What to Do When You Find a Long Line at the Skyliner on Your Way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Imagine it’s your Hollywood Studios morning, and you slept later than planned. It wouldn’t be a big deal, but you have a character breakfast scheduled at Hollywood and Vine, and you don’t want to pay a cancellation fee if you miss it. So everyone’s up, dressed, and out the door in record time. You’re staying in The Little Mermaid section of Disney’s Art of Animation, and you head straight to the Disney Skyliner. Unfortunately, the line is so long that it stretches nearly all the way to the end of the Cars section.
Wow, even though the line is moving, it’s going to take a while. You look at the time and realize there’s no way you’re going to get there in less than 30 minutes. It happens. So if you’re okay with being late, rest assured, you can join the line and explain to the restaurant why you’re late. They will work you back into the schedule. But if you’re about to have to re-plan your entire day, including changing already planned Lightning Lanes, it might be worth a few extra dollars to take a paid car service like Uber, Lyft, or a taxi.
The good news is that Disney’s Hollywood Studios is literally right around the corner. From the time a car picks you up, it shouldn’t be any longer than a realistic 10 minutes to the ride/share drop-off area. The drop-off at Hollywood Studios is immediately next to the park’s bus stop and the Skyliner station. You couldn’t get dropped off any closer to the entrance if you tried. Here is a (not-to-scale) infographic that I created to give you an idea of how close the four resorts are to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
For Art of Animation, Pop Century, and Caribbean Beach, all you have to do is take the interior resort road to Victory Way. Once you reach Victory Way, you’ll take a left and then take the next right into Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (You might notice that I included the park’s separate bus entrance on the infographic. Note that these resorts do not offer bus service to Disney’s Hollywood Studios unless the Skyliner is down.)
For Disney’s Riviera Resort, you’ll take a left on Buena Vista Drive at the resort’s entrance. Then, you’ll almost immediately get in the left-turn lane and turn at the next light onto Victory Way. Hollywood Studios will be on the right after you pass the other resorts.
Alternative Option: If you take a Minnie Van, the car service will likely use the bus entrance and drop you off at the end of the first bus stop. You’ll be a little further down from the car service drop-off point.
Alternative Option: If you have a car, you can just drive to the park. As long as you’re staying at a Disney Resort Hotel, parking is complimentary. You’ll just have to show your reservation in the My Disney Experience app, your MagicBand, etc., at the parking gate. You’ll then have to walk or take the tram to the park’s entrance.
Potential Hangups: You could run into a line of guests waiting to park. If this is a concern, a Minnie Van would be the safer bet (albeit more expensive) because they use the separate bus entrance and don’t have to deal with guest traffic at their gate.
What Resorts Gal Would Do: In the situation above, I would drive my car. I wouldn’t have taken the time to check the line for the Skyliner. I would have walked out of the room and headed straight to our car, which would be parked near our room.
Here’s an idea of how close each resort is, with exact directions between them.
Disney’s Art of Animation to the Parking Lot Gate at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Less than 1 mile. Most of the mileage is from the resort’s interior road to Victory Way. Once you reach Victory Way, you take a left. You then take the next right into the entrance of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You’ll only encounter one traffic light when you exit the resort.
Disney’s Pop Century Resort to the Parking Lot Gate at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Less than 1.5 miles. Pop Century is a tad further. The resort entrance comes out immediately next to Art of Animation. Again, most of the mileage is the resort’s interior road. You’ll encounter one traffic light when you exit the resort and turn left onto Victory Way.
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort to the Parking Lot Gate at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Less than 1.7 miles. Caribbean Beach is a little further down. Your average mileage inside the resort will vary slightly, depending on your room’s location. Caribbean Beach is a significant resort that’s spread out in villages.
Disney’s Riviera Resort to the Parking Lot Gate at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Less than 2 miles. Aside from the extra turn, this resort will also be a straight shot to Hollywood Studios. Florida traffic lights are long, so it might take an extra few minutes with the ones you’ll encounter.
Final Thoughts
I hope you found this transportation hack helpful if you run into a similar situation. We drive to the parks often and park at Disney’s Hollywood Studios more than any other park. It occurred to me recently that most guests staying at a resort on the Skyliner probably don’t realize how truly close they are to the Hollywood Studios entrance. So I thought it would be good to follow up with this example. For more on the gondolas, you might like:
If you’re just getting started, see our guide to transportation at Disney World. It’s a perfect starting point! Check back with ResortsGal.com for more updates.
In the Comments
Did you know how close these resorts were to Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Would you use this hack if you needed to get to the park or back to the resort quickly? Let us know in the comments below.
