1-Day Hollywood Studios Itinerary Using Genie+ & Lightning Lanes
Our 1-Day Hollywood Studios Itinerary using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes covers how the paid line-skipping services work in practice. This step-by-step Walt Disney World touring plan answers questions, illustrates the process, and offers time-saving strategy for making the best ride reservations. (Updated October 16, 2023.)
This is a theoretical day at DHS due to unknowns, but that’s true of literally any itinerary. Wait times vary, attractions experience downtime, and there are unique wrinkles to any day in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Just like a normal touring plan, there’s a lot here that we can pull from past precedent, historical wait time data, and extensive experience with similar systems.
In particular, crowd levels have a big impact on what you can accomplish with Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. On slow to moderate days, using Lightning Lanes is straightforward and stress-free. On busier days, the number of ride reservations you can make via Genie+ drops dramatically, as there are more people in the park competing for line-skipping access to the most popular attractions.
More than any other park, the Genie+ service “breaks” at DHS under the stress of heavy crowds. Be warned, this itinerary will work well in low-to-average months, but not so much around Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or other peak weeks. If you’re visiting during school breaks (aside from summer), you’ll want to use this plus Early Entry at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
When it comes to this itinerary, the most important thing to know is that there’s one big attraction per park that sells Individual Lightning Lane access and is not part of the Genie+ service At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, that ride is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Normally, we don’t recommend paying extra to bypass the lines because there are other ways to beat the crowds at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
By and large, Genie+ offers the better bang for your buck, and is the superior way to spend if you’re on a budget. That comes with an asterisk with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, as it’s the most popular ride in all of Walt Disney World and is prone to downtime. If it has an issue while you’re in line–or throughout the day of your visit, the standby line will back up, slow to a crawl, or stop completely.
With that said, some of you may want to ignore our advice and purchase both Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes. Depending on crowds, this actually can be a “challenge” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is home to the most popular Genie+ attraction (Slinky Dog Dash) and the most popular Individual Lightning Lane attraction (Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance) in all of Walt Disney World.
Both of these often book up within seconds of 7 am, which presents a practical problem—how do you book both? There is no good way for one person to accomplish both beyond trying to do things quickly and hoping for the best. Ideally, you’ll want to have two adults awake at 7 am, with one booking Slinky Dog Dash and the other booking Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. This is the only dynamic duo of rides where this presents a problem–if you’re booking any other combination, it’s no issue.
Anyway, on with our 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary with Genie+ (note that this assumes an 8:30 am opening time for DHS; if the park opens at 9 am during your visit, simply adjust these times by 30 minutes)…
7:00:00 am – Book Slinky Dog Dash via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 3:10 pm to 4:10 pm.
In a perfect world, you’ll get a much earlier return time for Slinky Dog Dash, but it doesn’t always work that way–even if you’re refreshing right at 7 am on the dot. For this attraction, we strongly recommend following our Speed Strategy for Genie+ Selections.
~7:35 am – Race to Rise of the Resistance during Early Entry “bonus time” at DHS.
~8 am – Beat the crowd to Slinky Dog Dash.
8:30 am – Rope drop Toy Story Mania via standby line.
8:50 am – Do Alien Swirling Saucers via standby line.
9:00 am – Blast off to Batuu, enjoying free time in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge before the crowds and midday heat arrive. It’s an excellent time to Meet the Mandalorian & Grogu if you want a chance to encounter theme without a mob of people. (This is not a character meet & greet but is the most popular character encounter at Walt Disney World, so it’s ideal to be there for their first set of the day. See the above link for tips & tricks!)
Although it’s early, consider playing Batuu Bounty Hunters via the MagicBand+ for a little bit. Alternatively, you can browse the shops or even potentially do Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run via standby or the Single Rider line if you anticipate wanting to do that more than once–or just want to knock it out early!
10 am – Do Star Tours: the Adventures Continue via standby line.
You may not be wild about waiting in three consecutive standby lines for popular rides, but that’s bound to happen at DHS given the top-heavy nature of the lineup. In fact, you will almost certainly have more Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations in late afternoon than in the morning or early afternoon. That’s just how it tends to work out, so plan accordingly and knock out “easier” attractions via standby early on.
10:20 am – Marvel at MuppetVision 3D in all of its distinctly patriotic brilliance.
