Back in November, a friend and I got to do a 4 night stay at Pop Century Resort.  On our first 3 days, we already visited Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Disney Springs.  Our last theme park on our last day we got to visit Hollywood Studios.  We are both Star Wars fans and were really excited to check out the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that recently opened in 2019.

Getting There

Since we were staying at Pop Century Resort, our best way to Hollywood Studios was to take the free Skyliner.  The station was really close to our hotel and when we arrived, there was no one in the wheelchair line.  I really enjoy riding the accessible gondola as we get such a great view of everything during the 10 minute Skyliner ride.

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios opened in May 1989 and was the third theme park to open at Disney World.  It is dedicated to the imagined worlds of film, TV, music and live theater and was originally named Disney-MGM Studio Park until 2008.

It is on 135 acres (55ha) and is divide into 7 different areas/lands: Hollywood Boulevard, Echo Lake, Grand Avenue, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Toy story Land, Animation Courtyard, and Sunset Boulevard.  The following is the main highlights that we did for our visit and which area it could be found.

Star Tours – The Adventure Continues

(Echo Lake)

After entering the theme park at Hollywood Boulevard, we got our handy wheelchair accessible guide map.  We looked around at this Hollywood street replica before heading out to our first ride, Star Tours – The Adventure continues.  This Star Wars ride opened a decade ago in Echo Lake and is the reason why it’s not at the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

The queue area for this ride resembles a spaceport terminal and looks quite fancy and modern like in the movies. We see characters like C-3P0 and R2-D2 and giant LCD screens with space scenes.  My friend had to lift me into a ride vehicle and seatbelt me in.  3D glasses are needed for this ride and the whole seat shakes, tilts and rumbles for the duration.  My friend helped me stay stable during this entire exciting experience.

Santa’s Merry Motorcade

(Hollywood Boulevard)

When we finished with our ride at Echo Lake, we see and hear some Christmas music and Santa Claus driving by with colorful elves and Pluto dressed as a reindeer on Hollywood Boulevard.  This mini parade is only a few minutes long and is similar to the other cavalcades and flotillas that runs serval times a day.  Since there is no massive Christmas parade at any Disney World theme park this year because of the pandemic, this is a safer alternative in keeping with the Christmas spirit.

For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration

(Echo Lake)

Located at Hyperion Theater in Echo Lake, we headed to our next show.  For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration is a 30 minute musical show based on the 2013 movie Frozen.  The wheelchair seating is at the back of this large theater.

It was a fun family show and the actors are quite funny.  All the main popular songs from the movie like “Let It Go” was sung and the audience did get to join along and help sing the song.

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

(Hollywood Boulevard)

Using DAS (click here for recap on what it is) on the My Disney Experience app, we finally got to go to this very popular new ride.  Located with the park’s replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater and opened in March 2020, this is Disney’s first ride based on Mickey Mouse.  Once we enter the theater, we are led to the pre-show area where we watch a Perfect Picnic animated short.  The show leads us to the queue area to get on a train vehicle.

My friend had to lift me right into a ride vehicle and help secure me in.  This ride uses a trackless system and it was great to see Mickey, Minnie and their friends interact with us on screens and using animatronics.  The ride vehicle did move around fast and goes side to side but was never really scary.  This was one of my favorite rides from all of Disney World.

Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage

(Sunset Boulevard)

From Hollywood Boulevard, our next activity was right next door in Sunset Boulevard.  We went to see Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage, which is a 25 minute Broadway style musical at the Theater of the Stars that debut in November 1991.  Accessible seating options were either at the very front or the very back of theater.  We chose to be at the very front.

The view of the stage was really amazing as we got to see all the colorful costumes and characters up close.  They used the songs from the movie and I thought this show was one of my favorites along with the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom.  I liked how everyone gave a standing ovation to the cast at the very end.

Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy

(Sunset Boulevard)

After the show, we went to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.  I wanted to try this ride but decided not to, since the ride goes upside down.  I waited for my friend to go on and then went to see another show that is nearby.  Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is a 10 minute show that opened March 2019 at Sunset Showcase Theater.

