One of the primary purposes of this trip was to check in on how Hollywood Studios was doing. Hollywood Studios has been the bane of every Disney blogger’s existence since August 29, as it seems like changes are constantly happening. Fortunately, I was only surprised by one small change at Hollywood Studios this trip. Let’s talk more about how things are going at Hollywood Studios…
About this Trip Report
This trip report covers a mid-January 2020 visit to Walt Disney World. All of our trip reports are designed to give updates on how our strategies are working at the parks, as well as to provide some information that doesn’t necessarily fit into our other posts. Here are the other posts from (or related to) this trip report:
Jan 2020 Disney World Trip Report - Hollywood Studios Visits (You Are Here)
Jan 2020 Disney World Trip Report - Animal Kingdom EMH + Full Day
Much of our trips are posted live on our instagram stories (and many days are then saved as highlights), but obviously the blog format allows us to provide more context and links to relevant content.
Hollywood Studios Status, Changes, and Content
You probably know by now that Hollywood Studios is getting new FastPass+ tiers on February 19, and Smugglers Run will be joining FastPass+. This means that visits after February 19 will be looking at a much better FastPass+ situation than I had this visit.
Nonetheless, this post still contains some good examples of the power of FastPass+ skill and some good discussion of rope drop at Hollywood Studios. You can find more Hollywood Studios content at the tag page for Hollywood Studios, and here are some core posts:
Rope Dropping Smugglers Run And Awesome FastPass+
My first morning I happened to have a Slinky Dog Dash FastPass+ that I’d lucked into a few weeks earlier. This meant I would start with Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
My personal preference for rope drop at Hollywood Studios is to start with Slinky Dog Dash. It makes for a much smoother morning, as Smugglers Run is a long walk to the ride and then far from where you’d like to catch your second ride, Toy Story Land.
Nonetheless, if you have a FastPass+ for Slinky Dog Dash your best option is usually going to be to rope drop Smugglers Run. This is probably true at least until the next big change—either Rise of the Resistance or Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opening to standby—though the February 19 FastPass+ changes could shake mornings up.
My standard recommendation for rope drop at Hollywood Studios remains 60-90 minutes early. This being a holiday weekend (MLK Jr. Day), I would have liked to arrive no later than 90 minutes early.
Generally, when I’m at Disney World I like to take Disney transport in order to test how it works for guests. But if you want to get to the parks as early as possible, you’ll need to rely on Uber, Lyft, or Minnie Vans (if Minnie Vans are even running so early).
By 5:15AM, the My Disney Experience app indicated no buses were scheduled to come, but I didn’t trust this, and when I arrived at the All Star Movies stop at 5:23AM, a bus to Hollywood Studios was pulling up. I was in line at the park at 5:36AM, just inside that 90-minute window for the 7AM open.
At 6:15AM, guests were allowed inside the park. My line moved quite slowly, and I wasn’t in the park until 6:21AM.
In the past, guests were corralled somewhere on Hollywood Boulevard, sometimes as far up as Center Stage. Now, it seems guests are being allowed closer to the entrances to Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. As far as new things go, this isn’t huge.
We’ll cover the Toy Story Land entrance in the next section, but the guests heading to Galaxy’s Edge (for Smugglers Run) are held near Star Tours.
Several announcements were made throughout the morning explaining the boarding pass process for Rise of the Resistance. This trip, I stayed off wifi and used a variety of methods to refresh the app right at 7AM, to mixed success.
Guests are actually held until one or two minutes after the scheduled park open to allow everyone time to get a boarding group before we start walking to the rides. I wound up with boarding group 74 this day. Groups are still running out within a minute or two of 7AM.
I don’t like the length of the walk to Smugglers Run, but it is stunning at sunrise.
Just walking to the attraction took 15 minutes at a pretty constant pace. This means that several guests were off Slinky Dog Dash and onto other rides before anyone even got to Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. I boarded Smugglers Run at 7:38AM, and it was 7:47AM by the time I was in Toy Story Land.
Even for a holiday weekend, that’s just too late. Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers were both posting over 45-minute waits, with Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at 90 minutes. There wasn’t really a single factor that led to this mess, but what it came down to was that:
It was a holiday weekend, so I needed to arrive early
I was going to Smugglers Run first, so I really needed to arrive early
I didn’t arrive that early
Keep in mind this isn’t about the popularity of Smugglers Run (though it is pretty popular). It’s just that it takes so much time in the morning that having any success after riding it requires you be among the first few people on it.
I used my FastPass+ for Slinky Dog Dash and then was left waiting for my Rise of the Resistance boarding group to get called. The crowd situation in the park was awful, as the Starbucks line was 35 minutes long (yes, I waited), and even the Joffrey’s kiosks were looking about 20 minutes.
Here’s the waits at 8:56AM.
The thing about days like this is there’s really no secret trick to easily beat these crowds. By the time you’re off your first ride, all the waits will be huge. A good FastPass+ lineup certainly helps, as does having the knowhow to tap/grab/modify throughout the day.
And since FastPass+ is my specialty, I did that. Now, starting February 19, the FastPass+ tiers at Hollywood Studios will be a lot more desirable, but this day’s lessons are useful just to show how much a good strategy can help your day.