10:30 am – While waiting for MuppetVision (but without taking your attention away from its profound pre-show), book Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
Note: 10:30 am is chosen because it’s 120 minutes after park opening (assuming DHS opens at 8:30 am), which is consistent with How the Genie+ 120 Minute Rule Works at Walt Disney World. This rule governs when you can make your next Genie+ ride reservation, and is incredibly important to understand.
11 am – Free time or a buffer in case crowds are worse during your visit. If you’ve already accomplished all or most of this, consider rewarding yourself with one of the best snacks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
11:45 am – Arrive at least 15 minutes early to catch the second showing of Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Take notes to improve your sick parkour moves.
12:30 pm – Book Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return window of 4:05 pm to 5:05 pm.
Note: Lightning Lane return times for every attraction except Slinky Dog Dash get refilled or “roll over” throughout the day, so if you only see late evening return times when first opening up My Disney Experience to book another Genie+ Lightning Lane, give it a few minutes–you should see earlier times. (As with so many aspects of Genie, this is YMMV. The whole system continues to change/evolve, so this may not be your experience.)
12:40 pm – Browse Walt Disney Presents for evidence to confirm suspicions of grave-rolling.
1 pm – Lunch, free time and/or buffer (we recommend an ADR at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant)
2 pm – Double back to Pixar Place to meet the Monsters and other Pixar Pals.
2:30 pm – Meet Minnie & Mickey at Red Carpet Dreams or Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight, whichever character appeals to you more. Potentially both if the lines are short.
2:30 pm – Book the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror via Genie+ with a Lightning Lane return time of 4:20 pm to 5:20 pm.
3:10 pm – Do Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
3:40 pm – Do Slinky Dog Dash via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
4:00 pm – Do Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation). Arrive 5 minutes early, taking advantage of grace period.
4:20 pm – Do the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror via Lightning Lane (Genie+ ride reservation).
4:45 pm – Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy via standby line.
5:10 pm – Race on over to the Trolley Car Cafe Starbucks for some coffee…and against your better judgment, a Carrot Cake Cookie. Lightning McQueen would say you’ve earned it–time to ka-chow down!
5:25 pm – Do Frozen Sing-Along Celebration via standby line.
6 pm or so – Dinner at another one of Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ excellent themed restaurants.
7 pm – Free time to do repeat favorite headliner attractions via the standby line. Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and even Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance all usually have moderate actual wait times–regardless of what the posted wait time is–after 7 pm.
Second Showing of Fantasmic – On some nights, there are two showings of Fantasmic. If that’s the case during your visit, see the later one and do rides until ~15 minutes before showtime. If there are multiple showings, you do not need to arrive super early for good seats. If there’s only one performance of Fantasmic, catch that one and arrive at least 30 minutes early. See our Viewing Guide to Fantasmic at Walt Disney World for further advice on the best seats, etc.
Once again, this was a theoretical day with Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios based on assumptions about capacity allocation and demand. Some or all of these assumptions could be off and not reflect what you actually experience depending upon your travel dates. Again, the same could be said of any itinerary. If you’re diligent, this is probably ~75% accurate, and at the very least, should illustrate how a day could look using Genie+ for those who never used paper FastPass or MaxPass.
To be sure, this is an efficient day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but not an overzealous one. The biggest challenge will be the backloaded Genie+ return times, and filling out your late morning and midday with stage shows and table service meals–or whatever else you want to kill time before your Lightning Lane return times roll around.
Ultimately, the point here is not to “sell” you on buying Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, but rather, to illustrate how Genie+ could prove advantageous for days you opt to purchase the add-on, put some doomsday assumptions to rest, and start making lemonade out of lemons.
If you’re still not quite satisfied with how Genie+ works in practice, see My Day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Using Genie+ (if you’re visiting during a busier season, don’t expect to accomplish that much–here’s a look at my day using Genie+ with peak crowds). If you’d rather simply know which selections are objectively the best (in terms of time saved and how quickly they book up), see our Disney’s Hollywood Studios Genie+ Priorities & Lightning Lane Ride Ranks.
If you have questions about the basics of using–or not using–the paid FastPass service, see our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for all of the foundational need-to-know info. This whole system is confusing and convoluted, so you might have a question or two-dozen. That answers all of the most common ones we’ve been receiving from readers.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Was this 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary w/ Genie+ helpful to illustrate how paid FastPass works at Walt Disney World? Have any questions we didn’t answer with the above? Still confused by how Genie+ or Lightning Lanes work? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Is there an information hot line with a live person?
