Hollywood Studios One Day Itinerary [2024]

Welcome to our Hollywood Studios One Day Itinerary, with all the strategies for planning your day at Hollywood Studios. In this post we’ll walk you through a full day at Hollywood Studios, from before you get into the park to the park’s featured nighttime entertainment. Along the way, we’ll include a sample of a real day we spent at the parks, but we’ll also be providing plenty of guidance in case you want to build your day differently. On with the show!

Related Posts

This is one of four pieces of core content about Hollywood Studios. If you’re looking for an overview of the rides an entertainment discussed in this post, you want to visit our Hollywood Studios Rides and Entertainment Guide. For detail specifically on the beginning of the day (which is covered here, but in less detail), read the Hollywood Studios Early Entry and Rope Drop post. Finally, make sure you learn about Disney new “skip the lines” system by reading our Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes Guide.

We don’t talk much about character greetings in this post, but we have specific posts on Meeting Characters at Disney World and Meeting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

 

Introduction

Disney park touring has gotten complicated. At a given park you might have Early Entry or you might not. You might buy Genie+ or you might not. You might pay for an Individual Lightning Lane or you might not. That’s all before we even get to things like how early you can arrive, whether your party is concerned with height requirements, or whether you want to do zero, one, two, or three table service meals.

 

While not everyone will be able to work toward the same itinerary, each of the four parks still has distinctive aspects that will impact how you plan your day. Our goal in this post is to provide you of an outline of how to divide your time at Hollywood Studios between the core offerings—attractions, entertainment, meals, and characters.

 

We’ll move chronologically through the day, recommending different activities for different parts of the day. Throughout we will also link to other relevant posts that address specific situations or times in more detail. If you don’t understand something (“Huh? What’s the difference between Lightning Lanes and Genie+?”), it’s probably discussed in a linked post.

 

Throughout this post we assume park hours of 8:30AM to 9PM with Early Entry at 8AM. You should confirm specific park hours (and hours for things like Early Entry, Wonderful World of Animation, entertainment, etc.) for your visit online or in the My Disney Experience app.

 

Finally, yes, this post is more general than the previous iteration…but you know I can’t avoid providing some specifics. So I will be providing example times from a day when I had Early Entry, used Genie+, and bought a Rise of the Resistance Individual Lightning Lane.

 

But even if you have a different setup, the 3000 words in this post that aren’t specific times from my day will be useful to everyone. At the end of the post, I include my complete sample itinerary along with some closing commentary about major ways your day might vary.

Before You Get To Hollywood Studios 

Ah, the MAGIC of Disney World, where you pay to wake up even earlier! Guests planning to use Genie+ at Hollywood Studios will want to purchase (minimum $15+tax per person) that before 7AM and make their first pick (Slinky Dog Dash is a fine option, though there’s a case to be made for something else) right at 7AM. 

While it sometimes makes sense to try and time your first Lightning Lanes for mid-morning, in the case of Slinky Dog Dash specifically you can’t worry about that—just grab whatever time you get immediately at 7AM.

 

If you’re a Disney resort guest, you’ll also be making your individual Lightning Lane purchases at 7AM. At Hollywood Studios this means Rise of the Resistance. Rise of the Resistance purchases can make sense (we made one in this example day), but generally we think purchasing that or Genie+ is enough, and we think Genie+ is the better value.

 

On my example day, my pre-park schedule was:

  • 6:45AM Purchase Genie+ for the day

  • 7AM Grab Slinky Dog Dash Lightning Lane for 9:50AM to 10:50AM

  • 7AM Purchase Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane for 12PM to 1PM

As noted, I took whatever Slinky Dog time I could get. For Rise of the Resistance, I could pick basically anytime during the day. I usually go with something between noon and 2PM, when waits around the park are peaking. I also often plan to eat lunch in Galaxy’s Edge.

Early Entry, Park Open, and Rope Drop

The early hours of the day are about one thing—rides. Your goal for this part of the day is to get on as many rides with short waits as possible, before crowds settle in and waits plateau.

Guests with Early Entry (those who are guests of Disney resorts and select partner resorts) have access to Early Entry and should take advantage of it. Unfortunately, “take advantage of it” means “wake up even earlier” because the advantage disappears if you don’t arrive early enough.

