My Rockin’ New Rule for Rope Droppin’ Disney’s Hollywood Studios for Less Stress & More Rides

Hollywood Studios is the busiest park at Walt Disney World, but an efficient Early Entry and rope drop run can help you knock out headliners and beat the crowds in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Toy Story Land or beyond. This photo report offers a step-by-step look at a successful start to my day at DHS, without all of the stress.

We’re generally enthusiastic about Early Entry. It’s an underrated perk, with many guests dismissing it as “only” 30 minutes. Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the best place to do Early Entry, but we’ve gotta warn you, it can be a feast or famine situation. We’ve had both awesome and awful experiences at DHS in the morning. It’s probably about 80/20 in favor of great ones, but your mileage may vary.

Unfortunately, both of my last two experiences before this had left me starving for a satisfying rope drop run. Most notably, there was My Awful Early Entry Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on 10/10 Crowds Day. On top of that, I had, ahem, “setbacks” with the Skyliner that have made me swear off staying at Pop Century or Art of Animation during peak season. All of that was in the back of my mind as I left my room, determined to have an efficient Early Entry at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Honestly, my morning couldn’t have started out any better. I was staying at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, where my request for my favorite room type was honored–and then some, as I got the building and exact location I wanted.

This made it easy to mosey on over to Spyglass Grill, where I scored the first Mobile Order time slot, and enjoyed the very best counter service breakfast in all of Walt Disney World. Admittedly, it was a bold choice to do breakfast before heading out to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but I’d risk it all for those Churro Mickey Waffles.

After enjoying what some (me) might call a life-affirming breakfast, I made the leisurely stroll over to the Skyliner station, where I boarded my own private gondola with no wait whatsoever. Based on timestamps, it took under 30 minutes from the time I took my first Churro Mickey Waffle photo to my first image on the ground at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

This is where my luck seemingly ended.

I arrived to find a massive crowd at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, to the point that I wondered why the Skyliner station was so quiet, comparatively. On top of that, my camera bag flagged secondary security screening, which had a long backup and took almost 10 minutes extra (still better than Disneyland). The line for the turnstiles was spilling out past the ticket booths.

Looking back, this is unsurprising. Crowd levels were 7/10 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, making it the second-busiest day of the last month. It’s that time of year when Walt Disney World has roller coaster wait times, and I happened to “luck” into a busier day. Most days since have had 4/10 to 5/10 crowd levels, but we’re expecting elevated attendance in mid-October 2026 and beyond.

Trying to recover from my bad bagcheck luck, I then proceeded to the far right tapstiles. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but in case you’ve missed that, going to the far right is one of my favorite “tricks” because extra sets of turnstiles usually open here relatively last minute. You can thus improve your position and be closer to the front of the pack. This “trick” doesn’t always work, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

On this morning, it did work. But I was still reasonably far back and, after being burned by Early Entry my last two times and due to downtime with the attraction the previous two days, I decided that starting with Slinky Dog Dash was out of the question. Whether it’ll have the dreaded delayed opening is just too much of a wildcard, and it can be stressful on a moderately busy day even when Slinky Dog is Dashing!

That’s fine. Being willing to call an audible is a key component of Early Entry, and this gave me a chance to make lemonade out of lemons as opposed to locking into a single strategy before the day began.

Anyway, the tapstiles opened right on time at 8 am, which was an hour before park opening time or 30 minutes before the official start of Early Entry. If you haven’t rope dropped DHS in a while, one thing to note is that now all guests are allowed through the tapstiles at the same time.

Previously, there were separate lines for regular rope drop and Early Entry, with off-site guests held at the main entrance until official park opening time. With the current procedure, everyone can enter the park about an hour before regular rope drop. Off-site guests then have access to a large swath of the park, including the entirety of Hollywood Boulevard.

Once inside the park, there are five designated checkpoints for resort guests participating in Early Entry.

One is down Sunset Boulevard, two more at the respective ride entrances to Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Star Tours, one on Grand Avenue for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and the final checkpoint along the main entrance corridor to Toy Story Land.

Unless you’re bouncing around the park, resort guests will likely only have to validate eligibility once via MagicBand, Key to the World card, MagicMobile, etc. Meaning that there’s no checkpoint between Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land, for example, nor are there at the entrances to individual attractions within those two lands.

This switch to in-park checkpoints is a positive change for off-site guests. It gives them a chance to enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios, grab a coffee, enjoy the atmosphere, pre-queue for regular rope drop, or simply sit in the shade. I never stood in the mass of humanity waiting in the sun for regular rope drop outside the entrance, but it looked miserable.

