Episode 23
Unveiling the Magic: A Comprehensive Guide to Hollywood Studios
Part of our In-Depth series on the Disney Parks and looking at Hollywood Studios, the third park at the Orlando resort. We delve into the park's rich history, noting its original purpose as a movie-themed venue designed to compete with Universal Studios, and highlight its ongoing metamorphosis into a hub of modern attractions. We thoroughly examine the current offerings, including the immensely popular Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and the immersive Toy Story Land, emphasizing their appeal to diverse audiences. Our conversation also encompasses practical advice for navigating the park, including tips for experiencing its thrilling rides and maximizing enjoyment through strategic planning. Ultimately, we assert that Hollywood Studios merits serious consideration when planning a visit to Walt Disney World, given its unique blend of nostalgia and cutting-edge entertainment.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Walt Disney World
- Universal Studios
- Aerosmith
- Pixar
- Star Wars
- Toy Story
- Disney
- Sci Fi Diner
- 50s Primetime Diner
- Hollywood and Vine
- The Brown Derby
- Orgas Cantina
- Galaxy's Edge
- Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway
- Rise of the Resistance
- Star Tours
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:Welcome back to another episode of Wands and Wishes.
Speaker A:This is our in depth series as Lauren Mallard and myself going through the parks at Walt Disney World.
Speaker A:Later on, Universal Studios to give you sort of a one stop guide if you're planning a trip to either one of these theme parks in Florida.
Speaker A:But now we're doing a rather interesting park and that is Hollywood Studios once named mgm.
Speaker A:Hollywood Studios built around the time when Universal was starting to establish some dominance or some sort of a presence in the Florida market.
Speaker A:And Michael Eisner wanted a park that would compete with that.
Speaker A:And so they created a movie themed park that has probably gone through more changes than any theme park of any of them in the Florida theme park area.
Speaker A:Lauren Mallet, all the magic travel.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker B:Hey, I'm good.
Speaker B:How are you?
Speaker A:As I was saying, this is sort of a unique park because of all the parks, this is, this is the one.
Speaker A: k has gone through since like: Speaker A:This is a complete transformation, it really is, of what it was and what it was designed to do to what it's become.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So of, of all the parks that sort of took on Walt's idea of always changing, this park absolutely has changed.
Speaker B:It really has.
Speaker B: k to I, my first Visit was in: Speaker B:So MGM was a baby at that point.
Speaker B:And so I can remember things like the back lot where you go and you have the big catastrophe canyon and all the whole things.
Speaker B:And you know, I wonder sometimes if they kind of did this park on a trial and error basis.
Speaker B:Like, okay, we got to come up with something really big because Universal is coming down and then they're slowly adding things to it to give us what we have today that now has, you know, just such a big presence with Star wars and Toy Story Land and you still have Rock and roller coaster and toy Tower of Terror.
Speaker B:But it really has, like you said, it's evolved so much over the years.
Speaker A:Yeah, I can remember some of the better things to do.
Speaker A:There was like the art of sound when you put on the headphones, remember?
Speaker A:And like you could hear a sound behind you.
Speaker A:You can hear a sound to the left or to the right.
Speaker A:So it was little things like that just sort of showed you movie magic.
Speaker A:And now you're right.
Speaker A:Here's Star wars, here's Pixar, here's some of the more the best themed rides that you'll find in the park.
Speaker A:I'll make the argument, I think pound for pound Just, just thinking about the major attractions that has the most major attractions of any of the theme parks.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And so I never want people to overlook Hollywood Studios because if you're looking for what's going on at Galaxy's Edge, if you're looking for some of the better rides at, with Pixar, if you're looking for some of the more great thrill rides in the Disney World area, that park has all of them.
Speaker A:Absolutely has all of them.
Speaker A:And we're going to go through the rides and the park and just the layout in general and give you our tips for dining, our tips of navigation and all of the shows that are going on at Hollywood Studios.
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Speaker A:All right, so let's start off.
Speaker A:This is designed.
Speaker A:We talked about, you know, Magic Kingdom being a spoken wheel design.
Speaker A:Epcot's a little different.
