What are the best days to go to Hollywood Studios at Disney World? Which days of the week should you choose to visit the theme park with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land? In our Hollywood Studios crowd guide, we’ll let you know which days have the longest lines, so you know the best times to visit.
Using wait time data from Thrill-Data.com, we’ve compared the average wait time at Hollywood Studios based on day of the week for the past four years. We’ve also broken down crowd patterns by month. Our recommendations put an emphasis on the past 12 months, as visiting habits and wait times have shifted thanks to new systems like Park Pass Reservations and Genie+.
Update June 29, 2023 – I’ve updated our Hollywood Studios crowd guide with data from both 2022 and the first half of 2023, which has had a big effect on our recommendations. I also made a video version for Guide2WDW’s YouTube channel, which you can watch below so you can better plan your 2023 Disney World vacation.
Read on to find out the best days of the week to visit Hollywood Studios, as well as which days to avoid.
The Best and Worst Days to Visit Hollywood Studios – Video
This video gives an overview of all the findings in this article: the best days to visit Hollywood Studios, the days you’ll want to avoid, and how special events can affect crowds. Be sure to subscribe to the Guide2WDW YouTube Channel for more Disney World tips, tricks, and advice, but read on for more in-depth analysis.
Average Wait Time by Day of the Week at Hollywood Studios
From January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2022, here is the average wait time at Hollywood Studios for each day of the week.
- Monday: 44 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 43 Minutes
- Wednesday: 41 Minutes (Shortest)
- Thursday: 42 Minutes
- Friday: 41 Minutes (Shortest)
- Saturday: 41 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 42 Minutes
Now let’s look at more recent crowd patterns. As the first full year with Lightning Lane enabled, 2022 shows a clear shift in wait times.
- Monday: 53 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 52 Minutes
- Wednesday: 50 Minutes
- Thursday: 51 Minutes
- Friday: 51 Minutes
- Saturday: 49 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 50 Minutes
While Monday still has the longest wait times, crowds are the lightest now during the weekends.
The Best Days to Visit Hollywood Studios in 2023: Sunday, Saturday, and Wednesday
In the last version of this guide, Saturday was our top pick. But halfway through 2023, there’s been a distinct shift towards Sunday being the least crowded day at Hollywood Studios. Sunday have had the lowest wait times for the first half of 2023, having the shortest average lines every single month so far this year.
The updated data from 2022 and 2023 also makes it clear that Saturdays are also one of the best days to visit Hollywood Studios. Saturdays had the lowest wait times on average, and the lowest wait times in five out of twelve months during the year. It also had the second lowest wait time in three of the other months, making it an excellent day to visit 75% of the year.
Wednesdays are the best weekday to visit Hollywood Studios. Wednesdays had the lowest wait times 4 out of 12 months in 2022, while never having the longest wait time.
While Fridays were tied for lowest wait time over the past four years, it’s trending towards being more crowded lately.
The Worst Days to Visit Hollywood Studios in 2023: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
Similar to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, Mondays at Hollywood Studios have the longest wait times. Mondays still had the longest wait times five months during 2022, but had the lowest wait times once in June 2022. While Mondays definitely have the biggest crowds, it’s not as pronounced here as Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, which both had the longest wait times on Monday nine out of twelve months.
Tuesdays are right behind Mondays as the second worst day to visit Hollywood Studios, with its average wait time just one minute less than Monday. Tuesdays had the longest wait times five out of the last twelve months, but the shortest wait times just once out of the last eighteen months, in February 2022. Through the first half of 2023, Tuesdays actually have had the longest lines at DHS.
While not quite as bad as Monday or Tuesday, we would also mostly avoid Thursday at Hollywood Studios if we had the choice.
That’s not to say you should completely avoid Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday at Hollywood Studios. Consult the average wait time based on the month to see which months they don’t have the longest wait times.
What about special events?
Hollywood Studios does have a couple of special events that could affect crowds during your Disney World vacation.
Disney Jollywood Nights is a new separately-ticketed holiday party for 2023. It will take place on the following evenings, starting at 8:30.
- November: 11, 18, 20, 27, 29
- December: 4, 6, 16, 18, 20
Just like Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, Jollywood Nights will affect operating hours for regular guests. At Magic Kingdom, many guests avoid the park on party days due to the shorter hours. If you have a park hopper or don’t mind a shorter day in the park, this can work to your advantage as the crowds will be lighter. However, we expect this to be less pronounced since Jollywood Nights starts an hour and a half later than MVMCP at Magic Kingdom.
Hollywood Studios does also host Extended Evening Hours, which can cause crowd levels to rise. Unlike at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, which host them every week, Hollywood Studios rarely has this Deluxe Resort perk. The last time they were held was last December, but Disney can always decide to bring them back in the future. So just keep an eye out for new announcements for your WDW vacation.
Hollywood Studios Day of the Week – Average Wait Time Based on Month
Our recommendations above are based on an overall average of recent history, but crowd patterns shift based on time of the year. Below are the last twelve months of average wait time at Hollywood Studios, broken out by day of the week.
As you can see, the above recommendations would shift based on which month of the year you visit. While we would avoid Mondays most months out of the year, you may want to visit Hollywood Studios on a Monday in June, when it had the lowest wait times.
