Disney World is a huge, overwhelming place, and the park's latest addition, Hollywood Studio's Toy Story Land [1], is now the largest land on the property. You'll do a lot of walking to get from the entrance to the end, and with rides as good as Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers, you'll have to navigate big crowds, long lines, and substantial wait times. Before your trip to Toy Story Land, we've compiled a few tips for navigating the land with your kids of all ages to make your scheduling and planning a bit easier.
Although it's only one part of Hollywood Studios, it's a total must see [2], so read on to find out how to make the most of it.
Reserve FastPass+ times for Slinky Dog Dash, Alien Swirling Saucers, and Toy Story Mania.
You can reserve up to three FastPass+ per day, and these can be scheduled way in advance. If you're looking to go on all three rides in Toy Story Land without an organic wait time, be sure to reserve all three, then check in with your Magic Bands during your scheduled time. If you're looking to book FastPass+ for other rides or attractions around Hollywood Studios and only have space for one in Toy Story Land, definitely make it Slinky Dog Dash — your kids will want to ride it more than once, most likely, so having a FastPass+ for at least one of the times ensures they'll get to ride.
Know the height requirements beforehand.
To avoid your toddler or little kid getting superexcited about a ride only to realise that they're too small to experience it, know before you go. The height requirement for Slinky Dog Dash is 38 inches tall; you have to be 32 inches tall to ride Alien Swirling Saucers. For Toy Story Mania, kids can be any height.
Try to ride Slinky Dog Dash first thing in the morning.
Even if you have a FastPass+, try to head to Slinky Dog Dash first thing when the park opens. Like I said, your kids will probably want to ride this fun coaster more than once (I can basically guarantee it), but the lines are going to get extremely long superquickly.
Pro tip: for adventurous kiddos, try to ask to sit in one of the last two rows, as the coaster feels much faster back there, and you can feel the little drops more. For younger kids who don't live for speed and toddlers who are tall enough, grab the front rows.
There's stroller parking all over the place.
There are tons of places in Toy Story Land to park your babies' and toddlers' strollers. There's a spot by each ride, at the very least, so you can ditch your stuff before heading onto the lines.
Know your kid's limits before riding Alien Swirling Saucers.
Although these aren't quite like the spinning tea cups in Mad Tea Party in which you can control your spinning, the Alien Swirling Saucers move around in circles and sway side to side (the more weight in the cart, the more it'll sway). If your child isn't a fan of spinning or gets car sick easily but wants to try it, watch people ride it from afar a few times, and you'll get a pretty good idea of speed and how much it spins.
If you think they'll be OK, but you are still a bit concerned about the spinning, rather than pack two adults and one child into the cart, try one adult and one child so there's less weight and less swaying back and forth as you twirl your way through the ride (or, if they're big enough, let them ride alone so there's even less weight).
Use the Play Disney Parks app while on lines and waiting for attractions.
The Play Disney Parks mobile app is going to totally change your family's trip to Disney. There are tons of activities within the app, including in-queue games you can play with other families on the same ride line, like Andy's Board Game Blast on the Slinky Dog Dash line and Playset Party on the Toy Story Mania line. The app also lets kids earn achievements and uncover fun facts and trivia questions — so even if the lines are long, there are still ways for them to unlock parts of Toy Story Land with this app.
You don't need to line up to meet the characters.
Although there may be formal lines here or there for Buzz, Woody, and Jessie, Toy Story Land features everyone's favourite Green Army Men — a lot of them — all over the land. The best part? They're poised and ready to interact with your child beyond a hello and an autograph. The Green Army Patrol might ask your child to drop and give them five push-ups as a "new recruit" activity, or you can ask them to give you their best pose for an awesome photo your kids can jump into.
There's a perfect spot for defusing toddler tantrums.
As you're exiting Toy Story Mania, there's a long path (which can be seen on the bottom right of the above photo) that is probably the most quiet area of the land. Because it's the exit of a ride, even though people will be walking through, it's unlikely people will be sticking around there beyond that. There are a few benches made from Andy's toys that make for perfect places to sit and calm a tantrum, or if your toddler needs to get their wiggles out, there's plenty of space and small "toys" dug into the dirt by Andy that they can climb around to get their energy out. It's also a great place to bring a baby taking a stroller nap, since there are benches for you to sit on.
Check the menu of Woody's Lunch Box first if you're planning on eating lunch in the land.
Woody's Lunch Box is offering up a seriously cool menu of items [6], from a BBQ Brisket Melt to a Monte Cristo With Raspberry Jam (plus more typical items like a three-cheese grilled cheese and a turkey sandwich). Everything is delicious, but if you have a picky eater on your hands (like chicken fingers or pizza picky), make sure they'll be into eating something there before lining up and finding a table.
There are two merchandise carts — one right by the entrance, and one by Slinky Dog Dash.
Although all of the merch in Toy Story Land is awesome, we understand that there's a time and a limit to how much you want to be able to allow your kids to indulge. If you're looking to settle into the land before they head over to check out the toys, tees, and other gear but know that your kid will spot them for sure (they always do), point them out directly as Andy's toy dump truck and Play Family Camper to divert their attention from what's being sold to what the whole thing looks like — then divert their attention to something else. It won't be hard, there's so much to look at!