An early start – though not as early as we had planned – this morning and after breakfast at the resort we got the bus to Hollywood Studios. We weren’t sure how the new booking system worked for the DAS so tried booking a ride whilst having breakfast. We then realised that you do actually have to have scanned into the park before making the reservation, which is fair enough. We were however able to book a lightning lane at 7am so we got that done for Slinky Dog Dash.
Once at Hollywood Studies (and the bus stops have been moved since we were last here and it is a LONG walk!) we first locked in a DAS ride for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad – a new ride since we were last here. We then headed straight for Star Tours as the wait was very short. I don’t normally ride this as it is not good for motion sickness. However, this year I have decided to take motion sickness tablets each morning so I thought I’d see if they made a difference. They didn’t really, so I will sit out this ride if the rest of the family want to go on it again.
With the opening of Galaxy’s Edge in 2019 (the new Star Wars section) this is the park that has had the biggest changes since we last visited in 2018. And, as a huge Star Wars fan, the bit my husband was looking forward to the most.
Well, it is impressive. For those that know the park this sits where the Cars show used to be. As you head towards The Muppets 3D show there is now a new tunnel to the right of it and this acts as the transition between Earth and Batuu. It really does work as when you emerge from the tunnel it really does feel like you are in a different world. The centre showpiece is of course the giant Millennium Falcon – not sure if it is to scale or not, but it felt like it was. We explored the merchandise shops briefly and walked on around through Toy Story Land and round to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad as it was time for our DAS.
This ride is in the Chinese Theatre at the centre of the park and replaced the much loved Great Movie Ride. I was sceptical when I heard about this ride, mainly as it uses the new style Mickey and Minnie cartoons. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This also uses the trackless ride system and is very cleverly done with projections that completely change to environment that you are in. You go under the sea, through a fairground, and dance a waltz in Daisy’s Dance Studio (along with a very violent conga!). Definitely recommended.
As soon as we had scanned into the Runaway Railway we went on to the app to lock in a DAS return time for Rise of the Resistance but not till a lot later on. By this point the heat was starting to get to me. The rest of the family wanted to do Alien Swirling Saucers which REALLY makes me feel ill, so they did that whilst I sat in the air con watching the film about Walt Disney ‘One Man and his Dream’. Sentimental, but I do love it.
Lunch was at the ABC Commissary. Hollywood does suffer from a small selection of indoor sit down quick service restaurants and we were lucky to get a seat here.
The prime purpose of this trip (we will be back many times to Hollywood Studios during our trip) was a visit to Oga’s Cantina, for which we had a booking. This is one of the hardest to get reservations on Disney property and is the bar from the first Star Wars film.
Our reservation was 3.30 but it was about 3.45 when we got in. The bar is very small and cramped. There are a few booths around the edges, and some tall tables for standing at in the middle. There is also standing space at the bar. You don’t get a choice on where you go and we were lucky enough to be seated at one of the booths – though that doesn’t mean you get a booth to yourself. There were two other parties there with us.
The experience is 45 mins long and so if you are going I would recommend looking at the menu in advance to decide what you want.
I had a Jabba Juice and an Oga’s Obsession.
The headline drink is the blue milk which my daughter had but wasn’t keen on.
My overriding memory of this experience is that it was loud. I did use my air pods as I guessed this would be the case and the noise cancelling did help. Would I recommend this? If you can get a reservation and you are a massive Star Wars fan, then yes. But I do think it is a ‘once and done’ thing. There have been lots of complaints online about the whole set up. If you have kids and get sent to a standing area then they will either be looking at the front of a bar or the legs of a table (as they won’t be tall enough to see the top of the bar or table). People have also not being happy about the fact that you are on your feet all day in the parks and they book this thinking that it will be a nice rest for 45 mins, only to find out that they have to stand. I’m glad we did it (and very glad that we got a booth) but wouldn’t book it next time.
Then it was time for Rise of the Resistance. This ride did not open when Galaxy’s Edge did and so is the newest ride in the park. This uses the trackless ride system that was first used at the Ratatouille ride in Disney Paris (which has recently opened at WDW). The biggest thing that got me about it was the sheer scale of it – at one point you enter a room with full sized AT-ATs! The pre-show is very good. For those who aren’t aware the pre-show is technically part of the queue and introduces you to the ride. However for wait times they measure until you enter the pre-show as it makes the queue seem shorter! When your feet ache that extra time you spend on them during the pre-show seems to last forever!
The idea behind this ride is that you have been captured by the order and taken to their ship. This happens during the pre-show and you are taking in a group of 8 for an interrogation about the location of the Rebel base. However, during the interrogation you are liberated by the resistance and then you enter the ride vehicle as you try to escape the ship.
As I said, this is a trackless ride, but far more advanced than anything they’ve done before as it involves two levels and so the GPS system has to communicate over those two levels. We have heard that this ride goes down a lot due to technical issues. The ride itself is good, but it is the theming that ranks it up to an excellent experience.
We were getting tired so headed back to the resort for a dinner (quick service from Sassagoula) and an early night.
Finally there are two new experiences debuting in 2019 focused around Mickey Mouse. Firstly, a new nighttime spectacular at Hollywood Studios (most likely replacing the Star Wars Fireworks, rather than Fantasmic). Secondly the long awaited replacement for The Great Movie Ride, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will open.