Hollywood Studios Walkabout June 26 2011

We pick our vacation(?) together back up this past Sunday at Hollywood Studios.  According to the June Crowd Calendar, Hollywood Studios is officially “green” for “recommended,” but it’s the furthest Park over to the right on the recommendations list (AK EP MK HS).  This means that the Studios is recommended, but there are probably mitigating factors as to why it isn’t “highly recommended” or the “most recommended Park.”  One of the nice things about the daily analysis is that I have the ability to explain exactly why a theme park may or may not be recommended.  There’s really no such thing as a one-size-fits-all recommendation and in some situations visiting one of the Parks that is “not recommended” may make more sense in your particular situation.  After all, the events that are causing the theme park to be more crowded may be of interest.  This is particularly true when Fantasmic, Main Street Electrical Parade, and other special events or rare evening entertainment are offered.

The analysis notes that there are less crowded days coming up, though today won’t be so busier that it moves to red for “not recommended.”  Interestingly, TouringPlans.com has Hollywood Studios as a “Park to Avoid” today.  We saw the same thing on last week’s walkabout, when Animal Kingdom was my “most recommended Park” and it was their only “Park to Avoid.”  When we arrived, we found five minute waits at Expedition Everest until after 10am, virtually no one in DinoLand USA at 10:30am, and FASTPASSes with return times that were just 40 minutes in the future (the minimum return time) at Kilimanjaro Safaris at 11am – all things that would point to low crowds and what one would have to assume would equate to a “recommended day.”  Discrepancies between the various “crowd prediction websites” are always of interest to me personally because you would think we would all agree.  But that isn’t always the case, so your humble narrator investigates when things don’t seem to line up.

Like any good Disney World resort guest, here we are arriving a little late at about 9:40am.  There are some people in front of us, of course, but it’s not looking too bad…….yet.

Looks like a decent number of people heading into the Studios at 9:45am.  You’ll be surprised how crowded Hollywood Boulevard seems throughout the day because it’s narrower and shorter than the buildings make it appear.

These are the wait times you can expect from most mornings.  As just about every day in the analysis indicates, it really is necessary to arrive prior to Park opening to get on Toy Story Mania with a minimal wait or an early FASTPASS return time.  The waits at the other attractions don’t look too bad.

If you’re ever feeling lonely during your day at the Studios, you might want to consider heading over to Pixar Place, where you’re guaranteed to find over 1,000 of your new best friends.  We have a 50 minute standby wait at 9:48am and a FASTPASS return time that’s already nearly 3pm.  Not only is that five hours away, when most people will already want to be thinking about a break, but it also hampers your ability to collect FASTPASSes for other attractions.   You won’t be allowed to collect another set of FASTPASSes for two hours, or 11:48am in this case.    By that time, Toy Story Mania FASTPASSes will either be gone or well into the evening and FASTPASSes at the other attractions will also have return times that are well into the afternoon, at least at Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster.

It’s always a good idea to check your Times Guide or the quick service itself to check on when it’s serving food.  Note that Studio Catering Company stops serving at 5:30pm today, even though the Park is open until 10pm.   At the Studios in particular, you’ll be surprised by the number of establishments that don’t serve into the evening.  This is even more common when Hollywood Studios isn’t hosting Fantasmic.  Expect to see Studio Catering Company, Toy Story Pizza Planet, Starring Rolls, Backlot Express, and potentially others all close up shop around 5:30pm if the Studios closes at 7pm with no Fantasmic.  You may be stuck with ABC Commissary after 6pm if you aren’t careful and trust me – you don’t want that to happen.

And if you’re looking to get away from your 1,000 new best friends, you won’t have to venture much further than the Streets of America.  This long strip of nothing will be virtually empty until around noon, so long as there isn’t a Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show scheduled in the morning.

