How to do Hollywood Studios on a 10 crowd day (President's Day with pics)

fdecker

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 3, 2004
Crew: Husband, wife, & 18 year old daughter
Day: Monday Feb 21, President's Day
Covered:

* Getting there on Time
* How we rode all the major rides (incl. RoTR), some twice
* Using Genie+
* Oga's Cantina after close
* Translating Aurebesh
* Walking out of an empty park
* Summary for the TL;DR crowd by skipping to the bottom

My wife and I needed to team up for this one. This was President's Day Monday and would be a 10 crowd level at HS. We stayed at the All Star Movies because A. That was close to HS and Animal Kingdom, and B. It was the only thing available 2 months in advance that wasn't over $400 a night. With the President's Day Weekend, all the value resorts were sold out for months.

For our touring plan, I thought about Ubering to a Speedway near the park and walking because walkers from the nearby hotels and those taking the Skyliner have an advantage over bus riders and those driving their own car. Ultimately, I chose to take a chance on the bus. I purposely chose BLDG 3 at All-Star Movies Mighty Ducks, and an end room that was the closest to the All-Star Music "Resort". I wanted a short walk to the ASMusic amenities as well as those of our ASMovies. The food and pools are different and it is fun to explore. Since the rooms aren't themed, it is all about what outside decorations you like and how far you have to walk for things.

Disney transportation was running dedicated buses for each hotel to the parks in the mornings and then shared buses at the end of the day back to the room with 2 stops, ASMusic first, then ASMovies. With official opening at 9am, that meant we could get in by 8:30 for early entry. Working backwards and knowing the buses always start an hour to an hour and 15 before EE, I determined that I wanted to be at the Music bus stop from my Movies motel no later than 6:45am. That also meant that I had to practice the Genie+ torture with my wife the night before, also buying Genie+ after midnight, with another practice before 7 so that I could walk to the bus (about a 5 minute trek) and give her time to get our teenage daughter up and meet me after the next bus.

I was the first person at the HS bus area at 6:50. While waiting, I saw several buses come and go for all the other parks and got concerned that I missed the first bus to HS. But I had other things to worry about. I had time.gov opened in a browser on my phone to make sure my watch and it were synced. They weren't, but I knew my watch was 2 seconds off, so I could adjust in my head. I went into "My Tip Board" on the app (already edited to show only Slinky Door Dash and Rise of the Resistance so they showed at the first two items). I had my wife trying for RoTR while I tried for SDD. I began refreshing. It was ok for the first second, but then slowed and took longer to load as everyone else in Disney was doing what I was doing. I tried 2 or 3 times and was going to try for Rise, but then I saw a 9am for SDD! But of course, by the time I could click on it and say my party was correct, it was already over 5 hours later. I thought about letting it slip knowing that earlier times probably would pop back a minute or so later, but didn't want to take a chance. So we were going on SDD between 2:15 and 3:15. I went for RoTR next, but didn't see a time. As I kept trying, I got the call from my wife, which was the signal that she got Rise. I answered, otherwise the plan was for me to keep trying for Slinky and ignore the call as she then joined me trying the same. So I answered the phone to hear my wife struggling through tears to say, "I got it!". The stress of Genie+ and the relief of getting our most important ride for the day made her cry. Thank you Bob Chapek. Total cost for Genie+ for 3 people and 3 ILLs for RotR, $90 extra.

Our time for Rise was 2:30 to 3:30 which overlapped Slinky at 2:15 to 3:15, which wouldn't be a problem considering the average waits for Genie lanes and the close proximity of Toy Story Land to Galaxy's Edge.

So now decision time. This was a great start, but did we want to rope drop Rise anyway so we could ride it twice (or have the paid LL time for backup) or hope the ride wouldn't break down and then go back to Sunset Boulevard for ToT and RnR? Knowing the park would be slammed and that ToT is running at half capacity, I was going to opt for the latter.

The bus arrived at 7:18am and got me to the park about 15 minutes later. After getting through the very fast security check, all the lines at the turnstiles (tap points) were about 10 people deep across the 10 or so entrances. The time was 7:38. This was great, I was still in good shape. The gates opened a good 40 minutes or so before 8:30 EE, so I got scanned again on the way to ToT (to prove I had EE privileges) and headed down Sunset Blvd. I got in line for ToT and was about number 20 in line. To the left, they made a line for RnR parallel to ours.