 

As discussed in our Hollywood Studios Early Entry and Rope Drop Strategy post, your arrival time will be dictated by your rope drop strategy, which is part dictated by your Lightning Lane strategy. Generally, I try to arrive 45-60 minutes before the start of Early Entry, which allows me to rope drop basically anything.

 

If you’re not aiming for Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash first, arriving 30 minutes before the start of Early Entry is usually enough. That’s the path I went for in this sample itinerary, rope dropping Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

 

Guests with Early Entry should be able to finish at least one ride during Early Entry, being in line for a second (or, on good days, third) by the time the park opens to other guests. If you start with Rise of the Resistance, you might not be done with that ride by the end of Early Entry, but that’s workable, too.

The crowd 30 minutes before the start of Early Entry one day

Guests without Early Entry can arrive 30 minutes before the park opens (as a general rule this is the latest we’ll ever recommend arriving to a theme park). Importantly guests without Early Entry who want to purchase Individual Lightning Lanes for Rise of the Resistance will do so immediately at the time the park opens. You don’t need to be inside the park to make these purchases. Rise of the Resistance can sell out very quickly.

 

Guests without Early Entry following our recommendation will start with one of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, or Tower of Terror, but there is (even more) flexibility here. If the waits for Slinky Dog Dash or Rise of the Resistance look good to you and those rides are really important to you, checking off one of those boxes early is a fine way to start the day. Know, though, that you might be sacrificing some of your ride count because you’re spending so much time on a single ride while other waits in the park might be lower.

A non-Early Entry crowd waiting for the park to open

As crowds tick up, Star Tours and Alien Swirling Saucers will be the last rides to see high waits, with Toy Story Mania possibly still low by mid-morning on a slow day. If you can squeeze one of these into your morning, great. If not, they’ll still be the shortest waits throughout the day.

 

By around 9:30AM (an hour into the day), you’ve hopefully finished 3-4 rides (if you had Early Entry) or 2-3 rides if you didn’t have Early Entry. This leaves you between 4 and 6 rides to fit into the next 11 hours.

If you’re behind this pace, don’t worry. You’ve still got a long day ahead. If you only managed 1-2 rides in the first hour, you should take a look at wait times and ask whether you should buy Genie+ or the individual Lightning Lane, if you haven’t already. If you have one or both of those things, you’ll probably be fine regardless of how your first hour went.

In my example morning, I accomplished:

  • 7:09 Arrive

  • 8AM Early Entry Begins

  • 8AM Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

  • 8:30 Park Opens

  • 8:35 Toy Story Mania (25 minute wait)

  • 8:55 Alien Swirling Saucers (5 minute wait)

  • 9:17 Star Tours (7 minute wait)

This is a pretty straightforward rope drop with Genie+ setup and just about what I’d typically aim for. The 25-minute wait for Toy Story Mania isn’t ideal but didn’t come close to ruining the morning.

 

Late Morning at Hollywood Studios

There’s no need to slow down now, if you want to pop in line for another ride (up to an hour wait or so), feel free. 

If you have Genie+, you might still get on a few rides with short return times, but at some point you’ll probably be looking at return times about 1-3 hours out. At that point your day becomes a balance of booking a return time and then filling the gap before that time.

In any case, this is usually when we slow down and start to evaluate the rest of our day, starting with entertainment.

But first…coffee!

Okay, no. Typically I start with coffee. The Hollywood Studios Starbucks is Trolley Car Café, located at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard (the “street” you entered on) and Sunset Boulevard (the “street” with Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster).

 

There are Joffrey’s stands at the exit to Tower of Terror and between the hub and Toy Story Land. You should also check the mobile order menus for cold brew (Woody’s Lunch Box used to have it, but doesn’t as I write this) to avoid waiting in any lines.

 

If you’re looking for a morning snack, we recommend Woody’s Lunch Box (Toy Story Land) or Ronto Roasters. We don’t recommend breakfast—or any meals, actually—at table service restaurants in Hollywood Studios. This is definitely not a knock at the options, we simply like the quick service options and find they fit into our day better.

