Best Way To Do A Day at Hollywood Studios - Please Help!

[mmbrad02]

I used to know my Disney - Then we we a few years without week long trips - and now I am lost. Our last time at any parks was October 2019, and that was one full day at AK prior to our cruise and a night at MNSSHP after our cruise.

We have a cruise this July 25-29 and while it was supposed to be park free, I am now dabbling with adding a day at Hollywood Studios on Sunday July 24. I do know that there are currently reservations available that day, so that part is okay. What I'm trying to figure out is if it is humanly possible to do the rides that are new to us, as we haven't been to HS in a very long time - Star Wars area, Toy Story Land, and Mickey's Runaway Railway were all under construction and unavailable the last time we visited.

The rides in question:
Slinky Dog Dash
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad
Millennium Falcon
Rise of the Resistance

Others that Would be Nice:
Toy Story Mania
Alien Flying Saucers
Star Tours
For the First Time in Forever (just cause it makes me happy but I can live without)

Rides we won't ride regardless:
Tower of Terror
Rockin Rollercoaster

So that said, we can definitely get there at (or before) Rope Drop. Do I need to get the Genie + option as a MUST to do these rides? (I'm not opposed, I just don't know the current situation). Is there any rides that do not have a standby queue and you must do something virtually?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Genie+ for DHS and ILL for RotR can make your wish list possible. I did this in May on our arrival day when we did not get to DHS until 2pm. But back at 7am that day, I grabbed an LLC for Millennium Falcon, and my companion bought RotR ILL. Then every two hours after that, we booked more LLs, adding Mickey & Minnie and TSM. Star Tours barely had a line and we did it twice. We also caught the last show of Indiana Jones, and spent a lot of time shopping and taking photos in Batuu. The LLs really left time for the slower parts. At 8:45pm we got in line for RotR for a second ride. Great day.

 

[mercuryvenus]

I used to know my Disney - Then we we a few years without week long trips - and now I am lost. Our last time at any parks was October 2019, and that was one full day at AK prior to our cruise and a night at MNSSHP after our cruise.

We have a cruise this July 25-29 and while it was supposed to be park free, I am now dabbling with adding a day at Hollywood Studios on Sunday July 24. I do know that there are currently reservations available that day, so that part is okay. What I'm trying to figure out is if it is humanly possible to do the rides that are new to us, as we haven't been to HS in a very long time - Star Wars area, Toy Story Land, and Mickey's Runaway Railway were all under construction and unavailable the last time we visited.

The rides in question:
Slinky Dog Dash
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad
Millennium Falcon
Rise of the Resistance

Others that Would be Nice:
Toy Story Mania
Alien Flying Saucers
Star Tours
For the First Time in Forever (just cause it makes me happy but I can live without)

Rides we won't ride regardless:
Tower of Terror
Rockin Rollercoaster

So that said, we can definitely get there at (or before) Rope Drop. Do I need to get the Genie + option as a MUST to do these rides? (I'm not opposed, I just don't know the current situation). Is there any rides that do not have a standby queue and you must do something virtually?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Here’s what you do:

Stay at a Disney resort, so you can get the 7am booking window.

At 7am, purchase Rise of the Resistance and get a return time for Slinky Dog, ideally mid/late morning. Utilize early entry and go straight to MMRR. At that point in the day, the wait shouldn’t be too awful.

As soon as you can book another Genie+, snag Toy Story Mania. Your third Genie+ should be Smuggler’s Run.

Star Tours and Frozen don’t require Genie+.

You might or might not also get Alien Saucers.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

We just got back. Not sure the ages of your family members but for us -

We did rope drop for Rise. This only works if you have early entry as the lines get long quickly.
We did single rider for Smuggler's run. Best thing ever. Waited 5 minutes at around noon.
We did buy Genie+, but used it for Mickey's train and Rock n Roller. You can also usually get Star Tours pretty easily. The lines there weren't terrible either if you have to do that one stand by. We did NOT try for Slinky as that is not a priority for our family and it seems to be difficult to get that one. We did Toy Story with Genie+ and I did see Alien Saucer come up and one point (again - not a priority for us).

If you want to save money and are super quick at 7am, I would buy the Genie and get Slinky first. I would save $$ and just rope drop Rise (though you can buy it if you want). If you can do single rider, Smuggler's run is can be done with little wait. They even put 3 of us in one ride and the other 2 in another so we weren't even really "single" though you can't count on that. I would use Genie to try to get Mickey's train as your second LL. The others should still be around later in the day. It gets harder to find a good Genie time as the day goes on - or at least that was our experience. I found we could get 1 big ride and then it was mostly the smaller rides that were available for the 2nd LL.

 

[Marionnette]

I used to know my Disney - Then we we a few years without week long trips - and now I am lost. Our last time at any parks was October 2019, and that was one full day at AK prior to our cruise and a night at MNSSHP after our cruise.

We have a cruise this July 25-29 and while it was supposed to be park free, I am now dabbling with adding a day at Hollywood Studios on Sunday July 24. I do know that there are currently reservations available that day, so that part is okay. What I'm trying to figure out is if it is humanly possible to do the rides that are new to us, as we haven't been to HS in a very long time - Star Wars area, Toy Story Land, and Mickey's Runaway Railway were all under construction and unavailable the last time we visited.

The rides in question:
Slinky Dog Dash
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad
Millennium Falcon
Rise of the Resistance

Others that Would be Nice:
Toy Story Mania
Alien Flying Saucers
Star Tours
For the First Time in Forever (just cause it makes me happy but I can live without)

Rides we won't ride regardless:
Tower of Terror
Rockin Rollercoaster

So that said, we can definitely get there at (or before) Rope Drop. Do I need to get the Genie + option as a MUST to do these rides? (I'm not opposed, I just don't know the current situation). Is there any rides that do not have a standby queue and you must do something virtually?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

IMO, you're going to need both ILL$ (for ROTR) and G+ for your other top rides in order to get it all done. Getting there before rope drop will help if you're an on-site guest. That would get you a chance at snagging one of your must do rides before regular rope drop.

I don't know if single rider is an option for you, but Millennium Falcon has a single rider line that moves rather quickly.

If you rope drop ROTR, single rider MF, get G+ for Slinky and (hopefully) MMRR, it should be easy to knock off the other rides. You might end up with return times that are later in the day for your G+, but if you're spending the whole day there (or leaving midday and returning later), O think you stand a good chance of doing all of your 2nd tier attractions as well. But the key is to arrive well before on-site guest's rope drop to be at the front of the pack for ROTR.

 

[coachk34]

Our strategy is going to be a little different as we don't want to pay for ILL's. We are going to be early and Rope Drop RoR and hopefully also get to do MFSR. Hope to get a Genie+ for SDD before 10:30, but know that might be hard. Then hope to Genie+ the following in order MFSR, MMRR, RnR, and TSMM. Sprinkle shows in between the Genie+ plus rides and an afternoon break. Perhaps trying RoR at park closing. Any thoughts?

 

[DLRExpert]

With G+ And ILL
My order during Early Entry.
7am book Slinky get a early return time.
ILL for Rise around 10am-1pm return time.
First Tower
Then RNRC
if early enough can get in line for Railway before park opening.
Mania then Saucers.
Second LL will be Falcon.
Mix in shows between LL for Star Tours and ILL for Rise.
Try booking remaining LLs on the attractions I did earlier.

For Original Post
7am book Slinky get a early return time.
ILL for Rise around 10am-1pm return time.
Falcon first
Mania
Railway