You can’t really tell, but this is a 15 minute wait time for Star Tours at 9:50am with FASTPASS return times just 40 minutes out, which is evident from the FASTPASS pictured that I picked up right at 9:50am.  People keep asking if Star Tours is helping pull people away from Toy Story Mania in the morning, and the answer is “not really.”  It certainly doesn’t hurt, but Toy Story Mania remains the most important morning priority if you’re interested in riding it.  I think people will continue asking about Star Tours’ effect on Toy Story, hoping that the answer will at some point change, but it just isn’t going to happen.  Star Tours is blessed with a high capacity and turnover rate and we don’t routinely see waits of more than 25 or 30 minutes.  Even during Star Wars Weekends, when Star Tours couldn’t possibly be any more popular, afternoon waits peaked in the 50-60 minute range.  On the same day, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania, and Tower of Terror all hit triple digit waits.  It’s still important to get over there by 10am if you want to ride with a ten minute or less wait, but you won’t want to head there before Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, or Tower of Terror unless you have a particular reason for doing so (like wanting to ride ten times in a row with short waits).

This is the new Cars Meet and Greet area, which is located right around the corner from the Phineas and Ferb Meet and Greet area, which is located right outside the exit to Muppet Vision 3D.  It’s more than a little underwhelming, in my opinion.  I don’t want to say that it’s like getting your picture taken with two rocks, but the cars don’t do any interacting and visitors basically just stand next to them and get a quick photo.  As you can see, there aren’t a lot of people in line.

This is the line for the Phineas and Ferb Meet and Greet at 10am.  I’ve seen a few questions about whether or not this a “rope drop must” and the easiest way to answer that is by saying, “absolutely not.”  There’s still a lot of concern over these new meet and greets after seeing the ridiculous wait times for the soon-to-be-defunct Tangled Meet and Greet at Magic Kingdom.  Phineas and Ferb don’t come out until 10:30am, at least at the moment, so lining up at 9am would equate to a two hour wait by the time all is said and done.  In most scenarios, I would head over here around 10:15am, after getting through the major attractions.  You have to keep in mind that the number of people reading this website, or most any Disney planning website, pales in comparison to the number of people in Disney World at any given time.  Very few people even know that Phineas and Ferb are doing meet and greets and even fewer people will get in line until they actually see something going on or the line becomes long enough that casual visitors start asking questions about what everyone is lined up for.  In other words, Phineas and Ferb move through guests relatively quickly and there’s not a huge demand for them, despite their niche popularity.  I’d head over at around 10:15am and you’ll be able to see their introduction, enjoy the start of the interactive elements outside the queue, and be among the first people to meet the characters.

Here we are headed down Sunset Boulevard at precisely 10:15am.  Optimally, you would have already completed Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror by now, but we’ll check on things anyway.  FASTPASS return times for Tower of Terror are generally 40 to 60 minutes out, which is great for an attraction of this caliber.  It means you can pretty easily FASTPASS it throughout the afternoon and into the evening, even if you arrive late or have to wait a while for another set of FASTPASSes because of Toy Story Mania.  Probably more than any other Disney World attraction, Tower of Terror scares a lot of people away because of the very visible drop and the very audible screams.  It’s a shame because it’s such a stellar attraction, but it’s not for everyone.  The posted wait time is 30 minutes, but I rode and was back outside on Sunset Boulevard in 28 minutes, so the actual wait to get to the preshow area was much shorter than posted.  This is indicative of many of the Studios’ attractions, which often have posted wait times that are about 30% longer than the actual wait time.

Here we are along Sunset Boulevard right at 11am.  You can see the line up of people waiting to get into the 11:30am Beauty and the Beast Stage Show.  It’s such a large theater that you don’t need to arrive more than ten minutes early for the 11:30am show, though the 2pm and 4pm shows may require an arrival about 20 minutes early to secure good center seats.  I recommend the 11:30am show if you can swing it because it’s the least crowded.  The last show is also recommended, but the shows in the middle are usually busier, though there are almost always seats somewhere in the theater right up until show time.

Here we are right before 11:30am.  These wait times aren’t particularly accurate, but it gives you an idea about what we’re dealing with today.  Considering it’s June and the overall crowd level is well above average, these aren’t bad wait times.  As the Crowd Calendar points out, there will be better days in the future.  Here are the wait times at 11:30am the following day.

