Huge Hollywood Studios FastPass+ Changes
Walt Disney World has confirmed that new FastPass+ tiers will debut at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 29, 2019, which is not-so-coincidentally the date that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open. In this post, we’ll give you a rundown of the new tier breakdown, plus the motivation for the change.
Basically, this will divide Disney’s Hollywood Studios FastPass+ tiers into rides and shows. In tier 1, there will be Slinky Dog Dash, Alien Swirling Saucers, Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Tier 2 will be comprised of the Star Tours plus shows: Frozen Sing-Along, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, MuppetVision 3D, Disney Junior Dance Party!, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Fantasmic, and Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will not offer FastPass+ upon its debut (there will be both Single Rider and FastPass+ lines for the attraction, but there’s no word on whether Single Rider will be available right away).
This might not seem like a huge thing, but not being able to secure FastPass+ for multiple popular rides at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a colossal change, and one that’ll dramatically increase time spent waiting in line by those who plan well. This change could mean a couple of additional hours spent waiting in line on an average day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The reason Walt Disney World is doing this is undoubtedly for capacity control and guest redistribution throughout the park once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens…
This may not make complete sense, so let’s illustrate with some examples. Let’s assume that the capacity of Disney’s Hollywood Studios is 50,000 guests (made up number) with perfect distribution amongst all shows, rides, queues, restaurants, gift shops, and so on. Basically, an ideal distribution of guest attendance, filling in all available space.
That 50,000 number (or whatever it is in actuality) is purely theoretical, and will never be achieved in day to day theme park operations. For one thing, guests don’t naturally distribute themselves in an even manner. Most will flock to popular attractions, leaving less popular spots under-utilized. This isn’t a problem in a park with surplus capacity and space, but Disney’s Hollywood Studios is not such a park.
Right now, you’ll see a ton of people racing to Toy Story Land each morning, while Muppet Courtyard and Grand Avenue are veritable ghost towns at the precise times those lands are most crowded. Likewise, the courtyard around Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is never going to fill on its own.
Another example we’ve witnessed recently is with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party–most guests congregate in the hub/Central Plaza for the parade and fireworks, and there are times when these areas feel dangerously congested. Gridlock gets really bad and the areas are barely traversable.
Meanwhile, Adventureland might be almost totally empty at exactly the same time. This is why we’ve seen Walt Disney World increase attraction overlays for these parties. It’s a good way of enticing guests to redistribute their attendance in a more even, safe, and comfortable manner. (It also allows Disney to increase ticket sales while still creating maintaining the impression of lower attendance.)
The exact same idea applies here. When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, everyone is going to race to that new land. No one is getting up at 5 a.m. to rope drop Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. Once Star Wars Land hits capacity–and it will–guests will have to fill space elsewhere in the park.
The natural inclination will be turning to ‘consolation prize’ attractions like Star Tours: the Adventures Continue, Tower of Terror, or other high profile rides. Especially for repeat guests, shows like Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage are going to be low (or no) priority.
Distributing FastPasses to those shows will draw at least some guests to them. It may seem like a silly or ineffective way of “tricking” people to see shows, but this is a proven approach. In fact, Walt Disney World has done this before superfluous FastPasses (anyone remember getting the “bonus” FastPass to Carousel of Progress?). There’s a satisfaction in securing a FastPass, even an unnecessary one, to anything. Once guests have those (unnecessary) FastPasses, they are more likely to use them.
This brings us to the second motivation for these FastPass+ changes. From an operational perspective, the “problem” with offering FastPass+ on popular rides is that it allows guests to be in two places at one time. Virtually, you are standing in a queue for one attraction; physically, you can be standing in line for another attraction.
This is why Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will open as a standby-only attraction. Offering FastPass+ for it would allow people to browse the land’s shops and other offerings, effectively take up double the space in a land that is already low-capacity and high-demand. Having as many people as possible fill that attraction’s (huge) physical queue will allow Walt Disney World to allow more guests to enter Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
An attraction could have zero people in a physical line, but a posted wait time of 120 minutes thanks to a virtual queue, and some guests would not enter the physical queue because that amount of time is longer than they are willing to wait. Everyone has a balking point for each attraction–a posted time too high to justify jumping into line. (Disney also uses inflated posted waits at the end of the night to discourage guests from entering lines.)
When the virtual queue is much or most of what accounts for that wait time, more people will balk at getting into line, which means fewer people in the physical queue. Circling back to the first point, that means under-utilized capacity in the theme park.
