Hollywood Boulevard is where you'll enter the park and where you'll find The Great Movie Ride. Here you will board a vehicle to ride through unforgettable scenes featuring legends of motion picture history and great movie moments captured in time with film clips and lifelike Audio-Animatronics figures.
Halfway up the boulevard, take a right onto Sunset Boulevard which is home to two of Disney-MGM Studios' most popular rides: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (my favorite!) starring Aerosmith. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride straps you into a runaway service elevator for a terrifying 13 story free fall into The Twilight Zone. This ride is not to everyone's taste (once was enough for me) and at 199-feet it's the tallest Walt Disney World attraction. The indoor Rock 'n' Roller Coaster ride is fast and furious. Strapped into "stretch limos" outfitted with 120 speakers that blare Aerosmith at 32,000 watts, you shoot from 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds, experiencing 5G pulls as you are hurled through the twists and turns of the fastest roller coaster off the line in Orlando.
The Theater of the Stars is a huge, covered amphitheater with 1,500 seat. The Beauty and the Beast -Live on Stage show is performed here several times a day. The production is 30 minutes long with scenes adapted from the movie of the same title. The gigantic Hollywood Hills Amphitheater is home to the spectacular show Fantasmic!
At the Animation Courtyard you''ll find the Magic of Disney Animation. Here you can learn the basics of animation in an amusing short live-action film and see how animated characters are made, explore the animation process in fun interactive exhibits, and get a hands-on opportunity to create your very own Disney Character sketch. The most popular show in the park is the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It's an undersea party of live performers, colorful puppets, special effects, film clips and enchanting music with Flounder, King Triton, Sebastian and others. Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage! is also geared toward youngsters and geatures singing and dancing Disney Channel Characters. Guest appearances from Bear, Tutter, Pip and Pop, plus Rolie Polie Olie, Stanley, Pooh and more.
Mickey Avenue is where you'll find the attraction: Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. Specially created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, this gallery exhibit offers a trip through time, complete with audio interviews, archival footage, inventions and innovations of the visionary whose name is synonymous with magic. The Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour is a 35 minute tour that starts out on foot then you'll board a guided tram ride for a look at life-like façades used in exterior shots from familiar television shows and movies. The best part comes when you reach Catastrophe Canyon, a highly realistic and terrifying journey through floods, explosions, earthquakes and other disasters.
Disney's Hollywood Studios Guide
It’s your backstage pass to the place “where showbiz is” and entertainment comes to life. Launched in May 1989, this park is for anyone who loves movies. Featuring realistic streets, shops, sets, and back lots on 110-acres, it's a combination theme park and studio. You'll know you're in a land of big dreams when you spot the spectacular 12-story Sorcerer Mickey Hat centered in the middle of the park. This park is a popular tourist attraction with top-notch shows and rides based on Disney and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films and TV shows which offer a tribute to the world of Hollywood and showbiz. And unlike the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, you can see Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction in one day if you arrive early.
Over the past few years the scope and magnitude of the park's attractions have been successfully expanded. Arriving early is the key to avoid waiting for long periods in line. Also bear in mind that some of the attractions might be too intense and can frighten young children.
Disney's Hollywood Studios Character Meet and Greet Locations
All along Mickey Avenue you will find a number of Disney characters ready to pose with new friends, including, Tigger, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale and Donald Duck and
you’ll even find the “big cheese” himself Mickey Mouse, who is always happy to greet new friends, sign autographs and pose for those once in a lifetime photographs.
Next to the queue for the Magic of Disney Animation tour is a photo-op spot featuring Lilo and Stitch. Pixar has two "Character Greeting" opportunities - one for the monsters from Monsters, Inc., and another featuring characters from Toy Story. Check your times schedule as you enter the park to find out when these photo-ops will take place that day.
Parades and Fireworks
Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade: Lightning McQueen & Mater are live at Disney's Hollywood Studios -- the only place in the world where you can see the newest CARS stars, along with toys Buzz, Woody & Jessie, monsters Mike & Sully, Kim Possible, Chicken Little and the Power Rangers. This is an interactive experience, so be sure to secure a viewing spot along the parade route for the opportunity to shake hands with walk-around characters. Approximately 25 minutes. Viewing Location: The parade begins by the Star Tours attraction, travels down Hollywood Boulevard and exits near the front of the park.
Fantasmic!: Mickey faces off against Disney villains in a lavish spectacular of dancing water, dramatic music, breathtaking animation, lasers, fireworks and surprises. The show takes you inside the dreams of Mickey Mouse when Disney villains intrude on Mickey's fantasy and turn his dreams into nightmares. Mickey uses the power of good to triumph over the evil-doers. The enchanting performance is synchronized to the melodies of favorite Disney classics such as "Pocahontas," "Fantasia," and "The Lion King." In the grand finale, 26 Disney characters cruise across the moat aboard a replica of the "Steamboat Willie" boat. Show Length: Approximately 26 minutes *May be frightening for some children*. Viewing Location: The Hollywood Hills Amphitheater located off Sunset Boulevard across from Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.
Disney's Hollywood Studios Tips
- Many people leave the park during bad weather or as night approaches, but this is a good time to head for the Tower of Terror ride.
- Fastpasses to the top tides - the Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - are usually gone by early afternoon. If you do not arrive early at the park, your only chance to ride these rides will be to either wait in the "standby" line for up to two hours each or stay in the park until it's nearly closing time, when the line wait times drop to around 45 minutes.
- Avoid parking in the Disney Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom lots if your visiting multiple parks throughout the day. Trams to these parking lots stop running long before the last show at the Magic Kingdom and it can take a long time for you to get back to your vehicle.
- During the parades, most of the other attractions, are quiet, but almost impossible to reach if you're not on the correct side.
- Most of the best shops are on Hollywood Boulevard, which stays open half an hour after the rest of the theme park has closed.