Is there an information hot line with a live person?
Is there an information hot line with a live person?
Tried the 2 adults each trying to book Slinky Dog Dash and Stst Wars Rise of Resistance right at 7am. However, got a message that only Disney resort guests are eligible to purchase ILL for SWRR @ 7am, and no indication of when it would be available for non-resort guests. Didn’t see any reference to this in the post.
Only resort guests at 7am for ILLs. Non resort are park opening
I have the same question as Lisa, did you include Mickey Minnie railway?
How would you include this in the itinerary? This will be my first time at Disney and Genie+ is throwing me off lol
Love the flow of this itinerary! Question though-did you include Mickey Minnie railway?
If you don’t get ROTR at 7am which I assume most won’t what can you do to ride it? If you buy the ILL for it does that guarantee you a time? I’m confused.
@Lisa. There are 2 ways to ride ROTR. Buy an ILL at 7am and that will guarantee you a specific time slot to ride (unless there’s a major breakdown)
OR
Go standby. Tom’s got a great blog strategy to get in line early or late depending on your circumstances
Sorry. Meant @ Ronnie
We were there last week (so low crowds) and only bought Genie + and ILL for our Hollywood Studios days. It worked like a charm! We spend our mornings at the resort pool and headed to the park around noon. Got lightning lanes for all the rides except Alien Swirling Saucers since it was a walk-on most of the day.
Bill that is great to hear, we are booked for the last 2 weeks in August next year, we normally go at the end of October (with FastPass+ previously) so was a little worried about how this would work. So thank you for your post.
I often find that Disney “1-day” itineraries from other sites are not ambitious enough… I look at them and think “I can do better than this!” I never feel that way about Tom’s sample itineraries! This is a pretty impressive day, assuming any kind of crowds.
Note – this is not to throw shade at these 1-day plans! They are super useful to get a good sense of what is possible with Genie+ and especially great advice for zagging and zigging in the morning hours. Just note that if you are with a slower walker, or have multiple kids who can’t imagine going to the bathroom a single second before they absolutely have to, or you forgot to pack sunscreen, or you left your iPhone in one of the multiple bathrooms that you visited, etc etc… you will likely not have as smooth a day.
I think this is a fair criticism both of my itineraries and those on other sites.
I come at this from the perspective of someone who does a lot of field testing and observes other guests. This itinerary calls for arriving at DHS before 7:30 am. The people who are doing that, by and large, do not dilly-dally. I’m an incredibly fast walker, and I’ve been mowed down by parents with strollers at Early Entry and rope drop. Some of you all are downright deranged, and I mean that in the best way possible–I love to see that energy in the a.m.
Now, if this were an itinerary starting at 10 am, I’d absolutely agree with you. It’d be overzealous. But the early risers are a special breed. 😉
Tom – thanks for the response. Didn’t mean to sound as critical as did, and I always appreciate your caveats that there is no magic sauce that can allow for leisurely touring and sleeping in while hitting all the rides and shows.
I’ll double down on the friction that regular Disney touring can create that slows me down more than I would have thought while planning at home: a cast member moved the stroller somewhere, or the line for popcorn took a weirdly long time, or I thought a different entrance to Galaxy’s Edge would be a shortcut at rope drop. Little detours that I make a mental note of every trip, never to be repeated, that make your specific itineraries aspirational for now. Your advice – get to the parks super early for rope drop, plan for Rise early, get to the back of the park etc – is absolutely the most useful I’ve read, anywhere. Much appreciated.
I thought you can only book one lightning lane at a time. You can buy a lightning lane and have a lightning lane at the same time. I’m confused.
You can book a lightning lane every two hours after the last one was booked. You can book sooner if you use the lightning lane before the two hours is up.
What’s my best strategy if I won’t be able to arrive at the park until after noon, and I want to ride SDD? Can I count on booking it at 7am for a later time after noon or will it automatically book me early? I don’t want to wait too long and miss out. Or am I better off making a reservation at a different park, then making my genie plus reservations for Hollywood Studios. I think it will push back my times until after 2, correct?
Any help would be appreciated. First time Genie plus user here and my flight doesn’t get in until 10am that day.
Thanks!
