A Day At Hollywood Studios

I can’t lie…Hollywood Studios has never been my favorite park. In fact, we decided to do Hollywood Studios on our first/travel day to “get it over with”. So, to say we were wowed when this turned out to be one of our favorite days of the trip would be an understatement. We seriously had so much fun y’all! Let me walk you through our day.

We made it into the park around 11:30 am, and since we were in official vacay mode we started our adventure at Sunshine Day Bar with Blackberry Moonshine Lemonades. They were delicious. This spot was also busy every time we passed it, well into the evening. So, I imagine all of their drinks are yummy.

For our first ride of the day, we decided on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Such a cute ride! It’s also located in the middle of the park and directly in front of the entrance - a great ride to start or end your day.

Next we caught the one o’clock showing of Beauty and the Beast. It was SO good! However, I will warn you…I did spend the entire rest of our trip singing “Be Our Guest”, but it was totally worth it. There are lots of opportunities to catch this show throughout the day. Shows begin at 11 am, and run every other hour through 4 pm, with an additional show at 5 pm. The last time we were in Disney they weren’t doing any shows due to COVID. So, we were pumped to finally see it.

After the show, we made our way over to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to ride Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. This ride was SO much better than last time because we got to be pilots. I would highly recommend trying to get the pilot assignment if you can. It’s much more interactive than the other positions. Last time we were in the back, and it was a totally different experience…still cool, but definitely not as good.

We made a lunch reservation (in advance) at 50’s Prime Time Café. This is such a fun restaurant. It’s super retro, which I love. The staff are also so in character. Let’s just say we got in “trouble” repeatedly for having our elbows on the table and having our phones out.

I ordered the beer-battered onion rings and a caesar salad, and Megan and I both got margaritas. It was a delicious meal and very filling. I would definitely recommend making a reservation prior to your trip if you’d like to eat here. It was packed when we were there.

After lunch we decided we had to try the viral Spiked Cold Brew Black Caf. I think the below picture speaks for itself. It was YUMMY. Totally worth the hype. Cold brew and chocolate liqueur, topped with sweet cream cheese and chocolate puffs? Yes, please!

This drink can be purchased in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Kat Saka’s Kettle. We used the Disney app to place a mobile order.

I had my heart set on a balloon picture at Hollywood Studios. Specifically, I wanted one of those clear balloons with the colored Mickey head on the inside. We asked an employee and were told they only sell those at Magic Kingdom (though we never saw any at Magic Kingdom). Still, I somehow ended up buying a $20 DOLLAR BALLOON, y’all. Ridiculous? Absolutely. But, FTB (for the blog) became the official motto of the trip at that point. It was a really nice balloon - it lit up and everything. But, worth $20?? Probably not.

Outfit details: ears & shirt - Etsy, shorts & sneaks - Amazon

With my balloon, which we named Mary-Belle, in tow, we made our way to Toy Story Land, specifically Woody’s Lunch Box. Again, we utilized the Disney app and placed a mobile order for “totchos”, Angry Orchards and a raspberry lunch box tart (essentially a fancy pop-tart). Definitely recommend all of the above, especially the “totchos”.

Next, still with my balloon in tow, we headed to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. If you do decide to waste your money on a $20 balloon like I did, you can leave it at the entrance of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and pick it back up afterwards. Fun fact: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was my first upside down roller coaster when I was 14 years old (my first trip to Disney). It remains one of my favorite rides at Disney.

For your viewing pleasure…

Next up, we (Megan, Mary-Belle & I) grabbed drinks at Oasis Canteen, a cute little stand with a fabulous bartender. I got a Long Lost Island, which was delicious. The bartender also gave me a light up ice cube, which I brought home with me.

After a quick drink we headed over to Star Tours, a 3D experience that we also did last time. It’s what I would consider the third ride in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. This time I was told to give my balloon to someone inside. What we didn’t realize until we had already walked all the way through the line a second time to retrieve the balloon, was that it had been handed off to someone else so I could get it at the end of the ride. Thankfully, I was able to find Mary-Belle.

THEN it was time for the pièce de résistance, Rise of the Resistance. This ride is nuts, y’all! It is unlike any other ride I’ve ever ridden and is absolutely worth the wait. Ten out of ten recommend! I know essentially nothing about Star Wars, but I still really enjoy this ride. Balloon update: (I’m looking out for you, parents!) I was able to leave Mary-Belle at the front of this ride as well. We did forget her initially, but it was super simple to go back to the entrance of the ride and grab her.

At 8 pm, we went to see Fantasmic!, which just so happened to be conveniently located near Tower of Terror…our last ride of the night. Fantasmic! was SUPER cute, and included some of the underrated characters. For example, it was the only time, in any of the four parks that I saw Mary Poppins. The show is about 30 minutes long, and a great way to end the night. I would recommend getting there early though. Otherwise you’ll end up walking quite a bit further to the opposite side of the amphitheater in an attempt to find a seat.

We closed down the park with my favorite ride of the day. We purposely waited until after dark to ride Tower of Terror, and I don’t think I’ll ever ride it during the day again. SO much better at night! Balloon update: once again, we were told we needed to leave Mary-Belle with someone inside. So, once we reached our elevator entrance I handed her off to one of the employees. The short version of the story is this: the employee at the end of the ride told me that a child had taken my balloon…my $20 dollar balloon, y’all. I actually handled the news better than Megan did. We were able to hold on to that balloon for almost half of our time in the park, and lost her on the last ride. All of this to say, leaving your balloon with an employee while you ride a ride does NOT guarantee its safe return to you. Something to keep in mind before dropping $20 on an overpriced balloon.

We ended up grabbing dinner back at our resort, but there are lots of great places to choose from if you’d like to have dinner in the park. I would just suggest making a reservation in advance or utilizing the Disney app to place a mobile order.

The park closed at 9 pm when we were there. So, we spent about 9.5 hours in the park. We were definitely exhausted by the end of the day and left with a few blisters, but overall I would say this was the perfect amount of time to do everything we wanted to do.

I can honestly say I am PUMPED for my next visit to Hollywood Studios!

-D