Planning where to stay in relation to where you will be spending the most time is one of the keys to planning a super successful Walt Disney World vacation. We are not saying that you can't stay anywhere on property and still have a good time, but these relationships will save you vast amounts of time if you plan on using the resort transportation systems. We will continue to drill down to more detail within the parks, but you are going to start to see a lot more information concerning rides and restaurants as we continue our posts.
In this set of blog posts we are going to outline the available Disney resort hotels in the area, transportation between the hotels and the highlighted park, and a quick breakdown of the areas of the highlighted park.
Hollywood Studios has received the last 2 major additions to the Walt Disney World parks and has quickly become one of the most popular places to visit. The additions of Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge have brought throngs of people to this park and it doesn't look like it will let up anytime soon.
Hollywood Studios Resort Hotels
Funny enough, Disney does not list a Hollywood Studios area as one of their filter options. There are a couple of hotels that really don't fall into any other category, so they end up on the list here. The future brings one of the most interesting concepts to a Disney stay in 2021.
Art of Animation - One of our favorite resorts heads up this list. It is considered a "Value" resort at the time of writing, but we do feel like this and the next one mentioned are in the process of being upgraded and moved to the "Moderate" tier in the near future. This is one of the best themed resorts at Walt Disney World and has wings dedicated to "The Little Mermaid", "Lion King", "Finding Nemo", and "Cars". The Little Mermaid section houses all of the "Value" type rooms while the other sections are dedicated to family suites. The pool outside of the main building is one of the best on WDW property.
Pop Century - As stated above, this is the other "Value" resort that we could see being pushed up to the "Moderate" level in the near future. This one is more set up like a value resort, with most of the rooms offering the 2 double or 1 king bed options. The buildings are set up as different decades of pop culture. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the rooms on our last visit and will be adding this to our favorites list for adult travel.
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser - To add to the excitement of the opening to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Disney announced the addition of this hotel that will be right outside of the expansion to the park. This "hotel" will offer a 2-night, all-immersive adventure that includes a visit to Batuu and the Black Spire Outpost (Galaxy's Edge). To get you in the right mindset, think of a cruise ship in outer space. You will be in the "hotel" for the entirety of your stay outside the visit to Batuu, but there looks to be an immense amount of Star Wars activities on board.
Transportation
Skyliner - This is the newest mode of transportation at Walt Disney World. This gondola system connects 4 of the resort complexes with both Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. It is a continuously moving system and does offer handicap and mobility needs access to the system through a split line in each station. There is a hub station at Caribbean Beach and lines that originate there to Hollywood Studios, EPCOT through Riviera Resort, and the Hourglass Lake Station between Art of Animation and Pop Century resorts. For some of the routes, you may need to change lines at the hub station.
Boats - Boats run a continuous route between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios with stops at Yacht Club, Boardwalk, and the Swan and Dolphin Complex. This is a fun way to travel between the parks, but can get pretty congested and is the most vehicle limited transport system in this area.
Walking - The same resorts serviced by the boat system also offer the ability to walk to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. The farthest walk to Hollywood Studios is from the Beach Club hotel, but it is still only in the 10-15 minute area depending on your pace.
Buses - Both resorts listed have bus service to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT on a lengthened schedule, 1 bus every hour. Bus service to all of the other parks and Disney Springs are on the normal 20 minute schedule.
Hollywood Studios Park Areas
Entrance Area (Hollywood Blvd.) - The entrance to this park just completed construction in 2019 to ready the park for the expected crowds upon the opening of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge. It has a very nice and controlled flow through the front gates and deposits you on to Hollywood Blvd. This area is themed to replicate the golden era of Hollywood and contains mostly shops and dining down to the replica of the Chinese Theater that is now the home of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. To the left, there is a path that takes you past the new home of the Frozen show and will eventually lead you to the Muppets area of the park. To the right is Animation Courtyard, the home of most of the Disney Jr. friends.
Sunset Blvd. - The first “street” to the right leads to the next are of the park. As you walk past more shops and dining options, you find yourself in the shadow of the Hollywood Tower Hotel, home of Tower of Terror. To the left of the Tower Hotel, you will find Rock n Roller Coaster and the home of Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. To the right, you will find the Beauty and the Beast stage show and the path back to the Fantasmic theater.
Toy Story Land - The first of the new additions to this park expanded the reach of Woody and Buzz from a single ride, Toy Story Midway Mania, to a whole land. Toy Story now provides the story line to 3 rides, including the Slink Dog Dash roller coaster, and a quick service dining option. This area also hosts an Early Morning Magic ticketed event on select mornings allowing guests a 75 minute head start prior to park open and a breakfast. You can click here for more information.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge - The newest park expansion caters to fans loyal to a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Galaxy's Edge is extremely immersive and is home to 2 new rides and multiple dining options. We had the chance to check out during the Passholder early access event and documented our journey in it's own blog. Check it out here. This area also has 2 of the more interesting souvenir experiences as well in the ability to build your own lightsaber and droid.
Hollywood Studios is home to 11 attractions and 6 shows, but really shines when you look at the immersion of the new lands and everything else that goes on around you in the park. This has quickly become the busiest park on most days due to the new additions and can be a tricky park to plan for, but recent changes to the FastPass+ tiers has helped that out a little. Until Disney figures out what is going to happen with Rise of the Resistance FastPasses, you will have to be there at rope drop to have any chance to enjoy the ride.
Are you ready to take the next step? Fill out our information form on the Booking Your Trip page and let's talk about your Disney adventure. If you are looking for more information, the Disney Planning Insights Podcasts and Princesses and the Mouse Blogs provide more information to help you plan your next Disney vacation.
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