Disney's Hollywood Studios: The Best Park at Walt Disney World

Disney's Hollywood Studios is just one of the four parks you can visit at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Outside of the classic Magic Kingdom, it's definitely the park with the most atmosphere. It's ideal for movie buffs, Disney geeks, theme park lovers, Star Wars nerds, cartoon junkies, and especially anyone obsessed with the golden age of Hollywood. It's by far and away my favorite park out of the four, trumping even the Magic Kingdom. It has the most unique rides, the most exciting shows, and it's just the best park to walk through on a scenic level. It's like stepping into your favorite films, or being invited onto a studio backlot.

The best rides here would have to be the eerie, "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" and, "Rock N' Roller Coaster". Both are indoors, providing you with a welcome break from the muggy Florida air and both are absolutely thrilling. The coaster offers you all the loops, twists, and turns you can handle, while the Tower of Terror takes you through a haunted hotel and then literally drops you down an elevator shaft. It gives me goosebumps every time I ride, and also manages to give me the biggest adrenaline-rush out of any of the rides at Walt Disney World, even trumping "Splash Mountain" at the Magic Kingdom.

The shows are also extremely high quality, especially, "The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular" and, "Fantasmic". They're second to none, and if you make it to Disney's Hollywood Studios, you should make it a point to see both. Also in the show category is, "Muppet Vision 3D". It's like seeing the Muppets live and there's a giddy excitement about this interactive show that you just won't find in any other 3D experience, because hey...it's the Muppets! As a bonus, this one runs all day on loop, so planning to see it won't take as much effort as it will to see the other two shows.

The Studio Backlot Tour is an attraction that takes you behind the scenes at several of the working portions of Disney Studios. It's a must for anyone who has ever wanted to tour a studio in Los Angeles, and I'd wager is actually a more satisfying experience due to the ride-centric aspect of what you'll get at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This versus what you'd get on a real tour. Disney takes the time to showcase props, take you to mock film sets, and put you up close and personal with some special effects sequences. You wouldn't get that at a real studio tour.

The various props throughout the park are worthy of some major geek-out moments, especially the giant AT-AT from the Star Wars films located in front of the slightly dated, but still enjoyable, "Star Tours" ride. The real celebrity handprints outside of the replica of, "Grauman's Chinese Theater" (which houses the Great Movie Ride) make for some fun photo opportunities.

The music played throughout the park, the general appearance of everything, the excellent parades, the mini-Disney museum, the new American Idol Experience, and the intricate rides make this one of the most exciting Disney experiences for film lovers that's available today. It's definitely the most dense as far as can't-miss rides and experiences go, and you won't be able to do it all in one day. If you're spending more than a day at Walt Disney World, I would highly recommend that you give this park at least two of your days.