Heading to Hollywood Studios and just looking to get a sense of the heavy hitters? In this post we break down our Hollywood Studios Must-Dos. We’ve got a mix of rides, dining, shows, and characters to give you a taste of everything the park has to offer and leave you feeling like you lived a Hollywood dream. Read on to see the things you must do at Hollywood Studios!
About this Post and Related Posts
My goal for this post was to give 10 things that come together to make a good day at Hollywood Studios. It’s a mix of things that are “must do” for us personally at every visit and things that I think are great for a first-time visit even if I might skip them sometimes.
We have a full one-day Hollywood Studios itinerary that tells you how to get these things—and much more—done in a single day at the park. If you want to learn more about the rest of what the park has to offer, we also have a Hollywood Studios ride and entertainment guide.
Our Hollywood Studio Must-Do List
On with the show! Here are 10 things you must do at Hollywood Studios!
Slinky Dog Dash
I have a deep-seated love for Slinky Dog Dash, and I’m not 100% sure why…but I have thoughts.
For starters, Slinky Dog Dash is simply really fun. There’s something about the way it moves, how it makes good use of every moment—even the pause for the double launch is special. And then there’s the views, oh the views! And the views at night are their own special thing altogether!
Fitting Slinky Dog Dash into a day at Hollywood Studios is not the simplest task. The ride remains one of the park’s most popular, including at rope drop, and the Lightning Lane is the most popular on Multi Pass at Hollywood Studios. That said, it’s an absolute, non-negotiable must-do.
Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Two things I love about Frozen Sing-Along Celebration—it’s easy, and it’s fun for adults.
Thing about me—I find theater stressful. I try to really take in the show, to see what makes it special, and I have no eye for it, so it takes a lot of effort. Maybe someone can tell me why I should appreciate Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage, because I feel like I’d rather watch the movie. I love Broadway, but any time anyone calls a show “Broadway style” I think “great, this is gonna be a lot of work.”
Frozen Sing-Along Celebration doesn’t have that problem. The Frozen songs are fun and widely known, the whole point of the show is for everyone to hang out together and sing, and there is “snow.” Don’t overthink this one.
What surprising, though, is that it mixes that child-like simplicity (which you might also find at, say, a Disney Jr. dance party) with a lot of jokes that are fun for adults, too. The show’s hosts sprinkle in different, ever-changing jokes throughout the show and some of them are targeted right to adults. It’s a great atmosphere, and it makes it easy for me to call this one a must-do.
Ronto Roasters
Context: I’m a vegetarian. But the Triple Suns Breakfast Wrap and the Zucchi Wrap at Ronto Roasters are enough to bring me back over and over and over again. Would I say Ronto Roasters is the only reason I go to Hollywood Studios most days? No. But some days…yes…yet it is.
Ronto Roasters is a quick service food stand in Galaxy’s Edge (Star Wars Land). It usually closes before dinner, after which time the Ronto Wrap (but not the Zucchi wrap, IIRC) can be found in nearby Docking Bay 7. (You can read about other quick service restaurants at Hollywood Studios here.)
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
While I don’t traffic much in all-time rankings, it’s a safe bet that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is the best theme park ride ever built. It’s not my favorite ride in the park (Slinky Dog Dash or Tower of Terror), but it’s undeniable that the immersion, complexity, and dynamism of the experience elevate it to an entirely new level.
Before I say anything else about riding Rise of the Resistance—if you have never ridden it, do not consider single rider a good option. In general, I’d say it’s just worth the cost of the Lightning Lane Single Pass. Rope drop is an option, but take a peek at the ride’s reliability recently before settling on that.
Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After
I hinted at my feelings about Beauty and the Beast—Live on Stage earlier, but I wanted this list to include another show, and Unfairly Ever After most fits the bill.
Unfairly Ever After hits a few notes well. It features some less prominent characters (Magic Mirror, Captain Hook, and Cruella de Vil alongside the deservedly always prominent Maleficent), and it runs on a schedule that makes it pretty easy to fit into the day (though the remote location leaves something to be desired). Maybe most importantly, it’s got a unique and particularly catchy theme song.
Do I necessarily think this is the best of the shows? No. The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is certainly a bigger name, but my recent experiences and even more recent events are the reason I took it off this list. Fans of The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast will understandably prefer those shows, but I don’t think they offer anything unique in the way Unfairly Ever After does.
Meet Mickey Mouse (Or Any Character)
Meeting a character is a “must do” at basically any theme park. I do feel like the Hollywood Studios lineup is somehow lacking, given the basically limitless range the theme of the park would allow for (are they in a movie? then they can be at Hollywood Studios!).
My main picks would be the Star Wars or Toy Story characters—popular characters who are rarely seen in other parks. Of course, you can’t go wrong with the Mouse himself. And if you don’t have plans to meet him elsewhere on your trip, then this is definitely a must-do. (Read more about meeting Mickey Mouse, specifically, here.)
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
I could argue that Tower of Terror is a better ride than Rise of the Resistance. One thing it does better is that it manages to both telegraph what’s coming—instilling fear in you as soon as you see it (and then hear the screams) from the end of Sunset Boulevard—and still maintain some element of surprise as to when it’s coming. And even once the drop sequence starts, the pattern is randomized.
With Hollywood Studios packing such a top tier ride lineup these days, Tower of Terror is relatively easy to fit into a day. It is a popular Tier 2 Lightning Lane pick, but you can find acceptable wait times even without a Lightning Lane.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Some cards you only get to play once. Prior to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the royal couple had never been featured in their own ride. Opting to finally put them in a ride was a big deal, and Disney delivered.
Some guests will never forgive it for replacing The Great Movie Ride, and maybe people feel like the “hook” of Mickey & Minnie gets the ride an undeserved pass. But from top to bottom, I think it’s a pretty excellent ride. It’s a trackless dark ride that relies on a mix of screens and practical sets (but mostly screens, to be fair). It’s fun for the whole family.
With its centralized location, you (and everyone else) will be walking past Runaway Railway several times during the day, and it’s never really inconvenient to squeeze in. Waits can get long, but you shouldn’t have any trouble if you have Lightning Lane Multi Pass
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
This one probably surprises our devoted reader, who will recall we just noted Roundup Rodeo BBQ as our “go-to” table service restaurant at Hollywood Studios. But while I have a particular inclination to Roundup Rodeo BBQ, I really think Sci-Fi Dine-In is the more “must do” experience.
It’s nothing groundbreaking—to be clear. Basically, you sit in a fake car in a fake drive-in movie theater and eater diner-inspired food while fun sci-fi clips play. I think it could all be elevated a tad, but it’s at least something different.
If you want to prod, I’d say that Roundup Rodeo BBQ is a fine restaurant, but it isn’t to the thematic standard of Toy Story Land as a whole. By contrast, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant speaks to something special about Hollywood Studios.
Fantasmic!
No day in the parks is complete with a nighttime spectacular (sorry, Animal Kingdom), and at Hollywood Studios the go-to is Fantasmic!
For all its faults—okay, fine, it’s just the crowd management—Fantasmic! is an excellent show. It features fountain projections, but also live performers, pyrotechnics, and a 40-foot-tall dragon.
The park also offers more centrally located, less crowded projection shows on the Chinese Theatre, but we all know Fantasmic! is where it’s at.
What’s your Must-Do At Hollywood Studios?
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