Touring Hollywood Studios Without DAS
With the changes to Disability Access Service (DAS), including the new restrictions on who can qualify, we started to brainstorm how we would manage a Walt Disney World trip with our neurodivergent family members without the use of DAS. These are the ideas we came up with for touring Hollywood Studios and thought we would share in case they helped other families in a similar situation. If you are looking for a general plan on how to approach your Walt Disney World Vacation without DAS click here.
Know that our personal plans will involve following this strategy, but in tandem with purchasing Lightning Lane Multi Pass (LLMP) and Lightning Lane Single Pass (LLSP). We know that is not a realistic choice for many people - and that you may have an ethical problem with purchasing this after having been denied DAS. There are some rides like Slinky Dog Dash that will be very difficult to experience with a limited wait-time without purchasing a LLMP. There are less rides at Hollywood Studios, and all of them are extremely popular, so you will need to keep that in mind. If you are only going to buy LLMP at one park, this is the park to do it. You can read more about using LLMP here.
There is not going to be a one size fits all approach for those who have any kind of disability that makes waiting in line for any length of time untenable. Also of note, we have always needed to navigate the parks in a way that avoids crowded areas and bottlenecks as much as possible. We have a post detailing our best strategies for managing this here which includes a map for the Hollywood Studios. We also have suggestions on where to go to take a sensory break if crowds get to overwhelming here.
Fantasmic
Must Dos:
You will need to come up with a very clear realistic idea of what is important for your family to accomplish. We try to make sure we hit something that is important to everyone on our trip, so we make these plans as a family. Read more about finding your Must Dos here.
If Rise of the Resistance is a must do for your family we really feel the only way to manage without a long wait is to buy a Lightning Lane Single Pass.
Get to the park early:
Rope Drop/Early Entry will be your friend if the person with the disability can manage early mornings. You will need to get there at least an hour before the scheduled opening. That way you can wait at the front of the large number of people waiting to get in. If that isn’t possible, because sometimes that crowd can be a lot too, wait over to the side. Then do not waste your time with the big E-Ticket (most popular rides in the parks) rides at the park unless one of them is your only goal for that morning. Everyone heads for Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash. If you head there also it will still be crowded and overwhelming. You will however be able to knock out a number of other attractions with your Early Entry time if you play your cards right. Read more about Early Entry here.
We recommend heading toward Sunset Boulevard and either riding Tower of Terror or Rock n Roller Coaster. You can most likely only manage one of them before the lines start to build up. If you are not a trill ride fan, head instead for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. Afterwards that you can easily hit up 2-4 other attractions depending on the crowd levels.
To sum up, of the attractions that are open during Early Entry, we recommend trying for 2-3 of these:
One of these:
Rock n Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
OR
Mickie and Minnie's Runaway Railway
Then:
Toy Story: Midway Mania
Star Tours
Alien Swirling Saucers
You will not be able to do all of these suggested attractions before the park opens for everyone, so again pick your must-dos.
Shows:
The Shows at Hollywood Studios are all top notch. Once lines at the big attractions start to build up and become untenable, try Muppet Vision*3D, Frozen Sing Along, or the Beauty and the Beast Stage Show.
Midday Break:
With walking between attractions, the possible rests the may be needed between the attractions, and actually riding the attractions and/or watching the shows it will probably be close to or a bit past midday at this point. Around this midday point we would most likely exit the park and return to our hotel for bubble time/lunch/pool time and return in the evening. Is it possible to stay in the park all day? Yes. There are less crowded attractions and shows you can participate in. We have suggestions for areas to take a sensory break within the park here. But it is not something we personally would attempt with our neurodivergent family members. Trying to get them to power through the day often results in a breakdown that will make doing anything for the remainder of the day impossible. Taking a break at the hotel allows them to regroup, recharge, and get excited for evening activities.
Returning in the Evening:
We would most likely return to the park at dinner time or just after dinner. We would definitely recommend getting an Advanced Dining Reservation early in the evening with a Fantasmic Dining Package if Fantasmic is a priority for your family. However, after dinner Toy Story Land and Batuu start to clear out as people make their way toward Sunset Boulevard for Fantasmic. This can be a great time with lower lines to try and hit those E-ticket rides you might have missed this morning. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon, and maybe even Slinky Dog Dash and Rise of the Resistance will have much shorter lines just before park closing. If you missed one of these in the morning now would be a good time to try again. Again, just know that you will most likely only be able to do one or maybe two of them.
Fantasmic:
If experiencing Fantasmic is important to your family but the prospect of managing the chaos of the crowds is too much, we recommend either booking a Fantasmic Dining Package or heading to the amphitheater at least an hour before the show starts. Sit in one of the back sections - along the right side if you are facing the stage. If cast members try to direct you differently just explain the problem to them. They have always been very accommodating to us. Sitting in the back on the right side will allow you to exit first once the show is over. With a Fantasmic Dining Package you will be able to arrive later and be sat in a reserved area. However, since you will not be positioned right next the exit you will need to plan to hang out for a little bit while the crowd dissipates.
Character Meet and Greets:
We typically do not prioritize character meet and greets when we are with our neurodiverse family members. To get our character interactions we will do character meals. The meals are better because our family members can see the characters coming and decide how much they want to interact with the characters, or if they just want to sit back and bubble. The characters are generally really good about reading the table and seeing who wants to say hi and get a hug and who they should just wave at.
There is one character meal at Hollywood Studios: Hollywood and Vine. At breakfast it features Disney Jr. characters such as Vampirina and Doc McStuffins. For lunch and dinner you can visit with Minnie Mouse and friends. To read more about character dining check out our article here.
If the other meet and greet options around the park are important to your family, we recommend checking times that are available and lining up about 15 minutes prior to one of the times to minimize your wait.
Dining:
If you plan to eat a meal in the park try to avoid peak meal times and make use of Mobile Order if it is available. Read more about Mobile Ordering here. Around lunch and dinner the quick service dining locations in the park will be very crowded, making it hard to find a table and even if you can find one the area will be loud and very busy. We have found this is not ideal for our neurodiverse family members. To avoid the dining chaos we will try to time lunch early if we plan to eat in the park, or a little late and have lunch at one of the nearby hotels or back at our own hotel. For dinner we will often plan a sit down meal, which is a much more controlled environment and allows our neurodiverse family members to bubble if they need to.
We know it can feel a bit like a brave new world without the use of DAS, and for some it may even feel like a Disney vacation is no longer viable for your family. For us Disney has always been a safe space where our differences don’t mean we cannot have a magical time. While these changes to the accommodations Disney is willing to offer don’t feel very magical right now, Disney will still be our go to family vacation; even if we have to approach how we plan and handle our days with more intention for our neurodiverse family members. We hope these tips we have put together will help you and your family reclaim your own magical vacation.
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