I grabbed two FastPass+ reservations for Voyage of the Little Mermaid at 9:10AM and Muppet Vision 3D at 10:15AM. Because I took so long to get my coffee, I had to skip my FastPass+ for Little Mermaid, which was fine to me. At 10:15AM, I tapped into Muppet Vision 3D.
At that point, I was clear to grab whatever Tier 1 FastPasses I wanted. It took some tinkering, but by 10:28AM I had an 11:20AM FastPass+ for Toy Story Mania. I used that, and at 11:29AM I grabbed an 11:50AM for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
I used that, and at 11:55AM grabbed a 12:50PM for Tower of Terror, leaving me an hour to have lunch (not always the best idea before Tower, but it worked out). I mobile ordered lunch from Fairfax Fare, one of the three Hollywood Studios quick service restaurants in the area by these two rides.
A FastPass+ for Alien Swirling Saucers was available when I used to Tower of Terror, but I wasn’t planning to ride that so I left it alone. I didn’t see a FastPass+ for Star Tours this entire trip, which is unsurprising because it is (until Feb 19) the only Tier 2 worth getting and it has the new Rise of Skywalker scenes.
My Boarding Group for Rise got called at 12:20PM, which meant I had to arrive by 2:20PM, no problem with my 12:50PM Tower of Terror FastPass+. That FastPass+ line did take 19 minutes, one of the slowest you’ll experience, but reasonable on a holiday for a ride with a standby wait of 150 minutes.
So, at 9AM I was looking at a situation where I had no plan for getting on three major rides with waits of 120, 105, and 90, and minute waits. Between 11:20AM and 1PM I rode them all using FastPass+ with minimal waits and with lunch in there.
I don’t have much commentary to offer about Rise other than that there’s still no ride quite like your first time (because of all the surprises). I did notice one broken effect in a particularly awkward moment, but it was otherwise a fine experience. It was about one hour from when I checked in for Rise to when I was off the ride.
I was left with enough afternoon that I could have hit the remaining highlights at the park, and had I been actually aiming to do everything I would have tackled some stuff in the morning (you might notice I did basically nothing from 8AM to 10AM).
My FastPass+ success was helped a bit by me being a solo traveler, no doubt, but also consider just how successful it was. I was grabbing those FastPass+ reservations incredibly quickly. I think a family of four would have had a little more trouble in that maybe they don’t get three FastPasses in 90 minutes, but with a full day I’m confident they could have lucked into them.
Now let’s talk about a different morning at Hollywood Studios…
Rope Dropping Slinky Dog Dash and Successful Busy Rope Drop
Despite being outside at 5AM a few days later, I caught that “same” bus at 5:24AM. I was in line at Hollywood Studios at 5:39AM, in a better spot than a few days earlier as now the holiday crowds were beginning to dissipate.
Crowds were again let in at 6:15AM, and I was in the holding area at the entrance to Toy Story Land at 6:22AM. I actually had no trouble getting to the very front of this group. Also, the Joffrey’s kiosk over here is open early.
I wound up with boarding group 49 when groups were issued at 7AM. Again, I was off wifi and used a variety of “refresh” methods until I was able to join a group. Groups are still running out within a minute or two of 7AM.
I wasn’t aggressive at rope drop and wound up on the second Slinky Dog ride of the day, exiting at about 7:10AM. Only tip to remember from this point is that you want to stay on the right the entire way from the start of rope drop until you enter the queue.
Unhappy with the Toy Story Mania line that was snaking outside of the land, I instead tackled Alien Swirling Saucers as a walk on, riding at 7:18AM. (Full disclosure: I was prepared to brave that Mania line before the folks at WDW Prep School convinced me to go to Saucers instead).
After Saucers, Toy Story Mania had a posted 45 minute wait. I was already sitting on a FastPass+ for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, so I had no problem with that. Some mechanical issues led to me not riding Toy Story Mania until 8:19AM.
That was still enough time to go use my Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster FastPass+, and I boarded that ride at 8:51AM. This meant I still had Star Tours, Smugglers Run, and Tower of Terror to ride.
I was done for the morning, but the 45 minute wait for Tower of Terror would have had me off that by 9:45AM anyways. I “should” have had a FastPass+ for Star Tours, but even an hour wait for that wouldn’t have been awful. And, as will be the case until February 19 when it joins FastPass+, the best option for Smugglers Run is just to suck it up and wait 90 minutes midday.
Oh, and let’s not forget Rise of the Resistance, like it seems Disney did today. The ride didn’t even start operating until 2PM—7 hours late. Unfortunately, I had to be at Magic Kingdom this evening, so my boarding pass slot went to waste.
This morning had been far from ideal, but with a slight “holiday hangover” crowd still present, I’m not at all disappointed with it. The slow trip on Toy Story Mania was frustrating, but I was left with relatively minor waits when I was done for the day. Waiting in no lines is a good goal for average crowd days, waiting in a few is fine for anything busier.
Next Up, A Day At Animal Kingdom With Extra Magic Hour! (Coming Soon)
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 at 180 days out it's time to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World FastPass+ 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 FastPass, Epcot FastPass, Animal Kingdom FastPass, and Hollywood Studios FastPass.
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.