We will be driving through Orlando Easter weekend and I am thinking of taking the kids (ages 11-12) to Hollywood Studios for just one day. I realize the crowd level will be 10+ (and I may be crazy).
If cost was not an issue, how would you plan this day out? Stay on property? Genie+ and/or ILL? We could stay the night before Hollywood Studios on property or close by and try to pack in as much as we can that day and head out that evening to continue on our trip.
We did the same thing last year at Universal and it worked well because we all had Express Passes and could zip through lines.
Thanks in advance!
PS. We already did our full WDW trip a few years ago for 7 days so this would just be a fun one-day adventure to see the new Star Wars stuff. I am fine with skipping Slinky Dog.
I’d definitely do it, if you are fine with picking priorities and skipping some things. Staying onsite and utilizing G+ and ILL would certainly be a big help in achieving more.
Maybe you can grab some ideas on what to do (and in what order) particularly with G+ and ILL in this recent thread: HS Touring Strategy - Help Please
Personally, I would aim to get ILL for RotR, rope drop to ToT and RnRC, try to use G+ for 2-3 of the following: MFSR, MMRR, SDD, TS Mania. I would skip SDD but thats just me - I think all the other mentioned rides are more interesting and unique.
On top of that, I’d walk around GE and Sunset/Hollywood blvd and eat something good!
Easter’s not really a big factor on CL - it doesn’t seem to increase the CL relative to prior/following weekend, neither for 2023 predicted or 2022 actual. It’s not a 10+ Xmas week situation.
Agree that staying on property the night before gives you two huge advantages - Early Entry and ability to buy ILL at 7am.
At 7am, I would use BG1 to book your G+ priority (SDD is the obvious choice and you have time to do it - but if it’s not a priority, skipping it sets you up well to get all other headliners). Then quickly switch over to MDE to buy an ILL for Rise. If you want to do Rise twice, be at the entrance 1hr before RD and have a plan B (like MFSR or SDD/TSSM) in case it’s down at park open (it often is). If your ILL for Rise is enough for you, then - as Mike says - you could rope drop either Sunset Blvd (ToT + RRNC, in that order) and plan to hit MMRR and Toy Story Land later in line with when you get your G+ bookings, or rope drop MMRR or Toy Story Land (the latter would also allow you to ride Slinky twice, if that’s a priority) and get G+ for the Sunset Blvd rides. If you don’t want to RD Sunset Blvd, you should probably get ToT for your 7am G+ booking, both because it goes fast and is prone to downtime - this also means there’s a chance it’s down at park open and you could get at G+ “golden ticket”, which is awesome and makes G+ bookings for the rest of the day a breeze (read the La Cava thread Advanced G+ strategies for more details if you are not familiar with golden tickets). Familiarize yourself with TP/Thrilldata analysis on when LL usually sell out at the CL you are expecting, and with drop times (also in La Cava).
Would also plan to spend peak hours/middle of the day when crowds are high watching shows (Indy, Muppets, Frozen, B&B) as all rides will have long waits and unless you have a golden ticket you may need to wait for your G+ return windows.
For QS lunch, especially if you want SW theming, Docking Bay has great food and theming, and you could set up a dining alert for a drink in Oga’s at some point during the day. If your family are big fans, you could tack on building droid/lightsaver experiences (with additional cost, and taking away timing from riding). Some people really love Galaxy’s Edge at night too, so you may want to circle back of book LLs accordingly? There are of course good TS options in HS too - HBD, 50s PT, SciFi, Hollywood & Vine. If staying for Fantasmic and you don’t want to arrive early, consider booking a F! Dining package at one of those and getting priority seating up to 20-30 min before the show starts.
We went to HS on a CL 10 day the week before Christmas and had a great time - so not at all a crazy idea!