Just as a note, the line behind me at the turnstiles before they opened more than quadrupled as I waited for opening and the line behind me at ToT stretched all the way back to the end of Sunset if not further before 8:30.

My wife and daughter got another bus and made it to me at around 8am, they brought breakfast. Right at 8:30 they let us get in line for ToT, only about 10 yards from where we were already standing. But they didn't open the line for 8 minutes. RnR people began loading on time, so it was a bit of a worry, but they finally did open.

The bottom line is we walked on to ToT, went over to RnR with about a 10 minute wait, and had 2 of the best rides already knocked out by the time they opened the park to non EE guests. Times for both rides were now already at an hour or more. It was a beautiful cool sunny day with a nice breeze and we just enjoyed the views and lack of stress as we strolled slowly back to Hollywood Blvd.

Our next stop was to go to Galaxy's Edge just get get a thermal detinator coke and look at the sights. Rise already had a 120 minute wait. We opened the Play Disney app when we got there, went to the datapad, and hacked a few radio towers. We unlocked things, found what was in containers, and decoded a few signs. If you are going to do this, I recommend learning about it first and taking notes so you know a few things to do in advance. You could spend half a day just doing this, collecting virtual things, and running missions. It was more fun that the wand equivalent experience at Universal's Harry Potter to us.

Next we tried to see Indiana Jones at 10:35 for the 10:45 show, but it was at capacity, so we watched the 57 second parade (yes, literally under a minute) and then saw Muppet Vision just because it was right there and relaxing. I like that show, and the crowd reaction, even as an adult. It was now 2 hours after official opening time, 11am, so time for another lightning lane. ToT and RnR came up, but for later times around 7 and 8pm. I thought I could always ride those again at park close, but opted to save my time and not be stuck for another 2 hours without the chance to book since it was 2:15 before we could free up a slot by riding Slinky. There were no reservations for Smugglers Run, so I kept trying at 2 minutes after the hour when I have seen new slots drop and got a toy story mania for 2:20 to 3:20. That meant we now had 3 overlapping reservations! 2:15, 2:20 and 2:30, but since they have an hour window, I felt we could make it. Here is what our schedule looked like:

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We still had time before the next Indy show, we so we went to eat at ABC commissary. I had fish Tacos and my Wife had the plant-based burger with faro salad as a side. The fish tacos were so good we went back again later and shared an order for a snack during some down time at dusk. My DD went next door to Dockside Diner and had the Chipotle Chicken Salad Roll. She said it was ok, but not great and should have had the seafood version.

Next we watched Indy (which was at capacity all day, so you need to be there 30 minutes before on a 10 level day). Since it was going to be so packed and already 90 percent full by the time we got in line 20 minutes early, we opted to stand at the back, which is actually a great viewing spot and you can leave before the rest of the pack. The truncated covid show where they don't invite audience members down to participate isn't as good, but still hits the high points.

We needed a filler before our 2:15 Slinky, so decided to see Lightning McQueen. Mostly this was another break and to have a place to sit, but it is a cute show and we knew there is never a wait (other than the one for the show to let out if you get there right after the previous show starts). The way they animate a life-sized model of a "real" car is amazing.

At 1:45 we did the Frozen sing-along. This is a very funny and quite well-done show having you singing along to songs from Frozen while the scenes from the movie play on a huge screen at the back of the stage. There are special effects and lots of corny jokes. The performers have to distance on stage, so there is less interaction, but the show is still one to see. Oh, the chairs are all wearing Mickey pants.

There were lots of times during the day to ride RnR single rider or see other attractions like M&MRR or Star Tours, but we opted to do other things.

We walked over to Slinky and got in line 5 minutes before our 2:15 Genie+. I asked the "this is the end of the line attendant" how long the wait was from that point and he said 30 minutes. That got us worried because it meant we might have to skip our next TSM reservation to get to RoTR. But turns out, it was only a 15 minute wait from just before the bridge. It is important to note that Genie+ doesn't mean zero wait. If you had to skip this ride, you aren't missing much. It's cute, more intense than the typical kiddie ride, but definitely not worth waiting more than 30 minutes for. Just remember, the ride ain't over until the fat penguin sings ;)

As soon as we tapped into the ride, that freed up another LL slot. At around 17 mins past the hour, they usually drop more slots, so I kept trying. Sure enough, I secured an 8:05 MFSR to be able to ride it for the second time and not have to miss the preshow like we did for single rider.

