While visiting a Disney theme park at night can be magical, there are definitely a few downfalls to visiting after dark.
There are pros and cons to visiting each of Walt Disney World’s theme parks after sunset, but a strong case can be made that Hollywood Studios may be the best of them. The park is not only home to the nighttime classic Fantasmic and the Wonderful World of Animation fireworks show, it also features lands like Galaxy’s Edge, Hollywood Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard, that take on entirely different character at night. However, there are some… dangers (in a manner of speaking) to staying at the park past daylight.
In-Park Crowds
As with the rest of Disney World’s parks, one of the biggest issues you’ll have to deal with if you stay at Hollywood Studios until closing are massive end of day crowds. However, DHS in particular has a few chokepoints at the end of the night that make the crowds even tougher to deal with.
Following the conclusion of Fantasmic – which takes place in the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater located at the end of Sunset Boulevard near the Tower of Terror – the large crowd from the show is funneled through a backstage corridor until being deposited near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard (the park’s main thoroughfare). This creates a mass of humanity at the midpoint of Hollywood Boulevard, most of whom are heading towards the exit.
Even if you skip out on Fantasmic and the fireworks to try and squeeze in as many rides as possible, there’s still a chance you’ll run into crowd issues, as the dead-end in the park’s Pixar place area, tends to cause bottlenecks for those exiting Toy Story Land in that area.
If you don’t think you can handle the crowds — especially if it’s been a particularly long day — you may want to head to the exits before the park closes.
Lighting in the Park
While Hollywood Studios is as generally well-lit as one would expect a Disney park to be, some areas of the park have atmospheric and thematic lighting that — while looking great — can be a bit on the dim side. This makes it easy to get disoriented and lost in certain areas like Galaxy’s Edge — especially near the land’s entrances — and by the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
If you get turned around, ask a Cast Member for help.
Transportation Woes
The “dangers” of visiting Hollywood Studios after dark don’t end after you leave the park. There are three modes of Disney transportation guests can use to leave the park. However, two of them — the Skyliner and the FriendShip Boats — are relatively limited in which hotels they go to. This leads to large crowds and lines, and in the case of the Skyliner, the chance that the system may break down.
Meanwhile, the majority of visitors heading back to Disney hotels from the park will need to take a bus, and if you’ve ever taken a Disney Bus at park closing, you know that the bus stops are jammed with tired families, each of whom are prepared to wait a long time to pack into a bus for the journey “home.” If you’ve just had it at the end of the day and don’t think you can handle the crowds and lines any longer, remember that rideshare is available throughout Disney World. It will not be free, but sometimes ordering an Uber or Lyft back to your hotel is just worth the money.
Lighting Outside the Park
If you’re staying at one of the EPCOT Resort Area Hotels, you can walk from Hollywood Studios around a long path to your hotel. However, take note that this path isn’t all that well-lit, so be careful not to become disoriented or lost, let alone trip over anything on the ground. Use your phone’s flashlight if you need to — and if you are someone who has trouble seeing in the dark, we recommend skipping this route back to your hotel.
Everything’s Closed
Finally, be aware tat by the time you get back yo your hotel- especially those off of the EPCOT walking path — the food court is likely going to be closed. So, if you’re planning a late-night dinner or snack around getting back to the hotel on-time, keep that in mind and maybe start heading to the exits a few minutes early.
Another option would be to mobile order something for a pick-up window as the park is closing to take back to your hotel. And we recommend keeping snacks in your room — Kroger Grocery Delivery can deliver directly to hotels in Disney World and around the area. Plus remember that you can order late-night food delivery through services like DoorDash. They can deliver to Disney World hotels, too.
Visiting Hollywood Studios after dark can definitely be a high enjoyable experience… as long as you keep these “dangers” in mind and do your best to mitigate them. Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney tips.
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What are your thoughts on Hollywood Studios after dark? Let us know in the comments below.
Rocky Yoda says
We actually don’t think there are any dangers leaving HS late at night.
For those who don’t know, you CAN make a reservation for Oga’s Cantina AFTER the park has closed. YES, AFTER THE PARK HAS CLOSED!! We were worried about how we world get back to our resort BUT the Disney Team already has this figured out.
There were buses lined up and they said just jump on one and we told the driver where we were staying and we were off!!!