isn’t showing signs of opening anytime soon, we’d suggest heading over to Toy Story Land to try and jump on the other most popular ride in Hollywood Studios, Slinky Dog Dash! If you did have early entry, and you managed to get on Rise, we still recommend heading straight over to Toy Story Land to ride Slinky Dog Dash next. From our experience, we were almost always able to knock both these two rides off when they were open during early entry, which really freed up the rest of our day. If you don’t have early entry, we’d suggest checking the wait time of Slinky Dog Dash before heading over. We’d probably cop the long wait early in the day as we said, to free up the rest of our day after knocking off the two biggest rides, but if you’re not willing to wait, why not check out the other popular ride in Toy Story Land, Toy Story Mania, which generally has a lower wait during the first hour of park open.
EARLY MORNING
Having the time of our lives on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
If you read our Perfect Day in Disney’s Animal Kingdom article, you’ll know that we love to power through as many rides as we can first thing in the morning. We find the rest of our day is much more relaxing and enjoyable once we know we’ve managed to get on all our must-ride, rides. So on that note, we’d of course suggest, a few more rides!
After Rise of the Resistance, and hopefully Slinky Dog Dash, it’s time to head down Sunset Boulevard and hit up the two rides there - Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (one of our all time favourites)! These rides are often overlooked in the morning in favour of the rides we mentioned above, and if you get through the earlier two fast enough (those with early entry definitely have the advantage here), you might get lucky and find BOTH these rides still under a 15-20 minute wait time. In some of our previous trips, we even managed to get to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster while it was still a 5-minute wait!
MID MORNING
Okay, okay, that’s enough rides.. for now. Reward yourself with a treat for getting through the early morning rush. There are a few great options in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you’re not particularly hungry, why not try some blue or green milk from the milk stand in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. If you’re looking for more of a snack, we’ve never had these, but people rave about the Lunch Box Tarts from Woody’s Lunch Box in Toy Story Land, or alternatively, if you’re looking for something a bit heavier, you can grab a Breakfast Ronto Wrap from Ronto Roasters in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.
The blue milk in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is our personal favourite!
Enjoying some blue milk back on our 2019 Walt Disney World trip!
Mid-morning is a great time to check out one of Hollywood Studio’s many shows. Our two favourites are definitely For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration and the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Depending on how you’re tracking in the morning, you can catch Frozen at 10.30AM or 11.30AM, or Indiana Jones at 10.45AM.
MIDDAY
We’re continuing on with our more relaxed vibes are knocking off a lot of rides early, and by now you’re surely getting a little hungry. One of the most popular lunch eats in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is most definitely the Ronto Wrap from Ronto Roasters in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. It doesn’t sound super appetising, but we promise, it’s really delicious. Plus, if you’re vegetarian or vegan, they also sell the Zucchi Wrap, which is essentially a plant-based version of a Ronto Wrap!
Once you’ve had some lunch, take some time to browse through the shops, and take some lovely photos! Our favourite Walt Disney World ticket is this 14-day ticket from Attraction Tickets, and they often have deals which include Memory Maker. Memory Maker essentially means that any PhotoPass photos taken of you (ride photos and photos by Disney photographers throughout the parks), you can download for free. This service normally comes at a cost, so this is really a great deal. It isn’t something we personally would pay for, so we loved getting it included with our tickets and really took advantage of it!
EARLY AFTERNOON
After a relaxing few hours, it’s time to head on some more rides. There are still plenty of popular rides at Hollywood Studios that we haven’t gone on yet, so to start with, lets head back into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to ride the other attraction in that land - Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. We won’t lie, this isn’t one of our favourites, but it is a really popular ride, and a great one to ride if you’re visiting as a family or a group of friends. It generally doesn’t get waits as long as Rise of the Resistance, so you hopefully shouldn’t have to wait too long.
There are two other key rides in Hollywood Studios that we are yet to ride - Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and either Toy Story Mania or Slinky Dog Dash, depending on how your luck went in the morning. Depending on wait times, we’d suggest trying to knock one of these off next. These are all amazing rides, and we wouldn’t suggest skipping any of them, so whichever one you don’t manage to get on now, save for later in the afternoon when hopefully the wait times have dropped a little bit.
The entrance to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
The entrance to Toy Story Mania
It’s now mid-afternoon, so Orlando is bound to be at its peak heat. So why not take a break from the heat and head into Oga’s Cantina for a refreshing drink. Oga’s Cantina is an awesome themed bar inside Galaxy’s Edge and they have wide range of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. As a note, this bar is majority standing space, so if you do require a seat, put that request in ahead of time to ensure there are no surprises once you’re inside! For Oga’s Cantina, you will most likely need a reservation, so make sure you jump on the Walt Disney World app ahead of your trip to lock that in. If you happen to forget, there are sometimes reservations that pop up on the day, or otherwise you can head to Oga’s and ask the question and hopefully have some luck that way!
A unique DJ inside Oga’s Cantina!
LATE AFTERNOON
Time for another snack and we’ll leave this one up to you! Perhaps you’ve seen something that’s caught your eye while wandering around the park all day, maybe you want to go back and try one of the options we mentioned earlier that you didn’t get in the morning. If not, some popular options include:
Outpost Mix Popcorn from Kat Saka’s Kettle
Jack Jack’s Cookie Num Nums from The Market
Carrot Cake Cookie from The Trolley Car Café
We’ve now still got a few rides to get through before the end of the day. Of the three mentioned above, whichever one/s you haven’t managed to get on yet, we’d suggest you try and do it now. If you’re lucky, a lot of people have park hopped to another park, meaning wait times should be a bit lower.
NIGHT
Totchos from Woody’s Lunch Box - we promise it tastes way better than it looks!
What a big day - time for some dinner! We’ve saved the best for last - Totchos from Woody’s Lunch Box is our absolute favourite thing to eat at Hollywood Studios. While we often opt for this at lunch, Ronto Roasters is only open until 3pm, so if you’re looking to try both, you’re better off getting this at lunchtime. Totchos are essentially nachos, but using potato barrels and they are so delicious. Best part is they also have plant-based chilli if you’re vegetarian, and if you’re on a completely plant-based diet, you can opt to remove the sour cream and cheese as well.
—> Check out our FULL DAY in Hollywood Studios in December 2023!
After dinner, it’s time to get ready to see one of the most popular nighttime spectaculars at Walt Disney World - Fantasmic. Depending on the time of year you visit, there may be one or two showings of this, so make sure you mark the time down early in the day to ensure you don’t miss the show. We’d also suggest making your way over (down Sunset Boulevard near Tower of Terror) a little early, to make sure you get a good seat as it gets very busy.
Just like that, your perfect day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has come to an end!
There is obviously SO much more you can do at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you’re looking for some alternative ride options, why not check out Alien Swirling Saucers, or Star Tours? In terms of shows, you might want to check out Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage (this one is great!). If you’re looking to eat at a table service restaurant, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant offers a really unique dining experience. For something a little different, we love jumping on the Disney Skyliner when we visit Hollywood Studios over to EPCOT. Even if we don’t plan on visiting EPCOT, a round trip on the Skyliner is a great midday break from the chaos of the parks and plus, you get some great views out over Walt Disney World!
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