What You Should Know About Disney Hollywood Studios
Disney Hollywood Studios is the third theme park to join the Walt Disney World complex in 1989. Over the years, the name changed from the original Disney-MGM Studios to Disney Hollywood Studios. There was talk for a while of it becoming Disney Pixar Studios as well, but that idea seems to have supplanted by instead naming part of the park, Pixar Place, after Pixar. This park is themed around the imagined world of Hollywood. In the beginning, the park focused more on the backlot of studios and how movies are made. That concept has since been abandoned, focusing more on celebrating Disney movies.
How to Get There
Disney Hollywood Studios is served by bus, boat, and skyliner. The skyliner runs from Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort which serves as a hub and transfer point to go to either Disney Hollywood Studios or EPCOT from all the resorts served by skyliner (EPCOT and the Riviera resort in one direction, and Pop Century and Art of Animation in the other direction). Boats also run to Disney Hollywood Studios from EPCOT and EPCOT area resorts including the Boardwalk, Beach and Yacht Club, and Swan and Dolphin resorts. All other resorts offer bus transportation.
Disney Hollywood Studios also has a dedicated parking lot if you choose to drive or take an Uber or Lyft.
The closest resorts to Disney Hollywood Studios are those that sit between this park and EPCOT, in terms of transportation. From these resorts, you can either walk or take a boat. These include the Boardwalk resort, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Swan, and Dolphin, with the Boardwalk being the shortest walking distance.
Most Popular Attractions
In recent years, Disney Hollywood Studios has experienced a number of expansions, resulting in the addition of Toy Story land in 2018 and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in 2019. Both of these lands house some of the park's most popular attractions. Of these two areas, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has an edge in popularity because of the very popular and immersive Rise of the Resistance ride. The land's other ride, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run is also more popular at Disney World than at Disneyland California. This is just a popular land to be in as well, so expect it to be busy.
In Toy Story Land, Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania consistently draw long wait times as well.
However, the newest and most popular attraction at this time is in neither of these lands and instead is inside the one of the park's icons, the Chinese Theater. That attraction is Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, which is currently eligible for Individual Lightning Lane.
Other popular rides include the Tower of Terror (the other park icon), and Rock N' Rollercoaster, both at the end of Sunset Boulevard.
What to Eat
The dining in this park is on the up and up, with some decent quick service and table service options, though I still don't consider it quite the destination for dining that parks like EPCOT and Animal Kingdom are.
In the realm of quick service, the newer options are the better ones. In Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, both Ronto Roasters and Docking Bay 7 consistently get good reviews. Ronto Roasters is a wrap place, whereas Docking Bay 7 has all sorts of different kinds of dishes. There are also some interesting snacks in Galaxy's Edge, including blue and green "milk", and kettle korn. In Toy Storyland, Woody's Lunchbox has interesting sandwiches and toaster pastries.
For table service, you have a choice of anything from fine dining to themed dining in this park. We love 50s Prime Time Cafe which is a themed experience where you become part of a large family in the 50s having a meal at the kid's table. For those who want a fine dining experience, the park's fanciest restaurant is the Hollywood Brown Derby, a replica of the real Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant whose Chef Cobb made famous the Cobb salad.
My personal favorite, the plant based kefta at Docking Bay 7
Parades and Fireworks
This park often has two nighttime fireworks shows, and sometimes, if you time it correctly, you can rush from one to the other. The largest of these that will require the most time from you waiting for the show to begin is Fantasmic. This show has its own amphitheater why back in the corner of the park beyond Sunset Boulevard and is a water projection, live performance, and fireworks "extravaganza". Because it is a theater, there are limited seats, even though it is large, so if you are not getting a reserved spot due to having a dining package or preferred seating via lightning lane, you will wan to arrive early and wait it out for the show to start.
The other fireworks show is by the Chinese theater at the park's "hub". It is a smaller and shorter show but has fireworks and projections. Right now, it is Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular.
There is also a projection show on the Chinese theater, usually shortly before the fireworks, that features famous movie moments.
Theoretically, if timed correctly, on some nights one could see Fantasmic, then rush to the Chinese theater and catch the Star Wars: Galactic Spectacular. The reverse is not possible, in our opinion because of the nature of waiting for Fantasmic.
Disney Hollywood Studios has not had a traditional parade in some time, though there are cavalcades and streetmosphere performances throughout the day.
General Lay of the Land
Disney Hollywood Studios has a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to identifying the park's icon or even the true center of the park. There is a hub, of sorts, but the park itself is laid out more like a working studio with several paths that dead end (the park is not, in fact, a working studio).
There is one main entrance to the park no matter how you arrive. Upon entering, you will be on Hollywood Boulevard which serves a similar purpose to Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom. If you continue straight to the end of the Hollywood Boulevard, you will be in the echo lake plaza with the Chinese theater (one of the park's icons) directly ahead. From here, you can get just about anywhere else in the park with one exception.
As you travel down Hollywood Boulevard to the Chinese theater, Sunset Boulevard branches off to the right. If you turn right, you will find the Rock N' Rollercoaster at the end of this path, along with the park's second icon, the Tower of Terror. The park's third icon, the Earful Tower, is not actually located within the guest area of the park, but can be seen off to the right as well.
