My Hollywood Studios Itinerary for 1 Exciting Day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It used to be such a simple park to tour when visiting Walt Disney World. Thats because for years it was the park that was undergoing renovations (EPCOT currently has that claim to fame). On my last visit to Walt Disney World, I was able to see just how much that had changed. Honestly, I think Hollywood Studios is now one of the most complete parks at Walt Disney World. By that I mean there is so much to do. If you’re a thrill seeker, its probably the Disney park you’ll want to spend most of your time at. It definitely now warrants a full day to explore. In this post, I’ll be providing my 1 day Hollywood Studios itinerary that I used on my latest trip to show you how I tackled it.

• You can read about the attractions at Hollywood Studios in more detail in my park guide HERE.

A Few Notes for my Hollywood Studios Itinerary

I visited Hollywood Studios on a July weekday, right in the middle of the Disney tourist season. Naturally, that meant heat and crowds. Despite this, I managed to do everything that I wanted at the park while following this Hollywood Studios itinerary. At Disney World, you just need to make good decisions in the early part of the day, and you’ll generally be able to have an enjoyable time.

As a resort guest, I was eligible for early entry to Hollywood Studios, meaning an extra half hour of ride time before day guests were admitted to the park. With the official park opening time scheduled for 8.30am on the day of my visit, early entry officially began at 8.00am. With that said, we were already moving into the park at 7.30am. This illustrates the key rule of Walt Disney World – get to the parks early! I was at the front entrance to Hollywood Studios at 7.00am (an hour before early entry time) and it paid off when touring the park according to my Hollywood Studios itinerary.

I’ve mentioned in a few of my Disney itinerary posts that this was the first time I had been to Walt Disney World since the implementation of the Genie+ system. As the successor to the old Fastpass+, I found it to be really handy when planning a Hollywood Studios itinerary. The only major attraction that currently doesn’t offer regular Lightning Lane bookings under Genie+ is Rise of the Resistance. You need to buy an Individual Lightning Lane for this attraction (I did) if you want to skip the line here. You can make that booking at 7.00am on the day of your park visit.

• You can read more about Genie+, Lightning Lanes and all that Disney World jargon in my Walt Disney World Basics post HERE.

In addition to securing my 2.45pm Resistance booking, I booked a regular Lightning Lane for Slinky Dog at 4.00pm. I also had an advance reservation for Oga’s Cantina (made 30 days before my trip) around 12.30pm.

Hooray for Hollywood

Arriving at the park entry via the Disney Skyliner with plenty of time to spare, I started my Hollywood Studios itinerary by rope dropping the park’s newest attraction. Located inside the replica of Hollywood’s Chinese Theatre, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railroad is a popular ride for all ages. Being right at the park entry, it gets swamped with crowds throughout the day, so I felt it was a good choice to start with. I was one of the first people in line for it and got off just as the park officially was set to open for early entry guests. As I’ve said countless times, getting up early pays off at Disney!

Leaving that whacky railway behind, the next stop on my Hollywood Studios itinerary was Sunset Boulevard. With two of my favourite Disney attractions at the street’s far end, I was keen to ride them while most guests were still arriving. First on the agenda was Rock n Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith. I normally use the single rider line on this attraction, but its not needed this early. Naturally, I followed it up the Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror, my personal pick for best attraction at Disney World. By the time I finished there, it was regular park opening time.

A Galaxy Far, Far Away

As day guests started filing into the park, one of the classic Hollywood Studios attractions seemed less crowded than the rest. That made it an easy decision to head for Star Tours – the Adventure Continues. I’m glad this ride is still at Hollywood Studios. Its no doubt been overshadowed by Galaxy’s Edge, but for years, this was where you would come for your Star Wars hit at Disney World. Riding it again was a must on my Hollywood Studios itinerary.

And speaking of Galaxy’s Edge, that’s where I was headed next. It was just past 9.00am when I ventured into Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, and this was definitely where the majority of the crowds were at. Right from the start of the day, it was busy in Batuu. But at the same time, it was oh so amazing. Disney have done such an amazing job at creating an immersive world here. I fully intended to take it all in, but first, I had a spaceship to catch.

I had a major win when I got in the single rider line for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. Its well documented that while you’ll save time using this line, you are virtually guaranteed to not be chosen as the Falcon’s pilot. Well, I wasn’t assigned that role either…BUT…another person in my group (for some reason!) didn’t want to fly the ship. I instantly piped up and offered to trade my measly engineer role, and the rest was (very bumpy) history.

My Hollywood Studios itinerary fell apart for a bit after the Falcon. I had planned to move into Toy Story Land and knock over some attractions there, but instead, I spent about an hour and a half wandering around Batuu’s shops and stalls. It really blew my mind.

