Welcome to day three of our Disney World June 2021 trip report. Today begins with a rope drop visit to Hollywood Studios and end with a late visit to Epcot to squeeze in some essentials.
Other Posts in This Trip Report
Intro and Snagging a Boarding Group
I imagine if I got haircuts from people other than Emily, I’d feel the same way about getting my first post-pandemic haircut as I do about returning to Hollywood Studios. It’s not the worst thing in the world, everyone else seems to really love it, but I’m really only here for business.
Okay, the 1-2-3 punch of Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror, and Slinky Dog Dash is pretty strong. But visiting Hollywood Studios with a baby and without Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage or the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular didn’t sound particularly appealing.
That said, Hollywood Studios is arguably my favorite park to write about. I like strategizing parks, and strategy at Hollywood Studios has been much more evolving the past few years—even during the limited periods when the rides haven’t been changing—than the other parks.
Your day at Hollywood Studios starts well before the park opens. At 7AM, the first batch of boarding groups for Rise of the Resistance drop, and you need to be on your phone, in the My Disney Experience app at 7AM to have a chance of getting a group. I was able to snag Group 62, which gave me an estimated early-afternoon ride time.
If you miss out on the 7AM batch of boarding groups, you can try again at 1PM. If you miss out on those, you just won’t be on Rise today.
A common strategy these days is to book multiple parks pass days at Hollywood Studios for your trip to improve your odds of getting on Rise of the Resistance (more tries = better odds). The gamble here is that if you don’t get Rise, you need other parks to be available for parks pass booking same-day, or you need to visit Hollywood Studios before hopping to another park at 2PM.
Heading to Hollywood Studios
While we had considered doing competing rope drop strategies via different modes of transportation, we settled on all of us riding the Skyliner and seeing how that went.
I mobile ordered some snacks from the Pop Century cafeteria and ran over there while Emily finished getting ready. We left the room at 7:26AM and by 7:27 were in line for the Skyliner for a 9AM park open (8AM scheduled Skyliner open). This line might look long, but we were definitely okay with it, as the Skyliner gets people through pretty efficiently.
At 7:33AM the line started the move, and we boarded at 7:38. We arrived at Caribbean Beach at 7:41 and were held there until 7:46 when the line started to move and we boarded the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios at 7:51, arriving in the security line for the park at 7:58.
Contrary to our past experiences, Cast Members were telling you which security line to use. Since security is more efficient these days, we didn’t really mind this, but I do wish they kept the lines a little more balanced.
Security opened at 8:02AM and I darted to a far right park turnstile (shorter lines since security is mostly on the left these days) at 8:05.
Rope Drop at Hollywood Studios
The line started moving at 8:20AM and we were in the park by 8:21. We decided to head to Slinky Dog Dash as we knew it was pretty consistently the most popular ride in the park these days.
It was basically a constantly moving walk from park entry onto the ride. We checked in with rider switch at the ride entrance at 8:27AM and Emily boarded with only a short wait at 8:33.
We decided that rather than use the rider switch immediately we’d hustle to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run to take advantage of the shortest wait possible there. Then we’d double back, using rider switch there and at Slinky Dog Dash before heading elsewhere in the park.
Before official park open (at 9AM today) you’re sort of “flying blind” with regard to wait times. I knew somewhat from research prior to the trip that Smugglers Run wasn’t drawing huge waits early in the day, but it would have been really helpful to be able to see Smugglers Run, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror at that moment.
I was on Smugglers Run at 8:52AM (more or less walking straight on), and Emily was on via rider switch at 9:13 after a 13-minute wait (her longest rider switch wait of the visit). (For what it’s worth, after our trip Disney World reopened single rider lines, which Smugglers Run has. Those would have been helpful to our strategy since we had to ride adult rides one at a time anyways.)
While we did the ride, Zoe got to hang out in a shaded open space opposite Oga’s Cantina. This was some good crawling / standing space, which we’re always happy to find while we do the rider switching.
Leaving Galaxy’s Edge, I used my rider switch for Slinky Dog Dash with no wait at 9:27AM.
Morning at Hollywood Studios
At this point we had a few options. We were confident Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which was currently sitting at 50 minutes, wouldn’t get much worse later in the day. Zoe was about due for a nap, and we didn’t have the confidence to nap in a queue (plus if the wait is shorter than expected we’d have a problem).
