Having come to Florida for the past 10 years, we have always had affection for Hollywood Studios (Formerly MGM Studios). As a something for everyone family park, you can’t really can’t go far wrong with Hollywood Studios. From great shows, to first class rides the park offers something for the young, while also catering for the older guests with some great rides (Rokin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror) to name a few.
Our favourite ride in Hollywood Studios has always been the Hollywood hotels, Tower of Terror, located at the very back of the park next to the Rokin Rollercoaster. Due to the hotel being very imposing most people can see it when they enter the park. The hotel is designed around a 1920 hotel around the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, being extremely opulent and grand.
Inside the hotel you are greeted by a large open plan lobby area that has old furniture, large chandeliers and some rather large cobwebs! Obviously this hotel you are checking into has been disused for some while! Maybe I should give this hotel a miss you might say, but there is a sort of charm that keeps you walking in wanting to see more.
Once checked in you are then moved into a room where you are given the history of the hotel. For many this point is where you realise why no one is actually checking in anymore. But seen as you have paid your money to stay at the hotel, most people feel they should go to their room. Access to the rooms is via a set of lifts at the rear of the hotel, each lift can access all floors.
Once near the lift you are ushered inside and are then whisked up to what looks like your floor. Once the doors open the ride begins. Without wanting to spoil the special effects and ruin your experience, I won’t go through what happens in detail, all I will say is once inside the lift shaft again prepare for a bit of a ride. Having been upgraded since we first went on the ride back in 2005, you now experience more drops and as the ride is totally random, you don’t actually know how many floors it will drop and what order it will happen. Every time you go on the ride it could be a slightly different experience. This in my view has really made the ride that much better and makes you want to go back on it again.
Some top tips if visiting during peak periods. If you arrive early at the park, head straight for the ride. If the queue is short, go straight on, but in the meantime grab a Fastpass ticket from the machine, this will normally give you an hour wait before being allowed to ride again. This way you could actually have 2 goes on the ride within the first hour of arriving. Alternatively you can always wait until just before the start of Fantasmic show to have a go. At this time of night the queues are very short as everyone is waiting for the show to start. Not only this you can get some great view at night of the Orlando area! ! !
Our favourite ride in Hollywood Studios has always been the Hollywood hotels, Tower of Terror, located at the very back of the park next to the Rokin Rollercoaster. Due to the hotel being very imposing most people can see it when they enter the park. The hotel is designed around a 1920 hotel around the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, being extremely opulent and grand.
Inside the hotel you are greeted by a large open plan lobby area that has old furniture, large chandeliers and some rather large cobwebs! Obviously this hotel you are checking into has been disused for some while! Maybe I should give this hotel a miss you might say, but there is a sort of charm that keeps you walking in wanting to see more.
Once checked in you are then moved into a room where you are given the history of the hotel. For many this point is where you realise why no one is actually checking in anymore. But seen as you have paid your money to stay at the hotel, most people feel they should go to their room. Access to the rooms is via a set of lifts at the rear of the hotel, each lift can access all floors.
Once near the lift you are ushered inside and are then whisked up to what looks like your floor. Once the doors open the ride begins. Without wanting to spoil the special effects and ruin your experience, I won’t go through what happens in detail, all I will say is once inside the lift shaft again prepare for a bit of a ride. Having been upgraded since we first went on the ride back in 2005, you now experience more drops and as the ride is totally random, you don’t actually know how many floors it will drop and what order it will happen. Every time you go on the ride it could be a slightly different experience. This in my view has really made the ride that much better and makes you want to go back on it again.
Some top tips if visiting during peak periods. If you arrive early at the park, head straight for the ride. If the queue is short, go straight on, but in the meantime grab a Fastpass ticket from the machine, this will normally give you an hour wait before being allowed to ride again. This way you could actually have 2 goes on the ride within the first hour of arriving. Alternatively you can always wait until just before the start of Fantasmic show to have a go. At this time of night the queues are very short as everyone is waiting for the show to start. Not only this you can get some great view at night of the Orlando area! ! !