 

Planning Entertainment at Hollywood Studios

Now, planning entertainment. What I literally do is take out my phone, open the My Disney Experience app, open the Notes app, and start trying to pick when I’m going to go to different shows. This is maybe something the new Disney Genie (distinct from Genie+) service could help with, but I prefer Notes.

The first showing of Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage is typically at 11AM, with the Frozen Sing-Along typically beginning at 9:30AM. With several showings throughout the day, you’ll probably be better served using Frozen to escape the heat in the afternoon. 

 

Beauty and the Beast typically has about five showings, but I’m fine visiting the 11AM one because with lunch and an afternoon wait for a ride, it’s just too easy to suddenly run out of showtimes. This has long been my morning goal, though I didn’t make it on the specific visit detailed in this post.

 

The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular typically has five showtimes throughout the day. I usually wind up squeezing in a later show, but a family that prefers thrills might prioritize this over Beauty and the Beast in the morning, risking missing a late Beauty and the Beast show.

Finally, Disney Junior Play and Dance has several showtimes starting around about 10:30AM.

 

Since we have a toddler now, we go to Disney Junior Play and Dance. As for Indiana Jones, we usually don’t bring the toddler to that, both because of time constraints and the large focus on noises, violence, and explosions.

 

You’ve also got Muppet*Vision 3D, Mickey Shorts Theater, One Man’s Dream, and Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy running continuously throughout the day. All four of these are good options for escaping the heat or getting off your feet for a bit.

If you can make a major showtime before lunch (Beauty and the Beast or Indiana Jones preferred, with Frozen Sing-Along okay, too), do that. If you can’t quite get that schedule, at least start checking off some of these boxes before lunch so you have less to worry about in the afternoon.

 

Filling the time before lunch (which was a bit late since I had a morning snack), my example day continued:

  • 9:30 Ronto Roaster (Breakfast/Snack)

  • 9:55 Slinky Dog Dash (Lightning Lane)

  • Book Tower of Terror 2:50 return time

  • 10:30 Frozen Sing Along

  • 11:12 Muppet*Vision 3D

  • 11:45 Mickey Shorts Theater

  • 12:15 Rise of the Resistance (Lightning Lane Booking)

With Genie+ and an individual Lightning Lane, that was two rides, three shows, and a snack for me. Getting two rides and only one show into this segment before lunch would be a good goal without Genie+.

 

With my morning snack to tide me over, I probably could have done the 1PM Beauty and the Beast show, but instead I headed to lunch.

 

Lunch at Hollywood Studios

Our favorite spot for lunch is the quick service restaurant, Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo. If you can plan to be in Galaxy’s Edge around this time (probably as part of riding Smugglers Run or Rise of the Resistance), you’ll be conveniently placed for Docking Bay 7.

 

Make sure to mobile order. We usually place our order well before our planned meal time. You can select whatever timeslot you want, and you can modify that time if you need to (of course, subject to whatever times are available). When you arrive at the restaurant, tap “I’m here” in the mobile order. On busier days it might take 10…15…20 minutes for your food to be prepared…so…

 

We’re in the minority who like the PizzeRizzo (and Catalina Eddie’s) pizza (no, I’m not interested in your take because your refined palate prefers ‘doh-MEE-nos’), and we’ll typically sit in the “event room” upstairs if eating there. We (ironically) avoid Woody’s Lunch Box for lunch, as it has inadequate and only-outdoor seating.

My lunch this particular day:

  • 1:10 Lunch at PizzeRizzo

Afternoon at Hollywood Studios

Early afternoon is the start of decision time—you don’t need to give up on anything yet, but you need to start prioritizing. You need to note if anything is closing early (check the app). Things like Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy and One Man’s Dream will typically close earlier than the rest of the park.

 

You’re going to be running low on showtimes for the major shows, so prioritize any of those if they’re important to you. At the top of my mind are going to be the last showtimes for Beauty and the Beast and Indiana Jones. If possible, I want to avoid trying to force the last showtimes to work.

