Do you know how to plan the perfect Disney Hollywood Studios itinerary for your trip? Having a well thought out game-plan will allow you to make the best of your time in the park. Here is the best one day travel guide for your visit to Hollywood Studios.
Where to Stay & Getting to the park
We stayed at the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista Hotel near Disney Springs Resort Area. This hotel worked out great for us because it was a close walk to Disney Springs and was also much cheaper than any of the Disney Hotels. I have found, unless you have small children or are a huge Disney fan, the Disney hotels are overpriced and really not worth the extra money. The best [on property] budget hotels in Disney World are near the Lake Buena Vista area. These hotels provide guests with great amenities and also include shuttle service to every Disney park. Additionally, some also offer free breakfast!
Other hotels in the area:
Know Before You Go
Download the MyDisney Experience App on your phone and make sure you link your tickets to the app. This will be your go to app for your park days and will also be where you sign up for the Rise of the Resistance virtual queue (more on this below). Additionally, you will be able to check wait times, make FastPass+ selections/changes [once they become available again], view maps of the parks, and even order food at quick-service restaurants. Check the park hours so that you can take advantage of any early morning Magic Hours, if you choose to stay at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel. Regular park times typically begin at 9AM, while Magic hours begin an hour earlier.
What to Expect
Disney has moved to a whole new virtual system and I think it is definitely staying, even after Covid is over. Not only are they moving the rides over to virtual queues but even food vendors are using the Disney app to have their guests order their food and pick it up once it is ready. Again, make sure you download the MyDisney Experience app, as this is where all of the virtual queues are taking place.
Can't Miss Rides:
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - Sunset Blvd
Rock n' Rollercoaster Starring Aerosmith- Sunset Blvd
Slinky Dog Dash - Toy Story Land
Rise of the Resistance- Galaxy's Edge (more below on how to ride this)
Millennium Falcom: Smugglers Run - Galaxy's Edge
Toy Story Mania!- Toy Story Land (However if you have ridden Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom you could give this one a miss if short on time)
Can't Miss Shows:
Fantasmic!
Beauty & the Beast
Indiana Jones
What to Eat/Drink:
We usually like to eat breakfast before we head to the park in the morning. During our trip, we decided to eat at the hotel and then grab a Starbucks on the way as we drove our own car to Orlando.
For lunch we ate at Ronto Roasters, a food vendor in Galaxy's Edge that sells wraps and specialty beverages. I would recommend trying the Ronto Wrap when you go, as it is one of the better meals I have had in the Disney parks. The wrap is filled with roasted pork, grilled pork sausage, peppercorn sauce, and tangy slaw wrapped in a pita. We ordered online and waited in a virtual queue, until it was ready to be picked up at the counter.
Milk Stand - Treat yourself with a cup of Batuu’s legendary blue or green milk, served frozen at the Milk Stand in Galaxy's Edge. I have come across many different opinions on these drinks and I think it really comes down to personal taste. I will say that the Blue and Green milk is most definitely a milky consistency and is not what I wanted to be sipping on a hot day in Florida. I have heard the spiked version is much better and so we will have to try that next time. However, my overall opinion on these drinks is that I probably would not purchase them again if I went back to the park.
Dinner at Disney Springs: Be prepared to make a reservation in advance at Disney Springs, if you want to eat dinner at one of the restaurants. By luck, we were able to get a table at Wolf Gang Puck for dinner at 9 pm when we called the afternoon of. I would recommend calling the day before or in the morning for dinner plans. Disney Springs is known to have some delicious restaurants and a great atmosphere. I would definitely recommend going to dinner on one of the days you are in Orlando. As our hotel was so close to Disney Springs we were able to walk to dinner and we didn't have to worry about driving, if we were drinking (only for those over 21).
Best Places to Eat at Disney Springs:
Gideon's Bakehouse at Disney Springs: This is Disney Springs newest addition and we were very excited to try! We had heard raving reviews online about this bakeshop and decided on our last day we would head to Disney Springs first thing in the morning and check-in at Gideon's Bakehouse. We had to wait 4 hours in the virtual queue to get in but there is so much to do in Disney Springs that 4 hours goes very quickly! Once we received the notification that we were able to get into the bakeshop, we headed back to the store and awaited the deliciousness. The decor of the shop is very well done and really took me by surprise. In a nutshell, I would say its very Haunted Mansion meets the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The art decor is very Gothic and the dark atmosphere of it all was a great experience. We decided to buy a few goodies because, if it really was THAT good, we didn't want to have to wait in such a long queue again! So we ordered one of the daily chocolate cake slices (Frankenstein Slice), 2 chocolate chip cookies, 1 coffee cake cookie, 1 triple chocolate chip and 1 Peanut Butter Chip cookie and unfortunately... we were unimpressed. The cake was extremely fresh but very very very sweet. The cookies were hard and overfilled with chocolate chips. I think it all comes down to personal preference but I don't think the baked goods were worth the wait nor the price. However, if you love super sweet treats, then Gideon's may become one of your favorite places!
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
The only way to ride the Rise of the Resistance ride is to log into the MyDisney Experience App and join a boarding group at 7am. I made sure I was up and refreshing the page by 6:55am. If you were not able to get a boarding pass at 7am, don't worry, you will have another chance at 1pm, however, this time you must be in the park to do so. Be sure to start refreshing the page by 12:55pm and have everyone in your party try. Once you have received your boarding group, you will be notified when your group is called. This notification will give you two hours to get to the ride. We were group 69 and had most of the morning and early afternoon to roam around the park and ride other popular rides before we were called.
Park Tips & Tricks:
Make sure you are ready to grab that Rise of the Resistance Boarding Pass! Read up on how to do it ahead of time and be prepared.
Be sure to get there as the park is opening, as many of the ride waits are not as long! We waited 80 minutes to ride Slinky Dog Dash and that was the shortest wait time that day!
When Tower of Terror shows a 13 minute wait, that actually means it is a 0 minute wait!
Be sure to bring your own reusable water bottle to fill up throughout the day, this will save you some money as walking around the park can get really tiresome (especially in the summer)!
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