Short walk over to TSM to shoot stuff. Used our LL window for just a 5 minute wait. Tips to get a high score at A. Put the trigger pull ball between your pointer and middle fingers and fire the gun by fanning your hand towards you like you are desperately telling someone to hurry up towards you. Never stop firing when there are targets. B. Don't wait on a target, spray the area while firing like with a machine gun and let the balls/rings hit your targets at the end of their arc after you have alreay moved on. This means you won't always see the targets drop, but if your aim is good, they will. C. Look for 2000, 5000 and 500 targets. D. Keep firing even after your car starts to move away from the targets. D. Look for a few other tips online for how the scoring works and you can get over 200,000.

Short walk again over to GE at 3:10 to catch our RoTR window closing at 3:30. As everyone says, this it the greatest theme park attraction ever created. The technology is mind blowing and the immersion and experience is incredible. There are so many details with characters and action that you will miss many the first time. Keep an eye out for a star character from last trilogy directing you while hiding behind some cargo containers.

To some degree, the experience depends on two key cast members, the one who takes you off your transport, and the one who puts you in a detainment area. In our second ride, our detaining officer barked out orders and began an interrogation. A smart-aleck teenage boy to my left started telling her he knew where the base was. She noted to him that no one laughed at his attempt at a joke and added "your only accomplishment is to embarrass yourself". He kept on, so she got right after him telling him it was pretty sad that he thinks he knows everything yet got captured on his first mission! As we were going through the doors, she snapped, "Are you still talking??". It was hilarious. I don't think any of these are spoilers, but there is a moment designed in true Disney fashion to shock and awe in it's scale. You will know it when you see it. They give you 20 or 30 seconds to wander and take it in before you have to move again. There is another moment later, but you are not walking. This is an 18 minute ride!

By 3:30 we were wandering around Batuu again interacting with Chewy and Rey fixing the Falcon and doing more exploring. Don't let the line at Dok-Ondars deter you, that is for people buying the expensive legacy light sabers, you can walk in and view the place and purchase other things like kyber crystals. Be sure to watch the Dok-Ondar animatronic that you can get up close and personal with. There is even a Datapad mission you can do with him while standing there. He has to be distracted first, but I won't spoil it.

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Ronto's Roasters was finishing closing, so we got some good pictures without the crowds. On the way out of GE at 4:15, DD and I decided to try and do single rider on MFSR. The posted standby wait was 2 hours, we walked on. We had time to take pictures inside and even took a quick sit at the chess table set. A woman and her DD brought two plushy characters of Lilo and Angel and put them on the chess table and took pictures. We had no wait, but of course had to settle for Engineer positions but we did get to be on the same ship. There was lots of damage to fix from a mother and small daughter acting as our pilots ;)


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I decided I was hungry as it was now 4:45, so the other two went to the Beauty & the Beast show. I enjoy that show, but chose to enjoy GE more. I had a Ronto Wrap at Docking Bay 7. There were no waits with mobile ordering all day. We just ordered 5 or 10 minutes before we wanted to eat. Ronto's Roasters closes at 3, so DB7 it the only other place to get it. It is just a hot dog stuck on top of pulled pork, with some kind of slaw, wrapped in a Pita and doused with a little sauce. But OH is it good! ;) And maybe the hotdog is actually some kind of other sausage, but I don't think so. People like me from North Carolina, will enjoy the pork part because it tastes like our Eastern NC barbecue, minus the vinegar sauce. After that I interacted with Storm Troopers and looked at all the detailing in GE.

We met up again around 5:30 and sat to relax. The girls were hungry so ordered the fish tacos I had earlier. We wound up splitting them since they are generous portions even though I ate just a short time ago. The black beans and the rice are filling. Empty a hot sauce packet on both of them and they are tasty! For desert I got a Mickey Ice Cream sandwich and shared, but DW and DH only got a bite of ear, the rest was all mine!

