Visitors Guide to Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort opened as as Disney-MGM Studios on May 1, 1989. The park welcomed nearly 11 million visitors last year, making it the fourth most-visited park in America and the third busiest at Walt Disney World.

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Our recommendations below come from our ongoing survey of Theme Park Insider readers. Locations with star ratings ranked especially highly among our readers. Vote here to take part in our surveys and submit your picks for top attractions.

New for 2025

What to Do

Top 10

  1. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ★ ★ ★ ★
    Trackless dark ride located in Star Wars: Galaxy Edge. Height requirement: 40 inches

  2. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ★ ★ ★
    Indoor drop tower ride located at the end of Sunset Boulevard. Height requirement: 40 inches

  3. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway
    Dark ride located in the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard

  4. Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run
    Motion-base ride located in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Height requirement: 38 inches

  5. Toy Story Mania
    Interactive dark ride located in Toy Story Land
    Toy Story Mania

  6. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
    Indoor Vekoma roller coaster with on-board music, located on Sunset Boulevard. Height requirement: 48 inches. Disney has announced that the ride will be closing for a retheme to The Muppets and the Electric Mayhem Band.
    Rock 'n Roller Coaster

  7. Muppet*Vision 3D
    Movie on Muppets Lane. Disney has announced that the show will be closing to make way for the new Monstropolis land.

  8. Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
    "Star Wars"-themed motion-base show located near Echo Lake. Height requirement: 40 inches
    Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

  9. Fantasmic!
    Nighttime spectacular on Sunset Boulevard.
    Fantasmic!

  10. Slinky Dog Dash
    Mack Rides family roller coaster located in Toy Story Land. Height requirement: 38 inches
    Read Robert Niles' review of Toy Story Land.

Other Attractions

Mickey Avenue
  • Walt Disney Presents: walk-through exhibit
Toy Story Land
  • Alien Swirling Saucers: whip spinner. Height requirement: 32 inches
Commissary Lane
  • Mickey Shorts Theater: movies
Echo Lake
  • Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular: live stunt show

Coming Next

  • Monstropolis - A new Monsters, Inc.-themed land will include Disney's first suspended coaster, themed to the scare floor. Construction starts in 2025.

Where to Eat

Character dining

  • Hollywood & Vine: Buffet with Disney Junior stars at breakfast and Minnie and friends for seasonal dining parties at lunch and dinner. Located at Echo Lake.

Table service

Hollywood Boulevard

  • Hollywood Brown Derby: Themed to the classic Hollywood restaurant - the birthplace of the Cobb Salad. Also serving steak, chicken, pork, lamb and fish.
    Hollywood Brown Derby

Commissary Lane

  • Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant: Burgers, sandwiches and salad. You sit in classic cars while watching a loop of old movie clips.

Echo Lake

  • 50's Prime Time Cafe: Diner food, served by a sassy wait staff.

Grand Avenue

  • Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano: Italian. This is expected to close this year to make way for Monstropolis.

Toy Story Land

  • Roundup Rodeo BBQ: Prix fixe barbecue served family style.

Counter service

Hollywood Boulevard

  • The Trolley Car Cafe: Starbucks

Commissary Lane

  • ABC Commissary: Tacos, salads, sandwiches, including a veggie burger

Echo Lake

  • Backlot Express: Burgers, chicken strips, Cuban sandwich, chicken bowl, and salads
  • Dockside Diner: Hot dogs

Grand Avenue

  • BaseLine Tap House: California wines and beers. Large pretzels and charcuterie, too.
  • PizzeRizzo: Pizza and meatball subs. This is expected to close this year to make way for Monstropolis.

