Hollywood Studios

Ride reviews, in the order that they are listed on the Disney website because I am lazy.

Alien Swirling Saucers

This was a fun flat ride with a unique ride program. I would love to learn how the mechanics of it worked. It was fun by myself throwing my weight around and getting it to swing a ton, but overall it’s still a kiddie flat. 5/10

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Started off with this ride, and man, what a quirky ride it is. The preshow was funny and set the scene, though the screen explosion effect didn’t look like it was holding up too well. The ride experience in general was great, the storyline was really goofy and the transformation of the scenes with the projection mapping was done really well. The true “trackless” dark ride vehicles were my first time experiencing them, and overall worked very well with the story, especially with the incorporation of Goofy in the steam train. I think my favorite scene in general was the Daisy dancing scene, because it was so out of left field, and you could tell that they were pushing the ride vehicles to their limits. The ride definitely had some issues stacking during the last scene, but I will never complain about more capacity! The only real downgrade of the experience was the immersion-breaking ceiling, that just looked like a standard warehouse. I wish that they had put in the effort to at least black it out with duvatene or something. But, that is an overall nitpick to a fantastic ride! 9/10

Smuggler’s Run

The “other” ride in Galaxies Edge was pretty fun. I actually enjoyed the general queue experience of this ride far more than RotR due to the highly detailed interior, and the fantastically built Millennium Falcon with thousands of little details to look for. The overall ride experience felt like a videogame, which would have been incredible if I had a group to go with, but as a single rider, my experience was at the whim of whoever I got stuck with. On the positive, I was able to be one of the pilots, but on the negative, the other pilot was more concentrated on filming a vertical POV on his phone rather than steering the ship (each pilot controls left/right or up/down so it’s important for BOTH pilots to care). Thankfully though the experience was malleable enough for us to still get a decent score, though it would definitely be more fun with a group that I knew and that everyone cared to try as hard as I did. 8/10, could be as good as 9/10 with a better crew.

Muppet*Vision 3D

We got hit with a huge (even by Florida standards) rain storm during the day, and this is just what the doctor ordered. I got in right before it started pouring, and sat down right away. I could tell that the finale would involve some sort of destruction of the theater, as the projection mapped walls were easy to spot if you were looking for them. In general, 3D effects don’t work the best for me, since I wear glasses and can never seem to get the glasses to work perfectly, but in a static case like this it worked pretty well. I also liked the quippy nature of the program, along with the mix of the big 3D screen, a bunch of animatronics, and even a live actor! It’s definitely not something to wait in any sort of line for, but I thought it was quite charming and a great experience. 8/10

Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster

The ride had a huge line most of the day, but by the time the storm came, most people didn’t want to run all the way back to the back of the park to ride this. By the time I got there, the ride was a walk-on! Definitely beat waiting however many hours I did the first time I rode it. In the end, I think this actually led to a worse experience though, as I rode near the back of the train with a completely empty car. This led to the ride being a rattly mess, plus the speakers weren’t quite working on my seat. I love Aerosmith, but this ride is one of a few in the park ready for an update. Some new trains with vests plus a new theme would really take this a long way! Plus, maybe some new trackwork here and there. 7/10

Slinky Dog Dash

The weather took this ride down pretty early, and then a technical issue had the ride down most of the day. Something to do with the second launch. I wasn’t going to give up on it though, so near the end of the day I camped nearby under an umbrella and watched the poor maintenance guy do his thing in the pouring rain. Thankfully, his sacrifice was worth it, as the ride reopened with 15 minutes left until closing. I got 2 rides, one near the front and one near the back, in the pouring rain, and I loved it. I have never been a huge Toy Story fan, in general I never loved the story, however I loved the theming of the ride and area as a whole, which reminded me of my childhood of KNex and legos and everything. The ride itself was a lot more rambunctious than I expected, given that most people have said that it was pretty forceless, however I found that the launches had pretty good push, and some of the turns pulled some decent forces. There were even some fun almost-floater moments that really added spice to what should have been a lackluster ride. I almost wonder if since we were running mostly empty trains that the launches had to compensate a bit for the loss of momentum? The light package looked great (even though it needed some help in some places) and I was very happy with my overall experience. Not breaking into my top 20% any time soon, but definitely an experience that you can’t go wrong with! 8.5/10

Star Tours

This ride is iconic, and the presentation was definitely fine, but something about my experience made it feel like the ride was on it’s last leg. The ride was a complete walk-on, the experience is similar enough to one of the preshows for RotR, and it takes up a ton of space. Plus, the ride isn’t even near Galaxies Edge. I definitely didn’t hate it, but being shaken around in a box with some 3D glasses just isn’t my cup of tea. 5/10

