Hollywood Studios Report: High Heat & Wait Times
Hollywood Studios is the next stop as we continue our late-July 2021 visits to the parks. This Walt Disney World park report will share photos and commentary about the high heat, wait times, crowds, and problem points during the heart of summer tourist season at DHS.
In case you missed it, a good place to start is our Magic Kingdom Crowd Report: Busiest Week of the Year. We also just did an Epcot Crowd & Construction Report, but that park is an outlier and not reflective of what’s happening at the other three parks right now.
In a nutshell, attendance and wait times have spiked at Walt Disney World due to several Disney Park Pass reservation refills over the last two months. The capacity increase has kept reservation calendars mostly green for all dates in late July 2021, meaning that there was no meaningful limit on attendance–what we’re seeing right now is actual pent-up demand playing out…
Disney Park Pass reservations are now unavailable for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios for resort guests and theme park ticket holders for the coming week. However, last week was refilled several times and available for the most part for resort guests and ticket holders. No park or date was fully booked for Annual Passholders–the calendar was all green.
This is significant because it means recent crowds level and wait time numbers for Disney’s Hollywood Studios are more or less a snapshot of organic demand, without significant crowd throttles. As evidenced by the coming week being partially unavailable, there are still some limits on attendance, but it’s not nearly like earlier this year, when DHS was fully booked weeks in advance.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the numbers, beginning with average attraction wait times (all graphs courtesy of Thrill-Data.com).
For perspective, the average wait time across all attractions and the entire day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was 46 minutes, which is 10 minutes above average. This made it the 9th busiest day since reopening a little over a year ago.
While no rides had triple digit average wait times (small silver lining), 5 of the headliners were above an hour: Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run, Slinky Dog Dash, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Toy Story Mania was also close, at 47 minutes. Oof.
Crowds and wait times have been trending in this direction since the start of July, with almost all of the 10 busiest days since reopening occurring since July 15.
Last month at Disney’s Hollywood Studios actually wasn’t half bad. Walt Disney World was in the process of reducing physical distancing—and thus improving hourly attraction efficiency—but had not yet increased capacity caps to a corresponding degree. July has seen capacity caps catch up to improved operational efficiency—and surpass it.
The end result is an average daily wait time of 49 minutes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This number would be worse if you were to take out the bottom three attractions, which are continuous shows and/or walk-through attractions. (Animal Kingdom does not do wait times for its trails or stage show.) It’s also worth taking into consideration the lack of entertainment and stage shows at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Additionally, we’re also no longer seeing a significant fall-off in wait times during the final two hours of the day.
There was a time when you could arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the afternoon and knock out all of the headliners because there was an afternoon exodus among guests who got shut out of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Since wait times are longer across the board, guests who arrive at rope drop aren’t leaving by early afternoon. It’s taking them 5-6 hours just to knock out the headliners, and that doesn’t account for lunch, snack breaks, or shows.
Consequently, the average wait time at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is still 38 minutes at 6 pm, which is only 15 minutes off the peak wait of 53 minutes from 11 am until 2 pm.
The best approach to doing Disney’s Hollywood Studios right now is arriving pre-rope drop, and just knocking out the headliners as quickly as you can.
Trying to ride the wave of crowds to the greatest extent possible is still the best approach. I’d personally start in Toy Story Land, but Sunset Boulevard also works.
I’d consider spreading DHS out over two separate mornings, and then Park Hop to Epcot for the afternoon and evening. I know I’m repeating myself with this advice, but it’s strategy that (I think) bears emphasizing.
This strategy should hold true even after the “Wonderful World of Animation” returns, which we view as skippable. That’s a solid show, but was previously treated as a pre-show for the actual nighttime spectaculars. Unless it’s been modified and expanded, “Wonderful World of Animation” is simply not something to plan a day around.
Speaking of which, the company announced the return of several shows to Walt Disney World next month, which should help Disney’s Hollywood Studios in a big way.
More is still desperately needed, but it’s progress.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios has become a sea of umbrellas in the last few years with so many extended queues, but those only help so much. There’s still a lot of overflow queue that’s in the direct sunlight.
From the photos, this might look like a pleasant day at DHS, but the feels like temperature hit 106º during my visit. So for a more accurate “portrayal” of the experience, read this post while wearing a santa suit in a sauna or something.
There’s also a lot of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as a whole, that’s lacking in shade and cover.
