A Visit In Pictures: Disney’s Hollywood Studios Toy Story Land

As 2019 begins, I’m sure like me, you’re thinking about your next vacation. Now would be the perfect time to plan a visit to Toy Story Land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Since its opening in June of 2018, most of the hype has cooled down, with the exception of Slinky Dog Dash. In this post I’ll show you what my day in Toy Story Land looked like (back in September of 2018) so you know what to expect while visiting. I’ll also share suggestions for how to best enjoy this area.We arrived about a half hour before park opening and they let us in around 15 minutes before opening. We went straight to Toy Story Mania. (FYI: This photo was taken at night when there weren’t any crowds.) We waited on the standby line for about 15 minutes then headed straight to Alien Swirling Saucers.We waited around 35 minutes on the standby line for Alien Swirling Saucers, which was longer than I anticipated. My expectations were very low for this ride, but I really did enjoy it! I haven’t been on the Tea Cups at Magic Kingdom in a long time but I believe this is similar, with a bit more thrill and a more electrifying soundtrack. We grabbed a PhotoPass opportunity right out front by the alien.We intended to eat breakfast at Woody’s Lunchbox but missed it due to the longer than expected wait at Alien Swirling Saucers. This may have worked in our favor because I haven’t heard the best reviews about the breakfast there, but we thoroughly enjoyed lunch. We each grabbed an iced coffee and a Grown-Up Lemonade (alcoholic). I had the BBQ Brisket Melt and Kevin had the Smoked Turkey Sandwich. The sandwiches, the Potato Barrels (tots) and the Lunch Box Tart were all delicious. We made the mistake of waiting on a long line in the hot sunlight for this meal. Do yourself a favor and MOBILE ORDER. It can be done right on the My Disney Experience App. Our lack of caffeine caused us to forget this was an option. You can walk around, ride attractions and find a seat all while your order is being prepared. I do have to share though that the cast members were very accommodating to guests on line. They handed out samples of the Lunch Box Tart and Mystic Portal Punch (non-alcoholic) while we waited. The theming of this area was really cute. Here you can see some clever advertising of Babybel Snack Cheese. After lunch we walked around to take in the details of the area. The green army men marched around and played catch with younger guests.Woody and Jessie were heading over to their photo spot. Buzz also appeared to take photos with guests.  There are some new fun walls to take pictures with on the exit pathway of Toy Story Mania. We used our fastpass to Slinky Dog towards the tail end (pun intended) of our time slot, around 11:45am. We waited less than 5 minutes while the standby line was already 2 hours long.I highly recommend booking your advanced fastpass for this ride over Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers. You aren’t able to book all three in advance as they are all considered Tier 1. Walt Disney World only allows you to book one Tier 1 fastpass in advance and two Tier 2. You’ll have a much easier time getting an additional fastpass to Toy Story Mania or Alien Swirling Saucers after you’ve used up your first three. You’ll also have a better chance of catching these other two rides either early in the morning or closer to park closing with shorter standby wait times. If you can’t get a fastpass right away, don’t give up! More fastpasses often pop up closer to the day or even on the day you visit.This ride also exceeded my expectations. It has a bit more thrill than Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train and a cute little surprise ending. The camera angle for the ride photo doesn’t make for the best photo and it is mostly covered by a frame to try and block out other guests riding. However, the photopass opportunities around Slinky Dog were really neat. We used our Tier 2 fastpasses after this for Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster then headed back to the hotel around 1:30 for some pool time. While we relaxed I checked back for more fastpasses and was able to get Slinky again for around 7:20pm. After relaxing, we showered and headed back to Toy Story Land for the evening.I definitely think Toy Story Land at night is the way to go. The area is beautifully lit, the hot sunlight is gone, and the lines begin to dwindle. As the sun went down, we rode Slinky Dog one more time just before it began to rain. Fun fact: They kept the ride running in the rain!After a quick Florida rainstorm we joined the queue for Alien Swirling Saucers and waited about 20 minutes on standby to ride.It’s clear from this post that Toy Story Land can be done in a half day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. With the upcoming opening of Star Wars Land and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (an attraction replacing The Great Movie Ride), the wait times for these rides will most likely be even shorter. I definitely recommend visiting this well-themed and fun area of Hollywood Studios. Thank you for following along!