Looking to Rope Drop Hollywood Studios and wondering where to start? In this blog we give you all the scenarios, factoring in times, preferences, transportation, Lightning Lanes, and more!

The BEST Strategy for Rope Drop at Hollywood Studios

Planning a trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios is much more efficient using rope drop or Early Entry.  Both occur when the park opens, with early entry 30 minutes before the park opening and reserved for Walt Disney World Hotel guests and Good Neighbor hotel guests. Rope Drop is reserved for everyone else arriving at or before the regular park opening.  Careful planning can allow you to see the top attractions with fewer crowds. Our guide shares insights to maximize your morning at Hollywood Studios! 

Understanding Rope Drop at Hollywood Studios

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the second most competitive park at Disney World as far as attractions go (Magic Kingdom is the first), so understanding “rope drop” is key. This term describes how the park doesn’t typically open its gates precisely at the scheduled time. Instead, it employs a few methods.

Formerly, a rope barrier held the crowds back, and it was dropped at the park’s opening. Now, Cast Members control the crowd until they officially start the day.

Rope Drop and Early Entry give guests an edge in heading straight to popular attractions such as Slinky Dog Dash, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance with shorter queues. This strategy, paired with a well-thought-out plan, can truly make or break your visit to Hollywood Studios and help you avoid the inevitable long lines later in the day.

Early Entry Advantage for Disney Resort Guests

Guests at Disney Resort hotels or select partner hotels (often referred to as Good Neighbor hotels) have a special perk. They can access the Disney World theme parks, including Hollywood Studios, 30 minutes before the park opens. This “Early Entry” perk allows on-site guests to enjoy being among the first guests in the park.

The ideal time to arrive for Early Theme Park Entry at Hollywood Studios is before the official Eary Entry start time.  I recommend arriving 30 to 60 minutes before Early Entry (the 60 minutes is for busier days/seasons.  This would mean 60 to 90 minutes before the actual park opening.

Park Opening times can change so always refer to the My Disney Experience app to be sure you are planning your arrival time appropriately.  In general, Hollywood Studios usually opens between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m.

This daily benefit includes the day they arrive and leave. It gives guests a sweet advantage on the best rides at Hollywood Studios.  

Rope Drop Hollywood Studios

Learning a good rope drop strategy at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is vital if you want to fully enjoy the most popular rides. These include Slinky Dog Dash, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.  Other popular attractions at Hollywood Studios are two found on Sunset Boulevard- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and the Hollywood Tower of Terror.  

Official opening times for Hollywood Studios can vary, but they usually fall between 8:30 AM and 9 AM, as noted above. 

The Early Entry benefit is a plus for Disney resort guests which makes it a little more difficult for non-Early Entry guests to beat the lines.  This is why if you are doing just rope drop and not Early Entry you will want to arrive 30 minutes before official opening hours for the park that day.  This is because you won’t be able to get in earlier without Early Entry and you don’t want to have to wait in line and be turned away. 

Getting to Hollywood Studios can involve walking from close hotels, driving, being on the first bus, or arranging an Uber/Lyft or Skyliner.  We’ll talk more about this later in this blog but be sure to factor in the time it takes to get to Hollywood Studios from your hotel or lodging.  The parking lot usually opens one hour before the park opens, and the Disney transportation usually starts running 45 minutes to 1 hour before Early Entry (so sometimes as early as 1.5 hours before the official opening of the park).  

Prioritizing Attractions for Rope Drop

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, squeezing the most out of your visit means getting strategic about what to do first. Many seasoned early bird visitors, known as rope droppers, aim for certain attractions first thing. These top picks usually include:

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – The crown jewel of Galaxy’s Edge, this Star Wars ride is highly sought after and thus tends to have really long wait times. It’s absolutely essential to have a strategy if riding Rise of the Resistance is important to you.  Does that strategy have to include rope-dropping Rise of the Resistance? Not necessarily- read on to learn why, I’ll cover that later in this blog. 

Slinky Dog Dash – Located in Toy Story Land, this roller coaster offers a zippy backward launch and a fun-filled ride. Since it is so popular, being among the first guests can really be a huge benefit for your Hollywood Studios day!

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – Among the latest additions at the park, this dark ride stars the beloved Disney duo of Mickey and Minnie and is the only attraction featuring these icons. It’s known for drawing large crowds and, consequently, long lines. Starting your day here at rope drop means you can see it with a short wait compared to other times in the day.

