I’ve got a couple of boring Walkabouts for you. We’ll take a quick peek inside Hollywood Studios this past Tuesday, August 16.
Here we are arriving at 4:45pm. Not too busy outside, but a lot of people on their way out and a lot of people still in the Park. Hollywood Studios has seen 35,000+ people pretty much every day since the end of June, thanks to a high overall crowd level, long operating hours, and Fantasmic scheduled every night.
Not a terrible standby wait for Tower of Terror for this time of day and FASTPASS return times are still just 40 minutes in the future. FASTPASSes for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster have a return time of 9pm and the standby wait is 50 minutes. That’s why I almost always recommend going to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster after Toy Story Mania in the morning and why it’s our second FASTPASS priority.
On our way over to Star Tours. The wait time is 20 minutes, but I guess you’ll have to take my word for it. I don’t know if there’s a trick to it, but I’ve never been able to photograph wait times on these digital boards and have the actual number of minutes display properly. That’s why you rarely see me post a picture of the wait time for Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Star Tours, etc.
Wowzers!! Never seen so many people on the Streets of America before (well I have, but I don’t think I’ve photographed it for the site)!! It’s because Lights, Motors, Action! just let out.
Mulch, Sweat, Shears rock band on their way over to play on Streets of America.
Even the Cars Meet and Greet, which is on the way back to Echo Lake/Sunset Boulevard/Hollywood Boulevard/etc. from Lights, Motors is busier than we’ve ever seen it.
Certainly a decent number of people in line for Phineas and Ferb, but it could be worse. I think I’ve mentioned in the past that you want to get over there about 10 minutes before they arrive in the morning or in the last hour they’re out in the evening. This is around 5:05pm and they’re currently out until 7pm, so we’re a bit early for one of the recommended times. Phineas and Ferb actually move through people quickly because they don’t talk, which cuts down on interaction time, and they’re out consistently. A lot of the characters are out “intermittently,” which means they take breaks throughout the day. The line only builds during these breaks and it increases wait times substantially because you may have to stand there while the character is in the back cooling off.
Here we are headed over to Animation Courtyard. Voyage of the Little Mermaid is down for refurbishment through September 3rd. It will reopen Sunday September 4th.
A peek inside the drawing tutorial inside the Animation Building.
Here are some very poor quality images of “Characterpalooza.” Characterpalooza is an unadvertised character meet and greet session that usually features six to ten characters inside the Animation Building. The timing and number of characters depends on when Fantasmic begins. If Fantasmic isn’t scheduled, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 6:50pm. If the first Fantasmic begins before 7:30pm, then Characterpalooza will not occur because the characters will be getting ready for Fantasmic. If the first Fantasmic begins at 7:30pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 5:10pm. If the first Fantasmic begins at 8:00pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 5:50pm. If the first Fantasmic begins at 8:30pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 5:50pm. If the first Fantasmic begins at 9:00pm, characters will appear from 4:50pm to 6:30pm.
You can’t guarantee which characters will appear for Characterpalooza, which is partially where the “palooza” monicker comes from. The most common characters are Stitch, Hook, Mr. Smee, Snow White, Pinocchio, Gepetto, and Queen of Hearts.
It’s a great opportunity to meet characters that are relatively rare. While some of the lines are decently long, wait times are generally under 15 minutes and the area is nicely air conditioned.
We’re headed to the Tune-In Lounge for a beer. The Tune-In Lounge is the bar attached to the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. The arrow above is pointing to the entrance. The door is usually closed during peak meal times, but you’re obviously welcome to open it and enter.
It’s about 5:30pm, which isn’t the best time to visit the Tune-In Lounge. Because of its proximity to 50’s Prime Time, it’s popular during meal times because people dining at 50’s Prime Time will naturally head over while they wait for their table to become available. It’s less crowded from 2pm to 4:30pm and after 8pm where applicable. Like most places in Disney World, it’s kid-friendly, with a couple of play areas for the kids.
This actually is a 90 minute wait at Toy Story Mania. Pretty ugly.
The Triple Blast Ice Pop replaces the Itzakadoozie. I don’t know if this is heartbreaking or not. It may or may not be the exact same thing.
