Walt Disney World With Kids (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [76]
Hollywood Touring Tips
In general, you should save theater-style presentations—Disney Junior, Beauty and the Beast; Voyage of the Little Mermaid; Muppet*Vision 3-D; Sounds Dangerous; Indiana Jones; and Lights, Motors, Action!—for the afternoon. Tour continuous-loading attractions such as the Tower of Terror, The Great Movie Ride, Toy Story Mania, Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, and Star Tours early in the day.
The one exception to this rule is if your kids are so young that you won’t be going on most of the major rides. If so, ride Toy Story Mania first and then catch one of the morning shows of Disney Junior and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
No matter what the ages of your kids, save the Backlot Tour and Animation Academy for after lunch.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios’s Don’t-Miss List
Beauty and the Beast—Live on Stage!
Disney Junior (if your kids are under 8)
The Great Movie Ride
Lights, Motors, Action!—Extreme Stunt Show
Muppet*Vision 3-D
Star Tours
Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster (if your kids are 8 and up)
Toy Story Mania
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (if your kids are 8 and up)
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Attractions at Hollywood Offering Fastpasses
Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster
Star Tours
Toy Story Mania
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Hollywood Attractions
On Sunset Boulevard
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Map Location 3
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror combines the spooky ambience of a decaying, cobweb-covered 1930s-style Hollywood hotel with sheer thrills. For the clever preshow, Imagineers spliced together clips from the old Twilight Zone TV series, bringing back the long-deceased Rod Serling as narrator.
Hidden Mickey
During the Tower of Terror preshow, take note of the child actress boarding the elevator. She’s holding a Mickey Mouse toy.
The story begins on a dark and stormy night in 1939 when five people—a movie star and starlet, a child actress and her nanny, and a bellboy—board a hotel elevator. The hotel is struck by lightning, the elevator drops, and the five passengers are transported into the Twilight Zone. One of the cast members who works at the attraction reports that the most common questions people ask her are “Is this a real hotel?” and “Am I going to die?” (The answer to both is “No.”)
Your car moves out of its elevator shaft and through a hallway with holographic images before eventually settling into a second elevator shaft. (This is all drawn out with agonizing slowness.) Then the doors of your elevator car open to reveal a panoramic view of the park from nearly 150 feet in the air, then you free-fall.
When the ride first opened, you only dropped once, but Imagineers have since introduced a random drop pattern, which means that computers controlling the ride select from several possible drop sequences. You may be hauled up and dropped as many as seven times, and the trip up is as exhilarating as the trip down.
The Scare Factor
The Tower of Terror has a 40-inch height requirement, which means that many preschoolers are tall enough to ride. Nonetheless, our suggestion is 8 and up, both because of the spooky setup and the drop. The expanded drop sequence means you’re bouncing around in the shaft for a good 20 to 30 seconds, which can feel like forever to a terrified child.
Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster
Map Location 4
The Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster is one of the best rides in Disney World. The sound track, featuring Aerosmith, is perfectly synchronized to the movements of the coaster and the volume is cranked to the max.
Hidden Mickey
As you walk through the rotunda area before boarding Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, check out the floors; two Hidden Mickeys are in the tiles.
The premise is simple. You play the part of fans that have shown up at an Aerosmith taping but, unfortunately, the group is in the process of leaving for a concert. They insist you come along to the show, so you’re boarded into 24-passenger stretch limos, which their manager promises are “real fast,” and you’re off on a rock-and-roll trip through the highways