Need help with fast pass for Hollywood studios

[Sunny dreams]

Hi,
My husband, myself, my parents and my 2 kids ages 6&4 are going in late August. Currently I am trying to figure out fast passes for Hollywood studios. I thought I had it figured out and then I found out frozen moved to a larger theater.

My son definetly wants to do Jedi training camp, so that is our first priority. I plan on then going to star tours and using a fast pass for toy story. After that I don't know what to do. How scary is tower of terror? And what type of ride is it? A roller coaster? What are your suggestions? Thanks!

 

[ErinsMommy]

Tower of Terror is you go into an elevator shaft in the dark with the sound/story/lights/effect of being in the Twilight Zone. and the elevator goes up and drops sometimes once sometimes a few times. No telling amount of drops or how far the drop as each and everytime its different. My 7 year old was scared beyond last year, she went on it once and she couldnt get back on the line to do it again a 2nd/3rd/4th/5th, etc time fast enough.

Toy Story is a must IMO. Frozen Sing Along I think you should be able to get into without a FP. Its not a park that we stay at much more than half the day but this is DD's 4th time so things are getting played out for her.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Tower of Terror is very scary to me. I am still traumatized 6 years later

Toy Story should be your #1 priority.

 

[Hootch]

Tower of Terror is a drop ride but worse. The ride actually pulls the seats up and down faster than gravity. There is an uncertain pattern to the drops and rises. And the whole attraction is linked with The Twilight Zone so it has a spooky feeling throughout.

I have seen some young kids that enjoy it. I have not seen a four year old on it but others may have. My daughter tried it when she was seven. She hasn't been on is since.

Starting with Star Tours will give you short waits and you could probably do multiple rides. There is an opening sequence with two possible versions. A second segment is an action scene with three separate locations. Third a transmission with three possible characters. Fourth another set of three possibles locations. This past trip I rode it three times and never saw the Darth Vader opening.

This thread lays out the general priorities for FP. You can use this to prioritize your choices. Signing up your son first thing should be your first priority. Toy Story is always a good choice. Muppets is rarely a good choice for FP.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/fa...ed-priorities-and-strategies-part-ii.3326057/

 

[jtowntoflorida]

The TSM FP+ is very valuable. Star Tours...FP+ is marginal. Late August you'll probably be able to walk right on. Pro tip: if the posted wait for Star Tours is 20 minutes or less, that means it's a walk-on. However, I always try to schedule a Star Tours FP+ for right after our Jedi training sessions because the kids are usually in hyped up Star Wars mode and so I like to have that one in my pocket in case it's needed. The line for Star Tours can get long for brief periods during the day, which usually correspond with the end of Jedi training session and the Indiana Jones show.

Tower of Terror is a ride where you are taken through a creepy hotel and then dropped repeatedly in an elevator shaft. I honestly don't think the drops are that scary myself, but my husband HATES them and the kids thought everything leading up to the drop was super creepy. That being said, DHS tends to have a problem with same-day FP+ availability for rides, so I'd recommend scheduling a FP+ for it just in case someone decides they want to ride it. You can always switch it to something else if you decide not to ride.

Honestly, we love DHS and spend a lot of time there, but rarely end up using three FP+s. We usually just use our TSM FP+ and do all the shows SB, with an occasional FP+ use for Star Tours if the posted wait is 30 minutes or more.

 

[minnie mum]

Figuring out FPs for DHS is a royal pain in the patootie. Except on high crowd days, wait times for the tier 2 attractions aren't all that long. I doubt you would need a FP for Frozen, but at least you can use up your first 3 and then go back to the tier 1 attractions for your 4th etc. So going with TSM, ST, and Frozen sing a long for your first 3 would work. Then maybe a 4 th for GMR and a 5 th for Fantasmic? If some of the adults want ToT, they could ride it while one adult took one for the team and took the kids to Frozen. I wouldn't count on the kids liking ToT unless you know they're daredevils.

 

[tlmadden73]

In general I think Fast Passes for shows are a waste .. and since DHS is a lot of shows .. there isn't much to do with Fast Passes there ..

I'm going to DHS in August with a 3-year old .. my sister-in-law's family has a 2 and 4 year old.

We are getting Fast Passes for:
Disney Junior Live on Stage (just because I know we'll do it with the kids .. but it is wasted in my opinion since it is a show)
Toy Story (really the only true "ride" there for kids that young)
Star Tours (some of the kids won't be able to ride it, but I know the adults will enjoy it .. we'll rider swap it (if available))

I would suggest the same thing .. but if your plan is to go to Star Tours early enough you won't need a Fast Pass .. then maybe put in the Frozen show.
If anything .. Fast Passes for a show let you show up closer to start time.

The key is to just make sure all your fast passes are before noon so you can make that 4th and 5th fast passes later .. you can decide on things later.