My family doesn’t care so much about Slinky Dog, but we do love Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller coaster. The strategy that worked for us during the last full week of March was: stay at a Disney Resort. Book an individual light lane for Rise of the Resistance if you so desire. Make Tower of Terror your first Genie+ selection for an earlier morning time slot. Arrive 60 minutes before early entry. There will already be a small line to get into the park. Forget about rope dropping Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog and go straight to Tower of Terror because it’s running at half the amount of elevators now. Then, go do Rock n Roller Coaster twice. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway then coffee break. Use your Genie+ selection to go back on Tower of Terror. Book your next Genie+ selection.
I discovered that you can use Genie+ to get priority seating at the shows. I totally chose this and got awesome seats for a morning Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show. You can also quickly choose another Genie+ offering right after you scan in to the show, which is an advantage.
Genie+ was glitchy and kicked me out multiple times at Hollywood Studios, but I was still able to get the rides we wanted on very crowded days. I think the key is to get there earlier than you think you should and take care of some of the most popular rides very early and wait until the end of the evening for the others – especially in the Toy Story area. Be prepared to stand in some lines, but choose wisely (indoor queues or queues with shade are recommended if it’s hot). We love Star Tours the Adventure Continues so we looped it a few times during mid-afternoon when other wait times were long and there was a wait for the next Genie+ selection. It worked for us, but we have done the Star Tours loop before to get new scenes. Still haven’t gotten the scenes with Han Solo and Chewbacca so I wonder if those are even shown still, but Wikipedia tells me they are. Are they?
We had 2 days at Hollywood Studios because it was spring break 2022 and we knew it would be a busy park. We accomplished everything in one day (including Indiana Jones, the Muppets, and Beauty and the Beast) except Slinky Dog because we chose to repeat other rides we liked more.
Our second day at Hollywood Studios was just a bonus day to repeat the same strategy minus Rise of the Resistance and shows. If you like Tower of Terror and they are still doing maintenance, I’d make that ride your priority because it had the longest waits in the park.
I have a question, “Ideally, you’ll want to have two adults awake at 7 am, with one booking Slinky Dog Dash and the other booking Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.” If parent 1 secured a return window for Slinky Dog Dash, parent 2 secured a return window for the Resistance, and if the return windows do not overlap, can they add each other into their slot?
Hi! Can you explain this a little better. Thanks!
When you book, you can book for your whole party. Each parent can set up who their ‘party’ is before 7am to make sure that both parents and any kids will be included in their booking.
I second this! I assume many of these early steps are different for those of us starting our day at 9 instead of 8:30!
@James Cook. Depending on when you go, The VIP tours are $425-$850 per hour with a 7 hour minimum and is good for up to 10 people. For eg., Easter week would be $850 x 7 = $5,950 plus tip for one 7 hour day. You also still have to buy park tickets and book your own dining too.
Good luck!
Would you recommend getting the personal tour package that enables you to get access to all the rides without waiting in stand by lines. And what is the cost of that tour guide package for each day at the park. We will have a group of 6 here in 2022.
Yes! Please share an off-site itinerary or the tweaks for this for DHS. Thanks!
Hi! Just wanted to share some information regarding Genie+ that I had not read anywhere before our trip. We are annual pass holders and so we have to buy genie+ each morning. I read all the blog posts and I’ve been up early and gone through all the right steps to get the best reservations and they worked! However, we have family joining us later in the week and their pre purchased park tickets with genie+ are in my account. Their use dates became active yesterday. Now the system believes I have genie+ every morning and will not let me purchase before 7am. These seconds are very valuable in the morning when I have to go through the motions of selecting my first lightning lane, being told I don’t have genie+, and prompted to purchase it. You then have to go back and reselect your lightning lane, losing a lot of valuable time. Just wanted to start getting the word out there, if it will help others, do NOT pre-purchase tickets with genie+ for friends/family joining you. I would have just bought them genie+ in the morning, the same as us, if I would have known that for the four days it was active I would miss out on my first picks.
I know this isn’t the end of the world. But if this knowledge helps somebody else, it would make me happy.
Thank you for this!!!
If somebody in your party has genie+ but some don’t then after midnight go to the search bar and search “genie+”. After the first paragraph in blue it says “Purchase Disney Genie+ Service for Today” and you can buy it then!
Can you suggest it Itinerary for people not staying on property?
Hi,
What is the best way to get both a return time for ROTR AND SDD? Can one person in a party purchase a ROTR ILL while the other secures a SDD Genie+ LL at 7AM? Is there any clear strategy to use?