It is a smaller theater and with the accessible seating at the back, it still feels pretty close to the front.  This show seems to be aimed at kids as we watch on a screen McQueen and his pals learn some racing tricks to challenge each other on a race.  It was still enjoyable to see this show.

Star Wars Launch Bay

(Animation Courtyard)

We then went to Animation Courtyard as it started to rain.  Luckily we brought our ponchos to wear and saw that Star Wars Launch Bay was a good spot to hide from the rain.  Even though this walkthrough attraction based on Star Wars was closed cause of the pandemic, we were still able to go inside to look at all the posters, artifacts and paintings.

Walt Disney Presents Gallery and Exhibits

(Animation Courtyard)

We continued to do indoor activities because of the rain and went to Walt Disney Presents.  This interactive gallery features some really cool memorabilia from the Disney archives.  It was really easy to get around in my wheelchair as we got to see some really cool pictures and models of some iconic Disney structures like the Cinderella castle.

Toy Story Land

The rain has lessened slightly so we decided to venture out and explore Toy Story Land.  It really was cool to see all the giant wooden blocks, toys and all the classic Toy Story characters from the movies.  By this time, we used our DAS pass to reserve a 3 hour wait time for the new Star Wars ride so we couldn’t reserve for any of the Toy Story rides.  I already went on the Toy Story Mania ride at Disney California Park and at Tokyo DisneySea and was fine skipping it here.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

While we are still waiting for our return time for the Star Wars ride, we decided to explore Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.  It was still slightly raining so it wasn’t too bad as we still had our ponchos on.  I really enjoyed this area because it really made me feel like I was in one the Star Wars movies.  The replica spaceships really were spectacular and literally out of this world.

Muppet*Vision 3D

(Grand Avenue)

Still having time to wait four our next ride, we saw Muppet*Vision 3D at the Grand Arts Theater.  This 15 minute show was quite funny and was about Kermit the Frog guiding guests through Muppet Studios, while the Muppets prepare their sketch acts.  All craziness then ensues as the show goes on.  The accessible seating area was at the front and the view of the stage was perfect.

Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo

(Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge)

We had enough time to get a quick meal at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo back at Star Wars Land.  This restaurant is inside a hangar bay and is inspired by foods from out of this world.  I had the roasted Endorian chicken salad which was quite a great size and was really delicious.  By the time we finished our meal, it was finally time to go on our ride.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

(Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge)

It was a 3 hour wait with our DAS pass but we finally got to go in the queue area for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride.  It opened in December 2019 and the wait times for this ride is one of the longest across all 4 parks.  The queue area was so bright and looked really futuristic as we are in a Resistance Control Center.  We then see stormtroopers and are then led into a spaceship.

It shakes and moves around and it actually felt like we were in a spaceship flying around.  The screens show space scenes and other planets and spaceships.  For the next part of this experience, my friend lifted and transferred me into a ride vehicle.  It is a trackless ride similar to the Mickey and Minnie ride.  This ride however has a vertical drop simulator that was a bit thrilling.  It was definitely the best ride and ironically was the last ride for our trip.

Wonderful World of Animation

(Sunset Boulevard)

The park was nearing closing so we headed to Sunset Boulevard to watch the Wonderful World of Animation at the Chinese Theater.  This 12 minute projection show takes us through more than 90 years of Disney and Pixar animation.  There wasn’t a designated wheelchair seating area but luckily it wasn’t overcrowded and I was able to see everything.

It was amazing to see the Chinese Theater all lit up with animated clips from their movies.  There are lasers, smoke and music that really blended in great with the animation and it really capped off our great day at this theme park before taking the Skyliner back to our hotel.

Final Thoughts

My friend and I had a great last day at Disney World and was happy to spend over 10 hours at Hollywood Studios.  We got to watch a few great shows and the 3 rides that I went on were so amazing.  Even though none of the rides I went on were truly wheelchair accessible, they were worth the effort of getting transferred into.

My overall experience at all Disney World theme parks and resort have been a positive one and exhausting.  I am really glad I brought a friend that was able to transfer me on some of the rides.  Accessibility was still great even though more accessible rides would have been nice.  Disney really captured the magic in all their parks but it was pricy.  I can’t wait to revisit Disney World again sometime soon.