A Free Ride Spreadsheet for Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Help You Plan (By Resorts Gal)
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the smallest of the theme parks at Walt Disney World. However, that doesn’t make it any less difficult when it comes to planning how you’ll spend your time. Hollywood Studios has some of the most popular attractions among the theme parks. It’s also a great park for meeting characters!
So to help you plan, I created a ride spreadsheet for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The spreadsheet lists attractions, height requirements, character meet-and-greets, Lightning Lanes, and significant entertainment offerings. It also has tabs containing the same information for the other three theme parks at Walt Disney World. Our spreadsheet was prepared with Google Sheets, so you will need a free Gmail account to access it on your computer or mobile device. You can request a copy of this spreadsheet toward the end of this article. However, there are a few things you’ll want to know ahead of time.
Getting Started with Our Spreadsheet
When you request access, you’ll receive an email with a link to the spreadsheet. You must have a Google account to access the sheet. If you’re using a mobile device, you must download the Google Sheets app and sign in via your Google account (Gmail) to access it. After that, you can open the Google Sheets app and select the sheet.
If you open the link to the spreadsheet on a regular computer, it opens in a Google browser (as long as you use Google as your preferred search engine). It is then automatically saved to your account. To access it later from a desktop computer or laptop, select the waffle icon in the top right-hand corner of your screen. Then, scroll down and select “Sheets” from the list. You should now see a copy of the spreadsheet.
Note: This particular spreadsheet is not editable, so please do not request to make a copy of it. When we become aware of park changes, we update the sheet. You’ll also want to be aware of a few things:
- Many changes will occur at Walt Disney World over the next five to ten years. Some rides or areas of certain parks might be under construction or down for refurbishment. If you’re looking forward to a specific ride, we recommend checking Disney’s Ride Refurbishment Calendar before your visit.
- Characters and entertainment are subject to change. We always recommend checking the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit to check availability for characters. Below, is an excerpt I put together that details the steps I take to locate characters in the app. (All the character meet-and-greets we’ve included on the spreadsheet meet regularly. But it’s important to stress that things can change.)
How to Locate Characters in the My Disney Experience App
- Open the MDE app and select the pin drop at the bottom of the home screen.
- Select the “Characters” category at the top middle of the screen. (The default is “Wait Times”.)
- After selecting characters, use the park filter to select the park on the top left side of the screen.
- Then, on the top right side of the screen, select “Show List.”
- Scroll through the list of characters with their times and locations.
*As the day passes, you might notice that characters disappear from the app. When their last scheduled time passes, the meet-and-greet automatically disappears. A new schedule won’t be loaded until the following day. It is essential to check the app for meet-and-greets on the day of your visit.
How to Use the Spreadsheet
Once you open the spreadsheet, you’re greeted with a “Start Here” tab that briefly explains how it works. If you’re familiar with spreadsheets, the rest is self-explanatory. But I’ll review it so you can get the hang of it. (If you do not use spreadsheets regularly, no worries. It is truly simple.)
For this article, we’re focusing on Disney’s Hollywood Studios. So look to the bottom of the spreadsheet and select the tab titled “Hollywood Studios.” I’ve placed a red arrow on the screenshot below to help identify where to look.
When you select the tab, the spreadsheet for Disney’s Hollywood Studios opens. I’ve color-coded a few things on the spreadsheet to help you differentiate them.
The first column is titled Hollywood Studios. Below that column, some rows have a dark blue shade. The dark blue row indicates a specific land or area of the park. For example, the first dark blue row is for Hollywood Boulevard. It lists the attractions and character meet-and-greets in that park area.
I am a fan of touring where you’re at when possible. That said, Hollywood Studios has a small enough footprint that you can quickly get between several of the park areas if needed. For instance, if you’re in Galaxy’s Edge to ride the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, you can quickly get to Toy Story Land by taking the back entrance that adjoins the two lands.
The next column highlights the rides, attractions, and character meet-and-greets. We see Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at the top of the list. You might notice that it doesn’t have a height requirement. But if we look a little further down, we see that Star Tours–The Adventure Continues has a 40″ height requirement.
Characters are shaded in a light blue color. We’ve selected a group of character meet-and-greets below as an example. This is our favorite park for meeting characters. You can meet many of the Incredible characters in Pixar Plaza. The park also offers several opportunities to meet Star Wars characters.
The next column is for Lightning Lane Multi Pass. This field indicates if an attraction is part of the Multi Pass Lightning Lane service. It also indicates which tier the ride falls under. (But you will only need to know that when planning your initial Lightning Lane choices.) If you’re unfamiliar with how Lightning Lanes work, please see our extensive guide below.
Related: The One-Stop Disney World Lightning Lane Guide
You might notice the Hollywood Studios spreadsheet has one row highlighted in red. This row indicates a ride that offers Lightning Lane Single Pass, which is an extra cost. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is currently the only Lightning Lane Single Pass at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you’re a Star Wars fan or have never ridden this attraction previously, we think it’s worth the extra cost. However, this attraction does offer a standby line, so you can wait in line to ride it. Those who don’t want to incur the extra expense will want to get this ride of the way as early as possible.
Touring Tip: We also like to get in line for Rise of the Resistance a few minutes before the park closes for minimal waits. But we do not recommend waiting this late to ride it the first time. If the ride were to go down, it might not be available.
Next, we have a column for Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours. These columns may or may not apply to you. You can check the highlighted articles above to determine your eligibility. If you are eligible, you’ll want to:
- a.) Take advantage of these extra hours in the park.
- b.) Be aware of what attractions are available during these special hours.
*Extended evening hours are rare at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They are typically offered on select evenings between September and December.
Moving over to the last column, I’ve added a few tips and references for each item. These are things that I’ve learned from personal experience that might help you in the planning process. For example, we mention that Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is pretty epic and that it lasts approximately 30 minutes. (We wouldn’t miss it!)
Get the Resorts Gal Ride Spreadsheet for Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Sign up below, and we’ll send you access to the spreadsheet along with our best planning resources. You’ll also receive access to the Resorts Gal Ride Selector, one of our most popular planning tools!
*Note: the spreadsheet is for all four parks. We’ve listed the spreadsheet guide for each park below.
Final Thoughts
We hope you find this spreadsheet helpful in your planning process. If you need instructions for the other tabs, here is the list of spreadsheet guides for each one:
Or you might like to preview our Disney’s Hollywood Studios Planning Guide.
In the Comments
What do you think? Did you enjoy this planning spreadsheet for Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Let us know below in the comments.