Speaker A:This is completely off of the rails.
Speaker A:This is, this is a park that's almost a, a rectangle.
Speaker B:Almost.
Speaker A:You go left, you go right, you go up, you go down, you don't really go in, in a, in an angle.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:There's no right or wrong way to tour this park.
Speaker B:And, and really the roads, if, if you may, are dead ends.
Speaker B:So like, once you're down at the end of one road, you can't, you have to backtrack to get to the next one.
Speaker B:So it's really difficult.
Speaker B:So I'd say let's just start with the one that's closest to the entrance of the park and that's Sunset Boulevard where we're going to find Tower of Terror and Rock and Roller Coaster.
Speaker A:And these are two of the best themed rides and best thrill rides that you'll find in the park.
Speaker A:Rock and Roll Roller Coaster, which will eventually be changed to a Muppets roller coaster.
Speaker A:But Aerosmith had it since its inception.
Speaker A:It's an indoor coaster.
Speaker A:Music Fun, loud.
Speaker A:It's one of the more exciting roller coasters in the Disney place.
Speaker A:And then Tower of Terror.
Speaker A:Take your pick.
Speaker A:If that's your thing.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:You're dropping from a couple of stories in a more controlled environment, not just a free fall like you see at amusement parks.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Is that your thing?
Speaker A:Tower of Terror?
Speaker B:I absolutely, absolutely hate it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I was wondering because you've said you don't go on other things.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, I hate the feeling of free falling.
Speaker B:Not scary.
Speaker B:The, the Whole ride, the whole plot of the ride is not scary to me, but I cannot stand free falling.
Speaker B:And especially now that with the.
Speaker B:The 2.0 of Tower of Terror, where you don't know how many times you're gonna fall.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker B:You know, I remember way back when, it was one time, and then they changed it and it was two times, and now they've changed it again.
Speaker B:And this has been several years, but it's.
Speaker B:Now it's random every time.
Speaker B:You're on.
Speaker A:My wife and I, we with the kids, years ago, we were in line, waiting and waiting and waiting.
Speaker A:Before you got into the elevator, my wife said, I'm out, I'm out.
Speaker A:And they had to take her where the exit is.
Speaker A:She got right to.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then just said, nope, nope, nope.
Speaker A:Not doing this.
Speaker A:I'm out.
Speaker A:I'm done.
Speaker A:So I ended up going on with the kids.
Speaker A:I'm with you.
Speaker A:Like, I used to like the feeling.
Speaker A:And as I've gotten older, I don't know why I don't enjoy that anymore.
Speaker A:I don't know why.
Speaker A:But I can remember going on those kind of amusement park drops.
Speaker A:They just take you up and they just.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And that anticipation is always like, God.
Speaker A:But you know, once you start falling, it's going to be over.
Speaker A:You're going to get to the bottom.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And now it's this one.
Speaker A:Brings you right back up, drops you again, brings you up, drops you again.
Speaker B:Not my favorite.
Speaker A:So if the thrill rides are your thing, these are two of the best thrill rides that you can get in Walt Disney World.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now, let's talk about some of the transformations that it's had over the years, because I thought it was brilliant to make Toy Story Land or Pixar Place and all that, that whole area, because they've got a really hot IP and they've made it so that there's an entire land dedicated to the Toy Story Story with some of the better rides, again, that we talked about in the park.
Speaker A:You got Slinky Dog Dash, and you've got Toy Story Mania, which if you were to list all of the rides in all of the four parks, they are in the top 10.
Speaker A:For some people.
Speaker A:For some people, absolutely.
Speaker B:And this land as a whole is so immersive, too.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I have clients that'll say, I didn't realize that I would really feel in the movie when I'm in Toy Story Land.
Speaker B:And so I tell people, especially those that are like, that have young kids and they're like, I don't want to go to Hollywood studios because we're not into Star Wars.
Speaker B:There's so much for young kids at Hollywood studios.
Speaker B:Even if they're not tall enough for Slinky Dog Dash, they can meet Woody and Buzz and Jesse, and they can see the toy soldiers come through and do their.
Speaker B:Their drumming through.