Recharged, we decided on what to do next. We could have ridden another ride, even one with an hour wait, but decided to browse the "Walt Disney Presents" museum and see the "One Man's Dream" documentary (15 minute running time). My wife hadn't seen it before. I am so glad we did because there was a portion of the exhibit dedicated to the 1964 worlds fair. I was 5 when I saw that and remember being quite disturbed by the "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" exhibit. I can still see it in my mind vividly from 57 years ago. Remember at that time, no one had every seen anything like that. I knew, even as a young child, that Lincoln was dead, but the confusion of how I was seeing something so lifelike speaking to us was terrifying. So it was great to see the actual robot I saw in NY back then, with all the gears and motors exposed. More people should see this attraction and look at the models and all the history of 100 years of Disney. There is even a new exhibit showing how they made the new "Disney Wish" Cruise ship and about the cruse line. Of course this is a blatant attempt to advertise disney cruises, but still a nice exhibit.

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The next stop was to walk over to ToT and see the projection on its facade. It really is beautiful. If you stick around and watch, you can see all sorts of little touches, like people dancing in silhouette in the windows of the suite at the top right. We took a short sit down break here. This whole area around the rides and the restaurants was still very busy, even though it was after 7.

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Rather than ride another ride or wait for M&MRR, we decided to watch "Vacation Fun", one in the new series of Mickey Mouse cartoons. A friend is the voice of Goofy and I was hoping he was in the cartoon. First off, we HATED the animation. Walt, who was meticulous in his attention to detail and artistry would cry. They ruined Micky and completely re-invented him. Think "The Fairly Odd Parents" Nickelodeon cartoon style of animation. It is just horrible. And Mickey has little of his personality because the animation doesn't lend itself to that. While the attempt to have an old-style quality cartoon is there, the music, the script, the zaniness are all great, the animation, styling, and cheap backgrounds that look half sketched ruin it. Yes, Mickey and Minnie have changed over the years, but this is like Picasso was in charge of the reboot. "Why are his eyes off to the side?". Who approved this?

Walk to MFSR at 8:00pm. There was no wait after tapping in for our 8:05 LL. When we got near the loading area, the cast member asked how many in our party and when we said "3", she said initially said we would be gunners, I said out loud to DD that I had hoped we would be pilots. The cast member overheard and asked, "Oh, do you want to pilot? Wait right here". She took another group, then placed us and told us we would have our own ship. What a nice surprise! Sitting more towards the front in the pilot seats you are really immersed in the experience above and to the sides. I felt like I was really piloting a ship with my daughter. And it is tense trying to decide which way to fly and to try and catch the back of the trains you are supposed to harpoon and destroy. It is fun cooperating (aka: yelling at each other, "right", "down", "UNDER THE BRIDGE!"), hitting buttons and pulling the hyperspace lever. Two surprises for us was that Hondo greeted us before loading and knew that two of us had ridden before and that my wife was a new rider, and that the end took longer as our ship was pulled into its bay giving us time to look around.

It was now 8:30. My wife was going to go back to the room, watching the theater projection show on the way out. We decided to stay and try to ride RoTR again standby which was listed as a 60 minute wait. We had Oga's reservations for 9:30 so didn't know if we would be able to do it since if that wait is before the first pre-show, and the ride is 17-18 minutes, the math doesn't work. But about 18 minutes into the queue, I asked a cast member and she said "From here you are only 15 minutes from loading and with 17 minutes for the ride, we will have you out in plenty of time". And she was right. We were done with about 8 minutes to spare. So that actual wait was more like 30-35 minutes before the first preshow, and it flew by.

We could check into Oga's up to 20 minutes early, but took a few pictures of the night view of GE. The blue striped X-Wing parked there makes engine noises, glows red, and vents gas. It was an actual prop from a Mandalorian Episode. We then went into Oga's and had 1 drink each. Reservations to Oga's are hard to come by, we got ours 2 months in advance and there were none left when I checked a few weeks out. I was able to move my reservation up 15 minutes earlier from its original 9:45, but that was it for the day, there were no other slots.