Rise of the Resistance

Wow. Just, wow. Personally, I don’t really like the Star Wars IP. I thought that even before the modern push it was overhyped and far too overused, and never really got pulled in by the modern stuff like Marvel did. But, I have seen the movies and know more or less what was happening, and thought that Rise of the Resistance is the pinnacle of current dark ride technology. The entrance of the ride is cool, with the jungle atmosphere outside, leading to the themed cave base on the inside. Then, you are ushered into the debrief preshow room, which was the most “mediocre” part of the ride by far. The BB-8 animatronic was hilarious and done very well, but Rey’s performance was stiff and awkward. But then the doors open and what? You’re back outside? This awesome overlook caught me by surprise since I am used to dark rides being fully contained indoors. The detail everywhere was incredible, and the way they sculpted the rocks to cover the riders while still being outside was genius. Then, the sequence of the troop transport was wonderful. I was really surprised the first time I rode, as I was expecting just a few screens and maybe vibrations, but a full tilt sequence was really interesting just standing up and with no restraints whatsoever. Then, the surprise of going out the same door that you came in through, but it now being a cold, gigantic First Order space ship hold was a big surprise for my first ride. I had of course seen pictures of this scene, but I didn’t know where it would happen in the ride. The next preshow was genius, getting hoarded into a “detainment cell” with no visible way out other than the way you came in. The effect of the plasma cutter cutting through the wall was done super well, and the loading area was effective. Once you dispatch, your vehicle runs into the incoming ride vehicles that will be parking back in the station you just left, but the story uses the interaction to its advantage, as the returning ride vehicles are First Order droids who interrogate you before you leave. Other notable scenes of the ride include the awesome AT-AT scene, especially on the side where you have storm troopers shoot at you. Plus, in general the projection mapping on this ride was incredible. The blaster hits looked really good, and it was hard for me to tell what was a projection map and what was a practical effect. The lightsaber cutting effect was a bit cheesy but always got a reaction out of people and looked great if you didn’t look too close at the mechanism. The blasters weren’t moving, but there was a lot of downtime during the whole day so those might be temporarily or permanently disabled. The real highlight though was the finale, linking into the drop pod and having a real drop tower / simulator experience, then landing and heading back outdoors in the ride vehicle to land safely back in Galaxies Edge. I think this has to be one of my favorite experiences ever, and is in line with some of my favorite coaster experiences. 10+/10, an absolute masterpiece

Toy Story Mania

This was a simple, fun shooting dark ride. 3D effects were good (from what I could tell) and the popping mechanic felt good. I just felt like the ride in general was a bit less interesting than a more dynamic shooter, like Justice League at various Six Flags parks. Lots of the ride concept was good, for sure, but it didn’t blow me away like a lot of other Disney dark rides. This ride also had the warehouse ceiling and a really long, convoluted exit path that felt awkward. It also had some jerky movements, in terms of quick parking and accelerating. It definitely seems like WDI prefers capacity over comfort, and in general their rides are very confident in their movements, but on this one it definitely led to decreased comfort. 6/10

Tower of Terror

Unlike many, I don’t have fond, nostalgic memories of this ride. I was terrified to ride this as a kid, and skipped it on my visit in high school, since I don’t like drop towers in general. This made me eager to ride it again, and perhaps had higher expectations. The queue was definitely “thematic” but I think the “old and dilapidated” theming should really be left to regional parks. The “old” theming was good, but it still felt like a cop out. During the preshow, everyone kept talking, and just waited for the “secret” door to open, which ruined the surprise for me. Plus, the screen was small, quiet, and the effects were mediocre. The ride experience was also a mixed bag. The cast members were great, in terms of playing up the theme, but I just wish that the theming on the ride conveyed that. The first show scene was the infinite hallway, which looked good, but after my first ride I realized you can’t drop in the first shaft, so there was no feeling of anticipation, and was really boring. The 4th dimension scene blew my mind as a child, but now, I could feel the age of the technology, and there were essentially no reactions from my entire ride vehicle. I think that “mind blowing trick” of an elevator moving on a second (third? Fourth?) dimension is really diminished by what Mickey’s and Rise do. The main drop sequence is excellent, and is probably my favorite drop tower. I really don’t enjoy the standard, lift to the top, wait, then stomach drop of standard towers, as much as I try. I usually prefer S&S Combo towers, which have a blast upwards and more standard airtime feelings, with subtle queues when you are about to launch / drop. ToT does this even better, with the randomized and powerful electric winch drop sequence. The worst part is by far the dumb show scene that breaks up an otherwise thrilling experience. Overall, I think it’s time for this to get a retheme as well. It’s clear that Disney would want to make this an Avengers campus as well, getting both Rock ‘n’ rollercoaster and ToT with the same retheme, but unless something drastic happens, they won’t get the rights that they want to do that in Florida. I don’t know what IP would be good for this ride, but I do know that with some updates to the 4th dimension scene and programming in general, this ride still has a really solid ride system, and I can’t wait to see if some of that $60 billion gets put to good use here. 9.5+/10 drop sequence, 6/10 everything else.

The park in general was looking wonderful. With the weather, it definitely wasn’t a “full day” park, but if the lines stuck around and I wasn’t able to do everything so fast, a whole day could definitely be spent here. The two new lands fill out the park nicely, and everything looks really great. The park was sensible enough to navigate for the most part, and definitely went from a runt of the Disney litter from my visit in 2016 to one of the best parks out there. I unfortunately missed Indiana Jones Stuntacular (a personal favorite) and Fantasmic (I was far too cold by the end of the night to stay, plus idk if they even would have ran in the rain), but overall got to do everything else I wanted to do at least once, and my favorites twice. I would highly recommend spending time here during your time in Orlando, and cannot wait until Epcot finishes its glow-up so I can have a similar experience there!