Speaker B:I guess it's not the toy soldiers, it's the little army.
Speaker A:Little green.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:That come through and do their drumming in Toy Story Land.
Speaker B:And that alone is wor the park for.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:And Toy Story Mania, if you're.
Speaker A:If you're kind of new to the Disney.
Speaker A:Never been to that technology, to Buzz Lightyear at Disney World, is almost like a model T to a quarter.
Speaker B:Laughable.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's laughable with.
Speaker A:With the two.
Speaker A:I mean, people who have been screaming for Buzz Lightyear to be updated are.
Speaker A:You're doing it because of what they're seeing over at Toy Story Mania.
Speaker A:It's video interactive.
Speaker A:It's it there.
Speaker A:It's just so fun.
Speaker A:It's very competitive and neat when you're playing around with somebody else and getting your scores up and having a good time with that.
Speaker A:But again, these are two of the more popular rides in the park.
Speaker A:At Slinky Dog Dash, that line will go.
Speaker A:It'll loop on busy days all the way through.
Speaker A:You don't even know where it starts.
Speaker A:And then Toy Story Mania, the same thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So now, if that wasn't enough, they've added Galaxy's Edge.
Speaker A:So I can remember going when Toy Story Land kind of first started, and they were building Galaxy's Edge, and they did the same thing we talked about earlier.
Speaker A:They blocked off things they didn't want you to see what they were building.
Speaker A:And then they launched Galaxy's Edge, which came with so much anticipation on what exactly this would be.
Speaker A:And I think it has one of the most technologically and themed rides.
Speaker A:In Rise of the Resistance, it is by far something that no ride has ever been able to capture where you are really immersed.
Speaker A:When they talk about immersion in a story, you are really immersed in this story.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:From the moment you even get in line, the cast members are taught to be a part of the story.
Speaker B:And that's what makes it so fun, is that when you're waiting in line, then you don't even really realize that you're still technically in line before you're actually on the ride.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so it's definitely something that I think they hit out of the park.
Speaker B:When they did Galaxy's Edge, it was.
Speaker A:Such a great design because the idea of we're going to take a group of people and then we're going to take them in a room.
Speaker A:And that's normally the queue.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like you think about the stretching room at Haunted Mansion.
Speaker A:You're just kind of waiting and you don't know where you're going.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:If your first time on the ride you're like, what is this?
Speaker A:But I get it.
Speaker A:I've been to Disney and every time this is where they hold us until the rides are kind of ready or yeah, they're gonna take us to another room where they'll be in line.
Speaker A:But they don't.
Speaker A:They take you on a ship and then that ship has a story and that ship has a story that leads to another story which leads to another story which eventually leads to the ride.
Speaker A:And it's all one big.
Speaker A:Some, you know, in symmetry with, with the entire thing of what they're doing.
Speaker A:And then there's of course smugglers run on the Millennium Falcon.
Speaker A:I'll be honest, I didn't think this was as thrilling, but nostalgic wise for me it was fantastic.
Speaker B:Yeah, invisibly.
Speaker B:It's, it's just so cool to be able to walk up and say, wow, there it is.
Speaker B:I mean it's just, it's really big and it's just the whole land as a whole is just, it's really, really well done.
Speaker A:They, they borrowed a little bit of what Universal did with Harry Potter which was when you are supposed to be in Harry Potter land and nothing else.
Speaker A:If it doesn't exist in Harry Potter land, it doesn't exist in Harry Potter land.
Speaker A:You know, that kind of, that kind of mentality.
Speaker A:So they're trying to do this thing with Star wars where you want a Coke.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it's going to come in a round bottle with the, you know, with the alien language on it.
Speaker A:That kind of real immersion.
Speaker A:Now I know they've sort of cut back a little bit on cast.
Speaker A:There was supposed to be a whole bunch of stormtroopers walking around and a whole bunch of different characters.
Speaker A:They've cut back a little bit on that.
Speaker A:But it still is a, is a well done land.
Speaker A:I know again, Star wars people will debate whether a new land or something that they're familiar with was more appropriate for that space.
Speaker A:Like would it have been better if it was Tatooine or would it have better if it was Coruscant rather than a new land as part of the story?
