With the current status of Hollywood Studios, one day is sufficient to see the entire park without having to rush at all. A large chunk of the park is under construction, anticipating the opening of Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land…we’ll update this touring plan for you as the new sections open.
Before You Go:
As we mentioned in our 6 Steps Planning, you’ll want to figure out Fast Passes and Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR) before you enter the park. Here are our general suggestions:
1. FastPass+: Slinky Dog Dash OR Toy Story Mania OR Rockin’ Roller Coaster OR Tower of Terror OR Star Tours
When scheduling your FastPass+ reservations for Hollywood Studios, you’ll notice that there are two tiers of selections available. You may only choose one from the top tier. Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania and Rockin’ Roller Coaster are the most popular of the top tier, so you should choose one or the other.
2. ADR: Hollywood and Vine (breakfast) + Sci-Fi Dine-In, Mama Melrose’s, or Hollywood Brown Derby (dinner)
Schedule
All right, here we go!
1. Early Morning
It’s nice to start the day with a character breakfast. Hollywood and Vine hosts Disney Jr. favorites.
2. Morning
If you have a child who wishes to battle the Dark Side in Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple, you MUST get in the queue as soon as possible to reserve their time slot. After that, your first stop of the day should be either Toy Story Mania or Rockin’ Roller Coaster—whichever you did NOT get a FastPass+ for. Then your movements throughout the park should be dictated by showtimes and FastPass+ times. Hollywood Studios is not large, so doing a little bit of zig-zagging won’t be a problem. Hypothetically we’ll assume that you’ll stick around the north side of the park during the morning, which includes highlights such as:
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Rockin’ Roller Coaster
- Tower of Terror
- Beauty and the Beast Live
- Disney Jr. Live (including character greetings)
- Star Wars Launch Bay (including character greetings)
- Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream
- Sneak peek of a current or upcoming film
- Toy Story Mania (including character greetings)
3. Lunch
Move over to the south side for counter service at ABC Commissary or PizzeRizzo.
4. Afternoon
Start moving through south side highlights (again, keeping your eye on showtimes) including:
- Star Tours
- Muppet*Vision 3D (continuously running show)
- Indiana Jones Stunt Show
- For the First Time in Forever
- Character Greetings (Mickey, Minnie, Olaf, Daisy, Donald)
5. Dinner
Whatever ADR you chose. Note that Hollywood Brown Derby is on the fancier side.
6. Evening
It’s ambitious to think that you’ve completed everything, so use the evening to go back and do anything you missed. You should be aware that several characters are not available later, so be sure to do your greetings before dinner.
7. Late Night
Fantasmic and Star Wars Galactic Spectacular.
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Other Considerations:
- Keep your eyes peeled for Character Palooza, an unpublished gathering of more obscure characters that happens most afternoons. Lately, they’ve been sighted near the entrance, but the place can be as random as the time. You can ask a cast member for info if you’d like, but they don’t always know either.
- Leave time to watch street performances, such as Citizens of Hollywood, whenever they pop up.
- If you’re a Disney Visa cardholder, go to your designated greeting area inside the Launch Bay before you greet any other characters. (Often it’s the same character, just with a much shorter line.)
- Don’t miss the Star Wars stage performances occurring regularly. Because there are so many options (usually every hour), you should plan around the other shows first.
However you choose to schedule it, have a magical Hollywood Studios day!