- Toy Story Land opened June 30 at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
- Guests waited hours just to get a peek at the new area of Hollywood Studios opening day.
- INSIDER waited in line with people who arrived at the park for general admission hours just to enter Toy Story Land.
- A cast member originally told us it would take about an hour to make it into the land.
- It actually took around two-and-a-half hours.
- There were still more lines to wait in after you were in Toy Story Land for food and rides.
- If you want to go, you better have a FastPass or be staying on Disney property to get into the park an hour early. Otherwise, you're better off waiting for the crowds to die down.
Toy Story Land opened June 30 at Disney World's Hollywood Studios theme park, and if you didn't get there at 6 a.m. when the park opened a surprise hour earlier, then you were in for a world of queues and waiting.
A group of journalists had a guest-free view of the park in advance, but that doesn't give you a good idea of what the park will actually be like when it's open to the world. Since I knew someone who was getting to the park when it first opened, I decided to get to Hollywood Studios around the time the park opened to the general public to see what the experience would be like for more families.
It was rough.
I underestimated the power of the fandom and waited in queue after laborious queue just to get inside Toy Story Land.
I've gone to New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con, so the idea of arriving early to big events is not lost on me. Still, I thought we'd be able to head right into Toy Story Land. I just expected to wait on longer lines for the two new attractions. Boy was I wrong.
Hollywood Studios opened to the general public at 8 a.m. June 30. I arrived around 8:45 a.m. (Yes, I know, very late in terms of getting to a park on opening day.) Instead of being able to stroll straight back to Toy Story Land, I found myself herded over to a queue nowhere near the new area.
9:18 a.m.: A cast member said it would be about an hour wait just to get into Toy Story Land. There would be more waits once inside the area to get on attractions. OK. That didn't sound unbearable. This is what I was here for.
There was plenty to look at along the way as we were ushered through Hollywood Studios' version of the Chinese Theater courtyard. There were names of famous celebrities etched into the ground ranging from Michael Jackson to Martin Short. Ads were up for the upcoming Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway opening next year.
Windows had old photos of Julie Andrews for the opening of the original "Mary Poppins." A sequel is out in December with Emily Blunt taking over the lead. There were also photos from the stars of the animated "Jungle Book" movie. That was recently adapted into a successful live-action movie. And a little boy in front of me was good company as he joyfully tried to scare me every so often by softly yelling, "Boo!" I reciprocated with a different scared reaction each time. He seemed to like that and the game continued for the next hour.
~ 10 a.m.: Before the hour was up, we were out of that lengthy queue. It felt quick and painless.
Then we were told we would have to wait about another two hours to enter Toy Story Land.
When we reached the back of the mock Chinese Theater, we were funneled into another queue. Toy Story Land was to our right, but instead we were ushered straight down Pixar Place — a section of the park which is supposed to emulate the Emeryville, California Pixar Animation Studios campus — where two more long queues of guests were waiting.
A family with a toddler in a stroller behind me bailed at the sight of the crowds. They were going to try and cut the line and march straight into the park, deeming this ridiculous. I don't know if they made it inside, but they never came back to our section of the queue.
They dropped us off into this area where the line continuation wasn’t clear. The family behind me just jetted off toward the entrance... that’s uh not where the line is. Wonder if they’re gonna try to get back in line 😬 pic.twitter.com/zHVadr9vMg
— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) June 30, 2018
The rest of us marched on down like good little soldiers. People were corralled into a line that weaved up and down the length of Pixar Place. This time, the line barely moved at all for greater lengths of time. We slowly inched past a merchandise nook and then a wagon with food, beverages, and alien popcorn buckets that would soon be sold out.
10:12 a.m.: We passed a cart serving alcohol. Yes, Hollywood Studios was serving alcohol to guests shortly after 10 a.m. And people were buying it.
ðŸ˜There are alcoholic-themed beverages for #toystoryland. (Photos and names later) pic.twitter.com/4bsilFNavX
— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) June 30, 2018
We didn't hear anything from cast members at this point, but as the line movement slowed to a crawl the realization sunk in that our wait was going to be much longer.
Yeah, we’re gonna be at least another hr ... pic.twitter.com/qnIv2gGboX
— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) June 30, 2018
10:48 a.m.: After nearly an hour without a word from any cast members, one came over asking the crowd if we wanted an update. (Obviously.) We were told it would be another estimated two hours. The wait for the Slinky Dog Dash coaster was estimated at four to five hours.
Update: it will take another 2 hrs just to get into #ToyStoryLand. The slinky coaster is now a 4-5 hr wait. 🙃
— Kirsten (@KirstenAcuna) June 30, 2018
This is when people started to consider leaving the line. Parents with a lot of younger kids thought they may fare better on another day and decided they rather use their time doing things other than waiting on a line. I didn't blame them.
The little boy and his mother in front of me also decided to depart for the rest of the park. We wished each other a good day.
Some of the guests started to complain.
Parents with kids who were letting them use their phones for entertainment spoke of their batteries running low and not having enough juice left to take pics once they got in to Toy Story Land.
Others wondered aloud why they didn't limit the number of ticketed guests allowed into the park on opening day. They weren't wrong. It felt silly waiting a potential three hours in line just to get into an area of a park where you have to wait two+ more hours to get on a ride. Disney obviously have a capacity for how many people can fit in Toy Story Land.
It wasn't all awful. There were a few bright notes.
The good news was that Jessie from "Toy Story 2" would walk by and wave at the crowd here and there. "Toy Story" stickers with Buzz, Woody, and/or Jessie were given out to kids waiting on line.
Cast members walked up and down the line periodically to make sure guests with FastPasses for any of the new rides in Toy Story Land were plucked out of line for their appointment.
And if you got too warm, there were water cooler stations set up with paper cups for guests.
We ended up getting into Toy Story Land earlier than we were told: Thank goodness.
11:47 a.m.: It was brutally hot and humid outside Saturday morning in Orlando. When we were told two more hours at 10:48 a.m. I was ready for the long haul. But then we were given two options. We could head straight into the park if we wanted to, but if we did that we would not be able to get on line for the Slinky Dog Dash coaster.
I knew where I was heading.
At this point, I had heard it was going to storm around 1 p.m. pretty badly. I knew the coaster would get shut down if there was lightning in the area. We were told it would be at least another three hours for Slinky. I decided to head straight for the park and for the food where I waited in another 40 minute line and then to the Alien Swirling Saucers ride.
What did we learn?
If you're going to go to a theme park the day a new attraction or ride opens, plan to get there really early or much later in the day unless you want to play the waiting game.
Come prepared with water, snacks, and an external charger for your phone.
Better yet, if you don't need to go to a theme park on an opening day, you're probably better off waiting. Unless you're staying at a Disney resort and get access to extra magic hours to get in the park an hour — or in this case, two hours — early, then you're already behind.
But honestly, you're better off going the next day or a few weeks later when the mad rush has died down. The two rides inside, no matter how good the one may be, are not worth a three-to-five hour wait. And if you don't arrive right when the park opens, just try coming back later in the day. After it stormed in the afternoon right on cue, there was barely a wait to get into Toy Story Land. By around 4 p.m., you could just stroll right in. Go figure.
Despite all that, I can't wait to go back to ride the Slinky coaster.
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