Speaker A:But there's no doubt that Star wars is just pouring out of, out of everything that's in there.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:I do wish they would bring more character.
Speaker B:I guess they don't really want to call them meet and greets because it's not really the same kind of thing.
Speaker B:But I wish they would bring back post Covid.
Speaker B:They haven't even brought back the march of the first order.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And that was such a cool thing to see every day at Hollywood Studios.
Speaker B:And I wish they would bring that back, but, you know, maybe one day.
Speaker A:All right, so now what's interesting about this park, too, is that as much as we talk about what's going on at Galaxy's Edge, there's another Star wars ride that's outside Galaxy's Edge that they couldn't quite bring over, but it's still within the park, and that's Star Tours.
Speaker A:This goes back to the 80s, and George Lucas was involved in the creation of it.
Speaker A:It has gone through a number of different scenes, different characters.
Speaker A:The ride is still very much the same.
Speaker A:You're on some.
Speaker A:Some tourist vessel that gets caught up.
Speaker A:The action, you shake.
Speaker A:I still enjoy it after all these years.
Speaker A:It's still kind of a cool, cool experience.
Speaker B:This was my favorite ride when I was a kid.
Speaker B:I can no longer ride it anymore.
Speaker B:It just gets in the.
Speaker B:In the category of all the other simulators, and I just can't write it anymore.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But it brings back a lot of memories.
Speaker A:This is the one ride, and it's gone down, obviously, over the years as.
Speaker A:As better rides have emerged in the park.
Speaker A:This used to be the ride.
Speaker A:I mean, it would line you.
Speaker A:You could see the line outside of the queue.
Speaker A:It was all of that.
Speaker A:So it used to be the creme de la creme of the rides over there at Hollywood Studios.
Speaker A:And then there is.
Speaker A:For a lot of people, again, I get the controversy on this one.
Speaker A:Mickey's a Runaway Railway.
Speaker A:Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which I like.
Speaker A:I think it's fun.
Speaker B:I do too.
Speaker A:I think it's enjoyable.
Speaker A:I get why people miss the great movie ride.
Speaker A:Yeah, great movie ride.
Speaker A:For all the animatronics, hands down, was the best animatronic experience because of the characters were all familiar.
Speaker A:Yeah, you talk about spaceship Earth and seeing, like, Plato, that was cool.
Speaker A:But when you saw the Wicked Witch of the, you know, the west, it's really, really cool.
Speaker A:Crazy good.
Speaker A:The Casablanca scene, Alien, I mean, all of the.
Speaker A:James Cagney, all of those scenes.
Speaker A:Mary Poppins, pound for pound, again, just to use that phrase.
Speaker A:It was the best animatronic ride.
Speaker A:Oh, and it had A theme to it, like the driver would switch out.
Speaker A:And it was, it was.
Speaker A:But again, those things are movie rights and there's behind the scenes contracts and all of those kind of things.
Speaker A:And again, if, to me, if you're gonna make a change, make, make a change to something good.
Speaker A:And I think it's good, I think the railway is good.
Speaker A:If I can't stop you from taking something that I know and love, at least make it to something I can future love.
Speaker A:And I, I really like that ride.
Speaker B:And it gives another option for little kids that want to actually ride something and not just have a show to watch.
Speaker A:And, and I'll be honest here.
Speaker A:And I, and I, I, as a parent now of two adult children, you can only go with that IP so long really, before it, it, a generation comes up and goes, that movie's 100 years old.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Like I like, you know, I, I love Casablanca.
Speaker A:It's my favorite movie.
Speaker A: That movie was made in: Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:My kids would have no idea.
Speaker A:Right, exactly.
Speaker A:And it gets to a point where you can, like the scene of the classic movies are all black and white practically.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So again, you're talking about it's expensive to change out animatronics.
Speaker A:It's, it's, you know, expensive to say what, what is another generation's.
Speaker A:What's their Casablanca?
Speaker A:What's their wizard of Oz?
Speaker A:And change it out to.
Speaker A:You can't keep doing that every 20 years.
Speaker A:This is fun.