Passing the Morning

By the time I left Galaxy’s Edge, it was about 10.30am. I made my way into Toy Story Land, though the lines had picked up here as well. Luckily I managed to secure a Lightning Lane for Toy Story Mania to use later in the day. I hadn’t been to this part of the park before either, so I spent a bit of time taking in the aesthetics, while also taking a ride on Alien’s Swirling Saucers. I also had an early lunch at Woody’s Lunch Box, which was actually quite tasty, albeit basic.

Up next, I moved on to Animation Courtyard and used this busy part of the day to check out some of Hollywood Studio’s mini-museums. I started out with Walt Disney Presents (I’d overlooked the memorabilia in the entry hall previously, but it really is comprehensive). Up next I went through Star Wars Launch Bay and came face to face with Darth Vader himself. After all that, I caught a screening of MuppetVision 3D on Grand Avenue.

Back to Batuu for a Drink

My reservation at Oga’s Cantina was coming up as 12.30pm neared, so I made my way back to Galaxy’s Edge. As with everything on Batuu, I was really impressed by the attention to detail given in the re-creation of an authentic Star Wars cantina. When you book at Oga’s, you can stay for an hour, and can order 2 space themed cocktails. I enjoyed both the Fuzzy Tauntaun and Bespin Fizz (the latter of which comes out smoking!). The cantina also offers intergalactic snacks and other beverages.

I spent about 45 minutes at Oga’s. I then had a little more time to fill in before my reservation for Rise of the Resistance, so I hiked back down Sunset Boulevard and did Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, seeing as there was practically no wait.

Rise of the Resistance – the First Attempt

As 2.45pm approached, I was getting excited. It was time to finally experience Rise of the Resistance, the Star Wars headliner that has received rave reviews for being the best attraction Disney has put together to date. And let me just say, from the moment you step into the waiting area, it lives up. After being briefed on our mission by Rey and then being taken onto a Resistance transport, we were taken into First Order custody. Before we could escape however…the ride went down for maintenance. That’s right, I got to see the intimidating officers revert to regular cast members as we were told the ride was going down.

Not the ideal first experience of this epic attraction, but Disney looks after you when this stuff happens. We were all given a free Lightning Lane to use on the attraction at any point in the day when it went back online. However, there was no estimated time for when it would be back up and running. As it turned out, a performance of the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Adventure was about to start as I exited, so I rushed over to catch that. I also used the downtime in line to book a Lightning Lane for another go on Smuggler’s Run later in the day (the single rider line is great, but I wanted to be a pilot again!).

You Are a Child’s Plaything!

With Rise still down, it was time to go back to Andy’s backyard. With my Lightning Lane window open, I got on Slinky Dog Dash. I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected to. Its definitely a welcome addition to the park. I followed it up with another Lightning Lane attraction, as I was able to ride Toy Story Mania.

Having now done everything in Toy Story Land, I used my reservation on Smuggler’s Run back in Galaxy’s Edge. I also secured an additional reservation for the Tower of Terror later in the evening.

The Return of the Resistance

Getting off my second run on the Falcon, I noticed that Rise of Resistance had reopened. It was going on 6.00pm by the time I was back through the parts of the experience I had already seen. I was basically up to the ride portion. After boarding the First Order escape transport, I can safely say it had all been worth it. Everything, including the last drop back to Batuu makes for an extremely memorable adventure. I definitely see the hype around this attraction, and think its worthy of all the praise its attracted. Its not overblown in the slightest.

After getting off the ride, it was time for dinner. Already being in Galaxy’s Edge, I ate at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo. Its a good quality counter service option (which doesn’t require a reservation). Try the Batuuan Beef Stir Fry – its delicious!

End of Day Fun and Thrills

With about 2 hours of park time left after dinner, I had done pretty much everything I wanted to do on my Hollywood Studios itinerary. While I had missed a few of the shows (Beauty & the Beast, Frozen, etc), I had seen them in the past, so wasn’t too worried. With there being no Fantasmic performances at the date of my visit, I ended the day by doing some of my favourite rides again. First off, I used the single rider line on Smuggler’s Run (sadly no pilot role this time), then used my final Lightning Lane at the Tower of Terror. From there, single rider on Rock and Rollercoaster was a short wait. I followed that up with one last ride on Tower of Terror from the standby line.

I really enjoyed my day at Hollywood Studios. Having seen just how much the park has grown over the past few years between visits to Disney World, I was very impressed. I feel like this park now offers the most exciting attraction line up in Walt Disney World. Hopefully this Hollywood Studios itinerary post has given you some ideas as to how best to experience them all and so much more.