With a ton of work in the last five years, Hollywood Studios has surged in popularity among kids and adults alike. It’s always been a park with a slight older kids / adult tilt, relative to Magic Kingdom, at least. In this post, we’ll discuss the ins and outs of visiting Hollywood Studios as an adult!
The Millennium Falcon at Hollywood Studios
RELATED POSTS
We have a few posts that center on adults-only trips to Disney World. You’ll want to start with our Guide to Planning a Disney World Trip for Adults. We’ve also got park-specific posts:
Guide to Hollywood Studios for Adults (you are here)
Additionally, we have a post specifically to help adults choose their Disney World hotel.
Echo Lake at Hollywood Studios
General Hollywood Studios Planning
None of our content for adult trips stands on its own. As an adult, you still need basically the same preparation for a trip to Disney World as any family. In particular, you’ll want to read our Hollywood Studios Genie+ Strategy and our Hollywood Studios One-Day Plan. Since Hollywood Studios is pretty oriented for adults, that one-day plan is basically exactly what we recommend adults follow.
Because it is readily connected to Epcot—by a walking path, boat service, and the Disney Skyliner—it’s common for adult guests to split a day between Hollywood Studios and Epcot, doing rides at Hollywood Studios in the morning and visiting Epcot for dining and drinking in the afternoon.
While we recommend having a full day in each of the four parks, that won’t be the case for every trip, and the Hollywood Studios / Epcot combination remains a natural and (mostly) viable option. (We have a three day Disney World itinerary and a two day Disney World itinerary.)
The big challenge in splitting Hollywood Studios and Epcot centers around the most popular rides. Getting Slinky Dog Dash, Rise of the Resistance, and Tower of Terror done in a morning is possible, but it will leave you a lot of the park untouched. If you arrive early for rope drop, buy Genie+, and buy a morning Individual Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance, you’ll be in good position to get on five or so rides before lunch.
Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios
One other option we recommend adult groups consider, if available, is Hollywood Studios After Hours. This is a ticketed event on select night that grants guest access to the park for a few hours after close with greatly reduced crowds. While it’s more popular than in the past, if you’re mostly focused on getting on a few key rides, this is a great way to do that without spending a significant portion of your day at the park.
Hollywood Studios Rides for Adults
The following are must-rides for adults at Hollywood Studios:
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Star Tours
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run also both have single rider lines, which can be good for adults only trips. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is one of the best roller coasters at Disney World and the only one that goes upside down.
If you want to split hairs, you’d say Toy Story Mania! and Slinky Dog Dash are a more geared toward kids, but I’d consider them just as must-ride as the above. Slinky Dog Dash is a fantastic coaster, and adults should enjoy the competitive nature of Toy Story Mania!
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a tricky one. It’s cartoony and strongly geared toward kids. It’s also the same technology as Rise of the Resistance (trackless dark ride), so if you get on that you might not be blown away by what’s possible with this ride system.
But it is a new ride, and it is the only ride to feature Mickey and Minnie. This immediately makes it a “must do” for hardcore Disney fans or people who want to see the latest rides.
And Alien Swirling Saucers is skippable for adults. The ride system is similar to the teacups. You can easily watch it from the outside if you want to see it before riding it. You can read more in our Hollywood Studios Rides & Entertainment Guide.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is popular among adults
Entertainment, Characters, and Walkthroughs
With its more limited ride lineup, Hollywood Studios compensates with a lineup of live shows. These include Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, Voyage of the Little Mermaid (still suspended as of 2023), the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, the Frozen Sing-Along, and the Disney Junior Play and Dance.
Of these, the dance party is the only one I’d call “no-go” for adults. Like…don’t even set foot in there without a kid.
The Frozen Sing-Along, contrary to what you might expect, actually comes with a decent number of grown up jokes, and is a must-do for all Frozen fans, regardless of age. Then other three are also worth watching, as is the Muppet Vision 3D show and Mickey Shorts Theater.
The nighttime shows include Fantasmic, Disney Movie Magic, and Wonderful World of Animation. These latter two are projection shows and can sometimes be swapped out with a different projection show (there’s a Star Wars one, for example).
Fantasmic is the feature show and usually has one or two showings per night. It’s very popular and you’ll want to arrive at least 30 minutes early to have a good shot at getting a seat. Depending on the schedule for the day, you might be able to get all three nighttime shows done.
Hollywood Studios doesn’t have a particularly deep character lineup. Most notable are the Star Wars characters. You’ll find some of them doing traditional greetings at The Launch Bay, and others are found “roaming” in Galaxy’s Edge. (Read more about Meeting Characters at Disney World.)
Finally, it’s worth highlighting both the Star Wars Launch Bay and Walt Disney Presents… exhibits. The Launch Bay is a walkthrough containing various pieces of Star Wars memorabilia and art (it also houses those character greetings). Walt Disney Presents… is a walkthrough exhibit on the history of Disney and the parks.
The theater at the end of Walt Disney Presents… often features an accompanying film on that history, but it is also often used for previous of upcoming Disney film releases.
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
This guide already mentioned both rides at Galaxy’s Edge (aka Star Wars Land) as must-ride, and we recommend their bar and quick service restaurant for dining/drinking in the next section.
Besides those four things, it’s worth knowing that Star Wars fans will also find Droid building at Droid Depot and lightsaber building at Savi’s Workshop in Galaxy’s Edge.
Dining and Drinking
Hollywood Studios doesn’t particularly shine on the dining front. There are a few table service restaurants in the park, but none is particularly notable in our opinion (well, Sci-Fi Diner is pretty cool). You can read more about Advance Dining Reservations at Disney World.
Your quick service options are Hollywood Studios are mostly standard, but good. There’s pizza, burgers, Mexican, among others. Your best option is usually going to be Docking Bay 7 Food & Cargo inside Galaxy’s Edge.
Every Disney World park has a Starbucks, and Hollywood Studios’ is on its main street, Sunset Boulevard. It’s called Trolley Car Cafe.
Like Animal Kingdom and Epcot, Hollywood Studios has open and easy access to alcohol. There are stands throughout the park that serve alcoholic beverages, and you’ll find it at all restaurants. We’ve got a guide to getting a drink at Hollywood Studios.
There are also a few bars within the park. The most popular is Oga’s Cantina, the bar inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. We actually don’t recommend getting alcohol there because it’s overpriced. You’ll want to get something other than beer (because you want a fun “space” cocktail), but the alcoholic content isn’t really worth the price. Opt for a non-alcoholic beverage if you visit. (Sidenote: Oga’s takes reservations, and reservations are recommended.)
If it’s beer you’re looking for, you can do no better than BaseLine Tap House (pronounced “bass-uh-leen” by the pros). The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge and the Tune-In Lounge are two bars at restaurants that are also worth knowing if you’re looking for a drink.
As with Epcot, you’ll want to remember that the Boardwalk is nearby if you’d like to continue your evening. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk from Hollywood Studios to this collection of hotels, restaurants, and bars. Just don’t leave your car in the Hollywood Studios parking lot after close. You can read more about the Boardwalk and Skyliner Bar Crawls.
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.