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.)
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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!
Tom,
A planner should have no problems getting 3 or 4 tier 1 FP in the new system. There is a LOT of Tier 1 capacity – 5000 FP per hour. Last year DHS averaged 31,000 guests per day. Even looking at tomorrow, or Sunday when EEMH starts, every T1 ride except SDD has a ton of FP availability.
It’ll all be cool.
I can make FastPass selections tomorrow for Aug. 31st. Is the new Fastpass tier system in Hollywood Studios going to be in place tomorrow morning online or will it start on Aug. 29th?
I finally scored a Slinky Dog FastPass!
6:40 AM on 8/29…
So since this new fastpass rule isn’t starting until 8/29, does that mean people who are booking fastpass+ reservations before that date will still encounter this issue? Our trip is 9/17-9/25 and we book our FP 60 days in advance obviously in July. I’m planning around this new change breaking DHS into two half days as well but just figured I would see if anyone can confirm. Thanks!!
Is this change going to be from here on out? Going to Disney next April and could care less about Star Wars! This totally sucks!
Jodi, we are in a similar situation. We booked our trip Months ago, thinking that Star Wars Land wouldnd’t be ready yet. Our purpose was to take the Granddaughters to see Toy Story Land. The trip begins August 29th (talk about bad luck!) and we aren’t sure how this will affect our ability to just enjoy TSL!
We are coming late Sept and also want to do Toy Story land, no star wars interest but I’m so on the fence bc of crowds. Also this would be day 1 of our first ever triP for my kid so lots to consider…and will have to decide before this hits.
Once I used my initial tier 1 fast pass, and have used my three allotted advanced fast passes, Can I then book another tier 1 fast pass later on in the day? Or do you only get one tier 1 fast pass for the entire day?
If it is available…which is unlikely
Will the number of Tier 1 FP remain at one?
Unfortunately, yes.
I can completely understand this change. Often RnR or ToT has longer wait times than Slinky, while being Tier 2 FPs. I can usually score FPs for all 3 on the day of my visit (for my daughter and I,) with about 15-20 minutes of refreshing and modifying. So restricting the rides to a single FP during the initial 3 is a solid solution for redistributing crowds.
With the delay of Smuggler and Mickey/Minnie opening, it seems like a reasonable partial solution to what will undoubtedly be massive crowding starting 8/29.
*Rise of the Resistance (not Smuggler’s Run)
What would be the best strategy for booking passes? Is there a way to “hack” the system and not have to sit thru 2 actual shows before we can grab our 1 at a time fast pass?
Scan at the FP kiosk and then don’t go to the show. That “uses” the FP, you can then modify the other one, go scan in there, and continue onto the single-booking from there.
I’m really concerned that WDW is attracting and pushing for more crowd capacity than it can reasonably handle. More resorts and DVCs, the skyliner transportation system, the opening of Galaxy’s Edge, all of these factors are driving MASSIVE crowds to an already crowded park system. During a recent trip we experienced wait times of 90 minutes to 4 HOURS. At that rate, you might only be able to ride 2 or 3 rides per day. Which is not worth the outrageous price. What is Disney thinking?
They are thinking they are a business in business to make money. More people there the more money they will make it goes hand in hand. I know this isn’t a pleasant way to look at the happiest place on earth but at least as of the last 4 or 5 years it has been obviously so. They charge for parking at resorts which used to be free. Dining and theme park entrance prices keep going up. The Minnie vans are another money maker. These are just a few things they have done if I kept going it would be a blog of its own so I won’t do that. The sooner people realize disney is in it for disney the sooner you don’t have to wonder what they are doing. They are betting the people will keep coming back so they keep making more money making things
Potter008. Don’t just defend Disney without thinking through.
There is merit to her comment. Disney has been on this path for a while…. too many places to stay, but not enough places to play. Sure there are golf courses, mini-golf and water parks, but many visitors are not interested in that. Most states have good water parks, golf courses, etc. But…people go to Disney to do Disney.
My thoughts exactly. It will be like Disneyland Hong Kong before you know it. Packing them in deep, 4 hours waits for everything…including the bathroom.
