Florida Ridge Villa

Once in we headed for the Hollywood Tower Hotel (TOWER OF TERROR) which is located over the far right hand side of the park. This is a good place to start first thing in the morning as most of the people go anticlockwise. The ride is themed around a hotel in the glitz and glamour era of the 1920’s and is a mixture special effects and sudden drops. The combination of special effects and not knowing what is about to happen really works well. In the end it is not too hard to know what is about to happen, but getting there is quite good. What Disney has done to the ride over the years is to keep the drop sequence ‘random’. This means that every time you ride the Tower of Terror you do not have the same experience. This makes riding it different each time.

 

Next to Tower Of Terror is one of the most popular and only roller coaster in Hollywood Studios the ROCK ‘N’ ROLLER COASTER by Aerosmith. The ride is based on a slingshot rollercoaster that launches you from 0 – 60 in under 3 seconds then onto a series of loops and banked turns. The main part of this ride is the build up when you see Aerosmith in the recording studio before they go onto a stadium performance, then you are asked to join them for a ride through the streets of Hollywood in a stretch Limo roller coaster. What adds to the overall feel of this ride is the Aerosmith music being played as you speed through the streets of Hollywood. In total you go through around 5 inversions all in the dark, with only small lights from Hollywood to light your way.

 

What makes Hollywood Studios stand out from the rest of the other parks is the size of the shows. Lights, Motors, Action, stunt show is one of the biggest in Orlando and has cars racing through the streets of Europe. During the show they take time out to show you how the scenes are put together and speak with the stunt men. During the show there are plenty of chances to take photographs, the best place being near to the front. Be warned the best seats for this performance tent to fill up around 30 minutes before the start of the show.

 

Another Show is Indiana Jones stunt spectacular (similar in structure to Lights, Motors, Action, where they talk to the audience and show them how they filmed some of the stunt sequences. The show is based on the first Indiana Jones movie (Raiders of the lost Arc). If you have watched the film(s) you will know some of the characters and scenes.

 

Other notable rides include STAR TOURS (Based on Star Wars), where you ride onboard a transporter on its way to another planet, only to end up near the Death star tackling Darth Vader and his star destroyers! In Disney Pixar land you have one of Hollywood Studios most popular rides for the children TOY STORY where you travel around shooting targets with your big catapult. One of the funniest shows in Hollywood Studios is the MUPPET 3-D SHOW. This show is very funny, has plenty of suprises and has good interaction with the audience.

 

Hollywood Studios does have a street parade that is on throughout the year, this is not as good as the parade at Magic Kingdom, but is still very good and well worth a watch.

 

Before you visit the park it is best to download the new Disney APP for either your smart phone or tablet from their website, as this will allow you to book the most popular rides in advance using the new Disney FASTPASS + service. This service allows you to book up to 3 rides of your choice and select the times you wish to ride them. Most people will select the most popular ones, TOWER OF TERROR, ROCK ‘N’ ROLLERCOASTER and TOY STORY as these tend to have the largest queues. Others you might like to also consider is STAR TOURS or AMERICA’s GOT TALENT.

 

The final and most important show of the day at Hollywood Studios is the great Disney Fantasmic show. Fantasmic is located at the back of Hollywood Studios (near the Hollywood Tower Hotel) around a semi circle bowl stadium. The show takes place over the large lake and mountain Disney have created. What sets this show apart from the other Disney firework shows is the use of large water fountains to project some clips of famous Disney movies. The show is about good ‘vs evil and how good can overcome evil. It’s a sensational show with great music, storyline and actors. Depending on the time of year, depends on when the show happens, but normally it starts about 9.30pm each night.

 

Overall I would rate Hollywood Studios as one of my favourite Theme parks in Florida. No visit to Disney would be complete without going there. It should certainly be on your Disney pass selection. To make the most of your time, why not have a two half days dedicated to Hollywood Studios, one for doing the shows and rides in the day and another just to see Fantasmic. You need to make sure you get there very early in the day to fully experience everything as the shows only play a couple of times each day.