Hollywood Studios

We woke up around 7am on Sunday morning. We did not have to get up particularly early because the parks have limited hours right now. Disney is also requiring guest to have reservations. Today our reservation was at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The park hours were 10am - 7pm. We did want to arrive somewhat early because Hollywood Studios is the most popular park right now. They open a virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance at 10am. Most guests want to be in the park at that time to have a shot at riding the marquee attraction. We got up and ready for the day. We made breakfast burritos and fruit to eat before leaving the hotel. 

We left at around 8:20. This is our first time parking at Disney World and we weren't sure what to expect. Well it turned out leaving too early right now is an issue. We are only ~15 minutes away. We arrived at the parking lot at 8:35, but they weren't open yet. So they were turning people away. We drove around Disney World for 20 minutes before trying again. This time we were able to line up and get into the parking lot when they opened at 9:05am. We were out of our car and headed into the park around 9:15am. Before entering the park they checked out temperature and they have new touch less security. You walk through a scanner. I had to take our umbrellas out of our backpack and hold them in front of me, but otherwise everything we had could remain in the backpack/our pockets. It was really nifty and avoided lines/crowds. 

We were excited to visit Hollywood Studios because it has changed significantly since our last trip to Disney World. They opened Toy Story Land, Galaxy's Edge and a Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. All of the above is the reason this by far currently the most popular Disney World park. We heard that even though the posted open time is 10am they start running rides at 9:30 to avoid crowds. This rumor was in fact true. We rope dropped Slinky Dog dash. This is the new E attraction in Toy Story Land. It is very popular. It had a little bit of a line and we were to the front by 9:40. Right when we were waiting to board the ride went down. We were a little nervous. We really wanted to get a reservation for Rise of the Resistance, in fact, we considered this the most important priority of the day and determined that if we were not on Slinky Dog Dash by 9:50 we would abandon the line to attempt the virtual queue. Fortunately, we were on the ride around 9:45. Slinky Dog Dash was a fun roller coaster, but was honestly not our favorite. It was a cross between the red roller coaster and Big Thunder Mountain. We decided that it wasn't worth the wait to do it again because it had at least a 50 minute wait the rest of the day. 

We were off the ride around 9:50 and headed to a quiet spot away from people to attempt the virtual queue. Eric had wicked fast fingers and scored us boarding group 4!! We couldn't believe it. It was such a great moment. Our next ride was the Tower of Terror. We waited around 35 minutes for the ride and it didn't disappoint. Due to COVID the pre-show wasn't running, which was a little sad because the Tower of Terror pre-show really sets up the ride. We made it on an elevator with just one other group and really enjoyed the ride. Tower of Terror was one of my favorites before they changed it to Guardians of the Galaxy at Disneyland. Although I still really love the Guardians version, Tower of Terror still has my heart. Eric disagrees - he prefers the Guardians version. 

After Tower of Terror the lines were REALLY long throughout the park and it was really hot. They called our boarding group so we headed over to Galaxy's Edge, but the ride had just gone down so they told us we could come back any other time during the day once it came back up. We had read that the lines at Hollywood Studios were longest earlier in the day because so many people get to the park at opening to attempt a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group. We decided that we would take the morning a bit slower and wait for lines to get to more manageable levels. We went to the shortest line which was Muppet Vision 3D. Neither Eric or I really like the Muppets, but it was air conditioned and only a 10 minute wait, so we were sold. While we were waiting for the Muppets, we placed a Mobile Food Order for Docking Bay 7. This is the same restaurant that is in Disneyland and it's my favorite! 

As soon as we were finished with Muppets we headed to Galaxy's Edge to pick up our food. They were incredibly organized. Once we were notified our food was ready, we went to the podium where they confirmed that our food was in fact ready and then sent us inside the restaurant. Inside they got our food and a cast member directed us to a table far away from other patrons. Although we were inside, we were far away from everyone else and we were in the air conditioning again, so we were pretty stoked. Eric had the Chicken Salad and I had the Plant Based Meatballs. They were both excellent and we left satisfied. 

After lunch we went to Rise of the Resistance, which was running again. This ride is so incredible. We were fortunate to do this in January in Disneyland, so we were so excited to do it again. Although it was a little different in a COVID world, the characters and the energy were the same. The line inside the queue was about an hour, but there were benches and air conditioning again, so we were happy to wait. When we got to the pre-show one of the First Order Characters pointed to a hand sanitizer dispenser and referred to it as a "droid." Hand Sanitizer dispensers will now forever be referred to as droids in my mind.  He also mocked our choice of sandals and told us that we could never be part of the First Order with THOSE shoes. We were dying - it was so hilarious. 

After we completed Rise of the Resistance we headed to Toy Story Land and rode Midway Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers. They were both fun rides, they also had short wait times. Both of these rides lend themselves to social distancing and could be run at full capacity, which helped keep their lines short, even on a somewhat busy day. We then headed to the Rock'n Roller Coaster. This is one of our favorites and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Again, they skipped the pre-show due to COVID, but we remembered it from our last trip. We then headed to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. This is the newest ride in Hollywood Studios and opened in February right before the park closed. The queue was mainly outdoor and it started pouring rain soon after we got in line. We pulled out our umbrellas, which kept everything dry except for our feet. Fortunately we knew it was likely to rain so we had planned footwear that worked for rain, but not for the First Order. 

Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway was such a great ride. We absolutely loved it. It's a trackless dark ride that takes place in 1928, so the characters are vintage animation. It was so much fun. We finished the ride and said we wanted to do it again before the day ended. The line for Millennium Falcon was shorter by then, so we headed back to Galaxy's Edge for some Blue Milk and to ride the Millennium Falcon. We were in our own ride vehicle for this ride, which was interesting, but also fun. We are great pilots! 

We had time for one more ride, so we headed back to the front of the park and did Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway one more time. It was just as good the second time. My favorite part is when Daisy teaches dance lessons, which turned into a spontaneous dance party in our ride vehicle. There are definitely some perks to not having to share ride vehicles with strangers. 

The park was nearing closing at that point so we headed out. Hollywood Studios is the most crowded of the parks at the resort and we were prepared for long lines and lots of people. Although the lines were long in the morning, they shortened in the afternoon and we were able to do every ride we wanted to including Mickey and Minnie's twice. The parks are definitely different due to COVID. Everyone is required to wear masks and cast members remind people who have their noses hanging out that their nose, mouth, and chin need to be covered. We both commented that mask compliance was easily above 97%. Additionally, queues had line markers to ensure that everyone stayed 6 feet away from other parties. And we either always had our own ride vehicle, or had an empty row between us and the next party. Ultimately, we felt completely safe at Disney World and cannot wait for another day of fun! 

After we left we headed back to our hotel and ordered Door Dash. We picked a Chinese place and we both ordered rice bowls. They were great and we enjoyed eating them on our balcony. We then went to the hotel lobby and checked out the movie "A Dog's Journey" (the selection was very limited) which we watched in bed. It was a really great movie and made us miss our baby, Tex.