Seriously is HS now relegated to a half day park?

[mi*vida*loca]

It's a half day park to us. 9-1 or 2. We aren't Star Wars fans. We've never even seen a movie. My kids are too old for Disney Jr. DD is iffy on Frozen.

We do TSM, RNR, TOT, LM, beauty and the beast show and maybe the car show.

I will be doing two hakf days this trip. Only because we are staying 10 nights and staying at the BC. So doing one rope drop to 1 and then one evening after AK fit well into our schedule. This way we get to see Fantasmic. Also TOT IS DD and my favorite ride. And we enjoy the other headliners. So getting to do them twice is a plus.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We love DHS. We hit the park at rope drop and then enjoy a fun ADR (50's or Sci-Fi or Mama Melrose for lunch). We take 3 hours out for a swim (we go in August- can't do full day without a break at any park!). Then we are back for dinner and Fantasmic! It's both my DD's favourite park (they love ToT and RnR- they ride them over and over).

 

[EZBZOZ]

You guys are starting to make me think. We are only going to have 2 days in the parks (2/6-7) and doing MK Friday and was considering DHS for day 2. I'd rather not spend the dough on a hopper to go back to MK or somewhere else day 2 if we only spend 1/2 day at DHS. It will be me, my wife, and 8-year old son, who enjoys Star Wars.

Since we probably won't be back anytime soon, we want to make the most of it but also don't want to be crazy busy on the go go go.

Think it's worth doing DHS as the other day for a first trip or would you do something else? We originally talked about AK but many encouraged us to stay away, especially with all the maintenance going on now.

 

[Jfsag123]

You guys are starting to make me think. We are only going to have 2 days in the parks (2/6-7) and doing MK Friday and was considering DHS for day 2. I'd rather not spend the dough on a hopper to go back to MK or somewhere else day 2 if we only spend 1/2 day at DHS. It will be me, my wife, and 8-year old son, who enjoys Star Wars.

Since we probably won't be back anytime soon, we want to make the most of it but also don't want to be crazy busy on the go go go.

Think it's worth doing DHS as the other day for a first trip or would you do something else? We originally talked about AK but many encouraged us to stay away, especially with all the maintenance going on now.

If your 8 year old loves Star Wars, then he will definitely find something to enjoy at DHS. However, with only 2 days I would be spending my second one at EPCOT or hitting MK again.

 

[soniam]

It's pretty much a half day for us as well, after having been a few times. We don't do all of the thrill rides, no water rides, or most of the shows. Here's what we do. We plan to get there at RD (9am) and will probably be out of there by 2pm, including lunch.

Rock n Roller Coaster (This will be the first time)
Toy Story Mania
Star Tours
Magic of Disney Animation/Animation Academy
Honey I Shrunk the Kids (We've never done it. DS will be too old soon, and I think they might close it before too long.)
Muppet Vision 3D (DH and I don't really like it. DS does, and I think it might close soon.)
Indiana Jones show (I think this might close soon too. Plus it's good.)
Lights Motor Action (We had nose bleed seats last time. I'm hoping for better ones. Plus, I think this might close soon too.)

 

[JJsmama]

If your 8 year old loves Star Wars, then he will definitely find something to enjoy at DHS. However, with only 2 days I would be spending my second one at EPCOT or hitting MK again.

I totally agree. I have three boys and most trips they vote to skip DHS. Epcot has much more to offer (think Soarin, test track, Nemo + aquarium, Figment, exotic flavors of coca cola, boat ride in Mexico, phineas and Ferb interactive game, caramel shop in Germany, fabulous presentations in America and France and ......
MK is the most magical though. You can't go wrong spending multiple days there.

 

[kataEbi]

It's less than half a day for us.

FP+ TSMM, ToT and ST.

Toy Story first, circle around to Star Tours, jump across and ToT, wait for RnR, Great Movie Ride, (occasionally hit Brown Derby if we're around a meal time) and DONE. Didnt even get to the park til almost noon either.

Just did it today. We only visit HS more than once if we're here for more than a few days just to do it again (like this week). We've seen all the shows, etc.. agree with others that it seems very deserted and needs updating/at least fill in the gaps.

 

[kia5711]

Oh man - we have 1.5 days planned at HS next week and I'm STILL having a problem fitting everything in we want to do there! This is only our second time ever going to WDW so maybe that's a big factor - but we're stoked to see it all and do everything there! I love the feel of the whole place!!