Speaker A:It's whimsical.
Speaker A:It has the number one IP and it's the only ride in the park that Mickey is based in.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which is all four parks.
Speaker A:They don't have one Mickey Mouse themed ride until they just built this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I, I'm all for it.
Speaker B:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker A:I'm all for it.
Speaker A:So again, like we were saying earlier, the rides are some of the best rides you will find in the park.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Overall, when you look at this park as a mother of kids, how do you have your kids reacted to this park?
Speaker A:How do they enjoy it?
Speaker A:I mean, I kind of went the first time with kids who were a little older.
Speaker A:My daughter was a little younger.
Speaker A:But how have your kids over the years grown to.
Speaker A:With, with Hollywood Studios?
Speaker B:Yeah, this has definitely been a top for my kids for years, I would say.
Speaker B:I, I think Graham still puts it as his number one park because you look at the overall rides like have the most attractions here.
Speaker B:If like I went with Lily a few years ago and we could only do two parks, she chose Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:So they're always going to choose this park somewhere in there because there is such a good mix for all ages and they're at that thrill seeking age.
Speaker B:And so there's a lot here for, for their age.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And the other part of, of that is again, if you're a Star wars fan, if you got kids that love Star wars, if you got kids love Toy Story, if you love, if you got that teenager that likes just thrill rides, just get me on something that's fast and exciting.
Speaker A:This park checks off all of those boxes.
Speaker A:So it doesn't.
Speaker A:One of the reasons I like doing this podcast or talking about is because I don't think people realize some of these kind of things.
Speaker A:They see this park and they go, oh, you know, the Magic Kingdom is always going to be number one.
Speaker A:What should be number two on our list?
Speaker A:Well, my daughter loves animals, so I think that park is.
Speaker A:Or what, whatever it may.
Speaker A:And this is not a park to be underlooked at all.
Speaker A:I mean, overlooked at all.
Speaker A:This is, this is something really be focused on.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right, now let's get to the dining because this is, this is not going to be like World Showcase where you've got different kinds of restaurants and different kinds of flavors.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it has some of the cooler themed dining that you'll find.
Speaker A:Sci Fi Diner is one of them.
Speaker A:50s Primetime Diner is another one.
Speaker A:Hollywood and vine is a very good one.
Speaker A:So the Brown Derby.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is an upscale dining.
Speaker A:Overall, though, dining experience.
Speaker A:In your opinion of Hollywood studios.
Speaker B:It's my least favorite part to dine in.
Speaker B:I just find it to be one that I'm, I'm never actually looking forward to a particular especially quick service restaurant.
Speaker B:I'm just, most of the time I'm going to eat in whatever section of the park that I'm in.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:If I were going to pick one overall, I would say ABC commissary has the best options, but you're just gonna find basic theme park food in most of the quick service.
Speaker A:That's exactly right.
Speaker A:That's a great point.
Speaker A:Here's the other thing too, is when I think about all the restaurants that I've eaten at at Disney World, and I can say that if I ate here, the food was really good or the theme was.
Speaker A:I can remember how cool it was to be in a car in a Sci Fi, you know, Sci Fi theater.
Speaker B:But the food is basic.
Speaker A:I don't remember the food.
Speaker A:I don't even remember what I ordered or if it was outstanding.
Speaker A:And it was the same thing at 50s Primetime Diner.
Speaker A:I remember having the chicken.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:But I don't remember it being so fabulous.
Speaker A:I wanted to go back for the chicken.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Like, it was cool that we were in this diner and she was telling us to get our elbows off the table.
Speaker A:But other than that, the food was not overwhelming enough.
Speaker A:That made me go, I ate a great meal, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I just got a good theme and I got a good experience, but I don't remember if I got a good meal there.
Speaker A:So I will say the Orgas Cantina.
Speaker A:Is that.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, that's a fun.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's a fun place to go to.
Speaker A:That's very reminiscent of Tatooine and the Star wars movie.
Speaker B:Yes, that's a very cool experience.
Speaker B:If you're into Star Wars, I definitely would say, check it out.
Speaker B:It's not just for adults.
