This visit report is going to be pretty brief…once I get to the actual report. I was at Hollywood Studios to see how Early Entry was going now that the Genie+ / individual Lightning Lane changes have taken effect, and it’s worth it to spend a bit of time here talking about these changes.
Related Posts
As always, our Hollywood Studios One Day Itinerary focuses on how you build your day at the park, and our Hollywood Studios Rides & Entertainment Guide gives background on the attractions and entertainment we mention in this post.
We have a Guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Disney World and a post specifically focusing on Lightning Lanes at Hollywood Studios. We took a slow start to today, but we highly recommend reading our full post on Early Entry and Rope Drop at Hollywood Studios.
Preliminaries & Planning
In case you missed it, through August 7, the Lightning Lane for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway will be a part of Genie+. It won’t be available for individual purchase during this time. Lightning Lane changes don’t directly impact Early Entry, but any changes that impact your day will impact your morning, as that’s the most important part of your touring (assuming you have Early Entry).
Since I wasn’t spending a full day at Hollywood Studios, I didn’t buy Genie+ or Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane access, but I’m recommending everyone do that until these changes end on August 7. The reason is that these changes suggest Disney expects high crowds through August 7, and that means Genie+ and the Rise Lightning Lane will be more important than ever. The strategies discussed in this post assume you’re using Genie+ and purchased the Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane.
Genie+ struggles in high crowds. The change at Hollywood Studios—adding Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway to the Genie+ lineup—can only do so much to help. On some days, your Genie+ purchase might only be good for three rides. Maybe only two good rides and one of the lower priority rides. But for what you’re paying to be at Walt Disney World and in the park—this park having one of the best ride lineups in Walt Disney World—I think Genie+ is just going to be a good idea in most cases.
That’s also because Genie+ doesn’t have to get you on everything. You cannot expect to rely solely on Genie+ to give you a good day. That’s why we talk about rope drop and Early Entry so much. Will there be days when Genie+ is enough? Sure. Will you know ahead of time when those days are? Generally, no.
If you don’t buy the Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane, that’s a fine option for rope drop. Unfortunately, the ride has had a few days recently where it didn’t open with the park, which can really spoil your morning.
Assuming you have Rise of the Resistance purchased and Slinky Dog Dash as your first Genie+ Lightning Lane, what should you start with?
I headed over to Thrill Data to look at recent wait times and to see what Genie+ Lightning Lanes were running out the quickest. Slinky Dog Dash is obviously gone the fastest and is still our go-to for your first pick. After that, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Tower of Terror, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway were running out within a few hours of park open. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is right behind them.
You can’t realistically plan to get all of these on Genie+, so you’ll be looking at these during rope drop. (Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Smugglers Run have single rider lines, so you might put them as a lower priority, but most families will want to ride together.)
Two strategies come to mind. The approach I didn’t take is to start with Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Tower has had really high waits recently, possibly due to capacity issues. I might test this approach sometime soon, but I did fine delaying these this morning.
The approach I went with was Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, followed by Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
My Morning at Hollywood Studios
I parked at 7:34AM for the 8:30AM Early Entry. Based on what I saw, it looks like the standard is still for guests to be allowed onto the park’s property (via bus / car / walking / Skyliner) an hour before the start of Early Entry.
I had Early Entry because I was staying at a Disney hotel (Contemporary Resort, Atrium Club Level, updated reviews forthcoming). This was my check-in day, but as I’ve noted in the past, you are able to use Early Entry on check-in and check-out days.
I was in line for Runaway Railway at 7:41AM with about ten families ahead of me. I think an 8AM arrival would probably have been fine, but I wanted to be off the ride ASAP to make the most of my morning.
Around 8:20AM they started loading the queue inside the ride building, and I boarded at 8:28AM. Here are the longest waits at 8:36AM when I exited.
That 25 minute wait for Rise of the Resistance was weird, and even if it was accurate it’s just not something you can count on. I headed through Toy Story Land to Smugglers Run. At this point you could stop at either Toy Story Mania or Alien Swirling Saucers for a quick ride, but I don’t recommend it.
The posted wait for Smugglers Run was 15 minutes, and I waited 9, boarding at 8:50AM.
At 8:56AM I had a choice. I could make the long walk to the other side of the park and go to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which currently had a 20 minute wait. The risk of this approach is that the guests entering the park at 9AM might drive that wait up.
Alternatively, I could stay back in this area of the park, probably trying to get Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Star Tours done before those got big waits.
I chose to go to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. If I’d had Genie+, Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Star Tours are going to run out later than the other, major rides we’ve been discussing. Visiting them early just doesn’t make much sense, because then I might get to 2PM with those done and those the only rides still on Genie+.
I got to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at 9:05AM and waited only 18 minutes (posted 20).
Off the ride by 9:30AM, I’d ridden Runaway Railway, Smugglers Run, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. If I’d had a Genie+ reservation for Slinky Dog Dash and the purchased Rise of the Resistance Lightning Lane, I’d be in excellent shape.
Tower of Terror had a 70-minute wait, which honestly didn’t sound bad. The biggest risk for this strategy is that you aren’t able to get Tower as your second Genie+ pick. Ride it early, and that risk is moot. (FWIW, the ride had waits of about 2 hours much of the day.)
That’s all for today, thanks for reading!
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Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
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