Disney With Kids: Top 5 Attractions for School Age Kids @ Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Of all 4 Disney theme parks in Orlando, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the smallest park in size which make it the easiest park to manage in one day. But it doesn’t mean that there are few options for attractions and rides.

Our recent visit to the Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we approached the park with the idea that that we would not be able to ride everything or watch every show. As recommended by Frommer’s Walt Disney World and Orlando 2011, you have to have a plan of attack when planning a family vacation to Walt Disney World. Granted that my plan was nothing fancy with just a quick look at what will be the best rides for our school age kids to enjoy.

Since we haven’t been to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with kids for a while, our original list of our favorite rides in Walt Disney World has changed. Now that the kids are older, they have become more involve in the planning and can go to other big kids rides. So here are our top 5 rides for our school age children in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

1. Toy Story Midway Mania: Fun for all ages

The newest ride in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also the hottest ride. With the fun, interactive, 3D game type ride, the Toy Story Midway Mania! is one of the most popular ride that you can’t miss. The ride is great for kids of all ages so the line will be extremely long. Fortunately, this is the fastpass ride which means you can insert your theme park ticket to one of many fastpass kiosk outside the entrance of Toy Story Mania ride and the machine will dispense the fastpass ticket which gives you the timeframe for you to come back.

I would highly recommend you to head to get your fastpass as soon as you arrive. When we arrived around 10 AM, our fastpass time was for 5:55PM-6:55PM. Like I said, it’s one popular ride in this park.

2. Star Wars: Jedi Training Academy: Join the force for kids age 4-12

I don’t know that many boys who don’t love Star Wars or dream about becoming a Jedi. This 30-minute live show allows kids to become part of the show. I knew that it was one of our priority. So as soon as we picked up the map and check the time, we walked to Echo Lake area where the Star Tours is located. Just look for the cast member and you can sign up your young padawan for the Jedi Training Academy.

Kids will be a part of the Jedi Training Academy and have a chance to fight with Darth Vader or Darth Maul. After the training, each kid will also receive the certificate. I wish they will let you keep the robe. :)

3. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: Perfect for the thrill seekers

I didn’t know who screamed the loudest but I knew my throat hurt a little when we got off from the elevator of the Hollywood Tower hotel. We were very lucky that day that there were virtually no wait at all. We didn’t even have to use any fastpass for this ride because the wait time was 5 minutes.

4. Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show: Thrilling show for kids

This live show was a surprise for us. The arena is large so it can fit a LOT of people so it’s one of the attractions where you don’t have to wait in line for a long time. The show was entertaining and exhilarating. Some of the stunt they did was surreal. It was also nice to see the secret behind the shooting as well. Our kids absolutely loved this show. Even though the show has no age recommendation, with the nature of explosive and loud noise, small kids might get scared easily.

5. Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

Yes, it’s another stunt show but this is Indiana Jones we are talking about. Kids got excited at the opening scene cheering for Indy to run fast than the giant rock. The show involved a lot of stunt including several audiences who got a chance to be a part of the scene. Fighting, jumping, climbing and explosion, they had it all. It was especially nice to catch the show at the end of the day with the blue sky as a backdrop. The amphitheater is big enough to accommodate pretty everyone. So there is no need for fastpass here. For parents with young children, you might want to consider whether they can tolerate the loud noise and explosion.

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