Sunset Boulevard

  • Catalina Eddie's: Pizza and salads
  • Fairfax Fare: Beef, chicken, pork, and plant-based bowls
  • Rosie's All-American Cafe: Burgers, hot dogs and chicken nuggets

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

  • Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo: Themed beef, pork, chicken, poke, and falafel
  • Ronto Roasters: Grilled sausage and plant-based wraps
  • Oga's Cantina: Bar

Toy Story Land

  • Woody's Lunch Box: Sandwiches and "Totchos" (nacho-style potato barrels)

Elsewhere at Walt Disney World, Theme Park Insider readers recommend Citricos, a Mary Poppins-themed, fine-dining dinner restaurant at Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel and Topolino's Terrace, serving French and Italian cuisine at dinner with a character meal at breakfast, in Disney's Riviera Resort. In Disney Springs, our readers recommend Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' for a Florida-inspired "farm-to-fork" table-service meal, and The Polite Pig for casual service barbecue.

To vote for your favorite Walt Disney World Resort restaurants, please visit www.themeparkinsider.com/vote/best-wdw-restaurant.

Buy Tickets

Park Map

Disney's Hollywood Studios is part of the sprawling Walt Disney World Resort, located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida – about 24 miles from Orlando International Airport (MCO).

Note that Disney no longer provides free Disney's Magical Express bus service to and from the Orlando airport for its hotel guests.

If you are renting a car while visiting Orlando, you can save on toll road fees by getting a Visitor Toll Pass at the Orlando airport rather than renting a toll transponder from your rental car company: Toll Discounts Return for Orlando Theme Park Visitors

Best Time to Visit Disney World?

Disney's theme park ticket prices vary by day, so you can use Disney's pricing calendar [scroll down] to see which days have the highest expected crowds. The lower the price for a ticket, the smaller the expected crowd that day.

In general, you will find the lightest crowd levels at the Walt Disney World theme parks during these periods:

  • late April through the week before Memorial Day
  • late July through the end of September (note that this is hurricane season, however)
  • late October and early November

Large crowds will fill the parks on runDisney weekends:

  • February 20 - 24, 2025
  • April 3 - 6, 2025
  • October 23 - 26, 2025
  • January 7 - 11, 2026
  • February 26 - March 2, 2026
  • April 16 - 19, 2026

In addition, crowd levels are high during:

  • any holiday week
  • President's Day week through Spring Break in mid-April
  • the week of Thanksgiving through New Year's week

Strategy

Before You Go

For assistance in planning a Walt Disney World vacation, please contact our partner for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.

Dining reservations can be made via the Disney World website or our travel agent, and each date's reservations open 60 days in advance, at about 5:45am Eastern Time. Disney's on-site hotel guests may make reservations for their entire stay (up to 10 days) starting 60 days before their check-in date. That gives Disney's on-site hotel guests an advantage in making reservations for the most popular restaurants.

Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests may purchase and book line-skipping "Lightning Lane" access for their entire stay (up to 14 days) starting seven days before their arrival. Other theme park guests may book Lightning Lanes up to three days in advance of their visit. Please see The complete guide to Disney's Lightning Lane for more information on this important option.

Itinerary

Disney's hotel guests also get 30 minutes of early access to each of the resort's four theme parks every day. So hotel guests should plan on an early start each morning to take advantage of empty queues. Unfortunately for guests staying off site, this new early admission policy means that they no longer have any opportunity to be the first to enter any Walt Disney World theme park in the morning.

Because Disney's hotel guests slam Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance first thing in the morning, we recommend waiting until later in the evening to ride that attraction - or consider paying for Lightning Lane Single Pass access.

Honestly, this is the one park were we most recommend paying for Lightning Lane access. Slinky Dog Dash often has even worse wait times than Rise, with long wait times also common for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Millennium Falcon, Runaway Railway, Toy Story Mania, and Tower of Terror.

If you don't get Lightning Lane, start with Slinky Dog, then go to Runaway Railway. Then look on the Disney World app to find the shortest wait time among Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and do that next. If the times are close, start with Toy Story, then do RnR and ToT. Save Rise for late in the day, aiming to arrive to that queue around 6-7pm, and after riding Millennium Falcon.

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