Hollywood studios strategy

[M&E]

Hi! We will be at HS one week from today (Thursday). It is our only day. We know about the 7 am boarding groups for rise of the resistance, but I'm at a loss for the rest. What time should we be at the park? 1 hour before opening? What order should we attempt the rest of the rides? I don't even know where to go first, second, third, etc. We want to see and do as much as possible. Thank you so much!

 

[Calee]

Hi! We will be at HS one week from today (Thursday). It is our only day. We know about the 7 am boarding groups for rise of the resistance, but I'm at a loss for the rest. What time should we be at the park? 1 hour before opening? What order should we attempt the rest of the rides? I don't even know where to go first, second, third, etc. We want to see and do as much as possible. Thank you so much!

What is the age/make up of your group? Have you been to HS before and if so what are your favorite rides?

 

[M&E]

What is the age/make up of your group? Have you been to HS before and if so what are your favorite rides?

2 female adults age 40 something. We've been quite a few times, but not since the new Star Wars Land opened.

Priorities (in no particular order):
Millenium Falcon
Slinky Dog Dash
Minnie and Mickey's Runaway Railroad

Also would like:
Toy Story Midway Mania
ToT
Rockin Roller Coaster

What am I missing? We have the whole day, but I know waits have been long.

Thanks.

 

[BlackTea]

Based on our late December experience, ToT >60 minutes all day, Slinky >45 minutes all day, Falcon and Rocking Roller could be 30 minutes later PM, Mania and Micky/Minnie could be 20 minutes later PM. If you rope drop, consider doing TOT and roller first, then quickly go to Slinky, post that, you can decide what is next based on the wait time. You will have enough time to finish all...

Good luck with the virtual pass for the Resistance!

 

[M&E]

Based on our late December experience, ToT >60 minutes all day, Slinky >45 minutes all day, Falcon and Rocking Roller could be 30 minutes later PM, Mania and Micky/Minnie could be 20 minutes later PM. If you rope drop, consider doing TOT and roller first, then quickly go to Slinky, post that, you can decide what is next based on the wait time. You will have enough time to finish all...

Good luck with the virtual pass for the Resistance!

Thank you so much for your advice! What you are suggesting goes against everything I was thinking. I was thinking of hitting the new stuff first (MMRR, Falcon and Slinky) and that the others would be later. Hmmmmmm... I feel like such a rookie without pre-booked fast passes.

 

[Calee]

We were there in September and got there EARLY and got in line for MMRR. We were off by the time the park officially opened and went and walked on Rockin Roller Coaster, then TOT. We did TOT twice. Then it was time for our Rise time so we went over there and did that and explored all that area because we hadn't seen it yet. We rode Falcon then-we waited but it was maybe 30 minutes and there was a lot to look at. We caught Slinky with about a 30 minute wait too-it was right after a hard rain so the line had cleared out a little, and then did Toy Story. I'm very used to having fast passes and was nervous, but we had plenty of time to do everything and the waits weren't as bad as I had prepared myself for.

 

[nekonekoneko]

We were there today, and definitely rope drop ToT/RnRC. We pushed both rides through in 25 minutes, and then we were done with that corner of the park, and can work on the rest.

 

[DL1WDW2]

How do you rope drop when they don’t have rope drop anymore? haha
If you get into the park really earlyI would speed thru M&MRR cause that line moves really fast.
RnRC was down earlier this week and possibly over the weekend so that explains popularity .
TOT are they just running one side ? Could not believe the long waits for this on Monday but I suspect castmembers are finally allowed in parks and local passholder calendar is finally unblocked.
Personally I think Slinky Dog is the worst wait but I only like to ride in evening or night.
I still believe MFSR is super popular and really early arrival can be quick.
Most of the attractions have eliminated the pre-shows to aid social distancing.
And set your alarm for the one o’clock virtual Rise of the Resistance if you aren’t lucky at 7 am.
We went on Star Tours. It seems like they have updated some of the interior walk thru and their is a new movie selection.
Do you have dining reservations?We didn’t and decided to try the Commissary next to Sci Fi and really enjoyed food. It recently reopened I think.
You might get a kick out of Pizza Russo just cause the upstairs has a disco ball dining room with dance floor themed to be a wedding venue in a small Italian neighborhood . Okay pizza and a side salad on menu.
Nearby Mama Melroses is relaxing and they serve great minestrone soup and salad and Italian food with a basket of rolls brought to your table.
Let us know if you have fun!

And as much as everybody groans about Frozen... it really is funny and they throw out a lot of zingers about wearing masks. And who can resist all that snow falling at the end! It was magical!

And a pretzel and beer at Baseline tastes so much better for some reason.

 

[M&E]

Oh my goodness! I tried practicing for a ROTR boarding group this morning. Started clicking at 7:00 and no luck. We're talking about a matter of seconds and it was all gone? Really?!?! I feel like everyone with a teenager (super fast texters!) has a huge advantage. I'm 40 something and I just can't click that fast. Am I just out of luck? Any tips to make me a faster clicker?

 

[NashvilleMama]

Oh my goodness! I tried practicing for a ROTR boarding group this morning. Started clicking at 7:00 and no luck. We're talking about a matter of seconds and it was all gone? Really?!?! I feel like everyone with a teenager (super fast texters!) has a huge advantage. I'm 40 something and I just can't click that fast. Am I just out of luck? Any tips to make me a faster clicker?