Speaker B:Kids can go in there too, get a fun.
Speaker B:Get a fun little drink, some eats and just enjoy it.
Speaker A:Yeah, you'll find some snacks there and some really cool drinks and that will bubble.
Speaker A:Or, you know, they got.
Speaker A:They've got some really cool thing.
Speaker A:But it gives you that.
Speaker A:If you're looking for something Star wars familiar, if, like, if you're a nostalgic for Star wars and you get on the Millennium Falcon and you saw the checkerboard chessboard, you're like, oh, my God, look at this.
Speaker A:This is great.
Speaker A:I got to get a picture.
Speaker B:This is why.
Speaker A:Yeah, that will give you that feeling of the cantina and Tatooine.
Speaker A:You'll walk in there going, oh, this is what I remember from the first Star wars movie.
Speaker B:Movie, yeah.
Speaker A:Now shows at Hollywood Studios, some of the best shows you'll find.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker A:And they're adding a few too.
Speaker B:Yes, they are.
Speaker B:I would say for sure.
Speaker B:If you've got little kids, this is a really good option.
Speaker B:If you've got a mixture of ages of kids.
Speaker B:I, for one, do this all the time with Cora.
Speaker B:We go and watch the Beauty and the Beast show or the Frozen Sing along show while my big kids are doing some of the thrill rides.
Speaker B:Because these shows are so well done and they're longer.
Speaker B:So you can take that break in the air conditioning for Frozen.
Speaker B:Now, one note.
Speaker B:Is that for Beauty and the Beast?
Speaker B:If it's August, that is an outdoor show.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're covered, but you're not in air conditioning.
Speaker B:So keep that in mind.
Speaker B:If you're looking for something that's air conditioned, that's not going to be.
Speaker A:And how do you, how do you go with Fantasmic?
Speaker A:It's There's a dining package that you can get.
Speaker A:Otherwise you got to get the ticket for the show.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So the nighttime spectacular in Hollywood Studios is called Fantasmic and it is presented in an amphitheater style.
Speaker B:So you would want to line up at least 30 minutes before the show.
Speaker B:They're going to start letting guests in.
Speaker B:You get a better seat the earlier that you are.
Speaker B:But what you mentioned is the dining package.
Speaker B:So you can pay a premium for a dining reservation.
Speaker B:You pay not only for the food that you're going to eat, but you pay basically for reserved seating.
Speaker B:And so when you go to dine for lunch or dinner, they'll give you a voucher.
Speaker B:Or it may be digital at this point, but they'll give you a voucher that you can go back and you can go through what's almost like a fast pass or a lightning lane to view Fantasmic.
Speaker A:And it is a must see show.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker A:It is the kind of show that if you go to other theme parks and you see that one amphitheater, whether it's like SeaWorld for the, you know, the, the killer whale show or something along those lines, and you say that's obviously one of their big things.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:This is one of them.
Speaker B:It is for.
Speaker A:For all of the Walt Disney Parks, this is the show that's going to bring you all the characters, all the really exciting fireworks, et cetera.
Speaker A:It's really a must see show.
Speaker B:The music of this show is one of my favorites.
Speaker A:It's one of the best.
Speaker A:It is a park, like we talked about earlier, that I think that when it first opened, it was kind of neat to sort of go back in time to old Hollywood.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like sort of the time we're like.
Speaker A:And Betty.
Speaker A:Betty Gable walking down this.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That kind of feeling like, look at the paparazzi as they.
Speaker B:Yes, I wish they would bring them back.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And it has sort of said, yeah, okay, we kind of get it.
Speaker A:We gotta.
Speaker A:We're trying to move in a different direction.
Speaker A:So I always have to give credit to a park to sort of grow.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I have to say that I think I don't miss the, the tour.
Speaker A:But I will say the tour was the one thing that took a lot of people out of the park and said, we got, we got a lot of people over and over here when we're at.
Speaker A:When we have a busy day.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was a good shifter.
Speaker A:It was very.
Speaker A:A good, good shifter.
Speaker A:Rise of the Resistance is kind of filling that up a little bit.
Speaker A:It's Kind of filling that role.