Now, this is not to say Walt Disney World’s approach with Disney’s Hollywood Studios FastPass+ tier changes and crowd management for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the right one. Personally, I think it’s a big mistake inducing so much demand in a park with so little to do. The easiest fix here would’ve been waiting until both Star Wars attractions were ready to go (ditto Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway). That’s going to be sorely needed attraction capacity come August and beyond.
Moreover, we’ve been talking for a while about how Disney’s Hollywood Studios would have to add temporary shows and entertainment to help soak up Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge crowds. With the exception of the aforementioned Lightning McQueen show, that has not happened. It’s still theoretically possible, but whatever is thrown together at this point will probably be too little, too late.
While we would’ve preferred better planning (land reservations or a virtual queue!) and crowd management, we have to admit that something–even this–is better than nothing. Opening the turnstiles on August 29, 2019 and letting the situation devolve into chaos would’ve been bad, especially in a park that isn’t built to absorb crowds. (While Disneyland has its own unique infrastructure problems, at does have like 10x the number of rides as DHS.)
The other possibility, perhaps even an intended consequence of these changes, is that some guests will be discouraged from visiting or lingering around Disney’s Hollywood Studios. From a planning perspective, this is an unfavorable change, and between it and the potential Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge chaos, it might be enough to push people away from Disney’s Hollywood Studios completely. (If you’re looking for recommendations, consult our Tips for Using FastPass+ at Walt Disney World.)
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
What do you think of these FastPass+ changes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? 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!
This totally bites. I literally only go to HS for 3 rides and could care less about Star Wars. I booked sept 1-6 purposely for low crowds and no Star Wars, debated on whether I should cancel and now BC of schedules, it’s too late. Literally TOT is my fav ride at Disney. Grateful we have 6AM opening but don’t know how many days I can get the family on board for that.
Does anyone know if we have to book and use all 3 FP before we can try to get one day of?Tracy Or can we just book one Tier 1 in advance, use it at the park, then book another tier 1?
Getting a second tier 1 on day of might be difficult with the amount of crowds that are being projected. I wouldn’t be surprised if they made you then choose 2 tier 2 rides, though.
Tom, I read yesterday that some VIPs are seeing tier 1 FP+ rides at HS available during the “Extra” Extra Morning Hours. Have you heard if that is going to be part of the changes starting August 29th? Example: Could I get SDD at 8:00am, during EEMH, and then my two tier 2 FP+ at 9 and 10?
FPs are only offered during normal park hours. People were reporting seeing 6am FP availability, but that was only on the 3 days that DHS opens to the public at 6am, Aug 29-31. As of Sept 1st, when the 6am E-EMHs start in, FP times go back to normal.
That makes sense. I completely forgot that those three days from Aug 29-31 are not part of the EEMH.
I’m sure this will change again before our next trip (whenever that is), but losing ToT in Tier 2 is really sad.
Give it a year and Tier 1 will be the two SWGE rides, Runaway Railway, and Slinky. Everything else will drop back to Tier 2.
On the bright side, I will feel totally justified in spending half the day drinking grapefruit martinis on the Brown Derby patio. DHS time well spent.
Ooooh, ok, Brown Derby…grapefruit martini…got it! Thanks!! Tier 1 no doubt. 🙂
It’s absolutely delicious as it comes, but I prefer it to be more tart and order it without the sugar rim and splash of cream. Great tapas style plates there, too.
I wonder what happens when MMRR and ROTR open. I’m assuming they want Runaway to be a tier one as well and the Star Wars rides certainly will be once they make them FP eligible. Seems like a big mess to me.
I was hoping this would be more like AK once SWGE opens – the Pandora rides are both tier 1 and everything else is tier 2. I thought the two SW rides and SDD would be tier 1 and that’s it, but obviously they’re going a different route here.
Thanks for the explanation, Tom. At least I understand in theory where they’re coming from, but I think this will just lead to more waiting for everything and more angry customers.
Tom, you suggest that MFSR is opening as standby-only due to capacity issues. I’m actually thinking that it’s to prevent conflict with the virtual queue system to get into the land itself. Once you get into the land you are free to queue up for MFSR, but they don’t want to have to deal with the “SWGE is open subject to capacity restrictions, unless you have an FP in which case head on in.” This was how Pandora ran in the early days, and we all saw how chaotic it was. I think it’s very safe to assume that neither MFSR nor RotR will offer FP (in Orlando or in Anaheim) until they are ready to phase out the virtual queue system.
