Holywood Studios FP choices

Ricky73

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
My wife and I and 3 teenage sons (18, 16, 14) are booked to go to HS in September. We will almost certainly head for GE first and I have booked FP for time afternoon for Star Tours and RnR and Muppet 3d, with a view to then getting a further FP for ToT.
If we get time, should we try and get on SDD? It seems to be the most popular FP ride, but it's this because the average age band for HS is younger kids, rather than elder teenagers like mine? Not sure whether we should go out of our way to queue for ages or to waste time trying to book a FP if they won't appreciate it (they are at the age where the like adult roller coasters etc)
 
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but it might be difficult to get additional FPs for tier 1 attractions.

Rock N Roller Coaster has a single rider line, it's worked very well for me, but I'm not going to tell you to dump the RnR FP for ToT instead....

There's no telling how things will shake out after SWGE opens, but SDD, RnR and ToT always seem to have long lines these days.
 
SDD is a fun coaster, especially if you are a Toy Story fan. I personally don’t wait more than 30 minutes for any attraction. If you can’t get FP+ for it you might try getting in line five minutes before the park closes.

I think the kids would probably like TOT better than SDD, but they are both enjoyable.
 
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but it might be difficult to get additional FPs for tier 1 attractions.
This is mathematically exceptionally unlikely. With the new system there are going to be ~65,000 Tier 1 Fastpasses available on a 13 hour day (which is every day in September), and the park's capacity is 70,000 and average attendance is 31,000. It is very likely that you will get several tier 1 FPs if you make the effort.

Just looking at availability bears this out: on the September dates within the 30 day window, FP availability right now is wide open all day for RnR, ToT, and AS2, and spotty before lunch but wide open all afternoon for TSM.

Maybe on peak holidays they'll get tight on Tier 1s, but not otherwise.
 


This is mathematically exceptionally unlikely. With the new system there are going to be ~65,000 Tier 1 Fastpasses available on a 13 hour day (which is every day in September), and the park's capacity is 70,000 and average attendance is 31,000. It is very likely that you will get several tier 1 FPs if you make the effort.

Just looking at availability bears this out: on the September dates within the 30 day window, FP availability right now is wide open all day for RnR, ToT, and AS2, and spotty before lunch but wide open all afternoon for TSM.

Maybe on peak holidays they'll get tight on Tier 1s, but not otherwise.
Right, but it's all about timing. If you have your FPs in the morning back to back, I could see getting an additional tier 1, but if your initial 3 FPs are in the afternoon (as stated by OP), everyone else that used all of theirs by 11 am or noon would have beaten you to the 4th or 5th. By afternoon, it could be nothing but Indy and Muppets left.....

Regardless, there is no good way to predict what you can get for additional FPs because we just don't know if SWGE will bust like DL or if the park will hit capacity, or maybe we'll just see something moderately busy like a normal day at MK instead of the usual semi-ghost town.

If I were going in Sept, I'd get FPs for as early in the morning as possible so I'd be more likely to get additional ones......
 
The problem is all of their FPs are in the afternoon. While there may still be some tier 1s available by the time they finish their 3rd FP, the selection is likely to be much less.
SDD is a fun coaster that rides much bigger than it is.
My suggestion is ride it close to closing. The line tends to be shorter and it is really fun with all the light in the land on.
 


Cheers all. Given we want to do GE, we will definitely head there first thing rather than risk crowds building and getting nowhere near later in the day. So will stick to FPs for the afternoon.

You are right, FP availability for ToT and RnR is pretty good still for our day, so much so that I've been swapping between them unable to make my mind up! Was originally booked for ToT but then read they've opened the 2nd lift up, and whenever I've randomly checked wait times for them both, RnR always seems longer, hence switching out FP to RnR. As there's 5 of us we really don't want to do single rider if possible.