Busy around Sunset Boulevard for Fantasmic, but FASTPASS return times are still just 40 minutes out for Tower of Terror. People are lined up before 7pm for a 9pm Fantasmic.
With the new ticket policy (where you can’t add days after your ticket entitlements run out), you may need to visit a ticket window before leaving the Studios. If this is the case, head over to Guest Relations, which is located inside of security to the far left of the turnstiles. All of the ticket windows were closed at 7pm, so you’ll need to head over to Guest Relations. Guest Relations is more than happy to answer your questions about tickets or anything else. You’ll also find Guest Relations inside the Park, also on the far left immediately after you enter through the turnstiles.
Overall, Hollywood Studios was indeed busy, as it has been every day this summer. There’s really no way around that when the overall crowd level is above average and the Studios hosts Fantasmic every night. It will be interesting to see what Disney decides to do with the Fantasmic schedule come October. I am expecting them to go back to the limited schedule, but we’ll see what they ultimately plan to do next month when Disney updates the October operating schedule.
We are currently prepping for our first WDW visit, but after our most recent Disneyland visit, Star Tours was far and away the longest line and earliest fast pass to go, is the Florida version just not as popular? or just soooo many awesome rides that it gets watered down?
You think the photos of the wait times with the red digital displays like Buzz and Star tours has anything to do with a red eye setting on your camera….I usually have the same issue but always forget to check that setting when taking the picture…just a thought
Love the site and glad you won the poll on DIS….
@Dave I think the FL version has more ride vehicles than the CA one. 6 vs. 4 maybe?
I hope the October schedule doesn’t change much since my park days are pretty well set for Oct 7-14th. On the other hand, if they add more Fantasmic shows maybe my Sunday there will be a bit easier (right now there are only two F! shows planned for the week I’m there and we’re only going to one, with just the one day at DHS).
@Dave, I think another factor with the Star Tours at DLand having such long lines is because it’s in Tomorrowland, a hugely popular area, and with just the two parks in Anaheim and just two new attractions (Little Mermaid ride over at DCA is the other one, but its line flows much quicker) the crowds flock to Star Tours and its FPs run out early in the day.
@Josh, I have a suggestion. Could you please maybe start putting the text about photos BEFORE the photos instead of after them? We often see the photos and don’t know what we’re looking at until we get past them and down to the text you’ve written, describing what’s in the pics. It’s not a big deal, but it would help the walkabout reports flow better as we’re reading them and seeing the pics….especially for people who haven’t been to the parks before (I’ve been there just twice now so I normally know what the pictures represent but not always). Thanks in advance.
Josh, are there only characters at the animation place in the evening? None in the morning or afternoon?
There are set characters during the day, some of which continue to appear during “Characterpalooza.” Currently, Sorcerer Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, Frozone, and Mr. Incredible appear.
Great walk about, no picture of the beer you drank, I’ll guess some type of pale ale.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10099/6108
^_^
Where can you meet Captain Hook and Mr. Smee?
Josh – I’ve had that same problem with the FP sign photos enough times that now I always try and make sure I can see the digital time in my preview window before walking away. I also don’t know why sometimes it seems to work and other times you just get those dotted lines. I don’t *think* it has anything to do with red-eye settings, more the angle at which you approach the sign or possibly how bright it is outside (so maybe that does suggest the red-eye thing).
@Alex, Hook and Smee are only ever at that Characterpalooza thing in the Animation Bldg (big room in the center) in the early evening – the one Josh mentioned. I saw them there around 6 pm in November. You can probably also find them during MNSSHP or MVMCP, but otherwise they’re rare character meets now.
Josh. Great site. I think the issue with the FP signs is the rate at which the LEDs flash compared to your shutter speed. If you can slow down your shutter speed, you should be able to get the minutes to display. This is something I haven’t tried, just assuming this is the issue.
@ Alex, you can also see Hook and Smee along with Peter Pan if you do the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage on the 7 Seas Lagoon. It costs around $55 each (kids 3-9 are slightly cheaper) and can be booked at 407-WDW-PLAY.