While my group will want to see Frozen, I opted against that Fast Pass because again .. it's a show .. if you get there early enough it shouldn't be an issue.

My main goal was to get all the Fast Passes done by lunch so we can grab a 4th fast pass for something else later that the adults want to do.

I opted to not get Tower of Terror because none of the kids (and some of the adults) will probably not want to go on. Those of us who want to go on it may just wait in line while the others go see a show or shop/rest.

I am tempted to change Disney Junior to Great Movie Ride (my wife is concerned the small kids will be too scared in the Alien scene .. so some of us may not be going on that) just to skip that line. I may just see what we can get with our 4th fast pass later in the day. I just don't see that GMR will have that long of a line to make Fast Pass worth it.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

In general I think Fast Passes for shows are a waste .. and since DHS is a lot of shows .. there isn't much to do with Fast Passes there ..

I'm going to DHS in August with a 3-year old .. my sister-in-law's family has a 2 and 4 year old.

We are getting Fast Passes for:
Disney Junior Live on Stage (just because I know we'll do it with the kids .. but it is wasted in my opinion since it is a show)
Toy Story (really the only true "ride" there for kids that young)
Star Tours (some of the kids won't be able to ride it, but I know the adults will enjoy it .. we'll rider swap it (if available))

I would suggest the same thing .. but if your plan is to go to Star Tours early enough you won't need a Fast Pass .. then maybe put in the Frozen show.
If anything .. Fast Passes for a show let you show up closer to start time.

The key is to just make sure all your fast passes are before noon so you can make that 4th and 5th fast passes later .. you can decide on things later.




While my group will want to see Frozen, I opted against that Fast Pass because again .. it's a show .. if you get there early enough it shouldn't be an issue.

My main goal was to get all the Fast Passes done by lunch so we can grab a 4th fast pass for something else later that the adults want to do.

I opted to not get Tower of Terror because none of the kids (and some of the adults) will probably not want to go on. Those of us who want to go on it may just wait in line while the others go see a show or shop/rest.

I am tempted to change Disney Junior to Great Movie Ride (my wife is concerned the small kids will be too scared in the Alien scene .. so some of us may not be going on that) just to skip that line. I may just see what we can get with our 4th fast pass later in the day. I just don't see that GMR will have that long of a line to make Fast Pass worth it.

GMR is a Tier 1, so you can't hold a TSM FP+ and a GMR FP+ at the same time. GMR is a good for a 4th FP+. You'd be surprised at how long the lines for it can be now.

 

[sarahrdh]

Absolutely get TSM. I would ever get a FP for a show either, you shouldn't have an issue, just get there a bit early. I did get one for ToT, but probably won't next time, if you pay attention you can get a short wait. I would do star tours & RRC only bc we did not do those at all last time. We got GMR at a 10 min wait though I get that lines are longer now that it's been changed (we were there a couple weeks prior). I would not get it over TSM.

 

[tlmadden73]

GMR is a Tier 1, so you can't hold a TSM FP+ and a GMR FP+ at the same time. GMR is a good for a 4th FP+. You'd be surprised at how long the lines for it can be now.

Oh .. I guess that was the reason I didn't get it! Heh ... now to decide to hit it at Rope Drop or wait until the 4th FP+
The tier system is awful at the two parks .. but it is obvious WHY they do it (because there are only about 3-4 rides at each WORTH fast passing).

Seriously though .. it has been a while since I've been on the GMR .. just how scary is the Alien scene for toddlers? I'm sure my son would be scared .. talk about it all day .. but get over it .. I would just need to talk the wife into letting it happen (I stupidly reminded her of that scene in the ride! Doh!)

 

[yulilin3]

I was there 4th of July and had a fp for the sing along just because we wanted to do it at a specific time, my sister didn't have fp for anything since she decided that morning to go to DHS for the 4th and she entered standby and we did thru fp and got to the pre loading area at the same time...I don't see the need for a fp for this show.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Oh .. I guess that was the reason I didn't get it! Heh ... now to decide to hit it at Rope Drop or wait until the 4th FP+
The tier system is awful at the two parks .. but it is obvious WHY they do it (because there are only about 3-4 rides at each WORTH fast passing).

Seriously though .. it has been a while since I've been on the GMR .. just how scary is the Alien scene for toddlers? I'm sure my son would be scared .. talk about it all day .. but get over it .. I would just need to talk the wife into letting it happen (I stupidly reminded her of that scene in the ride! Doh!)

My kids were 4 & 7 when we finally checked out GMR. They just covered their eyes/looked away when the alien was coming up, but then they both peeked and neither thought that it was particularly scary. They're pretty wimpy, too, and scare easily. I would get a FP+ as my 4th, but not waste time at RD doing GMR, unless you do right after TSM. Lines are long(ish) but not RD-worthy long.