Things are always changing in Disney World!

Just a few days ago we found that holiday decorations had started to appear (a bit early), and we’ve seen some other new or different things popping up around the other parks. But, some very important changes have come to Disney’s Hollywood Studios this month. Today, we’re going through the top 5!

If you haven’t visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a while, here are some of the biggest changes and new things that may not have been available when you last strolled through the park.

1. Rise of the Resistance Boarding Groups

We’ve got to start with what we think is set to be the BIGGEST change coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios — a revision in the way that morning boarding groups are accessed for arguably Disney World’s most popular ride, Rise of the Resistance. Although this change won’t take place until November 3rd, it was announced October 29th, so we’re counting it as a change for this month!

Essentially, starting November 3rd, if you want to sign up to potentially get a boarding group for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, you’ll still need a valid ticket to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a valid Disney Park Pass reservation for the day you want to visit, BUT you’ll be able to access the virtual queue system and try to get a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance starting at 7AM on the day of your park reservation from OUTSIDE of Disney’s Hollywood Studios! That means, you can be in your hotel room, getting breakfast, or wherever else you like and you can try to grab a boarding group at that time!

This could be a huge change especially for people who perhaps couldn’t make it through the gates of Disney’s Hollywood Studios in time to sign up for the morning boarding groups previously because they got delayed at breakfast or parking. We’ll definitely be testing out the new system once it starts and we’ll let you know if any other changes are made in the future.

Click here for more details on this change coming to morning boarding group sign-ups!

2. Plexiglass

Not 1, not 2, but 3 attractions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have gotten some plexiglass added to their ride vehicles or queue areas this month! There are now plexiglass dividers in The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror…

…in the queue for Slinky Dog Dash…

…and on the vehicles at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

We anticipated that the plexiglass at Rise of the Resistance, in particular, could help increase capacity at that ride, and it appears Disney feels the same way. In a recent statement, they said, “To try to maximize the number of boarding groups we’re able to accommodate while adhering to current health and safety guidelines, we recently added a clear barrier between the two rows of seats on each First Order Fleet Transport vehicle inside the attraction. This enables us to invite more guests to board Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance each day.” 

At first, we didn’t see them seating two separate parties in the same vehicle, but during our most recent visit, they were in fact seating more than one party per vehicle (separated by the plexiglass divider).

We’ll definitely keep an eye out for more updates on this situation, and see if plexiglass is added to any other attractions or queues in Hollywood Studios in the future.

Click here to learn more about the plexiglass on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

3. Ronto Roasters

Sometimes there is nothing better than grabbing a seat in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and just munching away on a Ronto Wrap (or 2, or 3!) from Ronto Roasters.

This month, we noticed that Ronto Roasters was actually starting to close at 3PM each day. But our Ronto Wraps! How can we survive the night without one?! No need to worry!

Starting at 3PM, until close, you can actually get a Ronto Wrap next door at Docking Bay 7! Hooray!

Click here to read about this change and how you can still get those delicious wraps in the afternoon!

4. Droid and Lightsaber Pieces

More changes have come to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge this month as well. If you built a droid at Droid Depot, but are looking to change out some of its pieces, you didn’t really have the ability to do that easily before, but now you do!

That’s right — your trusty droid companion can get a fun makeover! This month, we saw a number of head and body pieces starting to be sold individually in Droid Depot.

Looking to give your droid a makeover? Click here to read more!

But that’s not all. If you built a lightsaber in Savi’s Workshop, but would like to customize it even further, you can now buy some “scrap metal” (A.K.A. lightsaber parts) and make your saber truly unique.

If you build a lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop, you’re limited to just the pieces in the theme you select initially. No mixing and matching to make the saber of your dreams! That’s STILL the case when you do the full saber building experience at Savi’s but now you can buy additional parts from ANY of the themes to customize your build! That means you can pick from some Power & Control parts…

…or add a little Elemental Nature spin to your lightsaber’s look.

It really gives you the ability to continue the customization process beyond your Savi’s experience!

Check out more details on how you can get more parts to further customize your lightsaber here!

5. Return of Character Dining

Last, but certainly not least, we saw Character Dining recently return to Disney’s Hollywood Studios! Technically, this return came at the very end of September, but we’re being a bit generous with our “this month” timeline here. 😉 Specifically, we saw character dining make its comeback with Minnie’s Halloween Dine at Hollywood & Vine, and BOY were their Halloween outfits adorable!

This former buffet is now serving up plated meals and characters are visiting regularly at a distance. We definitely LOVED seeing Mickey and friends again in this modified character dining experience (plus the food was surprisingly good too!).

Click here to see more photos of Mickey and friends dressed in their Halloween best!

We also got some important announcements this month about MORE seasonal character dining experiences returning to this spot including Minnie’s Holiday Dine, Silver Screen Dine, and more!

We can’t wait to experience these in the coming months!

Click here to check out all of the details on these themed character dining experiences coming soon!

Well, that’s our list of the top 5 changes that we’ve seen at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the last month (or so). We’re always on the lookout for more news and updates, so be sure to come back for all the latest.

Click here to see what else is new in Hollywood Studios!

Which of these changes are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!