Frozen Holiday Wish Strategy at Disney’s Magic Kingdom
Frozen Holiday Wish, the stage show featuring Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf that precedes the Castle Dream Lights being turned on, returns to nightly performances for the holiday season.
Frozen Holiday Wish is currently scheduled to begin at 6:15pm nightly, and any day guest is welcome to stay and watch the show. On Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party dates, a second show is scheduled for 8:15pm, which is exclusive to Christmas Party ticket holders.
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Disney’s Hollywood Studios Afternoon Crowds Post Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge
We close out our day of touring at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as we take a look at the afternoon crowds and wait times that we were able to largely avoid with our early morning arrival. Smugglers Run: Millennium Falcon is posting a 65-minute wait at 2:12pm.
This is where I’ve been:
- Slinky Dog Dash: 8:53am – 9:12am
- Alien Swirling Saucers: 9:15am – 9:26am
- Toy Story Mania: 9:29am – 10:09am
- Tower of Terror: 10:21am – 11:23am
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster with FastPass+: 11:24am – 11:47am
- Star Tours with FastPass+: 12:01pm – 12:21pm
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run: 12:41pm – 1:51pm
- Lunch: 1:53pm – 2:12pm
Since this was the first day that the Studios opened to all guests at 9am, with no Extra Magic Hours scheduled, I was seeing how things would go if I booked three initial FastPass+ experiences that anybody could get and then relied on standby lines for the other rides until I was done with all of them. We discussed strategy on how to reduce some of the waits that I experienced in the previous parts of this series, which are linked at the top of the last update. Basically, it comes down to refreshing FastPass+ availability as often as possible to secure the best FP+ experiences that others have either changed or canceled. My wait for Smugglers Run would be significantly shorter if I got in line later in the evening, with the shortest waits found in the final hour of operation. With a 9pm close, those who get in line after 8:50pm shouldn’t wait more than a half hour.
I got in line for Smugglers Run in the afternoon to see how long it would actually take for those who want to finish up at Hollywood Studios and potentially head elsewhere later. Having a plan that doesn’t rely on the fickleness of FastPass+ availability can also make for a less stressful day.
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Visiting Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in the Afternoon After Rope Dropping Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Our morning visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios continues. In Part One, we took a look at what to expect from rope drop and identified the optimal arrival time given much heavier opening crowds in the wake of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Part Two followed with a visit to Toy Story Land first thing, with the hope that Smugglers Run would woo the majority of those arriving early and they would head there instead. In Part Three, the crowds caught up with us on Sunset Boulevard as we discussed the best way to experience Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, given the fact that they’re now both Tier 1 FastPass+ opportunities and you can only hold one or the other at a given time.
You might remember that this is the way I have my FastPass+ set up:
Late Morning Hollywood Studios Touring Post Star Wars with a 9am Open
Our visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios continues from the morning of Monday, November 4th, 2019. In Part One, we covered what to expect from the rope drop crowds and procedures and how we might best be able to position ourselves for a successful day. Part Two followed with rides on all three Toy Story Land rides in standby to start the day.
It’s 10:11am and Buzz Lightyear is out meeting guests in front of the entrance to Toy Story Land. In the past, the line for Slinky Dog Dash has stretched all the way outside the entrance and back past Walt Disney Presents and inched towards Voyage of the Little Mermaid. With Galaxy’s Edge now pulling the majority of the people at rope drop, and even more once Rise of the Resistance opens on December 5th, that likely won’t be an issue moving forward. Buzz may still set up shop out here. It’s kind of fun to see him welcoming guests to the Land.
As a reminder, this is where we’ve been:
- Slinky Dog Dash: 8:53am – 9:12am
- Alien Swirling Saucers: 9:15am – 9:26am
- Toy Story Mania: 9:29am – 10:09am
That’s a pretty decent start. I would have liked a shorter wait at Toy Story Mania, but that may not be possible with so much of the ride’s capacity going to FastPass+, particularly with Mania’s propensity to have a track or two down for technical trouble early in the morning. Our next official stop will be Tower of Terror on Sunset Boulevard.
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Toy Story Land Rope Drop at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Post Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge
We pick things up on the morning of Monday, November 4th, 2019. It’s 8:46am as we take a right towards Toy Story Land. In the first part of this series, I covered what to expect from the rope drop experience in a post-Galaxy’s-Edge world, along with explaining a bit about why we’ve planned our excursion in this particular way. As a reminder, this was the first day that the Studios opened at 9am to all guests, after a 2+ month long bout of three-hour-long Extra Extra Magic Hours. The Sunday that preceded our visit saw the Studios host a normal, one-hour Extra Magic Hour, which will be the norm on Sundays moving forward. Somewhat surprisingly, the Studios doesn’t look to be adding any additional days with morning Extra Magic Hours over the course of the week. We also don’t have any evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled and Disney has not yet added dates for the paid Early Morning Magic or Disney After Hours events. You would certainly expect those paid events to return, but Disney may be waiting to see how reliable Rise of the Resistance ends up being.
Disney recently painted this archway and added the new Park logo. It looks a little on the bland side, in my opinion. If anything, the logo should use a different font for each letter so that we know none of the various lands fit together cohesively.