Additionally, Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run are also high on the list for many visitors. As some of the best rides, they’re fan-favorites at Hollywood Studios. Going for these choice attractions first thing can also cut your wait times down significantly.

Rise of the Resistance Rope Drop Hollywood Studios Strategy

My recommendation for a rope drop strategy at Hollywood Studios for Rise of the Resistance is not to Rope Drop Rise of the Resistance.  Instead, if you have your heart set on riding it, consider picking up a Lightning Lane Single Pass (formerly called an Individual Lightning Lane) for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. With its long lines, this purchase is definitely a time-saver.  But I know, it’s another expense.  

Lightning Lane Single Pass

If you want to go this route, you can do so ahead of time.  As a Disney resort hotel you can purchase the Lighting Lane Single Pass 7 days before your first park day.  For those who aren’t staying at a Disney resort hotel, you can purchase this pass 3 days ahead of your park day.  

The end of this blog provides more on Lightning Lane Multi Pass (for all of the other skip-the-line attractions).

Park Closing Option

Alternatively, if you don’t want to purchase a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Rise of the Resistance, I recommend hopping in line 5 minutes before park closing time.  The line will move faster than the posted wait time, often 40-50% faster.  You do take a risk, though, because this attraction often breaks down.

And this is one of the reasons I don’t recommend doing Rise of the Resistance first thing in the morning- either at Early Entry or Rope Drop.  If you do plan on doing this first thing in the morning it’s only worth it for Early Entry as if you do this at Rope Drop (after the Early Entry guests have already lined up) you will face some of the longest wait times of the day.  Always have a back up strategy for Rise of the Resistance in case it is out of service in the morning. 

Rise of the Resistance Early Entry Option

If you want to strategize to do Rise of the Resistance at Early Entry, arrive 45-60 minutes before Early Entry even starts and factor in your travel time to Hollywood Studios (see below).    Again, always have a backup plan.   If you get lucky and are at the front of the pack you can likely head over to Millenium Falcon Smugglers Run just after Rise of the Resistance and still have a decently short queue there. 

Slinky Dog Dash Rope Drop Strategy

If you have Early Entry, then I recommend heading straight to Slinky Dog Dash, as the line will quickly get long in the morning.   To do Slinky Dog Dash, first arrive at Hollywood Studios 30-45 minutes before Early Entry starts.   A great next option (after Slinky Dog) is to go to Galaxy’s Edge for Millenium Falcon Smugglers Run, or better yet, go to Sunset Boulevard to do Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster while those lines are relatively short.   

Instead, if you don’t have early entry and are a regular Rope Drop guest, check out the wait time while in line for the park, but know that the line will be over an hour long by the time you get there.  An alternative is to head towards Sunset Boulevard as most Early Entry guests, who will be at least 30 minutes ahead of you, will be heading toward Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash.  

​Since Toy Story Mania is so close to Slinky Dog Dash it logically makes sense to go there after Slinky Dog, and this may be the best rope drop strategy for those that are trying to minimize walking. Still, the Toy Story Mania line stays relatively short for the first couple hours of the park opening.  This means you can always hit this attraction later after you get some of the more heavy hitters out of the way in the early morning, as long as you don’t mind walking more and backtracking. 

Sunset Boulevard Rope Drop at Hollywood Studios

As noted above, if you don’t have Early Entry Sunset Boulevard for Rope Drop is a great option.  I recommend trying Rock n Roller Coaster first, then heading over to Tower of Terror.  If you prefer you can instead do Tower of Terror first as it shouldn’t matter all that much.

Rock’n’Roller coaster does have a single rider line, but later in the day, it doesn’t save you much time, so getting this ride done sooner in the day is important if it’s a must-do for you. 

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Rope Drop Strategy

If you don’t care about Star Wars or Galayx Edge options or Slinky Dog Dash but have Early Entry, then Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a fabulous first choice as you can hit the short line here first then head over to Sunset Boulevard and get Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster done reasonably quickly.

Alternatively, if you are a regular Rope Drop guest and not Early Entry, then you can still have a fairly decent chance of having a relatively short line at Mickey and Minnie’s if you are in the front of the pack at Rope Drop.  But you likely won’t have short lines at the Sunset Boulevard rides after.  