Alien Swirling Saucers has a height requirement and even at 5 minutes we didn’t think it was worth our attention to each ride solo. Toy Story Mania has no height requirement but requires 3D glasses which we didn’t want to fight to get Zoe to wear. Star Tours was a good option but we were fine waiting on it.
This left Tower of Terror (posted 35 minutes) and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (posted 40 minutes). Mistakenly thinking we were planning a full day at Epcot (we hoped to hop to Epcot), I picked Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. We both prefer Tower of Terror, so that should have been the pick.
We should have confirmed with the iPad Cast Member first, but we just waited in the outdoor portion of the queue. At 9:45AM the posted wait was 50 minutes and we got in line. We checked in for rider switch at 9:57 at the ride entrance, and I boarded at 10:21 after a 45-minute wait. (Note that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also has single rider.)
This was another instance where the wait was much less stressful than in the days of FastPass+, when you’d just sit in the plain cement box praying to move. Being constantly on the go, even at a slow space, is comforting.
While Emily used rider switch Zoe played on a bench near Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, and we all reunited there at 10:43AM.
Lunch and Afternoon at Hollywood Studios
Next came one of the most frustrating times of the trip. The Starbucks line being too long, we opted to head to lunch at Docking Bay 7, which opened at 11AM. Of course by the time we got there we still had to wait a few minutes for our food.
Zoe was having a miserable time in the heat, and there’s very little shade around Docking Bay 7. Social distancing meant there were lines at all the indoor spaces, including the covered market. Some time around 11:15AM we were let inside and of course the restaurant only had two other parties in there.
This was the epitome of what’s wrong with this mobile-order-required quick service system. The limited air conditioned space—in Florida—is being locked down so tight that even by the time we were done with our meal there were tons of open tables and tons of people waiting outside for their food to be done.
I totally understand that guests actively eating at the restaurant need priority, but there’s little reason during off-peak times not to extend that to people with pending order. Anyways, that was one of our two bad quick service anecdotes for the trip.
With a morning that had been all about mommy and daddy, we wanted to do something for Zoe after lunch, so we visited the short film Mickey and Minnie in Vacation Fun. Zoe doesn’t get to watch screens at home, so this was a real treat. There were a few more jumps and surprises than I remembered, but Zoe kept it together just fine. Wasn’t quite thrilled about Potatoland when we exited at 11:57AM, though:
We regrouped with some Starbucks (about a 15 minute wait) and playtime for Zoe near Starring Rolls. Our Rise of the Resistance Boarding group got called at 12:28PM, which meant we had until 1:28PM to get in line.
You can do rider switch at Rise of the Resistance, but it’s a longer than typical rider switch experience because the different parts of the attraction can have lines between them. I usually estimate you need to allot at least 20 minutes for a rider switch here.
We settled on skipping rider switch for it. We considered skipping it altogether, but ultimately decided against letting the pass go to waste, so I went and rode it. I was in line at 12:40PM, at the start of the experience at 1:06PM and on the ride at 1:17. It’s a shame I was so wrong about rider switch—it probably only would have taken about 15 minutes in this case because social distancing meant they didn’t have lots of lag time between parts of the experience.
It was nice that Zoe got more crawling / playtime, including during a brief downpour that they were sheltered from (still near Starring Rolls).
We didn’t want to get to Epcot too late (though park hopping isn’t allowed until 2PM in any case), but I really wanted Emily to get on Tower of Terror because I felt bad about picking Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster earlier. I got on Tower at 1:49PM after a 13 minute wait (posted 20), and Emily was off via rider switch at 2:13.
The seating area at the exit to the ride, before the store, was perfect for Zoe to climb around for a bit. And I gave Zoe Z’s own “Tower of Terror” experience afterward.
We still had Runaway Railway left. It’s one of two rides at Hollywood Studios without a height requirement (Toy Story Mania is the other), so it was a must-do for Zoe. We got in line at 2:21PM and boarded at 2:50PM, a 29 minute actual wait vs. the 50 minute posted wait.
Zoe had a good time on the ride, which is definitely a sensory powerhouse for little ones.
