5 Reasons Why You Should Skip a Park Day at Disney's Hollywood Studios on Your Disney World Trip

Thinking of skipping a day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during your Disney World vacation?

Contrary to popular belief, there’s nothing wrong with skipping a park on your Disney trip – even if that’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

Although this park has some great attractions – and a more promising future – there are plenty of reasons why it makes sense to give this park a miss on your next trip!

This post is all about the 5 major reasons why you should skip a park day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

What is Disney’s Hollywood Studios?

Disney’s Hollywood Studios was the third Disney World park to open in Orlando in 1989.

It opened with the theme of movie-making, but has evolved to a park that features some of Disney’s most well-known IP attractions (from Star Wars to Toy Story to Mickey and Minnie themselves!).

1) High Crowd Levels and Long Wait Times

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is not the best for dealing with crowds. Why?

Because they don’t have enough attractions – especially on busier days (weekends, holidays).

How many rides are at Hollywood Studios?

Hollywood Studios only has 9 rides.

Although they have a decent selection of shows and meet-and-greets, wait times get high here.

This is especially bad if 1 or more rides break down.

How can you manage the Hollywood Studios crowds?

Sure, you can reduce your wait times with Lightning Lanes, but that entails another cost (especially if you’re opting for the outrageously expensive Lightning Lane Multipass – which can cost up to $349 + tax per person per day at Hollywood Studios!).

If you’re willing to wait in lines – or don’t mind paying for Lightning Lane Multipass (a system that’s worked decently well for me at Hollywood Studios), this won’t matter.

But if you don’t want to wait in lines or pay to skip the lines, Hollywood Studios probably won’t be too fun if you’re visiting at a peak time?

2) Limited Attractions for Younger Children

Hollywood Studios is known for being the “most thrilling” of the Disney World parks.

This makes sense; after all, it is home to the only roller coaster that goes upside down (Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster).

What is it not known for? Being the best park for children.

Most of the Disney’s Hollywood Studios rides are either too intense for young kids or have height restrictions that can limit what kids can experience.

There are only 2 rides at Hollywood Studios that don’t have height requirements:

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

disney's hollywood studios rides — The pre-show of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Toy Story Mania!

Both of these are screen-based attractions, so it may be a little boring/repetitive.

Unless you are visiting with older kids or children who enjoy the shows, Hollywood Studios may be a very skippable park.

The most “kid-friendly” park is usually considered to be Magic Kingdom, so this may be the better park to spend time at if you’re visiting with younger kids.

3) Better Alternative Experiences (& Better Theming at Other Parks) at Disney World

Hollywood Studios is a good park, but is there better elsewhere?

Yes. Let’s review:

Magic Kingdom – More attractions (including plenty of attractions without height requirements) and a daytime parade (and nighttime parade coming in 2025).
Epcot – World Showcase (where you can experience 11 pavilions for different countries), there are often festivals at Epcot – which involve different food offerings and more!
Animal Kingdom – More interesting theming – nature and animals! There is even an impressive safari with real animals!

In comparison, Hollywood Studios can feel like an explosion of random IPS – since departing in large part from the original “movie-making theme” of this park.

If we’re talking solely based on theming, Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom are more impressive and make sense (though this will likely seem less prominent in years to come – with Disney World’s new and upcoming attractions).

4) Construction at Hollywood Studios

At D23 2024, a lot of new Disney World attractions were announced.

If you’ve kept up with recent Disney’s Hollywood Studios news, you probably will have heard about the long-rumored land that has now been confirmed!

A notable Hollywood Studios addition is the new Monsters Inc. Land and suspended roller coaster!

We don’t know the full details yet, but we know one thing for sure: this will mean construction at Hollywood Studios – which may make a day here more inconvenient (and less fun).

Construction is due to begin in 2026, so beware of this if you’re planning to visit in the mid-late 2020s.

5) Special Events

Hollywood Studios holds two special events each year:

Disney Jollywood Nights (with 13 dates November-December 2024)
After Hours (with 22 nights January-September 2024)

These are special-ticket events (so your standard Disney’s Hollywood Studios tickets won’t grant you access).

Disney Jollywood Nights tickets range in price from $159-$179 (with a $10 discount for Annual Passholders and qualifying DVC members).

For After Hours tickets cost $155-$185 + tax per person (with a $30 discount for Annual Passholders and qualifying DVC members).

So yeah, these evening events are super expensive.

And if you visit on an event day with a regular ticket, you may have to leave the park earlier than usual (this tends to happen more with Disney Jollywood Nights, which begins earlier than the After Hours Events).

So, unless you’re interested in buying tickets for one of these events, be aware if/when planning a Hollywood Studios day – to make sure your ticket is valid *all* day.

(Side note: this is not me speaking badly of these events. I have attended Disney Jollywood Nights in 2023 and 2024, and enjoyed the event. But it is expensive – and annoying if you have regular tickets for Hollywood Studios – and then find out the park is closing early for guests without party tickets).

Frequently Asked Questions about Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Is Disney Hollywood Studios worth it?

It can be if:

You want to watch a lot of shows (based on Frozen, Indiana Jones, Beauty & The Beast, The Muppets and more!).

You like thrill rides.
You want to experience Star Wars and Toy Story attractions.
You would like to see Fantasmic! – the awesome nighttime show!

Why might I skip Hollywood Studios on my trip?

If you’re short on time, have younger kids, or you’re uninterested in thrill rides, it can make sense to skip a visit to Hollywood Studios.

Is Disney Hollywood Studios a full day park?

Until the opening of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge in the late 2010s, Hollywood Studios was known as a “half-day park” – lacking in attractions.

Whilst Hollywood Studios still has capacity issues and not enough rides, you could easily spend the whole day here.

If you’re interested in experiencing most or all of the rides and shows here, you would definitely need a whole day (and even that might be enough – especially if you’re waiting in standby queues all day – at busy times).

Is Hollywood Studios too focused on Star Wars and thrill rides?

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is a main focus of Hollywood Studios. And most the rides are somewhat thrilling.

If Star Wars and thrill rides are not your thing, it’s worth considering skipping this Disney park (unless you’re interested in the shows).

What is the difference between Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios?

Hollywood Studios is owned and operated to Disney, whereas Universal Studios Florida is owned by – you guessed it – Universal!

Hollywood Studios opened in 1989 – one year before the opening of Universal Studios Orlando’s first park.

They both opened with movie-making themes, although both parks are now more focused on popular IPs than the behind-the-scenes of Hollywood and this industry.

What time does Disney Hollywood Studios open?

This can vary from day to day, so make sure check Disney’s site or the My Disney Experience app for the current Hollywood Studios hours before your visit.

What was Disney Hollywood Studios called before?

Disney’s Hollywood Studios used to be called Disney MGM Studios.

Disney had a deal with MGM, which allowed them to use some of their properties in the park (think some of the scenes on The Great Movie Ride, if you ever had a chance to experience that).

However, Disney MGM Studios was re-named to Hollywood Studios in 2008 – as MGM did not decide to renew the licence agreement.

Ta Ta For Now

Have you ever skipped a day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios your vacation? Or, would you skip a Hollywood Studios day on a future visit?

Share your thoughts in the comments! 🙂

This post was all about the 5 major reasons why you should skip a park day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

5 Reasons Why You Should Skip a Park Day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Your Disney World Trip