Conversely, it’s a slight negative for on-site guests taking advantage of Early Entry. It introduces a bit more chaos to the entry experience, both at the tapstiles themselves and at the checkpoints for the various lands.

It also means that you have a few fewer precious minutes to beat the regular rope drop crowd to your next destination before the end of Early Entry. Instead of a slow trickle of guests entering the park via the tapstiles, those guests are already pre-loaded near Galaxy’s Edge, Toy Story Land, and Sunset Boulevard, and descend upon those attractions all at once right at 9:00 am.

You used to have a little longer to beat the rope drop rush, effectively extending Early Entry by another 5-10 minutes before the rope drop rush really arrived. This may seem insignificant, but it had major implications on this particular day. We’ll circle back to that towards the end.

The vast majority of guests are headed to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or Toy Story Land both for Early Entry and for regular rope drop.

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is also a popular first pick. It’s a prominent landmark, towards the front, and family-friendly. That checks three boxes.

If you want to stick to the front of the park, starting on Sunset Boulevard with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror is also an option.

For the first time in a long time, this is exactly what I opted to do.

The reason for this is simple. Since reopening in reimagined form, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets has been the breakout hit of 2026. It’s been far more popular than the new mission for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run or Soarin’ Across America or anything else that’s debuted recently.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets is reminiscent of Test Track 3.0 last year, to the extent that it has somewhat unexpectedly (or completely unsurprisingly, among the Muppets faithful) risen the ranks and now rivals Slinky Dog Dash for the longest average wait time at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Despite this practical reality, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets is not among the top three Early Entry destinations at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s very much as if the conventional wisdom for Early Entry has not yet caught up with average wait times, which is also unsurprising. We’ve seen this dynamic a lot elsewhere.

Accordingly, my goal was to see whether eschewing Slinky and Star Wars in favor of the Muppets would yield favorable results, via a less stressful but still productive morning.

I am happy to report that it was a resounding success. Better than I expected! After a quick and short walk back to Sunset Boulevard, stopping a few times for photos and passing through the checkpoint, I was in line for some good ole fashioned Muppets Mayhem by 8:10 am. The ride was a complete walkon, and operating well before the official start of Early Entry.

One thing that feels worth flagging as contrasted with the past is that the pre-show was running and you couldn’t skip it. This isn’t surprising since the ride is brand new, but in the past, you could walk through this room and bypass the Aerosmith version on slower mornings.

I was off Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets by ~8:25 am and back in line for an encore.

This time, there was a short line, but I was still in the pre-show by 8:31 am. From there, it was incredibly efficient, and I was off by 8:40 am. As you might notice, it took 15 minutes each time.

The first ride had a very brief delay in the load area, whereas the second had a very modest line. I want to say the minimum all-in time for RnRC with perfect efficiency and a non-skippable pre-show is about 12 minutes.

I debated a third spin on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets. However, the line was slightly longer and the ride was posting a 20 minute wait time. It probably was not that long, but I wasn’t sure it’d be worth it.

Not only that, but my head was starting to feel slightly scrambled, I was under-caffeinated, and Sarah has suggested that now that I’m a father, I should stop actively courting CTE.

One top of that, I had already heard two of my three favorite songs on the setlist (including the elusive-for-me “Song 2”) and had not been subjected to “Walking on Sunshine.” So I decided to take the win and walk away before things got ugly.

Instead, I decided to round out my morning and end Early Entry with another favorite: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

Tower of Terror had a 13 minute posted wait time, which meant it was a walk-on. The problem, however, is that it has a very high minimum time commitment, as the pre-show coupled with inevitable waits for loading makes it easily take 20 minutes or more.

Even getting in line at 8:41 am guaranteed I’d be done after 9 am, when regular rope drop hit. Or did it?!

To my surprise, the pre-show in Tower of Terror was not running! While I hate that first-timers are missing this, I was pleased, as it meant I had an ever-so-slim chance of people the rope drop rush to my next stop.

Further aiding my efforts was that literally no one was in the line in front of me in the boiler room. As I walked through, a Cast Member from a different load zone proactively approached, and loaded me into an elevator that was about to board.

I was off Tower of Terror at 8:52 am. If someone else told me that they knocked out Tower of Terror, start to finish, in 11 minutes flat, I probably wouldn’t believe them. So feel free to doubt. But I have photos with timestamps, and they tell the tale.

If we ended the Early Entry report right here, it would already seal the deal on my “new rule (of thumb)” for starting the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

This was already an awesome morning, and a stress-free one. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a lot of success starting in Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. But there’s always uncertainty about whether things will go awesome, and the pressure to do everything right means it’s less fun.