If anything in this park is a hub, it is the area around the Chinese Theater and Echo Lake. Most other lands of the park are laid out upon a large loop behind the Chinese Theater. If you take a slight right from the Chinese theater, you will be in the Animation Courtyard. Form here, you can take a slight left to get to Toy Story Land or a hard left to get to Pixar Place (Pixar Place is a dead end). If you go to Toy Story Land and continue through it, you will eventually run into Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, which connects then to Grand Avenue, Commissary Lane, and then back to Echo Lake.
Despite a plethora of lands, only a few have significant things going on. Others are more like corridors to get you somewhere else.
Here is further detail about each land:
Hollywood Boulevard - It's the main corridor from the entrance of the park to the rest of the park. There are no rides on Hollywood Boulevard as it is mostly shops and restaurants. This is also where a lot of the streetmosphere happens. It is themed to the Hollywood of yesteryear.
Sunset Boulevard - Veering off at an angle from Hollywood Boulevard, this street is actually longer and has a So-Cal classic theme. Shops and snack stands line the street until you get toward the end of the street where you will find Rock N' Rollercoaster and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The Beauty and the Beast live stage show theater is also back here, and tucked between the Tower of Terror and this theater is the long and winding path that will take you all the way back to the Fantasmic theater.
Animation Courtyard - Just off to the side from the hub in front of the Chinese Theater is this sleepy area. If you have little ones or like stage shows, there might be something here for you as Disney Junior On Stage and the Little Mermaid stage show are back here. Also, the Star Wars launch bay is here where sometimes you can meet Star Wars characters. If we had to name a theme of this area, we'd say it's generic warehouse studios.
Chinese Theater area - This is not technically a land to itself, but it IS very popular and houses Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. In front of this is an area around a sorcerer's cap (and wouldn't you know, sometimes the sorcerer's cap is used as the park icon) where the classic Disney characters do meet & greets. There is also Disney's own "walk of stars" which is fun to look at. We would say this area is themed to the Hollywood walk of stars.
Echo Lake - Just off the hub is a large-ish pond Disney calls Echo Lake, though it is nowhere near the size of other bodies of water at Walt Disney World. Echo Lake seems to have a quirky, almost Route 66 vibe, with a dinosaur ice cream stand in the middle, and a boat that sells very large hot dogs "floating" on it. Around Echo Lake are some of the table service restaurants including 50s Prime Time and Hollwyood & Vine. The only attraction, at the end of this area, is the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular stage show.
Commissary Lane - This small side street is named after the ABC commissary quick service location that takes up the large part of one side of this street and is one of the busiest quick services in the park due to the indoor air conditioned nature of the seating. We hate to say it, but aside from eats, there is not much going on here and after the commissary closes, this part of the park is dead.
Grand Avenue - Welcome to New York! Grand Avenue is themed like a brownstone neighborhood. Back in the cozy courtyard at the end you will find Muppet Vision 3D and Mama Melrose's restaurant. Also, on the way out of this land, you will also find Star Tours.
Galaxy's Edge - Now we're finally getting to the meat and potatoes. Galaxy's Edge is a Star Wars themed land. Galaxy's Edge is on the planet Batuu, and specifically, the city on it is called Black Spire Outpost. Unlike some other parts of Disney Hollywood Studios, the theme here is on point and you will truly feel you are in a different land. Two of the park's most popular rides are back here: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run. Also, two of the best quick service locations are back here. And we didn't mention Oga's Cantina which is a draw for many who want to have a drink in the Star Wars cantina. If you've been to Disneyland, congratulations, you already know your way around Galaxy's Edge as both parks lands are identical in this case.
Toy Story Land - Moving on from a shared land, we find a land unique to Walt Disney World. In this land, you will be shrunken down to the size of a toy. Two very popular rides are back here: Toy Story Mania and Slinky Dog Dash, as well as Alien Swirling Saucers. Woody's Lunch Box is the resident quick service, and a table service restaurant, Roundup Rodeo BBQ, is coming soon.
Pixar Place - Is it a land? Is it a place? We don't know what this is anymore. This used to serve as the main entrance to Toy Story Mania, but that has moved to the other side of the building that houses the ride in Toy Story Land. Given that, this "land" is more of a pass through area on the way back to the hub.
Our Biggest Piece of Advice About This Park
Study a map. There's three pretty big reasons you want to study a map before visiting this park.
The haphazard seeming layout of this park. It is filled with side streets and dead ends and unlike other parks where instinct might serve you pretty well, you can get a little bit lost in this small park. Thankfully, because it is small, you won't be too lost for long.
Plan your route to the popular attractions. With the exception of the two attractions at the end of Sunset Boulevard, most attractions in this park are either IN or BEHIND the Chinese Theater. If you're trying to get to Rise of the Resistance, you need to know which way to go from the theater hub so you aren't taking the loop behind the theater the wrong direction.
Save yourself some walking. Attractions are concentrated for the most part in 3 parts of the park: Sunset Boulevard, the Chinese theater, and the two lands behind the Chinese theater. You likely don't want to have to go from Slinky Dog Dash to Rock N Rollercoaster, all the way back to Smuggler's Run, so understanding a basic layout of the park can help you save time walking.
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