Lightning Lane Multi Pass

​Lightning Lane Multi Pass is the new skip the line option that replaced Genie + that replaced Fast Pass+.  It’s basically the same as Fast Pass+, but it’s paid instead of free (yeah, bummer, I know).   I will have more blogs and tips on using this system as the kinks get worked out, BUT for now, it’s helpful to know the following when rope dropping with Multi-Pass.

If you are a Disney resort hotel guest, you can make your Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservations 7 days before your first park day.  If you are not a Disney resort hotel guest, you can make your Multi Pass advanced reservations 3 days before your first park day.  You can choose 1 Tier 1 attraction and 2 Tier 2 attractions.

Tier 1 attractions include:

• Slinky Dog Dash
• Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Tier 2 attractions include:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
• Disney Junior Play & Dance!
• For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Toy Story Mania!

Hollywood Studios is the second most competitive park as far as lines for attractions go (behind Magic Kingdom), so Multi-Pass can be super helpful here.   I recommend booking your first Multi-Pass attraction for at least 1.5 to 2 hours into your park day if you are using Early Entry and 1 to 1.5 hours into your park day if you are rope dropping.  The reason for this is in the early morning, you will see shorter wait times, so use the above strategies based on your preferences and then start using your Lightning Lanes when the crowds start moving in. 

Transportation options to get to Hollywood Studios

​Always factor in your time to get there when you are planning your Hollywood Studios Rope Drop strategy.  

You have different options as far as transportation goes and they include:

• Walkin- this only applies if you are staying at the Swan and Dolphin, Boardwalk, or Beach/Yacht Club Hotels.  It is the easiest way to get there for those without mobility issues, but obviously, it adds steps to what is going to likely be a long day.  This is my preferred way because I am a morning person, and I hate waiting.  The walk typically takes 10-20 minutes, depending on your pace and which hotel you are starting from.  The Swan and Dolphin are the closest, and the Beach/Yacht Club and Boardwalk can be a similar distance depending on what end of the resorts you are staying at.  You can also take the Friendship Boats to Hollywood Studios from any of these hotels.  
• Skyliner- the newest and most fun way to get there, but not the shortest as the lines can sometimes get long.  If you are staying at Disney’s Caribbean Beach hotel, you don’t have to transfer as this is the Skyliner transfer spot, so it’s a great option for those guests.  For guests at the Art of Animation or Pop Century Disney Resort Hotels, you can still take the skyliner, but you must transfer to the Hollywood Studios line at Caribbean Beach.  This will take about 4 minutes after you get on to get to that transfer point. The Riviera resort also has a skyline station, and it takes about 3 minutes to get to the transfer station at Caribbean Beach. It takes about 5 minutes to get from Caribbean Beach to Hollywood Studios.  If you want to avoid long lines, and are going for Early Entry, try to get to your Skyliner station about 75 to 90 minutes (90 on busy days and if you are trying to do Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash)  before Early Entry starts.  
• Disney Buses-  Disney has buses running from all of their resorts to Hollywood Studios, starting about 45-60 minutes before Early Entry starts.  I recommend getting to your bus stop 75 to 90 minutes before Early Entry starts because lines will start to form and this will get you (hopefully) on the first bus.  If you are on the first bus, then you will be toward the front of the Early Entry pack when you get there, which will be essential if you want to be one of the first on Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash. 
• Uber/Lyft/Personal Vehicle- this will apply to non-Disney resort guests and those Disney guests who like to skip free Disney transportation.  The one thing to note at Hollywood Studios if you drive or take a rideshare (or Minnie Van) is that they won’t let you in the parking lot until 1 hour before Early Entry starts.  They won’t let you wait at the parking lot gates, so time your arrival appropriately. 

The Wrap Up and More Helpful Park Planning Info

Navigating Disney’s Hollywood Studios to make the most of your park day requires careful planning but it pays off in the end. Knowing how to use rope drop, take advantage of Early Entry, and make the most out of Multi Pass Lightning Lane and Single Pass Lightning Lane can make your trip so much easier ane more fun (as long as you are a morning person, if you aren’t don’t worry they have coffee). 

For both newcomers and those who know Disney well, the morning strategy is key.   A bit of planning and a sprinkle of Disney’s special charm will help you fully enjoy Hollywood Studios to the fullest!

And speaking of enjoying your Disney trip you may also want to check out my