Starting on Sunset Boulevard has always been less stressful and a great way to knock out two headliners. As of the second half of 2026, I’m pleased to report it’s still that, but also now as productive (if not more so) than starting with Slinky or Star Wars. The amount of time you’ll save coupled with the ease and enjoyment of the experience makes starting here the obvious optimal approach.

But my Early Entry experience did not end with that ride on Tower of Terror…

You’ll never be able to replicate that last step unless the rope drop gods are smiling upon you, and the same goes for this next one.

As I sped out of the Tower of Terror gift shop, I checked wait times and noticed one sticking out like a sore thumb: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was only 20 minutes.

I had 8 minutes to completely cross the park. In the August heat. I decided to go for it.

Here’s where the new rope drop approach undermined me.

In the past, all I would’ve had to do was make it past the Hollywood and Sunset intersection by 9 am. That is very, very easy and anyone could do it. But with the newer system, the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge crowd for regular rope drop is held by the Monstropolis construction walls, and it is massive.

Making it all the way there in ~8 minutes is not nearly as easy, especially since 8 minutes might actually need to be 6-7 minutes if a Cast Member gets “generous” and releases the pack early. (I’ve actually had exactly that happen before at DHS and EPCOT, and lost a good 30+ minutes due to missing my window by ~30 seconds or less.)

Against all odds, I made it to the entrance of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at exactly 9:00 am, blowing past the regular rope drop crowd in the process.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was also, somehow, a walk-on. I was shocked by this, especially since Slinky Dog Dash was already posting a 75 minute wait. I mean, you saw the entrance photos–it’s not as if DHS was dead!

This was a 7/10 crowds day. Just not at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance during Early Entry for some completely inexplicable reason. (It was the highest wait time for much of the middle of the day, seemingly exacerbated by more Slinky Dog downtime.)

My best guess is that Rise of the Resistance opened before Early Entry began (as did RnRC) and processed its backlog of guests over the course of the ~56 minutes that followed. Only so many people head to Galaxy’s Edge for Early Entry, and once that ‘supply’ is exhausted, the wait time drops.

I’d also add that I had two rides on Rise of the Resistance on previous post-storm evenings with (quite literally) no one in front of me in line. There have been veritable afternoon monsoons at Walt Disney World this month, and they resulted in some blissfully uncrowded evenings. But that’s another story for another post!

Anyway, I was off Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at 9:23 am.

By that point, the wait times for everything had ballooned.

My next logical moves would’ve been Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run or Toy Story Mania. The former probably would’ve been a walk-on, but it also would’ve been a walk-on later via Single Rider. Accordingly, I headed over to Toy Story Mania, which “only” had a 30 minute posted wait.

Upon arrival, I was surprised to see a fairly lengthy line, leading me to believe that the actual wait time would be at least 30 minutes, or perhaps longer (it jumped to 45 minutes within moments of me leaving, so that was probably an accurate assessment).

Instead, I decided to kill time over in the Walt Disney Studio Lot. I love this area, and wanted to get some photos before the crowds descended upon it.

Unfortunately, some joker wandered into my photo, totally ruining my empty park shot. And on top of that, he had the temerity to take a photo of me taking a photo! I’m starting to think the chipmunks were right about this one…

After killing time in the courtyard, I placed a Mobile Order for the very first time slot of the day at ABC Commissary. For those keeping score at home, I had already rope dropped two restaurants, and one theme park all by 10 am.

In the process, I had two great meals, knocked out 4 rides, wandered around soaking up the atmosphere, and come so close to closing my rings that I had probably already worked off those two meals. All in all, a pretty fantastic morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

My morning is probably not replicable in full, but the start on Sunset Boulevard absolutely is. If I could do Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets two times with minimal waits on a 7/10 crowd level day, you can do likewise.

In fact, on an average day this time of year, you can probably ride three times before bouncing to Tower of Terror, assuming your head and body will tolerate it. That’s 3-4 headliner rides in total during Early Entry and at the start of regular rope drop, all with low waits and no friction.

From there, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash might be off the table, but you could likely do Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, or Toy Story Mania without too long of waits. That’s a great, low stakes start to the day with a ton of time saved.

It should be easy to see why this is my new rule of thumb for starting the day at DHS, especially when I’m not at the very front of the pack for Early Entry, or simply don’t want the stress of gambling on the dreaded delayed opening at Slinky Dog Dash!

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 our new rule of thumb for a more laid back, but equally efficient, Early Entry at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Like the idea of starting with RnRC and ToT? Or do you prefer knocking out Toy Story Land or Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Agree or disagree with our advice or approach? 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!