Perplexingly, pretty much the entirety of Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge were built with minimal shade. This is not a new complaint–fans have been harping on it for a while. The heat wave Orlando is experiencing is just a “nice” reminder of this issue. Every single day the last week has had feels like temperatures of over 100º.
The few areas with some degree of shade are always packed with people.
I didn’t get a good photo, but the entrance tunnel from Grand Avenue to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is just scattered with bodies during the middle of the day. It’s as if the Battle of Mon Calamari was just fought on Batuu, and passed out guests are waiting for Lieutenant Bek to give one of his famously inspirational and rousing speeches.
Walt Disney World fans have executives they cast as villains who are (supposedly) responsible for every unpopular decision, but this is an issue that falls squarely on those creatives everyone loves.
If there were more collaboration between Imagineering and Operations during the design and construction of attractions and lands, these problems could be avoided entirely. There’s no reason this couldn’t be addressed with purpose-built solutions rather than a bunch of umbrellas, which are about as effective at keeping guests comfortable as fixing a cannonball blast with duct tape.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Even though I’m not a huge fan of Toy Story Land, I’ll admit that it has its moments.
However, both have glaring issues that are not a result of budget cuts or value engineering. These problems are, quite simply, conscious design choices that looked or sounded cool in theory, but clashed with the hard realities of having to exist in a working theme park subject to things like weather.
So many of these problems could and would be quickly fixed if leadership and creatives experienced the parks for a day even once per month as actual guests, without the benefit of VIP access.
I’ll bet Chewbacca has some good ideas. Isn’t there some saying about walking a mile in a Wookie’s fur? (Well, there should be!)
On a positive note, there were a lot of characters out and about at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, posing for distanced selfies and interacting with guests. This is such a great addition that makes the parks feel more lived-in, and I really hope it’s something that becomes permanent.
As an aside, this may not be the “stylish” kind of bucket hat and I may look ridiculous, but I also have zero sunburn after spending the better part of the last week in the parks. Well, aside from a weird splotch on my hand where I, apparently, poorly applied sunscreen. I’m still going to call that a success.
Ultimately, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been the most “challenging” park at Walt Disney World for the last couple of years, and that remains true right now. The core of this issue is its top-heavy lineup–there are several must-do headliners (a good problem to have) and an insufficient supporting cast of easier to do attractions (not a good problem to have).
That has been exacerbated following the reopening, as several stage shows, nighttime spectaculars, and atmospheric entertainment are still on hiatus at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This will improve a bit in August with the return of Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage and the Wonderful World of Animation, but more is still needed. Here’s hoping that the rest of it–or close to it–is back by October!
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
Thoughts on anything covered in this Walt Disney World park report? Have you visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios recently? What was your experience with crowds and wait times at the headliners? If you rope dropped the park, how many attractions were you able to accomplish before the wave of crowds hit? Thoughts on anything else covered in this DHS report? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Great report as always Tom. Also appreciate all the comments. @janet mentioned something interesting that she thinks WDW is pushing paid fast pass through pain. So sorry for all the folks trying to have a great vacation in this mess.
We are here right now (Monday) and it has been BRUTAL today. We did see rides with triple digit wait times, so we did a few more air-conditioned things. Despite the heat and crowds, we got to do Rise, and build a light saber. Currently raining and times are dropping quickly, but we won’t get to hit quite Everett BLT before we leave.
Had to Google “Everett BLT” to see if there was some new slang I’m missing, but unless you’re talking about sandwich rankings in Washington, I’m guessing this was an autocorrect fail. I just cannot figure out for what!
Hopefully the rain doesn’t last too long. It literally just started at our house, as did the intense-sounding thunder. Enjoy the rest of your trip! 🙂
We were at Disneyworld from the 11th to 17th and it was miserable in the afternoons at all 4 parks but HS was definitely the worst. We still enjoyed it and my two teens thought it was their favorite park now. A quick thank you for the Rise of the Resistance boarding pass tips because they WORK !! We had 3 days with a shot at it and “won” all three times (groups 4, 8 and 2) so I highly recommend Tom’s tips.
Awesome–great to hear you were successful!
Didn’t do Rise of the Resistance this particular day, but our tips are here: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/star-wars-rise-resistance-faq-ride-guide/
Tom,
Love your blog! Now that the heat has been peaking higher and higher, are you going to do a comparison eval on neck fans and frog togs like mentioned before?
We use frog togs almost every visit not during the cooler months and swear by them. Have been seeing more talk about the neck fans. Would like to know you opinion! Thanks, Melanie
A dedicated post would probably be overkill, but I did a brief comparison when last updating our packing list: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/what-to-pack-for-disney/
Hope that helps!
