With the recent closures of The Great Movie Ride and Lights, Motor, Action we’ve heard many Disney lovers calling Hollywood Studios a half day park. One of the reasons they give for this claim is that at the park there are only four rides right now (Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours). Though we can understand these points, we have to disagree! We’ve compiled a list of the reasons Hollywood Studios is a full-day park, and is not to be skipped on your next trip!

Attractions

Attractions at Disney include rides and shows! And yes, while Hollywood Studios only does have four rides, it has so many attractions that are great! Many times these attractions are overlooked, but give them another chance! We’ve seen some of them many times and we still enjoy them!

1. Muppet Vision 3D
2. Star Wars Launch Bay
3. Star Wars: Path of the Jedi
4. Walt Disney Presents
5. Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage
6. Disney Junior – Live on Stage
7. Frozen Sing-Along
8. Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
9. Voyage of The Little Mermaid

A few of our favorites include the Frozen Sing-Along, Beauty and the Beast, and Walt Disney Presents. Walt Disney Presents incorporates One Man’s Dream, Star Wars charcaters, and the new coming Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land! This is the perfect attraction to take a break from the heat and sun, and relax! Another favorite is the Frozen Sing-Along. If you go to see this show, we highly recommend waiting for Ben, one of the storytellers! He posts on his Instagram the times he is on and he is worth waiting for! Beauty and the Beast is truly a classic, we’ve been going for over twenty years. We love singing along to the songs and resting our legs for a little in the theater!

Entertainment

There is so much entertainment at Hollywood Studios that is overlooked! Our absolute favorite entertainment is the Citizens of Hollywood. We make time to watch them atleast twice a day when we are at Hollywood Studios. They are an old-Hollywood themed improv group that does a variety of shows including comedy and magic! They almost always involve the audience in their performances and they are truly hilarious! We’ve included a clip of our favorite comedy skit they do, the “99” jokes!

March of the First Order is another highlight! We are not the biggest Star Wars fans, but if you are this is definitely something you will want to watch! The First Order marches down towards the Chinese Theater and there is a pop-up Star Wars show at the end.

Dining

Dining is definitely underrated at Hollywood Studios. We have definitely not tried all of the restaurants or dining options, but we’ll let you know four of our favorites! The 50’s Prime Time Cafe is our absolute favorite lunch/dinner restaurant. It is, as the name implies, a 50’s style cafe that is meant to look like “your grandmother’s kitchen”. The waitresses and waiters are hilarious and treat you like family, joking around with you and making you finish your green vegetables. Our favorite waitress was our first, Auntie Em, who fed our dad his green beans on a baby fork when he didn’t finish them! Prime Time is located on the back side of Echo Lake.

Another more inexpensive option for meal time is the quick-service restaurant Pizzarizzo. Formerly Pizza Planet, this quick-service restaurant is themed after Rizzo from The Muppets.  They have a variety of different types of pizza, salads, and desserts. Additionally, each pizza comes with a Caesar salad on the side. The food here is very good, especially for the price. We highly recommend trying it!

In the mood for a drink? Then you have got to try the new Baseline Tap House! This is a new pub that serves a variety of drinks and some light appetizers. We recommend getting a flight of beer or wine so you can sample some of their many options! The Tap House is located on the Grand Avenue, and is not to be skipped!

If you’re looking for dessert, look no further. Hollywood Studios has some of the BEST ice cream in the parks. Where? Hollywood Scoops Ice Cream, located on Sunset Boulevard right before the Tower of Terror! We’ve had so many different types of ice cream here, including a cookie sandwich, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream, and a brownie sundae! This is a perfect spot to go for dessert!

Bonus Favorites

Hollywood Studios has so much to offer that you may not know. One of these secrets is the Character Palooza. Everyday, twice a day, characters from Fantasmic come out before the show in a mystery location for a meet and greet! We’ve been lucky to go to two palooza’s and meet some rare characters including the Evil Queen, Pocahontas, Robin Hood, and Jasmine! We love finding the palooza as a surprise and not having to wait in lines to meet characters!

For families with younger kids, sign them up for the Jedi Training Academy! The signups are located on the left side of the Indiana Jones entrance. Make sure you sign up for a time-slot early in the morning! It’s free of charge, but the times fill up fast. We’ve never done this ourselves, but we’ve heard great things about it from other Star Wars fans!

Another favorite of ours at Hollywood Studios is exploring the little details that we often ignore! Even on the walk in from the main entrance there are so many unique details on the buildings, windows, and street signs. Sunset Boulevard has some of our favorite windows with vintage style advertisements.

Also be sure to check out the Great Movie Ride entrance! Yes, we know this ride is closed. ( 🙁 ). But, outside of the theater there are handprints of famous actors and actresses that we love to look at! There is also promo art for the new Mickey ride coming to Hollywood Studios! And, in the front windows of the theater there are old pictures of the Hollywood premiers of the Jungle Book and Mary Poppins. We only noticed this detail last trip, and loved looking at Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke!

Wrapping it Up

Spend the day at Hollywood Studios, you won’t be disappointed! Book fastpasses for the big rides (although you have to choose between Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, but you can rope drop one). Head to the shows between your fastpasses, and give them another shot even if you think you’ve seen them too many times. Maybe you’ll get to be one of the extras in Indiana Jones or enjoy a new performer that wasn’t there when you saw it last. When you have some free time look for the Citizens of Hollywood (who usually come out on the hour and/or half hour). And end the night with Fantasmic or the fireworks!

We know this is an unpopular opinion, but we hope when you give HS a chance you’ll see you need a full-day (or more) there! Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on our Instagram, @themouselets.