The Resorts Gal Guide to
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Below, preview our most popular planning articles for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Then, we have a list of the attractions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios History
Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened on May 1, 1989. It was formerly called Disney-MGM Studios. The park is themed to the Golden Age of Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. In 2008, the park was renamed Hollywood Studios.
Hollywood Studios Lands
Hollywood Studios can be broken down into several lands:
- Hollywood Boulevard
- Sunset Boulevard
- Animation Courtyard
- Pixar Plaza
- Commissary Lane
- Echo Lake
- Grand Ave
- Muppets Courtyard
- Galaxy’s Edge
- Toy Story Land
Hollywood Studios Attractions
Here is a list of attractions and entertainment Disney highlights on the park’s map.
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
- Disney Junior Play and Dance!
- Fantasmic!
- First Order Searches for the Resistance
- For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Green Army Drum Corps
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!
- Lightning McQueens Racing Academy
- Meet Ariel at Walt Disney Presents
- Meet Disney Junior Pals in Animation Courtyard
- Meet Disney Stars at Red Carpet Dreams
- Meet Edna Mode at the Edna Mode Experience
- Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
- Meet Pixar Pals at Pixar Plaza
- Meet the Toys in Toy Story Land
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Muppet*Vision 3D
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours – The Adventure Continues
- Star Wars Launch Bay
- BB-8 Astromech on Duty
- Encounter Darth Vader
- Meet Chewbacca
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Toy Story Mania!
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Vacation Fun: An Original Animated Short with Mickey and Minnie
- Walt Disney Presents
- Wonderful World of Animation
Walt Disney World Resort and select other hotel guests can participate in early entry to Disney’s Hollywood Studios each day. The park opens 30 minutes before the scheduled opening. We have a list of eligible hotels for early theme park entry.
Click Here for Disney’s Ride Refurbishment Calendar (This will give you an idea of whether or not any attractions will be closed during your vacation.)
Attractions with a Height Requirement at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Alien Swirling Saucers (32″)
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (38″)
Slinky Dog Dash (38″)
Star Tours: The Adventure Continues (40″)
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (40″)
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (40″)
Rock’ n’ Roller Coaster (48″)
Attractions with Individual Lightning Lanes or Part of Disney Genie+
The following attractions require an individual Lightning Lane purchase. (You can also ride via the standby queue. Disney’s Hollywood Studios does not have a virtual queue attraction.)
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
The following attractions have Lightning Lanes with Disney Genie+ service:
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
- Disney Junior Play & Dance!
- For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
- Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Muppet*Vision 3D
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania!
Where Should We Head First?
This decision will largely be based on your travel party. Most guests head straight to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash first thing in the morning at rope drop. After that, you’ll want to have a solid plan for which attraction you will want to experience next. We generally recommend touring the area nearest your starting point instead of jumping around the park. However, if you encounter a significant line, it might be best to skip it and return later.
Characters
Disney’s Hollywood Studios offers the opportunity to meet a few distinctive characters you can’t meet elsewhere, including Star Wars Characters and Toy Story Characters. Our Hollywood Studios Character Guide covers the meet-and-greets throughout the park extensively.
Dining at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Table Service Restaurant options include:
- Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater Restaurant
- Disney’s Hollywood Brown Derby
- Brown Derby Lounge
- 50s Prime Time Cafe
- Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano
- Hollywood & Vine (Character Dining)
- Roundup Rodeo BBQ
Quick Service Restaurants include:
- Woody’s Lunch Box
- Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo
- Ronto Roasters
- PizzeRizzo
- Baseline TapHouse (Beer, Wine, Pretzels)
- Backlot Express
- ABC Commissary
- Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner
- The Trolley Car Cafe
- Anaheim Produce
- Epic Eats
- The Market
- Rosie’s All-American Cafe
- Catalina Eddie’s
Tickets, Transportation, and Parking
Tickets for Disney’s Hollywood Studios can be purchased online or through an authorized travel agent or reseller. We use Firefly Travels for all of our reservations. If you’re staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel, you might prefer to book a room + ticket package instead of purchasing individual tickets.
Bus, monorail, Skyliner, or boat transportation is provided from Disney World Resort Hotels to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Bus service is also offered from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom (after 10:00 a.m.). Guests will need to walk, boat, or take the Skyliner from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Epcot.
You cannot take a bus from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Disney Springs. To get to Disney Springs, you can visit a nearby resort and then take a bus from there to Disney Springs. We would likely walk or take a Friendship Boat from Hollywood Studios to one of the Epcot area resorts and then take a bus from there to Disney Springs.
Annual Passholders and guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort can enjoy complimentary parking at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Other guests will have to pay for parking. You can read more in our guide to parking at Walt Disney World. Courtesy trams are provided from the parking lot to Hollywood Studios main entrance. Don’t forget to take a photo of where you parked or use the car locator in the My Disney Experience app.