January 2022
- Monday: 50 Minutes
- Tuesday: 51 Minutes (Longest)
- Wednesday: 48 Minutes
- Thursday: 48 Minutes
- Friday: 48 Minutes
- Saturday: 44 Minutes
- Sunday: 42 Minutes (Shortest)
February 2022
- Monday: 61 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 52 Minutes (Shortest)
- Wednesday: 56 Minutes
- Thursday: 56 Minutes
- Friday: 56 Minutes
- Saturday: 54 Minutes
- Sunday: 53 Minutes
March 2022
- Monday: 64 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 61 Minutes
- Wednesday: 58 Minutes
- Thursday: 57 Minutes
- Friday: 59 Minutes
- Saturday: 55 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 60 Minutes
April 2022
- Monday: 56 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 55 Minutes
- Wednesday: 51 Minutes (Shortest)
- Thursday: 52 Minutes
- Friday: 54 Minutes
- Saturday: 51 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 55 Minutes
May 2022
- Monday: 48 Minutes
- Tuesday: 49 Minutes (Longest)
- Wednesday: 47 Minutes
- Thursday: 47 Minutes
- Friday: 46 Minutes (Shortest)
- Saturday: 48 Minutes
- Sunday: 48 Minutes
June 2022
- Monday: 50 Minutes (Shortest)
- Tuesday: 51 Minutes
- Wednesday: 53 Minutes
- Thursday: 53 Minutes
- Friday: 52 Minutes
- Saturday: 54 Minutes (Longest)
- Sunday: 53 Minutes
July 2022
- Monday: 49 Minutes
- Tuesday: 50 Minutes (Longest)
- Wednesday: 47 Minutes (Shortest)
- Thursday: 50 Minutes (Longest)
- Friday: 47 Minutes (Shortest)
- Saturday: 49 Minutes
- Sunday: 49 Minutes
August 2022
- Monday: 45 Minutes
- Tuesday: 44 Minutes
- Wednesday: 42 Minutes (Shortest)
- Thursday: 46 Minutes (Longest)
- Friday: 43 Minutes
- Saturday: 44 Minutes
- Sunday: 43 Minutes
September 2022
- Monday: 44 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 44 Minutes (Longest)
- Wednesday: 37 Minutes
- Thursday: 37 Minutes
- Friday: 42 Minutes
- Saturday: 36 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 39 Minutes
October 2022
- Monday: 51 Minutes
- Tuesday: 50 Minutes
- Wednesday: 47 Minutes
- Thursday: 51 Minutes
- Friday: 52 Minutes (Longest)
- Saturday: 44 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 47 Minutes
November 2022
- Monday: 60 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 54 Minutes
- Wednesday: 49 Minutes (Shortest)
- Thursday: 51 Minutes
- Friday: 55 Minutes
- Saturday: 52 Minutes
- Sunday: 50 Minutes
December 2022
- Monday: 59 Minutes
- Tuesday: 60 Minutes (Longest)
- Wednesday: 57 Minutes
- Thursday: 56 Minutes
- Friday: 57 Minutes
- Saturday: 54 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 58 Minutes
January 2023
- Monday: 51 Minutes
- Tuesday: 56 Minutes
- Wednesday: 51 Minutes
- Thursday: 54 Minutes
- Friday: 58 Minutes (Longest)
- Saturday: 53 Minutes
- Sunday: 50 Minutes (Shortest)
February 2023
- Monday: 48 Minutes
- Tuesday: 48 Minutes
- Wednesday: 47 Minutes
- Thursday: 50 Minutes (Longest)
- Friday: 50 Minutes (Longest)
- Saturday: 50 Minutes (Longest)
- Sunday: 46 Minutes (Shortest)
March 2023
- Monday: 52 Minutes
- Tuesday: 54 Minutes (Longest)
- Wednesday: 50 Minutes
- Thursday: 50 Minutes
- Friday: 48 Minutes
- Saturday: 42 Minutes
- Sunday: 38 Minutes (Shortest)
April 2023
- Monday: 48 Minutes
- Tuesday: 51 Minutes (Longest)
- Wednesday: 50 Minutes
- Thursday: 48 Minutes
- Friday: 46 Minutes
- Saturday: 44 Minutes
- Sunday: 39 Minutes (Shortest)
May 2023
- Monday: 39 Minutes (Longest)
- Tuesday: 37 Minutes
- Wednesday: 36 Minutes
- Thursday: 38 Minutes
- Friday: 36 Minutes
- Saturday: 34 Minutes
- Sunday: 32 Minutes (Shortest)
June 2023 (Through June 26)
- Monday: 48 Minutes
- Tuesday: 47 Minutes
- Wednesday: 45 Minutes
- Thursday: 49 Minutes (Longest)
- Friday: 44 Minutes
- Saturday: 36 Minutes (Shortest)
- Sunday: 36 Minutes (Shortest)
How to plan a Hyper-Awesome Hollywood Studios Day
Planning a trip to Disney World? Figuring out when to go is just the beginning. Get in touch with our friends at Vacationeer for free Disney World vacation planning. Their travel agents can help you plan your vacation for no extra cost, including helping get park reservations for the best days to visit DHS. They’ll make sure you get the most out of your visit to Hollywood Studios and the other WDW theme parks. Plus, they are Disney experts, so they’ll have their own recommendations and advice.
Don’t miss our Hollywood Studios Tips & Tricks so you can visit like an expert. We also have free Disney World guides, which help you learn the basics of planning a WDW vacation. Our Guide 2 Disney Genie and Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Guide will help you spend less time waiting in line for Hollywood Studios’ best rides and attractions. Plus, we have an in-depth section on Hollywood Studios for Toddlers, a Hollywood Studios Character Guide, as well as Hollywood Studios Dining and Restaurants.
We want to hear from you!
What do you think the best day to visit Hollywood Studios is? Let me know in the comments below!
Don’t miss the other entries in our When to Visit Disney World Guide.
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