As for SDD, I think we'll have to suck it and see. Get through GE, do our FPs, then get ToT done one way or another, standard queue if we can't get a 4th FP. We are sticking around for the fireworks, so should have good time to get over to Toy Story land later on and possibly do SDD if not a really long queue
 
I would move the 2 tier 2s up earlier because they are easy to get on or get another pass for. I would possibly try to get the tier 1 as early as possible to get another by noon. Example: I have ToT at 9 am, then Star Tours at 10:35, last the little mermaid. We plan to get to HS by 6 am to get into SWGE, then head over to ToT.. As soon as I scan ToT I'm going to try to move Mermaid up, then be done with Star Tours no later than 11:45, in the hopes of getting another tier 1. You will have 3 hours to explore GE and TSL before they let the offsite people in so use that to explore, then use the fps. Looking at the fp availability, there are still Star Tours available for today, and both Muppets and Star Tours available tomorrow (may not be totally accurate). Almost every tier 1 is gone. However, looking at the 17th, I see Toy Story Mania and RnRC available.
 
Unfortunately we are offsite, so no EMH for us. That's why we are going to have to head straight for GE when we are let in at 9am. I have never done FP before, but reading some of the tips on here, I suppose I could move the 2 Tier 2s to early morning, let them expire, with my Tier 1 FP then at midday/1pm after the morning at GE. So as soon as I check in for the Tier 1 at 1pm I could book another one straight after if available. And then hope that the couple of Tier 2s that we want to do are short queues.

But to be honest, my original plan will probably suffice as once we've done our 3 FPs in the afternoon, as long as we get to go on ToT at some point before the fireworks that's fine. SDD will be a bonus
 
Cheers all. Given we want to do GE, we will definitely head there first thing rather than risk crowds building and getting nowhere near later in the day. So will stick to FPs for the afternoon.

You are right, FP availability for ToT and RnR is pretty good still for our day, so much so that I've been swapping between them unable to make my mind up! Was originally booked for ToT but then read they've opened the 2nd lift up, and whenever I've randomly checked wait times for them both, RnR always seems longer, hence switching out FP to RnR. As there's 5 of us we really don't want to do single rider if possible.

As for SDD, I think we'll have to suck it and see. Get through GE, do our FPs, then get ToT done one way or another, standard queue if we can't get a 4th FP. We are sticking around for the fireworks, so should have good time to get over to Toy Story land later on and possibly do SDD if not a really long queue
I doubt that many in here caught the phrase "suck it and see"!! Would ya' Adam & Eve it?!? Cheers.
 
I’ll be the dissenter and say that your plan is pretty good. I have a 14-year old and he prefers RnRC over SDD by a large margin. SDD is fun, but its popularity is a function of the novelty and the appeal to a wider range of ages, not because it’s an amazing ride.

I think heading to SWGE in the am is absolutely the right call. It is new and immersive and it will be crowded. Better head to it first.

And I think that having all these attractions being Tier 1 will help with availability. Plus, September is typically an easier month to get additional FPs. With teens, you can stay up later, so having FPs in the afternoon is fine.
 
I think you guys would enjoy SDD. My boys were 15 and 12 last year and loved it. Getting in line shortly before close works well generally and it is more fun in the dark. Don't believe the posted wait time as they inflate it to discourage people getting in line last thing. When we went last September, when we got in line 7 minutes before closing wait time was posted at 40 minutes. We actually waited 11.
 
It will really depend on the crowds that day and it sounds like you have a great plan - I agree that you can all do RnR as single riders. Some of you will probably ride together and you will be through that line much faster. If you can get SDD ride it but I would choose ToT over SDD. Enjoy!
 
I also vote for trying SDD right before park closing - my 16 year olds love it at night! And they love RnR and TOT too!
 
I also vote for trying SDD right before park closing - my 16 year olds love it at night! And they love RnR and TOT too!
I thought SDD was more of a "kiddie coaster". I haven't seen any videos but you guys make it sound like an actual coaster. Can you describe? Just a side question
 

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