Disney Hollywood Studios Strategy for a Young Family

Disney Hollywood Studios can sometimes feel like a bit of a Franken-park. Whereas the overall theme of the park used to celebrate the magic of making movies with attractions such as The Great Movie Ride and Backlot Tour, the last several years have shifted the park to transporting guests into iconic movie franchises like Toy Story and Star Wars. These areas are totally immersive, as walking through Galaxy's Edge you'll hear ambient noise and feel like you're on another planet (in summer, a planet very close to a sun). Additionally, with the building of Monstropolis in a few more years, Hollywood Studios will continue to pull more worlds into the fold.

Hollywood Studios also boasts a wide mix of family-friendly shows and thrill rides. Out of all the rides, there's only two with no height requirements (Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway and Toy Story Mania). However, even if your little ones can't get on every ride there is still plenty to take in and enjoy throughout the day. In building out a strategy for navigating Hollywood Studios I'll use some of the same assumptions as the Magic Kingdom Strategy for a Young Family. Namely, assuming a family of four with an older kid who wants to ride everything and a younger child who may not be tall enough or interested in the bigger thrill rides. The main strategy consists of:

• Minimize wait times: As always, I'm a big advocate for Early Entry rope drop to take advantage of lower morning crowds. If you're able to knock out your top rides in the morning and catch the shows in the middle of the day, you can coast into your evening and the Fantasmic show.

• Methodically move around the park: Hollywood Studios is the one Disney World park that isn't circular in some way. If you don't plan out your route, you can spend a good portion of your day criss-crossing the park. Instead, try to explore each area as long as you'd like before moving onto the next one. Galaxy's Edge is especially explorable.

• Focusing on family-friendly attractions early on: This may be difficult as many of the shows don't start right away, but there are still plenty of options to keep the family mostly together in the early part of the day. You will definitely want to utilize Rider Switch to take advantage of Slinky Dog Dash or either of the Star Wars-themed rides, so be sure to find ways to enjoy these moments with the non-riders as well.

• Lightning Lane Multipass is worth it: Given the top-heavy nature of attractions at Hollywood Studios, wait times can get inflated pretty quickly. Even early in the day you can find wait times in the 60-minute range for Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania, depending on the day. If most of the family wants to go on Rise of the Resistance, it's probably one of the few Individual Lightning Lanes worth snagging as well if you can fit it into your schedule.

In an ideal scenario, you would structure your Lightning Lanes to pair Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania back-to-back, as early as possible. If you plan on riding Tower of Terror, you should use your 3rd LLMP slot for an afternoon ride. If neither of the kids would be into Tower of Terror or you don't feel the need to ride it at all, use your 3rd slot for Alien Swirling Saucers and knock out all three Toy Story Land rides at once. If you're going in the morning you probably won't need the Lightning Lane spot for Alien Swirling Saucers at all, but there are likely to be more Lightning Lane options later so why not? But assuming you do plan on hitting Tower of Terror and Rise of the Resistance, here's how you should structure your Lightning Lanes:

• Tier 1: Slinky Dog Dash, ideally in the 9:00am or 10:00am range

• Tier 2: Toy Story Mania, right before or right after Slinky Dog Dash; Tower of Terror, mid-afternoon

• Individual Lighting Lane: Rise of the Resistance, around lunchtime

With your Lightning Lanes in order, here's how you can structure your day to maximize Hollywood Studios for your young family:

• Start off Early Entry rope drop at Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. This is my family's favorite ride that we can all experience. As the only ride at Disney World featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse, it's definitely worth using valuable morning time to get a great family ride in first thing. The added bonus is that most people head left in the park to Rise of the Resistance or right to Toy Story Land, so you likely won't wait more than 10-15 minutes once the park officially opens. You may even be able to ride it again right after if you really want to, or you can head to your next spot..

• Head over to Toy Story Land and you should be able to hit all three rides using Lightning Lanes (Toy Story Mania and Slinky Dog Dash) and low morning wait time (Alien Swirling Saucers). There's surprisingly not a whole lot else to do in Toy Story Land besides the three rides and gift shop at the Toy Story Mania exit. If you're using Rider Switch for anything I'd recommend the non-riders hop on Toy Story Mania again if the wait time is still low, or head over to Woody's Lunch Box for a morning snack. The lunch box tarts (i.e., homemade Pop Tarts) are always a favorite.

• When you've covered everything in Toy Story Land, head on into Galaxy's Edge. Even if you decide to bypass the rides here, you can spend plenty of time just exploring the area and shops. If you're hungry I'd suggest grabbing some Ronto Wraps while you check out the various shops. While you're using Rider Switch for your Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane and/or Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run (hopefully booked after you use an early Lightning Lane), grab a snack or hopefully try to catch appearances from the Mandalorian with Grogu or Rey and Chewbacca. One of my all-time Disney memories was watching my kids get involved in a game of telephone with Chewbacca in the middle of the group. Part of the planning and time savings is to allow for organic magical moments like this, so take in and enjoy the park whenever you can.

• By midday you'll want to grab lunch and catch some of the shows. If you're still in Galaxy's Edge you can grab a quick bite at Docking Bay 7, or if you press on toward the middle of Hollywood Studios you'll run into Backlot Express or ABC Commissary (yes to Buffalo grilled cheese). After lunch you can catch the classic Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular or the more-funny-than-you-expect Frozen Sing-Along. The Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure recently opened back up, and your youngest may want to check out the Disney Jr. Dance Party. You'll probably have the time and energy for two or three of these, but they should provide a nice break in the middle of the day.

• After you've taken a few hours to catch some shows, head down Sunset Blvd. toward Tower of Terror. Use your Lightning Lane if you have it, and perhaps the non-riders can make their way to the Beauty and the Beast live show. Or they can grab an ice cream at Hollywood Scoops - nothing makes up for feeling a little left out than ice cream. Rock N' Roller Coaster is by far the most intense coaster at Disney World and worth the time for the adults and more adventurous kids (the height requirement of 48" may deter some). Just beyond is the new Disney Villains Unfairly Ever After show that you can watch while you're in that corner of the park.

• As the showtimes wind down and dinner time starts, you have plenty of time for leisurely Quick Service dinner or a nice Table Service meal. You've got a few good options between the character meal at Hollywood & Vine, 50's Primetime Cafe, The Brown Derby, or Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. Sci-Fi is a particularly cool spot that allows everyone to face toward a projection screen over burgers and other family-friendly foods (my kids enjoyed the chicken tenders and corn dog nuggets). However, the old monster movies can be a little much for younger kids if they scare easily. Our 6-year old had a rough time with the movie clips making for a stressful meal, so if your kids a little sensitive you may want to steer clear.

• After dinner you may have a couple hours before the Fantasmic! night show, which is by far our favorite at Disney World. Check out wait times and take advantage of one or two extra rides on your favorites from the day. The Fantasmic! theater is a hike from everything else, so give yourself plenty of time and try to arrive early (at least 30-40 minutes before showtime). One last tip for after the show: even as your kids may be exhausted, I suggest waiting a few minutes to let the amphitheater clear out a bit before making your way to the exit. It's a lot more pleasant to chill out and then cross along the front of the stands before making your way up the stairs than shuffling along the crowds.