Day 2 and 3 HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Again we were the first at the bus stop and got on first bus. Entrance to the parks is a breeze, temperature checks go fast, no searching of backpacks or purses, simply hold out your metal drink glasses and umbrellas. No crowds pushing and shoving, so calm and enjoyable.
HS was definitely more crowded than AK. We also noticed groups of people sitting on the curbs and at any tables available, watching their phones. We realized it was for getting in the queue for RofR, which I must say is a RIDICULOUS method of MADNESS! There surely could be a better way. More on that later. We went straight to TofT and walked on…Meanwhile DIL and I stayed behind to try and get in the RofR queue. We were unsuccessful.
Jumped in line for RR. Wait time was posted as 40 minutes. Only took 10. We noticied that throughout both days at HS that wait times posted were much more than actual time.
PHOTO PASS NOTES: Found a Photo Pass Photographer on Main street and he spent some time taking cute pictures. We REALLY enjoyed our Photo Pass on Trip 1. Not so much this time. Photographers were few and far between and we had to find and approach them. Masks have to be on even for pics, which is weird. However, it was fun to get our ride pics. We purchased a small tripod/selfie stick (which I found out we could not take into the parks) with remote control, so every morning in the condo we took a group picture WITHOUT masks.
Next was Star Tours, which is absolutely one of our favorites! Walked on, spent time in the gift shop, stopped for a drink and headed to 50’s Prime Time for our lunch reservation (Restaurant reviews coming in another post) We were amazed at the small crowds. While waiting for 50’sPT a “pop up” parade went by with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. Really cute and we were very close and took some great pictures with Grandson in front of characters in back. Something we would have never been able to do on Trip 1 “Pop Up” parades are a GREAT IDEA! When you hear the music you usually have time to get to the parade route. They are very well done and fun!
While at lunch we tried to get into the queue for RofR. This time we sinked our phone with a second hand timer to click in at exactly 2:00 And it worked! We got in! BUT…when we tried to SUBMIT, it said All Parties were NOT in the Park . Well, obviously we were ALL in the park. We went to Customer Service at the front of the park and they were so courteous and helpful. There was some kind of a glitch in my son’s Disney app, which they fixed and then gave us a boarding number of 101 With, of course no guarantees we would make it on. I’ll cut to the chase, yes we made it! We were called to queue up about 4:30 Ride was awesome, but personally the stress of getting a boarding time is way over the top. It really makes your day at the park stressful and caused great anxiety.
Galaxy’s Edge was PACKED with people. When it started pouring down rain and the crowds stayed. It was MISERABLE! We stood in line for about an hour for Smugglers Run, which is not too bad since it was out of the rain and there’s lots to see and enjoy.
My son and DIL made a Droid at the Depot. The rest of us were able to watch. This does not always happen. Definitely worth the $. The experience and the Droid are AWESOME!
Day 2 we went to Galaxy’s Edge first and jumped right on Smugglers Run. The sun was shining and it was beautiful. We missed the RofR queue again. We tried agan at 2:00 and were awarded #79. So excited! But as the day went on the numbers did not move from 51-58. At 6:00 they were only at 60. We had 6:30 reservations at SciFi Drive In and were AGAIN stressed over would we make RofR and our dinner? at 6:30 we still had not been called. We went to dinner and at 6:45 we were called to be at RofR by 7:01. We did not go. We had had enough of the stress and enjoyed our dinner
The kids had saved their money ($200 each) and made light sabers. They were thrilled I’m not sure it’s worth $200, there are a lot of other light sabers available. Shopping in GE is difficult because the shops are small and some only allow one person in at a time, so you stand in line to get into a shop. There are not many places to sit and relax to drink without a mask. And we never found one photographer! 4:00 it poured down rain AGAIN. We were soaked.
at 5:00 we went to Toy Story Land, walked on Toy Story Mania. Huge line for MMRR and Slinky Dog. We did line up of MMRR. Again, really cute ride but not sure it was worth the 60 minute wait.
Really fun side adventure in lieu of fireworks…at park closing we took the Skyliner to Caribbean Beach, over to Epcot then to the Beaches Resort. We had reservations at Beaches & Cream for Ice Cream at 8:50. More of that when I post of Restaurants.
Day Four - Epcot…coming up next.
So glad you went to customer service and got your boarding group on the first day! I would have totally bailed on dinner to ride again. But that is just me! 
We were conflicted. But we were tired, wet and in the middle of our dinner. All day the kids had been excited to get to RofR but when it came time, they actually opted to stay at Sci Fi and relax. They still talk about the funny “scary” movies.
I concur that I abhor virtual lines; at universal I just gave up with all the glitches in their tech and we just did Hagrid’s once via early entry (someone else this same weekend has been much more successful on this forum), saw shows and did scavenger hunt kind of things once the crowds showed up late morning and bought express pass for our 2nd day for everything else. It was so stressful trying to get virtual tickets every time while trying to enjoy your day. I’d prefer to just wait in a 2 hour line honestly. I felt the same way last Jan and we got RofR BG’s at 7am both days after waking up my family twice at 4am for the opportunity. It’s nuts and extremely stressful imho and normally when you have FP times and ADR’s ridiculous trying to mix preplanned times you had to plan 6 months in advance with day of times you have no choice in for RofR like what happened to you with your dinner. I believe if you explain to the the ride operators you were at dinner they’ll let you on later most of the time but what a stressful hassle.