 

If you don’t have Genie+, or if you don’t have a Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance, you also need to take a look at the wait times and start budgeting time (or possibly money, in the case of the Individual Lightning Lanes) to wait for those. We’ll often tackle a major ride right after lunch. This is a bit counterintuitive since waits tend to be relatively high at that time, but it’s also a safe decision if you have several major rides left. 

 

If you haven’t ridden either of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster yet, open your mind to single rider. Your party will get split up, but you’ll at least get on the rides. If they have shorter waits later in the day, you might even get back on them together, if you feel they’re worth it after your first ride.

With Frozen Sing Along done earlier (10:30 this day), I did two more shows—Disney Junior Dance Party and Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, with some rides in between.

  • 2:35 Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run (Single Rider)

  • 2:45 Disney Junior Dance and Play

  • 2:55 Tower of Terror (Lightning Lane)

  • Book Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (6:30 return time)

  • 3:15 Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy

  • 4PM Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage

Doing Smugglers Run with single rider early allows me some flexibility later on. If there’s time, I can ride again (or, in your case, you can all ride together as a family). If not, then at least I’ve gotten on the ride.

I’ll let you in on a little secret here—I really tried to modify that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster to a sooner time. You can see that from 2:55PM until about 4:30PM (the end of Beauty and the Beast), I stuck around the Sunset Boulevard area. Had I managed to modify Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster to a sooner time, I’d have perfectly played the geography of the park—tackling this geographically isolated section of the park in one swoop. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be and I had two hours to fill between Beauty and the Beast and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

After the Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage performance, the posted wait for Smugglers Run was 60 minutes, so I opted to test that standby line next.

  • 6:05 Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (63 minute wait)

 

Evening At Hollywood Studios

If you’re planning to see Fantasmic, your evening needs to be carefully built around that show. There are often two showtimes. The earlier showtime typically has the advantage of lower crowds, but you often won’t be able to do any rides after it, effectively shortening your day.

The later showtime will have higher crowds, which means you’ll want to be in line at least 30 minutes early. But this might still allow you more time overall in the park.

 

If you’re skipping Fantasmic, the last part of your day is about filling the time before the 9PM showing of Wonderful World of Animation, the nighttime show in the hub of the park (nb: Nighttime entertainment can vary, check the app for today’s schedule). You’re done or nearly done with the shows, except maybe one or two of the smaller shows, and it’s time to get back to focusing solely on rides (if you have any of those left).

 

If you plan on missing that show, you can get in line for any of the major attractions up until the park closes. Doing this, you assume the risk that the ride will break down and not be running at close. This isn’t a common occurrence, even for Rise of the Resistance, but it is a risk we have to acknowledge.

 

For a 9PM park close, if you don’t have Genie+, have dinner at 5PM or a quick dinner at 8:15PM. You want to give yourself as big a contiguous block of time to be working with. Plan dinner at 7PM and you’ll wind up doing one thing between 5PM and 6:30PM (when you head to dinner) and then you’ll be done at 8:15PM with not much time before the 9PM show.

 

If you’re willing to eat a late dinner back at your hotel, planning for the 8:15PM dinner and then cutting that plan if you need the time for a ride or two is also a good way to go (frankly you could also just plan to grab your dinner right at 8:45PM and eat it while watching the show in the hub).

With Genie+ you’re probably done or nearly done with rides, and you’ll want to be planning your dinner around your return times in any case.

As for ride strategy, you need to start tackling any major rides you haven’t done yet—Rise of the Resistance and Slinky Dog Dash being the priorities. All waits will drop as the evening wears on, but these will be highest and drop the least. Don’t delay these hoping for “short” waits later, it might just not happen.

 

What you want when 8PM rolls around is (at worst) to have a few 15-minute waits left. Star Tours, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Toy Story Mania are the best to save for late. You don’t want to get to 8PM and just have one ride left with a posted 75 minute wait so you’ve just boxed yourself out of the 9PM show.

 

When waits are low, you can accomplish a ton at the end of the day. On Disney World’s 50th birthday I wound up doing almost all the rides in the last two hours of the day.

 

If you had Genie+, as I did on my example day for this post, you’ve probably ridden everything already. In that case, you’ll have some extra time to fill, which I filled with Oga’s Cantina on this particular day.

