Hollywood Studios, known previous as MGM studios, is a fun park that gets a bad rap for not being much fun for young kids. However, my kids have a blast at Hollywood Studios! There is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, Toy Story Mania, The Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and more. And everywhere you look there are characters!
So let me share all the Hollywood Studios tips I have with you:
- Security guards and counter service restaurant cashiers take orders from both the left and right side. Pay attention and go through the shortest line. Sometimes this will actually put you in the front of about 5 people. Remember most people go with the crowds.
- Always scan all the turnstyles at the park before going through one. A lot of times the ones on the far left and right sides will be empty!
- Most guests leave Hollywood Studios after the parade. However, the lines will remain long for the popular attractions like Toy Story Mania and Rock N’ Roller-coaster. Everything else will have shorter lines.
The Welcome Show
Also referred to as the rope drop show, this show begins about 10 minutes before the park opens and includes the Hollywood characters that roam the streets during the day. It also includes classic cars and a director! It’s a really fun show. But remember your goal is to get as close to the front as possible so you can make a mad dash to Toy Story Mania (if that is your target.)
You can see a You Tube video of the show here.
Located directly in front of you when you enter the park is the Sorcerer’s Hat. The hat is 100 feet tall and Mickey would have to be 350 feet tall to wear this hat! This is a great meeting place if you need to meet up with your party later or if you get separated.
Characters meet in sets around the Sorcerer’s hat at the following times:
9:00, 9:25, 10:25 & 11:25am
I have seen these characters by the hat:
- Minnie Mouse
- Donald Duck
- Daisy Duck
- Goofy
- Pluto
- Chip
- Dale
- Stitch
- Pooh
- Tiger
- Piglet
High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Right Here! Right Now Show
The characters of High School Musical 3 take to the streets throughout the day in a high-energy performance of some of the hits from the movie. The show takes place in front of the Sorcerer’s Hat. The first and last shows will have the smallest crowds.
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is the main street that runs to the Sorcerer’s Hat from the entrance. It has shops up both the left and right side selling exclusive Hollywood Studios merchandise, Mickey hats and more!
Throughout the day, you might encounter a variety of characters known as the “Citizens of Hollywood“. There are cabbies, policemen, reporters, gossip columnists, starlets and more! You can engage these characters in conversations, but don’t expect them to break character. I had one of the starlets chase me around a store telling me I had lost one of my kids. (I had a double stroller and my son was the only one with me.)
Be sure to catch up on the previous training posts here.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I am probably just partial to this park since I worked there for 5 years but I just LOVE it. When my kids were little, we went CONSTANTLY. I think I could say every line in the Little Mermaid show at the time hehhe. I also love that it is easy to get in and out of (no monorails or boats to ride to get there). Back then, there was a Bear in the Big Blue House show that was adorable!!!
We LOVED the Hollywood Studios. It was one of the best parks for us. We were walking around the back of the Hat when the HSM group came out; our oldest got so excited when they walked by that the producer asked her to be in the show. It was THRILLING. We had the magic hours that night so the parties were awesome. There are tons of characters in the dance club during the magic hours. Belle became our youngest daughters favorite princess during this trip so we loved the Beauty and the Beast show. Our oldest has two favorite princesses, one being Ariel so the Little Mermaid show was good too. Agreed about the Toy Story Mania – even during the magic hours the line was about 70 minutes long. So we didn’t get to do that. Other favorite was the drawing lesson – our whole family learned to draw Daisy Duck and I plan on framing all of our drawings. We also liked the Back Lot Tour and got to meet Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc at the end.
We did not enjoy this park NEARLY as much as the others and will not return. The lines were long and we felt like our entire day was spent waiting in line so we could sit down and wait for a show to begin. The shows that we did see were very good, but it was definitely not worth our time (or a day’s ticket!) to go there. What a disappointment!