I miss this park… If you’ve read anything that I’ve written here, you know that I’m a Disney fan. I’m willing to overlook most faults, because by far the good outweighs the bad. I must really love Disney, because ten years ago my family and I picked up and moved to Florida, with no real plan. It was one of the most naive and best decisions that we’ve ever made. When we were ready to buy a house four years ago, we had two major considerations. It needed to have a pool, and it needed to be close to Walt Disney World.
Now that Walt Disney World has reopened I’ve been finding lots of magic. I am obsessed with the Character Cavalcades. The short Wait Times have been nice. I’ve been eating on property more, partially to try new things and partially to have favorites once again. I love how clean everything is. In this crazy world, Disney has become one of the few places where I feel safe right now. It’s nice to be able to have a good time and not have COVID-19 on the forefront of my mind.
Since I’m an Annual Passholder who rarely stays on property, I can only hold three Disney Park Pass reservations at a time. I’m the type of person who loves to head to a park on a moment’s notice and visit for an hour or two, so this has been hard for me. As I write this, there are no openings for Annual Passholders on the Availability Calendar for 11 days! I’ve still been fairly lucky at grabbing spots that were given up at the last minute. I’ve been able to do that for the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Notice that something is missing?
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is my favorite of the four Walt Disney World theme parks. This goes back way before Galaxy’s Edge was announced, or even before the update to Star Tours. We had a great experience there our first ever trip to Walt Disney World, it was the least stressful day of our vacation. Once we moved here, my best memories were made at the park. From Star Wars Weekends to becoming friends with a College Program kid (who is still in our lives nine years later); I simply feel at home there.
When the Disney Park Pass reservations first opened for Annual Passholders, it was my goal to be able to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios on opening day. Somehow, it happened! The day wasn’t perfect, but it felt so good to be back.
I immediately made another Disney Park Pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I picked September 2 because that’s my wedding anniversary. My husband doesn’t go to the parks as often as I do, and he hasn’t seen Galaxy’s Edge yet. He’s also not a Star Wars fan, but I’m sure that he will appreciate how immersive it is.
After that, I have no idea when I will be back. According to the Availability Calendar, the earliest open date for Passholders is September 9. By the time I’m ready to make another DHS reservation it will be pushed back a lot further than that. My daughter and I have been going to a park on Wednesdays, so right now I always have two reservations booked. The Disney Park Pass system does not give a us lot of wiggle room.
I really miss Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I miss being able to go up for a couple of hours and not even do anything. I would go and just watch Slinky Dog Dash for a while, or listen to the sounds inside Galaxy’s Edge. Walking through Walt Disney Presents is something that I would do almost every time. I even miss planning on heading to the park, but then changing my mind because it started to rain, only later to go because the rain lasted for ten minutes. I miss it all.
I hope that I don’t sound like a whiny brat. Believe me, I’m grateful that the parks are open again, and that we have been able to visit as often as we have. I see the magic everywhere, but one small part of the spell is missing for me at the moment.