Monday June 27 (Not Recommended)

Toy Story Midway Mania: 90 minutes

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster: 75 minutes

Tower of Terror: 50 minutes

Star Tours: 40 minutes

The Great Movie Ride: 15 minutes

Here we are outside Star Tours.  Near the entrance in the first picture you’ll notice a lot of orange shirts and in the picture below that you’ll notice the green and blue shirts.  These are what we call “The Brazilian Tour Groups.”  They visit primarily at the end of June and throughout July (as well as January and February) and they should be avoided whenever possible.  They don’t have that much of an effect on overall crowds or wait times, but at the “micro” level they can have a substantial impact on wait times and your enjoyment of any particular attraction.  Here, they have amassed near the standby entrance to Star Tours and stopped, making sure they have everyone in their group before actually entering the line.  You can see the person in white to the left in the second picture with the flag making sure everyone is accounted for.  It can be a serious hassle to run into one of these groups, but there’s really nothing you can do other than walk the opposite way.  Luckily, I was using a FASTPASS and they were entering the standby line.  The posted wait time was 20 minutes at 11:30am.  These guys will probably increase that by about ten minutes temporarily.

Lunch is at Toy Story Pizza Planet again today.  Full menu, seating areas, and condiment bar pictures are available here: http://www.easywdw.com/menus-and-seating/toy-story-pizza-planet-streets-of-america-major-quick-service/.  You may remember from the last time I ate here back on May 29th that I ordered the Meatball Sub Sandwich and wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it.  I’ve always enjoyed Toy Story Pizza Planet pizza though, knowing that it’s basically Digorno/Pizza Hut/Costco quality stuff.  It’s not going to win any awards, certainly, but it’s hot, well covered in cheese, and has a decent number of pepperonis on it.  It’s nothing special and the side Caesar salad is a little on the sad side, but it’s a decent meal if you’re in the mood for pizza and I don’t have any qualms about recommending it.  It’s not like you’re going do much better elsewhere in Hollywood Studios.  You’ll find the same recipe at Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom, Cataline Eddie’s also in Hollywood Studios, and Pinocchio Village Haus in Magic Kingdom, among other locations.

Here’s the state of things between 12:15pm and 12:21pm, as you can see.  That’s a pretty good wait time for the afternoon at Toy Story Mania and there are actually still FASTPASSes available for 8:50pm – 9:30pm, which is somewhat unusual.  The last FASTPASSes are always the last to go because return times are so much later in the evening, but they’re still usually gone before noon.  That goes back to our “green” for “recommended” rating.  The Cars Meet and Greet still isn’t very popular, but you can see that there’s a sizable number of people waiting for Phineas and Ferb by now.  The big problem with its location is that it’s right outside the exit to Muppet Vision, which floods the area with hundreds and hundreds of people every 15 minutes or so.

Voyage of the Little Mermaid is back to distributing FASTPASSes.  I don’t recommend collecting them unless you don’t want a set for any of the other attractions because the return time is often a couple of hours in the future.

This is the new Winnie the Pooh Meet and Greet, which is located inside the Magic of Disney Animation building.  While I wholeheartedly recommend the Magic of Disney Animation show, you can access the Meet and Greet area by entering the gift shop to the right of the entrance and continuing through.  The Magic of Disney Animation also has two sides to the queue – one goes straight into the building that houses the Meet and Greets (the line to the right) and the other is for the Animation Show.  The Animation Show lets out right into the Meet and Greet area as well.  The Winnie the Pooh Meet and Greet is decent, but it’s only Winnie the Pooh – none of his friends come out with him.  The queue winds its way behind the backdrop as you can see.  It’s only a five or ten minute wait here at 12:30pm.  You’ll also find Sorcerer Mickey and Frozone/Mr. Incredible in the same general area.  Both of these character greets are more popular at the moment than Winnie the Pooh.

Here the crowds are as we’re leaving the Studios a little bit after 12:30pm.  While not the most ideal day to visit, it’s certainly not super crowded.  We routinely see longer lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster in particular when crowds are heavier.