It’s worth pointing out that it’s things like this that are the real power of Genie+ at Hollywood Studios. I don’t think you need Genie+ here to have a great day. But this is a full day park with lots of cool offerings, among them the relatively pricey extras like Oga’s Cantina or Savi’s Workshop. The free time you get by purchasing Genie+ can be well spent at Hollywood Studios. (Yes, sometimes purchasing Genie+ means more time to spend even more money, that’s part of Disney’s goal, but whether these other things are worth their cost is a separate matter.)

 

During the holidays at Hollywood Studios, the Tower of Terror projection show, Sunset Seasons Greetings, is absolutely unmissable, in our opinion.

 

The 9PM Wonderful World of Animation (which may be rescheduled or replaced once the holidays begin to accommodate a different show) is viewable from basically anywhere in the center of the park. Unlike Epcot Forever at Epcot or Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom, you don’t need to really jockey for positioning early for this show, and it’s common to see large groups sitting on the ground during the show.

Position yourself near the back of the hub for a quick exit once the show ends.

Here’s how my example evening turned out:

  • 6:35 Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (Lightning Lane)

  • 7PM Dinner at ABC Commissary

  • 7:30 Beacon of Magic

  • 7:45 (Reservation) Oga’s Cantina

  • 8:45 Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (9 minute wait)

  • 9PM Wonderful World of Animation

I wound up without any Genie+ reservations after my 6:35PM ride on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, but Smugglers Run and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway were both still available (as were the three least popular rides).

 

My Final Itinerary and Commentary

Here’s how my sample day wound up:

  • 6:45AM Purchase Genie+ for the day

  • 7AM Grab Slinky Dog Dash Lightning Lane for 9:50AM to 10:50AM

  • 7AM Purchase Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane for 12PM to 1PM

  • 7:09 Arrive

  • 8AM Early Entry Begins

  • 8AM Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

  • 8:30 Park Opens

  • 8:35 Toy Story Mania (25 minute wait)

  • 8:55 Alien Swirling Saucers (5 minute wait)

  • 9:17 Star Tours (7 minute wait)

  • 9:30 Ronto Roaster (Breakfast/Snack)

  • 9:55 Slinky Dog Dash (Lightning Lane)

  • Book Tower of Terror 2:50 return time

  • 10:30 Frozen Sing Along

  • 11:12 Muppet*Vision 3D

  • 11:45 Mickey Shorts Theater

  • 12:15 Rise of the Resistance (Lightning Lane Booking)

  • 1:10 Lunch at PizzeRizzo

  • 2:35 Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run (Single Rider)

  • 2:45 Disney Junior Dance and Play

  • 2:55 Tower of Terror (Lightning Lane)

  • Book Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (6:30 return time)

  • 3:15 Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy

  • 4PM Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage

  • 6:05 Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (63 minute wait)

  • 6:35 Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (Lightning Lane)

  • 7PM Dinner at ABC Commissary

  • 7:30 Beacon of Magic

  • 7:45 (Reservation) Oga’s Cantina

  • 8:45 Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (9 minute wait)

  • 9PM Wonderful World of Animation

All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered

Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.

Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.

When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!

Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.

Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.

Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.

Yes, this day was greatly helped by Genie+ and the Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane. Notably, I was able to ride Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run three times, along with seeing three of the live shows and spending just under an hour at Oga’s Cantina. Combining Oga’s and the extra Smugglers rides accounts for another two hours I could have spent another way, if necessary.

Two hours is enough time that I could have still had a great day without the Rise of the Resistance individual Lightning Lane. Genie+ was probably more essential though, particularly if you want the time to see three live performances (Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Disney Junior).

All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered

Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.

Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.

When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!

Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.

Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.

Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.

Conclusions

Hollywood Studios is either the toughest or second toughest park to tour at Walt Disney World, depending on your attitude toward Magic Kingdom. With a powerhouse ride lineup and strong entertainment, there’s definitely enough to put together a great full day at the park.

The challenge is getting the most out of the park, and if you’re without Early Entry, Genie+, or any paid Lightning Lanes, you might wind up spending a lot of time in lines and not a lot taking in the entertainment or other offerings of the park.

All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered

Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.

Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.

When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!

Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.

Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.

Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.