Help me refine my HS Touring Plan!

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Only 28 days until we set foot in Hollywood Studios!!! After stalking the boards for the last few weeks, I think our best plan of attack is to show up ~6:30 am to take advantage of the super-no-so-secret-Extra-EMH for TSL. We have to do Jedi sign-up, so I'm thinking we'll do what we can, then at 7, head to Jedi, then back to TSL for whatever else.

Here's where I need help. Our FP+ signup was before TSL opened, so we snagged at TSMM FP for 9 am, thinking we'd likely be standing in super-long lines for SDD and AS2. That seems not to be the case anymore. Given what I'm reading online, we likely won't be there for hours unless we want to be.

Here's my original plan:

- EMH @ 7 am (now we know about the earlier opening)
- TSMM FP @ 9-10 am
- Jedi from 10:30-11:30
- Indy FP @ 12:45
- Star Tours FP @ 2:20-3:20
- Sci-Fi Rez @ 3:45 (trying to change)
- Fantasmic @ 8:30

I can get an earlier TSMM FP online at 8:20. But, should I? Would that be a waste? Everything that's left is either a show, or is TOT and RNRC that we weren't planning to ride. I guess I'm concerned that if we move it earlier, there won't be a long enough line to justify it. But, if we're done with TSL by then, it seems stupid to stay there when we could explore other parts of the parks. How can I tweak our plan so we aren't backtracking and are making better use of our time? If we can move our Sci-Fi Rez to earlier, I feel like we could leave and rest for a few hours before Fantasmic.

Ugh. Help a newbie, please!

(Also, what is Grand Ave? Worth exploring? Is Pixar Place still open or has that closed? Where in the park is a good air-conditioned resting place if we decide to stay? Thanks!)

 

[YesterDark]

My only suggestion would be to get the FPs closer together and earlier if possible so you can start taking advantage of additional fast passes sooner.

This way you can re-do some the rides if you're so inclined.

Otherwise, it's a compact park honestly and unless you're walking from star tours to tower of terror there isn't much walking. And honestly if youre not doing all the Disney jr stuff with young kids it's hard to stay a full day.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I've been watching the last few days and it seems like SDD has at least a 30 minute wait by 7 AM (when the park "officially" opens, so they're letting people in early enough, AND there are enough people there that early that there is already a 30 minute wait). So, if you go earlier than the 7 AM opening I'd plan on an hour for SDD (potential half hour wait at 6:30 AM and then I like a buffer in case something doesn't go the way I planned- my luck would be the entire state of FL having shown up to ride that ride ahead of me). That would have you heading to Jedi Sign ups around 7:30 (maaaaaaybe closer to 7 but as I said, I am a "worst case scenario" planner). You could possibly sign up for Jedi training when they let you into the park, if the booth is open (worth walking by to find out).


Your timeline would then roughly be:
6:30 park arrival
6:35-6:45 Jedi sign up if open
6:45 SDD (assume at least 30 minute wait, because it will be about 7 AM if you've signed up for Jedi Training)
- you can run over to Jedi Sign ups after this if you couldn't sign up before. It adds a little back tracking but that can't be avoided and it's not a long walk)
7:45 (after 30 minute wait for SDD and actual ride time) ride Alien Saucers (assume about a 20-30 minute wait here to be safe)
8:15 MOVE YOUR TSMM FP TO 8:20 (because now you've done the other rides, and you have an hour buffer in which to use that FP in case the lines for the first two rides were longer than expected).
-You now have until 9:15 AM to get all of the following done: Jedi sign up, Alien Saucers, SDD, TSMM and now you can do one for a second time if you want before your planned 10:30 Jedi Training
10 AM arrive at Jedi Training (half hour before your show starts- or if you were doing the 11 AM show, arrive at 10:30 and shift the next steps accordingly)
10:50 ish done with Jedi Training
Have a snack/ light lunch, stop at Muppet Vision for some Air Conditioning (this is an early snack/ light lunch but it's a long way to that 3:45 reservation) Check out Grand Avenue (re-themed Muppets Courtyard, cute to look at)
12:45 Indy show
2:25 Star Tours FP (move this up if possible so you go when Indy is over around 1:10- move FP to around then if possible) Or, Frozen Singalong is nearby (more air conditioning at least)
2:45- go to Star Wars Launch Bay. Even if you don't want to meet characters there, it's fun to look around and a good way to spend 30-45 minutes before you head over to Sci-Fi (assuming you can not move Sci-Fi) OR Voyage of the Little Mermaid (LOVE me some Air Conditioning if you couldn't tell)
3:45 Sci Fi reservation
5 PM (depending on how long you're at Sci-Fi) you're free until 8 ish when you want to be lined up to go into Fantasmic- either hop to another park, get some resort time in, or re-visit TSL or re-ride anything else you want to visit again depending on waits.

