A couple of months ago, we found out the opening date for Walt Disney World’s Toy Story Land will be June 30th.  With the summer fast approaching and the FastPass system announced for the new land, and the rest of Hollywood Studios, it’s time to break down our strategy.  In the next week I plan to update the entire Hollywood Studios FastPass+ guide but this post will focus almost entirely on Toy Story Land.

Toy Story Land will consist of 3 attractions.  Two of those will be new – Alien Swirling Saucers and Slink Dog Dash.  The third attraction will be Toy Story Mania, a mainstay attraction for over a decade.  Alien Swirling Saucers is, in essence, a spinner ride.  If you have been to California Adventure and rode Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree then you are very familiar with the ride system.  Slinky Dog Dash is a family friendly roller coaster that will sprawl across the land.

While Hollywood Studios has always been a tiered FastPass+ system, those tiers have been shaken up with Toy Story Land coming on-line.  All three attractions in the land will be tier 1, meaning that guests can only reserve one of those attractions ahead of time.  The attractions with FastPass through the rest of the park will be tier 2 and guests can reserve 2 of those.  This has become the norm for Walt Disney World when a new land opens as the same system was implemented when Pandora opened and continues to this day in Animal Kingdom.  I don’t have a problem with this system and would prefer it to everyone just trying to snag 3 Toy Story Land FastPasses.  This helps spread the crowds out and gives families a chance to avoid lines in at least one of the attractions.

This brings up the question of which attraction to FastPass if you have the pick of all three.  I would, without a doubt, put Slinky Dog Dash on the top of that list.  Through the next year (at least) the roller coaster will prove to be Toy Story Land’s most popular attraction.  While I don’t think it will be as good of an attraction as Toy Story Mania, it is new and that wins out.  It doesn’t really matter what time of day you can get a FastPass for it.  Naturally, I’d look for earlier in the day so that later you may have FastPasses free but that’s not really that big of a deal.

If Slinky Dog Dash doesn’t have any FastPass availability I would probably recommend the Alien Swirling Saucers over Toy Story Mania for FastPass but it’s close.  While I don’t think the attraction is a very exciting addition, it is new and Toy Story Mania’s queue is inside in the air conditioning.  I’m not sure if the same will be said for all of Alien Swirling Saucers queue.

Any way you cut it, there will be some waiting in line at Toy Story Land.  If this area is a priority to you then I recommend getting to Hollywood Studios half an hour before opening and going straight for whatever new attraction you didn’t get a FastPass for.  If coasters are your thing then head straight to Slinky Dog Dash, regardless of if you have a FastPass for it or not.  Two rides never hurt anyone.  Spend the morning trying to get all of the attractions in and exploring the land.  Hollywood Studios, even with the addition of a new land, doesn’t fill up an entire day so you have ample time to spend wandering around Andy’s backyard.  

I would head back to Toy Story Land again after dark.  The best chance to re-ride an attraction with minimal wait times will be right before closing.  At dusk or after one of Hollywood Studios nighttime shows, head back to the new land to explore a little more.  This may be an opportune time to ride Toy Story Mania, as we’ve had good success with wait times at night.  Of course, that was before the new land opened.

In the first few months of Toy Story Land opening, the park hours are typically 8 AM to 10:30 PM.  There are Extra Magic Hours all morning from 7 until 8 and evening Magic Hours on Friday’s from 10:30 until 12:30.  Swinging over for the evening Magic Hours would probably be a good idea, again if this land is a priority, but I would avoid doing a full Hollywood Studios day on Fridays.  I would recommend taking advantage of the Extra Magic Hours in the morning, as well.  This isn’t because it will give you a great advantage over other park goers but at least the lines won’t be extremely long once you get in Hollywood Studios.

In a nutshell, FastPass Slinky Dog Dash, hustle to Alien Swirling Saucers and Toy Story Mania at park opening, and go to the land early in the morning and late in the evening.  While the land will be very crowded over the next year, this will help you avoid some of the longer waits and busier crowd times.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Toy Story Land?  Let us know in the comments, along with any questions you might have.  Thank you for reading Wandering in Disney.  If you enjoy our content please subscribe to the blog (via WordPress or email) and like our social media pages.  You can find all of those things on the right side of this page.  Have a great day!