If you’re planning a trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios this year, you’re likely doing more planning than ever before. From trying to figure out the moving target that is Rise of the Resistance boarding groups to a brand new attraction yet-to-open, there is quite a bit of planning to be done.

In this post, we’re going to outline some of the changes that have been implemented to the FastPass+ tiers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as well as speculate a bit on some changes yet to be announced.

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run Added to FastPass+ Lineup

First, we’ll start with what we know. If you plan on visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios on or after February 19th, you’ll see a change in FastPass tier options as well as a new addition to the FastPass+ attraction lineup.

As we wrote earlier this morning, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will become a FastPass+ option starting on February 19th. Since it opened on August 29, 2019, Smugglers Run has operated in a standby only capacity in an effort to ensure wait times are manageable and to give operations teams a chance to adjust and modify their procedures as they learn about guest behavior.

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run has been a rockstar of sorts as a new attraction, with minimal downtime reported and a good enough throughput to have an average wait time of just under an hour. For a new attraction in a new land, that is outstanding (especially compared to the companion Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction – Rise of the Resistance).

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Added to FastPass+ Lineup

Disney has announced that Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway will offer FastPass+ on opening day, March 4th.

The announcement of FastPass+ for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway should relieve the system a bit with regards to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run starting March 4th.

Old FastPass+ Tiers (Before February 19th)

Because this post is being written before the Smugglers Run change, we’ll start with a look at the current FastPass+ tiers, which we’ll refer to as “old” because of the upcoming changes to the majority of 2020.

Currently, the FastPass+ attraction tiers look like this:

Tier One Attractions (select one)
Slinky Dog Dash
Toy Story Midway Mania
Alien Swirling Saucers
Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror

Tier Two Attractions
Star Tours
Muppet-Vision 3D
Fantasmic!
Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage
Disney Junior Dance Party

New FastPass+ Attraction Tiers (Starting February 19th)

Beginning February 19th, the FastPass+ attraction tiers change significantly. With the addition of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, the tiers will become less “balanced”, and tip in a direction that many will likely find as a change for the better. Here’s a look at the new FastPass+ attraction tiers going into effect February 19th.

Tier One Attractions (select one)
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Slinky Dog Dash
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (beginning March 4th)

Tier Two Attractions
Toy Story Midway Mania
Alien Swirling Saucers
Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror
Star Tours
Muppet-Vision 3D
Fantasmic!
Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage
Disney Junior Dance Party

The general consensus on these changes are positive. By putting less attractions in the tier one bucket and more of the “E-Ticket” attractions in the tier two bucket, guests will likely be able to secure more FastPasses for the Toy Story Land and Sunset Boulevard attractions.

Future Changes in 2020

Even though we have an updated look at the FastPass+ landscape, there is still uncertainty thanks to one currently operating attraction and an attraction yet to open.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Perhaps the biggest wrench to be thrown into your plans in years has been the Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group requirements. Our updated guide will give you the best advice while we focus more on the future of FastPass+ at the attraction.

With the announced changes to the Smugglers Run FastPass+ offering, Disney added a bit of a throwaway line at the end of their press release regarding Rise of the Resistance:

While there is a possibility that they will introduce Rise of the Resistance to the FastPass+ lineup in the future, we believe that they want to have a successful standby only period like Smugglers Run has had to improve on their operational stability and procedures. We’ll continue to keep an eye on Rise of the Resistance, but there is another question mark that could change the FastPass+ lineup as early as March.

All this is to say that between all of the FastPass+ changes and nearly weekly park operating hour extensions, planning for Disney’s Hollywood Studios is in a state of flux right now. We’ll continue to put out guides and planning tips like we have with the Rise of the Resistance opening, so keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com in the coming days, weeks, and months as we cover the latest from the Disney Parks.