Your plan leaves out Beauty and the Beast/ Disney Jr. Live on Stage/ Frozen Sing-A-Long, and Little Mermaid- you could add any of those (like I did above) to spend some more time.

This is my 2 cents and sometimes I make glaring errors in my touring plans, and my plans err on the side of every bathroom break and meal taking forever because we're on toddler time.

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

I've been watching the last few days and it seems like SDD has at least a 30 minute wait by 7 AM (when the park "officially" opens, so they're letting people in early enough, AND there are enough people there that early that there is already a 30 minute wait). So, if you go earlier than the 7 AM opening I'd plan on an hour for SDD (potential half hour wait at 6:30 AM and then I like a buffer in case something doesn't go the way I planned- my luck would be the entire state of FL having shown up to ride that ride ahead of me). That would have you heading to Jedi Sign ups around 7:30 (maaaaaaybe closer to 7 but as I said, I am a "worst case scenario" planner). You could possibly sign up for Jedi training when they let you into the park, if the booth is open (worth walking by to find out).

....

This is my 2 cents and sometimes I make glaring errors in my touring plans, and my plans err on the side of every bathroom break and meal taking forever because we're on toddler time.

Thank you for this! Your plan makes so much sense to me! We're not planning to do too many shows, likely Voyage of the Little Mermaid if we do. Question though - should I really be expecting SDD to be a half hour or hour at 6:30 am??? Literally everything I've read is that SDD is a ~10 minute wait until after official EMH opens at 7. I mean, I know no one can predict for sure. But that seems...long.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

Thank you for this! Your plan makes so much sense to me! We're not planning to do too many shows, likely Voyage of the Little Mermaid if we do. Question though - should I really be expecting SDD to be a half hour or hour at 6:30 am??? Literally everything I've read is that SDD is a ~10 minute wait until after official EMH opens at 7. I mean, I know no one can predict for sure. But that seems...long.

It could definitely be less, I never remember to check until it’s a little after 7 but I am trying really hard to remember to check beforehand. I am always in the mindset that if I budget more time for something than it ends up taking, then I can only be pleasantly surprised and find myself adding things later rather than disappointed that I couldn’t get to everything.

I don’t love most of the shows at HS and when I go during “cooler” weather I skip them but on a hot day, it’s nice to go to the air conditioned ones so I plan them in my day. If I skip one, I shift things up or down accordingly. We stay at BCV so it’s easy to leave HS when we’re out of things we want to do, go in the pool, have dinner, and come back for Fantasmic. That’s the only park where I take a break like that, there’s just not a lot there.

 

[Tksolomom]

It might be worth h staying after Fantasmic to see the Star Wars fireworks at 10, especially if you end up taking a break.

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

It could definitely be less, I never remember to check until it’s a little after 7 but I am trying really hard to remember to check beforehand. I am always in the mindset that if I budget more time for something than it ends up taking, then I can only be pleasantly surprised and find myself adding things later rather than disappointed that I couldn’t get to everything.