You had previously recommended picking a weekend for HS, given the attendance limits. With the limits lifting, what days of the week do you recommend HS? Would you still recommend the weekend?
If at all possible, avoiding weekends now is the best bet. That strategy only made sense when DHS was fully booked every day–now it’s often not fully booked any day.
It’s indefensible that Disney raised capacity to this extent without increasing hours or reopening shuttered shows. That would go a long way in helping to reduce waits. We did not get a chance to enjoy the evening lighting in Galaxy’s Edge or on Hollywood Boulevard because the park closes at 8 p.m.
We also visited last week and agree the heat was unbearable and we constantly commented on the lack of shade.
Another aggravating issue was that all parks don’t follow the same “rope drop” procedures. HS allowed early entrance but MK did not. No benefits offered for people who stay onsite.
We highly recommend spray bottles (available on Amazon) and some type of cooling towels. These really worked for our group. I agree, the sheer numbers are crazy high with no fast passes offered. As long as the parks are full Disney will not make any changes though.
Disney World is just not magical like it was years ago. Overcrowded and super expensive.! Hollywood Studios on July 24, 21’ was nuts! If you are new to Disney you will have a terrible time. Wait time for Falcon, Slinky and Tower were 120 mins at one point. Having sections of park closed with the number of people is just stupid! If this park is in Such demand Chapek should find the personnel to run those areas. Also closing at 8:00 SUCKS! Really how about 10:00 or 11:00. The My Disney Experience app was twitchy our entire trip. My family did have fun. I Love Disney, but I sure do hope things change for the better. Disney is way too expensive and you are getting far less than years past. I also don’t believe “FREE” character meet and greets will return. I am sure it will be a paid reservation to get an autograph or picture. Also ADD MORE PARK BENCHES through out Disney World. People should not have to sit on the ground to take a break! I hope Chapek resigns!
I always carry a small umbrella to shield us from the sun. Not sure if others do the same.
Sarah does. I’ve been wearing that super cool hat, which is like an umbrella for your head. 😉
Tom (or anyone who’s happened to go to Tokyo Disneyland), how better is it touring World Bazaar with a roof to protect you from the weather? It looks nice, and sounds like it would feel a lot better than cooking in the hot summer sun.
Animal Kingdom also has lots areas with reams of concrete and outside attractions without A/C. (At least in Epcot, when you’re outside you’re probably going from pavilion to pavilion.)
World Bazaar is great, probably better for rain/snow than heat, though. Paris has something similar with covered arcades that run behind Main Street.
Hi Gail, as a Disney veteran, I can suggest to be sure and avoid shoes that may end up causing blisters, which are the kiss of death. Also, there is a very cool product, a water bottle strap device, that allows you to carry your bottle hanging over your shoulder, which may eliminate the need for a backpack, and this keeps the water accessible also. To lighten things up, I just use a string bag. Enjoy your trip, and stay cool!
While I agree that the Toy Story corridor is very hot, I think the Animal Kingdom Oasis has it beat.
We’re just back from our trip (10-15 July), and agree with everything Tom says. We had a great time in all parks by relying heavily on early arrivals (closest to the front of every rope drop crowd we could get), and for some parks midday breaks.
For HS, arriving on foot got us in line for security before cars, buses and SL. With rides opening 30 min before official park opening, we managed to speed walk our way straight on to Slinky Dog, and on Tom’s advice (in the 1-day HS itinerary) then decided to knock out Toy Story Mania (10 min wait) and Alien Swirling Saucers (walk-on).
Crowds were already pretty impressive by the time we walked into Galaxy’s Edge just under one hour after official park opening (the line for Millennium Falcon was already at 55 min). Luckily, we had scored Boarding Group 3 for Rise of the Resistance (thanks Tom for your how-to on that one, it was our first time trying and practicing really paid off), so we did that. Hopped over to the Frozen Singalong to wind down before an excellent lunch at Docking Bay 7, and then to the hotel to rest in hopes that wait times for other headliners would drop.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see much of a drop when we returned around 4pm, so we took our time snacking (Trolley Car Cafe) and Disney Junior Dance & Play. Star Tours had dropped to 20 min wait time around 6pm, and Millennium Falcon to 50 min (in reality we waited only around 30 min). Only had time for one more ride after that, so our group split with smaller kids heading to M&M’s Runaway Railway and the rest to Rock n Roller Coaster, which still respectively had a 40/50 min wait time (the latter facing several breakdowns) just before park closing.