As soon as WDWNT reported this my thought was “OMG I need Tom to break this down for me, what does this mean for my Sept 2019 trip?”
Needless to say, I am very unhappy about it, but oh well. We’ll use one fast pass most likely on slinky and just suck it up and wait for the others we want to see. I didn’t understand the reasoning as I thought it would do the opposite of their goal. But I see what you mean about all those fast pass holders clogging up other areas instead of standing in lines. Guess I’ll just really have to fight for those two other rides worth doing in DHS.
Can you book one fast pass, use it, and then book another one in the park or are you required to book multiple fast passes per park?
Your first three fastpasses need to be at one park. After that you can get them one by one at any park.
Two different situations to explain. If you are booking “advance” FPs (i.e. for any date in the future), you may book up to 3 FPs in a single park. You are free to book fewer than 3 (i.e. only 1 or 2), but you can’t split your 2 or 3 advance FPs between multiple parks. As for day-of passes, once you have used up any advance FPs you had, you are then free to book one more FP in ANY park. Once you use that one, you can book one more in any park, and so on until the end of the day.
Does that answer your question?
Yes it does. Thanks! I have seen the shows so many times, I could care less about them. I will only book (1) FastPass at HS, use it, then see what else is available there or at other parks. Hopefully this all calms down after the second GE ride is open. We are going in late May 2020, so we shall see. I refuse to wait in a line for hours, so we’ll see how this all pans out.
You can’t book in multiple parks in advance, but if you want to book one at DHS, once you have scanned in for the ride, you could immediately hop on MDE and book two others at a different park. You don’t have to use all three park first. But you will be pretty limited when it comes to day of booking, especially if you are trying to book for a large party.
Perfect! We go every year, but I hadn’t even considered this scenario until I read this post. Over the years I have become very strategic in my Fastpass selection because I would rather sit by the pool then hangout for hours in a line.
I am just trying to rethink my strategy for the next trip in May 2020. I wanted to put a buffer in between GE opening and my visit since we were at Pandora’s opening day. Never again.
Unless the rules have changed you have to use 3 in one park before you can get anymore FP. That would mean at least checking into two of the shows before you could try to get a 4th FP.
This is all so frustrating. We planned our trip to try to avoid the Star Wars madness and then they upped the opening date and then the EEMH and now this. I have two little girls who could not care less about Star Wars, but are all about Toy Story, and have been looking forward to this for so long. Now I have to get them up at the crack of dawn if we want to experience any of it without standing in lines for everything all day.
I’m looking forward to the reports of how to handle all this once it actually goes into effect so I have a couple weeks to figure out what the heck we are going to do.
Fastpass Slinky, and hit Midway Mania & Alien Saucers in the morning before things get too busy. Viewd *purely* from a Toy Story Land perspective, nothing is actually changing here – today you can only book an advance FP for 1 of the 3 TSL rides, and that will continue under the new system. The BIG change here is that you can no longer use your ‘Tier B’ passes on Tower of Terror, Rock & Rollercoaster, or Star Tours.
Right I guess my frustration is just having to alter carefully laid plans because of something we were hoping to avoid. Also not sure how enjoyable TSL will be for my girls if we’ve had to wake them up at the crack of dawn to experience it. But better than standing in long lines all day I suppose.
And also in a perfect world everyone heads to SWGE and we go do TSL and ToT and then…wait for the shows to start? Will the shows still not be starting until 9:30? Can you only get FP reservations during normal park hours?
Just venting and thinking out loud. I’ll work it out. And there’s still so much unknown. Will feel better when we get some reports and I can make a plan.
Big question (and anyone who has some insight is welcome and appreciated to share their advice!):
This December 2019, 5th and 6th, we have to choose to go to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on a Thursday and Friday, but aren’t sure which day to do which park. Taking Galaxy’s Edge into account, is Thursday or Friday better for Hollywood Studios?
Are you staying in a Disney hotel? If so, what are you doing on Wednesday? The key to SWGE success will be to get there EARLY, so do DHS on whichver day you’re willing to get up EARLY. If Wednesday will be a late night, do DAK on Thursday, get to bed early, and set your alarm for Friday.
