Touring Tips for Disney’s Hollywood Studios

With the addition of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, touring Disney’s Hollywood Studios has become a little more complicated. Trying to determine how you are going to tour Disney’s smallest Park can take the most effort.

We have some suggestions and tips for touring Disney’s Hollywood Studios during your next Disney vacation. This will show how you can experience all the thrills and magic this amazing Disney Park offers.

Step One: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

The first decision you must make when touring Disney’s Hollywood Studios is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. This is the most popular ride in all of Walt Disney World. Because of this popularity, you will want to have a plan, so you don’t end up waiting for a lot of time in line.

There are two ways currently that Guests can experience this fantastic ride. First, Guests can choose to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane. This is available to Disney Resort Guests starting at 7:00 am on the My Disney Experience app.

The price for this ride will vary depending on the time of the year. This might be anywhere from $15 to $20 plus per person. By purchasing a Lightning Lane, Guests can skip the regular line and have a shorter line experience.

The other way that Guests can experience this ride is by waiting in the standby line. When visiting during a busier time, the wait time for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance can be a couple of hours. For lower wait times, Guests can find around an hour or less.

The first thing you need to do when thinking about how you will tour Disney’s Hollywood Studios is to think about which method you would like to use to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

Step Two: Genie+

The next big decision you need to make when touring Disney’s Hollywood Studios is to determine if you want to purchase Genie+. By purchasing Genie+, Guests can use the Lighting Lane for various rides and shows throughout the Disney Parks.

The cost of Genie+ is also a fluid price based on how busy the Parks are going to be. It has been running from $15 to $30 per person daily.

As there are a lot of headliners and E-ticket attractions (popular) in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we feel purchasing Genie+ is worth the investment to avoid the long lines that build throughout the day.

7:00 am Plan

When planning on heading to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the day, at 7:00 am, we would be booking Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and purchasing Genie+. With our first Genie+ selection, we would be booking Slinky Dog Dash as this ride has Genie+ run out the fastest each day.

Rope Drop

Next, if we fill any Park at Walt Disney World, it is extremely helpful to rope drop (be there at Park opening); it is Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We also take advantage of early entry when staying at a Disney Resort. This allows Guests to enter the Park 30 minutes before posted opening.

When arriving at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we would head down to Sunset Boulevard. Our first ride of the day would be Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This ride sees lines build quickly, and it is a slower-loading ride.

From Tower of Terror, we would head over to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. As this is also a famous ride, getting to experience it right away in the morning will keep our wait times low.

Morning Plans

After hitting both rides on Sunset Boulevard, our next stop will be heading to Batuu. Here we will experience Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run. While we are in Batuu, we will also take time to grab some breakfast.

Our favorite breakfast in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the breakfast ronto wrap at Ronto Roasters. Make sure you use mobile ordering as this dining location is extremely popular, and wait times can be extended.

Genie+ Use

As the morning continues, remember that you can book new Genie+ reservations after using it on Slinky Dog Dash or two hours after the Park opens. Typically, between 10:30 and 11:00, you can book another Genie+.

Think about what rides are a must-do for your travel party. Great opinions can be those thrill rides of Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror if you want to experience them more than once. Toy Story Mania, Mickey, and Minnie’s Runaway Railway are excellent choices.

Afternoon Plans

When in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the afternoon, we like to visit some of the performances and shows offered throughout the Park. One of our all-time favorites is For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along. This is a fantastic retelling of the Frozen story, with us singing and smiling each time.

We also enjoy relaxing while experiencing Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage and Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Both of these shows are well done and provide great entertainment.

Food Plans

Disney’s Hollywood Studios has a few options when it comes to food choices.Guests can visit Minnie and her friends at Hollywood and Vine for sit-down meals. 50s Prime Time Cafe and Sci-Fi Dine-In are also good sit-down options.

Baseline Tap House and the Brown Derby Lounge are excellent options for a quick bite to eat and a nice adult beverage.

This Disney Park is still updating its options for quick meals. Ronto Roasters, ABC Commissary, and Woody’s Lunch Box are all excellent options. Make sure you use mobile order at all of them to avoid long lines during meal time.

Evening

As the evening approaches, continue to Genie+ to experience those rides you haven’t yet. Refresh (pull down from the top of the screen) to see new times and options as they update live. Evenings are a great time to revisit your favorites or try out something that has had a long wait throughout the day.

Finally, a trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios wouldn’t be complete without seeing Fantasmic. Just recently back, this is the spectacular nighttime show. We love the combination of fireworks, projections, water effects, characters, and fantastic music.

Don’t miss out on this fantastic show.

This is how we would experience Disney’s Hollywood Studios during our Walt Disney World vacation. We hope it helps you navigate this Disney Park during your vacation.