There's a board with tips and strategies on this - and yes you have to practice, be wicked fast, and have everyone in your party trying!
https://www.disboards.com/forums/star-wars-galaxys-edge-info-planning.204/

 

[SomDayMyPrnceWillCom]

Since this is already being discussed in this thread, the hours are changing when we go March 13 - 19 and HS will be open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. How will that change how to get boarding passes? Do they usually open earlier than scheduled time now? We've been several times but not since SWW opened or TSL opened. SW rides are priority this time b/c this is the boyfriend and his son's first trip and bf is a huge SW fan. I want to make sure I get there in plenty of time to snag a boarding pass.

 

[M&E]

Since this is already being discussed in this thread, the hours are changing when we go March 13 - 19 and HS will be open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. How will that change how to get boarding passes? Do they usually open earlier than scheduled time now? We've been several times but not since SWW opened or TSL opened. SW rides are priority this time b/c this is the boyfriend and his son's first trip and bf is a huge SW fan. I want to make sure I get there in plenty of time to snag a boarding pass.

From what I've heard they open the park earlier than the posted time. So if it's scheduled to open at 10 I would be there by 9. Regardless of the time that you can get into the park, you can try to get a ROTR boarding group at 7 am from home, the car, or your hotel.

 

[RanDIZ]

Hi! We will be at HS one week from today (Thursday). It is our only day. We know about the 7 am boarding groups for rise of the resistance, but I'm at a loss for the rest. What time should we be at the park? 1 hour before opening? What order should we attempt the rest of the rides? I don't even know where to go first, second, third, etc. We want to see and do as much as possible. Thank you so much!

We did HS early Dec and walked over from BCV. We were third in line at 7:45a and they let everyone in around 8:15a for a 9:00a official opening. Walked on MMRR then headed over to SDD and MFSR. So by 9a we already hit all 3 of those attractions. Then it was about 20min wait for RnR.

 

[SomDayMyPrnceWillCom]

From what I've heard they open the park earlier than the posted time. So if it's scheduled to open at 10 I would be there by 9. Regardless of the time that you can get into the park, you can try to get a ROTR boarding group at 7 am from home, the car, or your hotel.

Oh I was totally misunderstanding the process and thought you had to be IN the park to try for the boarding group. That helps. If they are opening late, then I'll just try at 7 from my room before leaving I guess.

 

[Bama Mom]

Oh I was totally misunderstanding the process and thought you had to be IN the park to try for the boarding group. That helps. If they are opening late, then I'll just try at 7 from my room before leaving I guess.

You used to have to be scanned into the park but they recently changed it.

 

[Bama Mom]

Since this is already being discussed in this thread, the hours are changing when we go March 13 - 19 and HS will be open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. How will that change how to get boarding passes? Do they usually open earlier than scheduled time now? We've been several times but not since SWW opened or TSL opened. SW rides are priority this time b/c this is the boyfriend and his son's first trip and bf is a huge SW fan. I want to make sure I get there in plenty of time to snag a boarding pass.

Also come join us in the March thread and chat with some others who are going in March: Official March 2021 thread

 

[KristaZ]

I was there on New Year's Day and a day in earlier December. We used basically the same strategy for both days - The park opened at 9 - we got on the Skyliner at about 7:30 and were one of the first ones in the park when they started letting people in around 8. We did Slinky Dog first since we had noticed the lines for that were long all day long when we were monitoring wait times in the prior days. From there we hit Tower of Terror and were done with both rides before 8:30. On the earlier trip we were able to get in Rock'n Roller Coaster before 9 as well (it was closed on New Year's). From there we hit Millenium Falcon - which was a longer wait - about 45 minutes with a posted 60 minute wait at that point. By the time we got off that we were called for our Rise of the Resistance boarding group. We basically had all the big rides done by 11. Then we started to do some smaller things while watching wait times to see when they dropped a bit. Toy Story Mania is usually a pretty short wait, even when it looks really long or has a higher posted wait time because the line moves fast. Star Tours usually has a lower wait later in the day. We've found we were able to get into the Frozen show by showing up about 10 minutes before it starts. Alien Swirling Sauces usually drops pretty low at various points throughout the day as well.

If you're efficient and move quickly, you can get a lot done first thing with minimal waits.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

We were there Friday- got boarding group 44 for ROTR. Went immediately to MMRR, then RNRC and TOT, then over to Toy Story. We honestly have found on Friday we HS and yesterday at MK ride waits about half posted time.
Most people great about distancing. CMs great about mask requirement enforcement. Have gently reminded a couple people who don’t seem to understand the lines for distancing so we’ve said something nicely.

 

[rcbarker]

The park opened at 9 - we got on the Skyliner at about 7:30 and were one of the first ones in the park when they started letting people in around 8.

What time did you get in line for the Skyliner? I assume you were just using the CSR-HS leg and not coming from POP.

 

[marinejjh]

We went the other day and the skyliner started at 730 to Caribbean then we waited there for 30 min. We were past all screening and on Millennium by 825, we rode toy story and 3 other rides by 915.