 

[prudence64]

We spent 1 1/2 days there. My husband went on star tours 8 times. My daughter and I did TOT 3 times. We loved the drawing academy. It was our first time seeing Fantasmic. We thought mama melrose was good and the Osborne lights were fantastic. Had our best shopping in that park too. So, we enjoy the heck out of it.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We always find enough thing to do there for a full day plus a couple of evenings. For example, last summer my kids wanted to see how many times they could ride the Tower in 2 hours. They stopped after 13 trips with a little time to spare.

Another night it was how many times can they ride Toy Story in an hour - 4 times.

The final night was RnR in an hour - only 3.

 

[Planogirl]

We spent 1 1/2 days there. My husband went on star tours 8 times. My daughter and I did TOT 3 times. We loved the drawing academy. It was our first time seeing Fantasmic. We thought mama melrose was good and the Osborne lights were fantastic. Had our best shopping in that park too. So, we enjoy the heck out of it.

DHS is a must for us at Christmas time. We love the Osborne Lights.

I would take a serious Star Wars fan to DHS. I adore Star Tours and have ridden it a huge number of times. I can't justify us going just to ride that though.

 

[sookie]

No way! This is a full day park.

We have been several times during the year, and this has not changed for us. We like to meet characters (and DHS has LOTS of those), we like to ride rides (TOT and TSMM! are our favorites) and with the new Frozen activities... it is definitely a full day park.

You put in shows like Indy, Lights Motor Action, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast... along with Fantasmic... you have a full day park!

And if you have special event going on such as Star Wars Weekends or Christmas activities (Osborne Lights)... you definitely have a full day park. When they did Frozen Summer park, I'm sure you had to really work to do everything you wanted to do in 1 day due to the parades and fireworks.

 

[SplashMo]

It has always been a half day or us. However I like two half days there (Basically repeats of the previous day). However I have liked to hang out and draw characters etc and could take a whole day. Usually arrive in time to line up for parade and wait until F+ riding the three big rides and having dinner at 50s prime time diner.

 

[DisneyKidds]

So Crusher.....did you get your answer, what are you gonna do?

Obviously the answer to your question is.....it depends. It depends on the composition of your party, if you've ever been, if you only want to do rides or if you want to do it all, if you are eating in the park (especially TS), if you are into meet and greets, and if you are into things like streetmosphere, which many people walk past but can be quite funny.

Yes, DHS needs some new rides and a bit of attention. Hopefully that will be coming in the not too distant future. As one pp pointed out, if you have younger kids and want to do everything you would need more than a day. On the other hand you could hit the half dozen most popular attractions and skip everything else and be out in a couple hours.

We usually spend a little more than a half day of a day there, with a rope drop hour or two on a second day. So for us it's more than a half day park, and we skip a ton of stuff that we've done enough before or our kids are now too old for.

 

[Flamingeaux]

Not for us. We get there at RD and hit all the headliner rides early and often. Then we settle down and catch all the shows and eat in a relaxed way. We try to hit Characterpoloza, Animation Academy and then relax until Fantasmic.

Because AK has no nighttime activities it is our 1/2 day park. We hit DTD that night.

 

[mom2rtk]

I really wish they'd pick up RnR and move it to another park so we don't have to decide whether to skip it next time. We love the shows but have seen them so many times through the years it wouldn't break my heart to miss them.

We never buy park hoppers, just not our preferred touring style. Not sure it's worth the price just to hop one time to do one ride.

I know exciting new things are coming. But my kids will likely have to push me through the park in a wheelchair by the time any of it ever opens.

 

[msmama]

For us, it is a full day park, BUT...we often do rope drop (or close) until dinner time because I don't like the food at HS. I can stomach one meal there, but not two.

That said, an afternoon break for dinner at the boardwalk isn't a bad idea!!

 

[Tomh]

We have always managed to spend a full day at DHS, but with things closing like they have been, that may not be the case going forward. We don't do ToT.

DS likes RnRR, and we all like TSMM and Star Tours. Lights Motors Action is a must for us (until it's closed) and we've always done Indiana Jones. Beauty and the Beast we could take or leave. We've seen it, the heat in the outdoor theater in August is nearly unbearable. Little Mermaid is pretty well done, and an enjoyable break from the heat. The animation academy is fun as well. Generally though, by the evening we are just looking for ways to waste time until F! starts.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

DHS is our second favorite park. We can spend a day there without a problem. Heck, we can spend 2 days there.

The only problem is the food.

 

[tweak89]

This has always been a half day for us. Once we hit the headliners a couple of times (this was pre-FP+) we'd move on to another park or activity. While you COULD make it a whole day park, we don't.

For us, once we've seen the shows there is really no reason to se them again and again unless they are really spectacular or maybe feature a new wrinkle or two. This is the same for us regardless of what theme park chain we visit.

There's just a lot of dead space in this park. C'mon Disney...let's get some awesome Star Wars rides going.