Speaker A:But one thing I will say is that.
Speaker A:And this has happened, like, three times or so in my last few visits to Hollywood Studios, there's always a ride that's down, so keep that in mind all the time.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And the worst is when you're going for early entry and multiple things are down.
Speaker B:I've been there once where I went to try to rope drop Slinky Dog.
Speaker B:Well, Slinky Dog was down, and so we tried to shift and go to Rock and roller Coaster.
Speaker B:Then Rock and Roller Coaster was down, and we're like, what are we supposed to do now?
Speaker B:Because these are the two things that we had in mind to do.
Speaker B:So just know you got to kind of pivot sometimes.
Speaker A:You do really try to keep that in mind when you go to the parks.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:When we went on our last trip, we went and everything was down, and my wife did a little sweet talking and got us a pass to go to Magic Kingdom, you know, because we just, you know, they were the things we wanted to see, and we got a chance to go back, and the rides were back up and running, and we got to catch them.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:As.
Speaker A:As the night kind of wore on.
Speaker A:But definitely keep that in mind.
Speaker A:These are highly technically advanced rides.
Speaker A:And then Rise of the Resistance is notorious for this.
Speaker A:Like, you'll be in line, and sometimes you don't even know it's down.
Speaker A:You just hear the rumor through the line, it's broken.
Speaker A:It's broken.
Speaker A:Broken.
Speaker B:You start seeing people even going back.
Speaker A:Out, and then next thing you know, you're like, oh, yeah, I need to check your phone.
Speaker A:You're like, up.
Speaker A:It's down.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And you got to go do something else.
Speaker A:But overall, Hollywood Studios, I.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I always enjoy my time over there.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I just think it's got so much of.
Speaker A:I can't.
Speaker A:I couldn't always have said that.
Speaker A:There were times where it was, all right, couple of cool things.
Speaker A:But now I think it is absolutely must see.
Speaker A:I got a friend of mine going down, and he's wanting to know a couple of places that, you know, he's only going three parks, which park?
Speaker A:And I said, well, it's really depending on your family.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But don't miss Hollywood Studios.
Speaker A:You got three boys I'm sure they all love from ages.
Speaker A:The Star wars, the Toy Story, the thrill rides.
Speaker A:You can't.
Speaker A:You can't beat that.
Speaker A:Make sure that's on your list.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Decide between Epcot and Animal Kingdom based on your family.
Speaker A:But I Think you have to go Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and then decide on the other one.
Speaker B:That's the advice I always give you.
Speaker A:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker A:So overall, navigating the park, do you have a tip or do you have a method that you sort of say, get here first, get here second, go over here.
Speaker A:Is it all depending on the lightning lanes that you get?
Speaker B:I do think it depends on if you have lightning lanes or not.
Speaker B:If you have lightning lanes, my usual suggestion is going to be for Slinky Dog to be part of that.
Speaker B:And so then my, then my strategy becomes start with Sunset Boulevard.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And especially if you've got thrill seekers, start with Rock and roller coaster or start with Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.
Speaker B:That way you're kind of in the center of the park and you're not beating too far off the beaten path to, to get back to your lightning lanes.
Speaker A:And getting to this park, if you're driving on your own is obviously the parking lot.
Speaker A:And then if you're staying at one of the resorts, you can take the bus.
Speaker A:But if you're staying at certain resorts, there's.
Speaker A:This is the Skyliner stop.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:And that's become so, so handy for there's a couple of value resorts, moderate resort and a deluxe resort that get to take advantage of that.
Speaker B:And it has been such a time saver.
Speaker A:All right, so that'll do it for our in depth looked at Hollywood Studios again, a park both of us really, really like.
Speaker A:Please reach out to us.
Speaker A:You can reach lauren@lauren allthemagictravel.com Me Travel with Tony dmail.com we would love your feedback also, again, if you like this podcast, please subscribe.
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Speaker A:Next week we will do Animal Kingdom.
Speaker A:That will wrap up the four parts of the Walt Disney World Resort.
Speaker A:All right, until then, I'm Tony Gaziri, that's Lauren Mountain and this has been Wands and Wishes.