I don’t love most of the shows at HS and when I go during “cooler” weather I skip them but on a hot day, it’s nice to go to the air conditioned ones so I plan them in my day. If I skip one, I shift things up or down accordingly. We stay at BCV so it’s easy to leave HS when we’re out of things we want to do, go in the pool, have dinner, and come back for Fantasmic. That’s the only park where I take a break like that, there’s just not a lot there.

Oh, I totally get planning for more time than you need - speaking my language there! Thanks for the advice!

 

[Jewel3k]

We did Hollywood Studios last week. We arrived a little before 7. SDD had a 30 min wait by then. We went to Alien, TSMM, Rock and Roll and then either meet Mickey or signed up for Jedi Training by 8 am. All Jedi time slots were available and I signed up 3 kids for the 10 something show. We then walked on to Star Tours, went to the launch bay and meet all the characters. Headed back to Toy Story Land used or SDD fast pass, had a pop tart from Woody's Lunch box before our arrival time for Jedi Training. All Jedi Training time slots after 1:20 were available for sign up at this time.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

Oh, I totally get planning for more time than you need - speaking my language there! Thanks for the advice!

It’s showing a 15 minute wait at 6:45. The way I see it, if it’s a 15 minute wait instead of 30 and you still need Jedi training sign ups, that just got you 15 minutes to run over and do that after SDD (or, hop on alien saucers and then go to sign ups).

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

35 minutes at 7 AM

 

[Angie_Ohio]

Only 28 days until we set foot in Hollywood Studios!!! After stalking the boards for the last few weeks, I think our best plan of attack is to show up ~6:30 am to take advantage of the super-no-so-secret-Extra-EMH for TSL. We have to do Jedi sign-up, so I'm thinking we'll do what we can, then at 7, head to Jedi, then back to TSL for whatever else.

Here's where I need help. Our FP+ signup was before TSL opened, so we snagged at TSMM FP for 9 am, thinking we'd likely be standing in super-long lines for SDD and AS2. That seems not to be the case anymore. Given what I'm reading online, we likely won't be there for hours unless we want to be.

Here's my original plan:

- EMH @ 7 am (now we know about the earlier opening)
- TSMM FP @ 9-10 am
- Jedi from 10:30-11:30
- Indy FP @ 12:45
- Star Tours FP @ 2:20-3:20
- Sci-Fi Rez @ 3:45 (trying to change)
- Fantasmic @ 8:30

I can get an earlier TSMM FP online at 8:20. But, should I? Would that be a waste? Everything that's left is either a show, or is TOT and RNRC that we weren't planning to ride. I guess I'm concerned that if we move it earlier, there won't be a long enough line to justify it. But, if we're done with TSL by then, it seems stupid to stay there when we could explore other parts of the parks. How can I tweak our plan so we aren't backtracking and are making better use of our time? If we can move our Sci-Fi Rez to earlier, I feel like we could leave and rest for a few hours before Fantasmic.

Ugh. Help a newbie, please!

(Also, what is Grand Ave? Worth exploring? Is Pixar Place still open or has that closed? Where in the park is a good air-conditioned resting place if we decide to stay? Thanks!)

We just returned from WDW. We arrived at HS near 7 with no wait to enter and very few people walking toward TS land. We rode Aliens first and then got into a 25 minute wait line for SDD. Then we rode TSMM with a 10 minute wait. We had done all this by 8ish. Many families took advantage of short lines for photos with Buzz and then Woody and Jesse. We rode ST and returned to TSMM for our fast pass and the land was much busier with the SDD line at 60 minutes. We were able to get an early rez for Sci-Fi at 10:45. We were starved by then. In addition to these morning activities we went to Frozen sing along, Muppets and walked through the Walt Disney life story area (forgot the name). They have the model depicting Star Wars Land in there. Finished our day at TOT and went back to the hotel to await DME to take us to the airport at 2. All adults (18, 22, 24, 50)- very tiring due to heat and up at 6 to get ready. We stayed at BWV so short boat ride over in the morning. I would consider taking some time in the late afternoon to relax and go back for Fantasmic.