Thanks Andy! Yes, we’ll be in a Disney hotel. Wednesday was going to be our “down day” to go to Typhoon Lagoon after doing Magic Kingdom and Mickey’s Christmas Party on Monday. We’re traveling with kids, but I will be willing to drag them out as bright and early as it takes…I mean they can sleep on the bus, right? 😉 I would also be willing to shake things up and try for Hollywood Studios on Wednesday if that would mean “better” crowds for Galaxy’s Edge.
I meant to say doing Magic Kingdom/Mickey Christmas on Tuesday.
One word….UGGGGGG!
If what I’ve heard is correct, Star Tours will still be Tier 2. I imagine that will make it one of the harder fastpasses to come by as I can’t imagine anybody not choosing it as one of the Tier 2 options.
I’m thinking it may be somewhat easy to grab 4th or 5th fastpasses for ToT or RNRC with this new set up but perhaps I’m being too optimistic.
I agree on Star Tours – I’m not sure if this was an intended consequence or not, but it’s clearly the best option in the tier 2 level right now and I can’t imagine most people NOT choosing that compared to the shows.
Did star tours get better? Last time i did back in 2011 it was AWFUL and made me so sick i couldn’t handle it. There were zero lines and no one liked it. Did i miss some sort of upgrade they did to it in the past 8 years? Or just the hype of Star Wars makes people like it again?
I like the ride, but the point is that it is the only ride on the tier 2 list, making it the best choice for most people. I have no desire to see most of the shows. Star Tours would for sure by my first choice for tier 2 though I would not do it late in the day.
Hopefully the results of open access to Disneyland SWGE will prove to WDW that they will need to either open both SW attractions or have Runaway Railroad open for it to work at HS. Like you indicate, without opening more capacity rides in HS, it will be an absolute mess. It doesn’t necessarily seem like they have time to make this happen, and probably more likely, the motivation, but I hope results in Disneyland will make them reconsider!
We booked a trip in January for September 2-9th to avoid SWGE madness. Then they changed the opening date. I bought after hours tickets for MK, AK and MNSSHP none of which are refundable or transferable. Now that this new FP rule has been implemented at HS we are ready to dump the trip. We have no desire to see another show AGAIN after so many visits. I’m very disappointed about the handling of this situation and also hoping they will use a reservation system like the Disneyland opening. Any news on that?
Jill – I think they are taking a different approach by opening HS to resort guests only for what they are calling ‘extra’ extra magic hours. It is supposed to open at 6 AM EVERY day only for resort guests for a couple of months. That should help disperse crowds as well – especially given that few people (even resort guests) have the energy to get up at 5AM on more than one day of a Disney trip.
Good point. We are so not morning people but will have to make sure we make that happen one day.
We were expecting this for our trip…but two things you missed.
120m discouraging people? This is Star Wars. Lol
And the queue was 5 HOURS LONG for Frozen. Ridiculous, but we are going into this expecting nothing less to be honest.
We are bummed we only really get one ride FP though, esp b/c our kids are older and we don’t really do shows. Our hope would be that there are less FPs out there so the standby line goes faster (a 2h line takes 30m after FP stop), but it feels unlikely.
We’ll just cross our fingers for it scaring people away.
The 120 minute example is merely illustrative of balking points, not a predictive wait for Smugglers Run. I’d fully expect that to have much longer wait times–and it’s a reasonably high capacity ride.
Yeah I think they have pushed us away from HS. Going to shorten our trip a few days because of it. Already have been upset about their surprise early opening of HS and then thought maybe the EEMH would help make it ok but now I’m just tired of all of this from Disney. My kids really wanted to do Toy Story Land but looks like we will miss it. Really hoping that Universals Fantastic Worlds Park knocks Disney off their pedestal.
Tom, do you know if DAS will be offered for Galaxy’s Edge?
Yes it will be but DAS really works best when used with fast pass.
You don’t mention Star Tours, but it’s remaining a Tier 2–the only ride in Tier 2. My guess is that EVERYONE will be booking a FP+ for Star Tours because, like you said, there is satisfaction in HAVING a FP.
Whoops, don’t know how I missed that–fixed it!
These Fast Pass systems are a joke. For people planning a week long stay they may be helpful on saving a little time but for people on a day trip fast pass can’t even be used because it will say all filled, no matter how early you arrive. Same with making dinner reservations. It will tell you none available, yet when you go by these restaurants they are not filled.
Where does Star Tours fall in the tiers?