Hold up I’m not defending disney just this is the obvious way they are going. Actually I miss the old disney where they cared about its visitors for more than numbers. Right now they are just adding more and more money making things I already named a few if you would like me to go on fine how about starting to take away extra magic hours in leiu of charging people for that time. How about the monorail dining at night. You asked what disney is thinking and they are thinking greed I thought I made myself clear with the last comment maybe not. I am a really longtime disney fan but since this is going on my love for it has wane. My favorite time with disney was about 10 years ago they had made some needed changes but weren’t in this money grabbing gimmick at that time. I didn’t even say this is a good long term plan what I said is they are betting no more what money making additions they make that people will still come in droves. I hope you understand it wasn’t a attack on you just a answer to your question bunny have a nice day
I like Happy Endings, Rodney King and hugging it out =)
Disney is playing Jedi mind tricks on us all. They jack up ALL the prices knowing we’ll scoff because they also know the progress unveiling over the next year or two will itch us to keep going. We don’t want to feel exploited so we reconcile the expense with the experience to justify our habit and it works.
It’s a $ick $ad world and I’m going to WDW :^)
I planned an early September vacay because my daughter takes trasplant medications and cannot be in a crowded park. Sept was ideal with light crowds, well… not anymore. Thanks to Galaxy Edge opening in Aug 29 I had to cancel our annual trip. DAS is no help to us because there will be crowds everywhere, and we avoid crowds.
The new tier system destroyed our only way to enjoy HS because we usually 1. get to the park at rope drop, 2. ride the rides we didn’t have FP first, 3. use our FPs and 4. Get out of the park before it starts to get crowded.
Its a shame because Disney was. (repeat was) our vacation spot.
Too many people, too little space and not enough to do. I’ll be back in 2021, Disneyland it will be until then.
There are so many complaints about the tier change here, but I feel like the real point, (much better articulated by Tom’s original post), is that this park has been inconsistent and under-served for over a decade. It always relied on long-format shows, but took away the audience-participation that made so much of the park’s original entertainment variable and engaging over repeat visits. As someone who visits every 1-2 years, I feel I could have narrated the Indiana Stunt Show and performed the Beauty & the Beast choreography. Seeing those shows nowadays feels like watching paint dry. The Muppet Movie has needed work for ages, the quick-service restaurants are consistently disappointing, and Toy Story Land was too small fill the demand for additional rides. Don’t get me wrong – I still get the feels walking down Hollywood and Sunset Blvds, and think that DHS houses a few of WDW’s best rides and the resort’s two best themed dining experiences. What these tier-related complaints seem to be saying is that this park is only engaging if we can use FP’s for Toy Story Land AND Sunset Boulevard. Otherwise, not worth our time. Galaxy’s Edge rollout aside, that’s a huge problem!!
You hit the nail on the head!
How many in each tier
I agree 100%!
We took our children for the first time about 3 years ago…and are planning our 3rd trip back this December. Just last night we were watching video of their time at the park. Seeing it through the eyes of a child…the magic is still there. Our adult lenses are quite more critical. Yes, I don’t LOVE all that is Disney. I love that my children are thrilled and completely in awe when they experience it.
Maybe you need an adult vacation???
This is frustrating. I have never been to wdw and was looking forward to fastpasses at HS. i had booked my vacation for September, prior to them changing GE opening. I feel as if I don’t even want to go to the park if it means I’ll be in line all day. Seems like such a waste.
I feel ya, I’m in the same boat. Are you staying on property? The extra extra magic hours at HS are from 6am-9am for onsite guests. Those could be invaluable, as I feel most will be using them to see Galaxy’s Edge. It also helps that Magic Kingdom and DAK will also be doing extra magic hours daily through September and October, so it will hopefully disperse the crowds around enough. After your early morning, hit the pool and park hop to another park for the evening.
I emailed Disney Worlds disability office a couple of weeks ago and they confirmed that you go to the ride and get Magic Band scanned and given a return time and then return to the fast pass or single rider line.
Does anyone know how Disney plans to handle return times (for disability) for Smuggler’s run? If there is a line for fast pass I’m assuming they will do the usual: scan your magic band/ticket card, give you a return time and then you go through fast pass line @ your return time. Has anyone heard confirmation or denial of this?