 Hey there readers, Renee was back out at Walt Disney World today for the CM preview of Disney's Hollywood Studios. We should point out, this is a Cast Member preview. So your experience at the parks may not match what you see in the pictures below. But I have to be honest, for the first time in almost 6 years of this website, I'm conflicted about posting a park update, and even if it's socially responsible at this point to do so. I'm 3000 miles away, our parks in CA won't be opening any time soon, and even if they did, I don't think I'd be visiting any of them as soon as they open. Just know, you may not see too many in-park updates from us until things start getting a bit better. We are definitely conflicted. - Gregg Written by Renée Girard Good morning from Disney’s Hollywood Studios!  Lines are long for temperature check but moving quickly.  Welcome back!  Everyone else must be headed to Batuu.   I’ve never seen Toy Story land this empty!    Social distancing plexiglass at Droid Depot.   Chewie, we’re home.   Lunch at Docking Bay 7. Like all restaurants, your mobile order has to be ready before entering the building.  20 minute wait posted for Smuggler’s Run. Some sections of the queue have caution tape instead of plexiglass.
The preshow is running. Socially distanced, of course.  No cards are given out for flight positions and you can’t freely wander while waiting to board.  No one taking photos at the table today. You then are verbally told your position and each party has their own ship. 
Socially distant storm troopers.  Not sure if this will continue to be the procedure, but we made an in person reservation for Oga’s Cantina this morning and was given a return time a few hours later, which we’re currently in line for.  Actually got a table at Oga’s for the first time ever. And there’s so much space! This is wonderful. The server also reminded us that masks need to remain on till drinks arrive.   Just enjoying some refreshing Toniray wine at Oga’s.  Mickey! I kinda love seeing him cruising around Studios in a car.  Rise up!  Currently in line for Rise of the Resistance, with a 90 minute wait posted. People are respectful and hopefully it’ll move quickly.   RotR went down for quite some time so we bailed and hopped over to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Both RotR and MMRR have the longest wait times in the park. MMRR had some down time for cleaning, which is what we like to see!  No preshow and more plexiglass at Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
 This ride is the cutest!
There she is!  Tower of Terror is walk on with no preshow running and only one side open. Still one of the best rides! 
 Empty Rock N Roller Coaster, no preshow, and plexiglass for days.    Back on Batuu to attempt RotR again.  The queue for Rise of the Resistance takes you indoors for a bit and then you’re next to the entrance of Muppet-Vision 3D!
 So this is the extended queue for Rise of the Resistance.   I can’t wait to check out this new Star Wars ride.
 Sadly Rise of the Resistance went down, so they finally dumped the queue and we didn’t get to ride. It was still great to spend some time at DHS today, and I wish them a safe and successful reopening this week.  Related Videos
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 This morning, Renée braved the crowds and the weather at Disney's Hollywood Studios to experience the all new Rise of the Resistance that just opened in Galaxy's Edge. How did she fare? And more importantly, what are the changes you need to be made aware of if you want to experience Rise of the Resistance any time soon? Written by Renée Girard It’s currently 5:25am and I’m here with just a few others at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. CMs are saying that park will open at 7am and that we may be entering the park before then but cannot join the virtual queue for RotR till 7am. Has that always been the case? From what I’ve seen, people have joined the virtual queue before 7?  30 minutes later at 5:55am and the line behind me is huge. Cast Compliment to all the cast members at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that are up and working before the sun is up and managing the insane crowds. May The Force be with you this holiday season.  6:35am, it’s raining. Gates are open!  6:48am and I’m in the park but can’t join a boarding group yet. And Starbucks has quite the line!  6:53am. Nothing to do but wait and keep check for boarding groups to open, go shopping, or get Starbucks. People are not happy that they got here early and can’t get a boarding pass yet. We’ll see how the app handles everyone trying to get one at 7am.  Success  While I wait for my boarding group... let’s ride!  No boarding groups have been called for RotR yet, so wait times for other rides are starting to climb.   “How about some boarding passes?”.  Even with boarding groups opening at 7am, they are still gone before 8am.  Not a bad score for so early in the morning!  Breakfast at Oga’s and then it’s time to join the resistance.    My group got called about 8:30am while I was at Oga’s.  I’m going in! No spoilers, I promise!  The queue has a Flight of Passage feel to me so far. Pretty sure the key word here is immersive.    Heading in to get our assignment from BB8 and Rey.  Just got off Rise of the Resistance. Absolutely incredible! There wasn’t any down time at all while I was in there. Lives up to all of the hype.  I’m exhausted and going to nap now but once again, Rise of the Resistance is amazing. If the virtual queue bookings are going to continue to open at 7, I’d still get there early - they were already gone before 8. I was off the ride just before 10. Totally worth it.     Related Videos:
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 We're back with more of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, but this time on a coast far, far away (well, 2,501 miles) from the other Galaxy's Edge. Excited to see how Galaxy's Edge is received in Florida, so far reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. Let's head in and see what Renée was up to on her birthday!! Written by Renée Girard Bright suns! Rising moons! Afternoon thunderstorms! The east coast Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is up and running for WDW cast member this month and we got to experience it     I hate to admit it, but where you’re seated on Smuggler’s Run does make a difference. On our first ride, we were the engineers, and weren’t impressed at all with the ride itself (the queue and entire building is phenomenal). But going on two more times as pilots was such a blast!     The Droid Depot was totally worth doing. I loved putting it together and then making it come to life. Very cool!     Really enjoyed our meal at Docking Bay 7. We got the vegetarian option, plus the chocolate cake. The cake was fine, but the garden spread was delicious!     There are still so many details I haven’t even seen yet, but I do think I spotted a Hidden Mickey on board the Millennium Falcon.  Oga’s Cantina is such a fun and well themed bar. So glad Rex made a comeback as a DJ! The drinks are quite pricey but we split all of the different beers. White Wampa Ale was the best!     I liked having no formal character meet and greets for a change. Towards the end of the evening, we were just walking around and Rey invited me to participate in a droid race!     Since the time slot we had for the preview was later in the day, we got to see the land transition into night.   Don’t know when I’ll be back yet, and I’m sure it’ll be much busier next time, but I really enjoyed my first visit to the Hollywood Studios SW:GE.     Related Videos
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