It was finally time to hop to Epcot. On the way out of the park we snapped some pictures and stopped at the baby care center for a diaper change.
Recapping Hollywood Studios
7:27AM - In line for Skyliner at Pop Century
8:21 - Inside Hollywood Studios
8:33 - Slinky Dog Dash
8:52 - Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
9AM - Scheduled Park Open
9:13 - Smugglers Run Rider Switch
9:27 - Slinky Dog Dash Rider Switch
10:21 - Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (posted 50, actual 36)
10:34 - Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Rider Switch
11:10 - Lunch at Docking Bay 7
12:01PM - Mickey and Minnie in “Vacation Fun”
1:17 - Rise of Resistance (37 min wait)
1:49 - Tower of Terror (posted 20 actual 13)
2:50 - Runaway Railway (posted 50 actual 29)
The big missed ride for Zoe here would be Toy Story Mania, which has no height requirement. As mentioned earlier though, it uses 3D glasses, so we didn’t want to bother with that. We didn’t make it on Alien Swirling Saucers or Star Tours, which we could have easily with a full day. We also didn’t watch the Frozen Sing Along, which I honestly completely blanked on.
My big feeling on Hollywood Studios is that we probably should have given it a full day. Had Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular been going, I definitely would have given the park a full day. As it was, I thought it was too light for a full day.
Had we given it a full day, it would have been tougher to fit Epcot into our trip, though. If I did this exact trip again, I’d do Epcot on the arrival day. We didn’t do that this trip because we wanted Zoe’s first park to be Magic Kingdom.
Park Hopping to Epcot
There are three great ways to get between Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We usually walk, which is about 20 minutes. But in the heat/sun with Zoe, we decided against it. The Skyliner takes about 20 minutes with a transfer at Caribbean Beach. And the Friendship Boats, which we took, took about 24 minutes.
Friendship Boats are actually our least favorite option because the wait can be long. If you can’t see a boat when you leave the park, it’ll be at least 30 minutes before you’re at the other park. But we wanted Zoe to experience some new transportation and there was a boat unloading as we left Hollywood Studios, so it worked out.
The Friendship Boats stop at the hotels between the two parks, too. For our trip, it went: Depart Hollywood Studios, +7 minutes Swan and Dolphin, +14 minutes Yacht and Beach Club, +19 minutes BoardWalk Inn, 24 minute total trip to Epcot.
Arriving at Epcot at 3:52PM, we made the long trek to our first must-do at the park, Living With The Land. A posted 10 minute wait was actually a walk-on. Zoe had an okay time.
Afterward we gave Zoe one of the best playtimes of the trip. We’d had this spot—the exit from Soarin’—in mind since we booked this trip and it didn’t disappoint. It’s indoors and carpeted, so we took about 20-30 minutes to practice crawling and standing. This was the first time Zoe stood for an extended period of time, probably about 30 seconds. It was really refreshing to see after feeling like Zoe hadn’t gotten enough playtime on the trip.
Sticking with the plan of using Epcot’s indoor spaces to our advantage, I took Zoe over the The Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion for a nap while Emily enjoyed some free time in Epcot. (Well, “enjoyed” might be too much. She bought too much food at a festival booth and then got caught in a downpour.)
Our last ride of the day was Spaceship Earth, which we walked onto at 5:55PM. Zoe had done well on plenty of dark rides but could not get on board with Spaceship Earth, and Emily wound up having to nurse after some inconveniently located ride breakdowns had Zoe really spooked.
We didn’t have time for Frozen Ever After, which had a 50-minute wait. This was probably the biggest miss of Zoe’s first trip, but we definitely felt like Spaceship Earth and Living With the Land were higher priority (particularly with Zoe too young to have any attachment to Frozen).
We made the long walk to the Skyliner, only to be met at 6:35PM by the sign telling us it wasn’t operating. In most situations I don’t care about things like this, but having to walk from Spaceship Earth to the Skyliner and then back to the front of the park because Disney can’t post the status of the Skyliner in the app is really frustrating.
In any case, the bus at the front of the park picked us up very quickly, and we were back at the hotel around 7PM, having lost basically no time due to the breakdown.
The alternative to the bus would have been an Uber with a car seat, which was currently costing either $25 or $35 (I couldn’t tell whether a $10 discount I had was already applied).