Oga's currently has a one drink minimum and $10 penalty if you miss your reservation. They are also clearly post Covid since hardly any guests were wearing a mask and they they were packing every space with a person. If you are just two people, like we were, you get a very narrow oblong standing room table that holds 8 people, uncomfortably. About 10 minutes after we go there, they put a couple next to us on the curved end of the table. The diameter of that half circle is about that of an LP 33-1/3 record. Just big enough to hold their 2 drinks. They only stayed for a few minutes, so we got breathing room again. The group of 4 women next to us were great and fun to talk to. I guess it was their ladies trip.

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After our drinks, we walked around, talked to DJ R3X (Rex) the robot from the old "Star Tours" ride. He waved at us when we called his name. And just enjoyed the ambiance. You don't want to know where the boba balls come from, but you can ask a bartender. Don't forget to translate the messages written in Aurebesh inside the Cantina and at the entrance. Your Datapad (the Disney Play app on your phone) let's you used the phone's camera to see the writing and translate it, or type in the letters you see and hit "translate". The messages on the large notice board are hilarious, as are the rules at the entrance.

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And with that, our day was at an end as we ambled out of the bar to take a slow walk out of the park, stopping to take pictures and to just stand and look at the blue lit mountains of Batuu, and the lighting and detail in the rest of GE and all the buildings down Hollywood Blvd. And that's how to have a stress free experience on a crowd level 10 day. One last lesson to pass on, people please tie your pacifiers (dummies for some of you) to your baby or the stroller/pram, we were stepping on them everywhere! Don't forget the short version is below. May the force be with you!

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Schedule
-------------------
06:15 Wake up
06:48 at ASMusic bus stop to HS
07:00 start swiping to try for Slinky on Genie+ and then Rise on ILL for $15 (got both for the 2-3pm range)
07:18 bus arrives from ASMusic to HS
07:38 through security and 10 people back in my row (all turnstiles were the same)
07:44 turnstiles opened and past second scan
07:53 At ToT line
08:38 ToT opens
08:50 ToT done and in line for RnR
09:05 Done with RnR and slow walk around the area walking towards Hollywood Blvd.
09:30 Parade and then Muppet Vision 3D
10:08 Hang out in Galaxy's Edge, buy thermal detonator coke, shop.
11:00 Book next Genie+ for TSM at 2:20
11:10 Online order food at Dockside and ABC Commissary, sit and eat at ABC
11:40 In line for Indy show
12:00 Indy Starts
12:30 Indy Ends, we wander, sit & rest, watch cast members clap when someone steps in a taped square
12:01 Lightning McQueen. 10 minute show
01:45 Frozen sing along. Hadn't done before. Cute and very funny. Hate the performers have to distance.
02:10 Slinky on LL. 15 minute wait.
02:11 Book MFSR since we tapped into Slinky
02:45 TSM on LL. 5 minute wait.
03:10 RoTR. 2 minute wait.
03:30 Docking Bay 7 walk around shops, see Dok Onders.
04:15 Smuggler's Run single rider. Walk on as Engineers while the regular line was a 2 hour wait
04:45 Eat Ronto WRap at docking bay 7. I stay, girls walk to see 5pm Beauty & the Beast Show.
05:45 Eat at ABC again to get two orders of Fish Tacos. We split them.
06:20 One man's dream museum and movie. Wish I had more time for the museum. Always love the movie.
07:10 Hung around ToT lights and had a snack
07:30 "Vacation Fun" Mickey & Minnie short. HATED the crappy animation! The story/music was good.
08:05 MFSR again on LL, 5 min wait. Got our own ship for just the 3 of us! Pilots and gunner.
08:30 RoTR Standby. Posted wait was 60 mins, it was under 40. Even better the 2nd time.
09:30 Check in to Oga's. 3 minute wait.
10:00 Take our time taking pics and seeing everything at night in an almost empty park
10:30 Catch the bus back to the hotel
 
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Other than the morning stress of the Genie+ is was very relaxing. We had a lot of walking around and down time. We had trouble deciding what to do when we had an hour or so with nothing planned. But I am the one who wants to be there open to close and do as much as possible ;)
 
I never can do a full day at the parks, need an afternoon break and then we return again at night. Good for you and your family being able to stay all day and get all you wanted done.
 



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