Hollywood Studios in Orlando Florida, is where you will find Walt Disney World’s newest major attraction, Toy Story Mania. In order to make sure you get to experience all the Mania, make sure to grab a FastPass.
In addition to Toy Story Mania, FastPass can be used at major attractions throughout the park, so with a little bit of planning, you can increase not only the number of major attractions you go on, but also how often. Here are some tips we’ve developed over the years on how to optimize your FastPass at Hollywood Studios.
Walt Disney World Resorts
The first thing you need to do is have a plan. Hollywood Studios is too big to randomly walk around looking for attractions you might want to go on. The night before you go to Hollywood Studios, pick up a park map from the lobby of your Disney resort hotel. Then, start by answering these few simple questions.
Do I want to ride Toy Story Mania? (the answer is YES!)
Do I want to ride it more than once?
What other attractions do I want to go on?
How do I get to them from Toy Story Mania?
If traveling with a group (family) will everyone be going on the same ride(s)?
Once you answer these questions you are half way to having your plan in place. Using my families answers (myself, wife & twins, boy & girl), you’ll see how easy it is to go from one attraction to another with minimal time waiting on line.
You must get to Hollywood Studios at least 30 minutes before it opens since Toy Story Mania is extremely popular and only a limited number of FastPasses are distributed every day.
TIP: Once you pass through the turnstiles, give your park tickets to one person to head over to Toy Story Mania to pick up the FastPasses while the rest of your group heads toward your next attraction.
Once you pass through the turnstiles, access to the park’s rides is not until the rope-drop occurs. The show (an In The Can Production, directed by Vladimir Poohey) is at the end of Hollywood Boulevard just before Echo Lake. After the rope is dropped there is no running, since you must follow the cast members who slowly walk down Hollywood Boulevard towards the Animation Courtyard. Once you reach the Courtyard entrance (the large brick arch) go left with everyone else towards the PIXAR gate, and the Toy Story Mania FastPass distribution is before the Stand By entrance on your right. Get your FastPass now.
While I was being herded to Toy Story Mania, my wife and children took a leisurely stroll down Sunset Boulevard to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith. FastPasses in hand I met them a few minutes later and since the majority of people in the park were at Toy Story Mania the Tower of Terror and the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster had only 5 minute waits. We walked on to both rides multiple times before we needed to head back to Toy Story Mania.
Before going into Toy Story Mania, pick up another FastPass (you can get a second FastPass only after the Return Time on your existing FastPass starts). Exiting Toy Story Mania, we head back out of the Animation Courtyard heading towards the Sorcerer’s Hat, bear left and pass next to Echo Lake (on your left), then head straight to Star Tours. (NOTE: as of this writing Star Tours is closed, from Oct 2009 to 2011. It is being updated as an interactive Pod Race, no more trips to Endor).
While waiting for our Return Time back to Toy Story Mania, we fit in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular or the Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show (depending on show times. If it’s hot, we’ll also go to the either the Beauty and the Beast or Little Mermaid shows since they are in the shade and we get to sit.
Last year, we actually split up with my son & I going on the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster as often as possible while my wife and daughter watched the shows. We then met either met for lunch (I recommend the Back Lot Express, next to Star Tours) or at Toy Story Mania for another round of fun. Doing this we were easily able to go on Toy Story Mania 4 times in one day (we go off peak so it’s not as crowded and the FastPasses do not run out).
If it is your goal to go on Toy Story Mania as often as possible, be prepared to stand on line because the FastPasses are distributed very quickly and the Stand By line has gone as high as 120 minutes (the highest I’ve ever seen for any Disney Attraction).
So whether you’re trying to ride Toy Story Mania as much as possible, or are looking to ride the major attractions before lunch, then head back to the hotel for a swim, FastPass will help keep you off the lines and on the rides at Hollywood Studios.
How to Best Use Fastpass at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios
I’m Mark and my wife and our twins (a boy and girl) all love going on vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. When we’re on vacation at Disney World, we want to spend as much time as possible enjoying the attractions, and as little time as possible waiting on line. By trial & error, and a little advanced planning, we’ve come up with some tips to minimize our time on line. Visit us and learn how to optimize use of your FastPass for more tips.
Are you interested in saving money on your next trip to Disney World? Check out The Ultimate Disney Savings Guide.
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