Still a great day, and we managed the heat with cooling towels and midday break.
Beauty and the Beast will help a tiny bit when it returns, but it’s just a drop in the bucket. And it will only help it they don’t use it as an excuse to boost capacity further.
Indy, Little Mermaid, and Launch Bay meet & greets, are all still critical to soaking up people. And Fantasmic soaks up people in the evening.
Even pre-Covid, we had this issue with all the “real” attraction lines building extremely quickly. Though I’m no fan of FP+, it at least allowed a bit more strategy to 1 or 2 attractions in without an aggressive rope drop strategy.
Watching the wait times, it seems that no line is worthwhile by the time of official opening at 9 am.
Get in a pre-rope drop ride — Falcon, Slinky or Runaway Railroad, RNR or Terror, 1 of the 5.
By official opening at 9am — All 5 of those “e-tickets” will be lines of 50+ minutes. So at 9am, maybe can get in a reasonable line for Toy Story Mania or possibly Tower of Terror.
By 9:30, hit Star Tours.
And by 10am…. nothing with lines under 30 minutes, except Muppets, Lightning McQueen and eventually BATB. So wait around for ROTR if have a boarding pass.
But unless waiting for a ROTR boarding pass, it seems that it’s not worth sticking around DHS for more than 90 minutes in the morning. Come back at night to do 1-2 attractions at the end of the day, including an e-ticket right before close.
Of the 5 “e-ticket” standby attractions at DHS, seems impossible to do more than 2-3 without 60+ minute waits.
Melanie, I was there that same week and as a Florida resident I can say it was hot. I know we expect it to be hot in the summer but the wait times for all the rides were at least an hour. That is because park capacity was increased but Disney does not have the CM to help deal with the crowds. Disney never should have increased capacity knowing the CM shortage. Or they should have brought back Fastpasses. I’ve been a passholder for many many years and this was the worst visit ever to Disney World. I will not be back until things are back to “normal”.
I also believe that Disney wants guests to be so upset with long lines that when they start offering “paid” fastpasses guests will be willing to pay for them because of the long wait times that they will be tired of. Disney greed.
I 100% agree with everything stated and with the comments. We were there from July 14-17th and, although hot – not quite as hot as I expected it to be. The lines were ridiculous though. The times that we actually stood in line – not what was posted – Slinky Dog was 180 minutes, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway – solid 2 hours. I did ask why we ended up waiting so long, as there was one point where we all sat down within the theater for 20 minutes, and I was told by a cast member that the disability line got really long and they had to alleviate that line. Flight of Passage was 80 minutes. Everest was 90 minutes.
At the end of the day, without any character experiences, parades, shows, etc., along with the REALLY long lines, we were disappointed with Disney. We felt as if it was simply a glorified Six Flags. Ready for “normal” to come back.
We are northeasterners who can deal with blizzards better than heatwaves. We visited in late June 2018 and late August 2019. After the first trip I joined the rest of my family and wore dri fit clothes. I also bought and used a cooling towel. Stainless steel water bottles which keep water ice cold are worth the money. And “cool” hair styles are a must. Is the Walt Disney museum and movie open at HS? If so, duck in for some A/C and stay as long as needed.
Lastly many thanks to all the cast members who graciously do their jobs in such high temps!
As someone who lives in the PNW, I am more nervous about the weather on our upcoming trip, than crowds. We have to go the last week of Aug/first week of Sept because my daughter leaves for the Marines in October. That date was literally the only availability when I priced out a trip for us. Crazy how there are no affordable resorts available the month of Sept, but parks have availability?
We’re basically pasty vampires up here, and 80 or above makes us melt, lol. I wouldn’t mind rains the whole time we’re there, we call that liquid sunshine! Pretty sure Florida rain is warmer than WA rain though! This blog is freaking me out a bit! I’m not one to follow trends, but I will admit that my daughter and I bought Crocs and bicycle shorts in anticipation for this vacation! We’re hoping it gives a small amount of relief. I’m reluctantly wearing a backpack to carry water in. I’m gonna look like a tourist and a half!
I think the Toy Story corridor has THE hottest temperatures in WDW.
I’m glad someone else is complaining about the long lines in the hot sun with no shade. I was there last week and it’s unbearable. I agree that Chapek or other powers that be need to stand in the long lines for one day and watch how many umbrellas and canopies go up. They need to experience what the guests go through daily. It’s mind boggling how rides are built in Florida with no thought as too how hot it is here. Parks need shade, benches, mist fans !