Advice HS ?

[kayrosek]

Hi everyone. We are just nine days away from our first WDW vacation and I have tons of qestions so I geuss it's a good thing I found these boards. Anyway we (Me, DH, DD12, DD10, and DS9) will be in WDW from Nov 23rd- to the 29th won't have any time for parks on our last day as we have to catch a cruise ship for the second half of our trip. We have a 7:45 ADR for Chef Mickey's on the 28th. My husband wanted to spend that last day at MK (two other MK days planned), no park hopper, but I would love to see the festival of lights so my qestions are 1. would you recomend a day at HS and why? 2. If my main reason for going is the lights festival will I even have a time to see it and still get to our ADR on time? and 3. What is the best way to get to the Contemporary from HS?

 

[g-dad66]

I would definitely do Hollywood Studios if I had 9 days at the parks. Lots of fun attractions there.

I think the Osborne Lights start at 6:00 (Robo, please correct me if I am wrong), so I would think you would have time to see them for 20 or 30 minutes and then be able to get to your ADR.

Don't know what best transportation is, as we have only used the buses. I know you can get a bus from any park to any resort.

 

[sharonabe]

If your kids are in to thrill rides, you need to make a day for HS. Does it have to be your last day? Since your husband wants to spend the last day at MK, could you use one of your other MK days at HS. Your kids would probably enjoy Fantasmic too, so that gives you two things in the evening to see there.

 

[wishspirit]

Hi everyone. We are just nine days away from our first WDW vacation and I have tons of qestions so I geuss it's a good thing I found these boards. Anyway we (Me, DH, DD12, DD10, and DS9) will be in WDW from Nov 23rd- to the 29th won't have any time for parks on our last day as we have to catch a cruise ship for the second half of our trip. We have a 7:45 ADR for Chef Mickey's on the 28th. My husband wanted to spend that last day at MK (two other MK days planned), no park hopper, but I would love to see the festival of lights so my qestions are 1. would you recomend a day at HS and why? 2. If my main reason for going is the lights festival will I even have a time to see it and still get to our ADR on time? and 3. What is the best way to get to the Contemporary from HS?

YES!!! HS has some amazing rides, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror and Rock'n' Rollercoaster are brilliant!
If you are spending 9 days, I would spend 3 at MK, 3 at Epcot, 1 at HS and 1 at AK, but it really depends on what you are interested in (I am not a big fan of AK).

The best way of getting from the Contemporary to HS is by bus, they come from the ground floor every 15 minutes or so.

I have never seen the lights, so I'm not sure about that (going around Christmas is proving impossible), but I would calculate at least 45 minutes to get anywhere on property, if not more (unless they are right next to each other)

I did like Chef Mickey's though, yummy! I hope you have a great trip!

 

[kayrosek]

We will actually only be at Disney for 6 days and only 5 will be spent in parks but regardless I decided you guys were right we need a day HS! Also we did decide to change it so it wasen't our final park day so that we could see Fantasmic (which is what sold DH on HS in the first place). Can't wait to see Fantasmic and the lights. How long before Fantasmic should we go in order to get seats the day before Thanksgiving? And can just DH (who will be in a wheelchair) save us seats while I entertain the kids so we don't have antsy kids waiting for the show? Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Puget Peach]

I would not recommend "saving" seats. Your DH will be constantly harrassed by people wanting those seats and the CM's need to "see" empty seats to keep the process moving. Once the Accessible guests are seated, they open that seating area up to general seating and you might end up with a very frustrating end to your evening.

 

[Alesia]

And can just DH (who will be in a wheelchair) save us seats while I entertain the kids so we don't have antsy kids waiting for the show? Thanks again for all your help.

No, you'll all have to wait. If you want something to do while waiting, you can pick up a CS dinner and eat it in the Fantasmic theater.

 

[kayrosek]

Okay well waiting will work but I definatley will have to think of something to keep DS in a seat all that time, with PDD-NOS and ADHD long waits can be hard but I have done it before, how soon would you recomend getting there?

 

[GoHerbie]

We just got back from last week's trip and if we did a morning at HS with lunch at the Sci-fi theater. If we had that to do over we'd skip HS and spend that time at the Magic Kingdom.

By itself, HS would be a great park but it's definitely not in the same league as the other 3 parks in the World. Whenever our next trip is we'll likely skip HS.

Yes a lot of people like HS and that's fine for them, to us the big benefit of HS is that it will draw some people away from the other parks!

 

[wishspirit]

We just got back from last week's trip and if we did a morning at HS with lunch at the Sci-fi theater. If we had that to do over we'd skip HS and spend that time at the Magic Kingdom.

By itself, HS would be a great park but it's definitely not in the same league as the other 3 parks in the World. Whenever our next trip is we'll likely skip HS.

Yes a lot of people like HS and that's fine for them, to us the big benefit of HS is that it will draw some people away from the other parks!

See I think that with AK!

Oh well, we can both keep out of each others queues!

 

[Missytara]

It can be tough when you split your trip with the land and sea package. I found it difficult as well to get to all four parks and do everything I wanted. But it can be done....

And it is so great that you are doing the cruise after the parks; I prefer that. Once you have worn yourself out at the parks, the cruise will be very relaxing!

have a great time.

 

[pickles]

I must be counting wrong but the 23-29 and leaving the 29th makes 5 days not 9 days.

Personally, I would dump the Chef Mickey unless that is your only character meal and you have some great love for it.

I would go to MGM at least one day..in fact with just 5 days I would plan a day at each park and do my last day at whichever park became your favorite and you wanted to try some more stuff. or us that is MK
at MGM I would do Sci Fi at least for a dessert at lunch. It is a cool experience and maybe Prime Time for dinner(tho I was not into that whole exp, it can be enjoyable for folks and something different to try)

In a perfect world(for us) we do 2 days MK, 2 days Epcot and 1/2 day at AK and HS, but we use hoppers so it isnt such an issue for us

Good luck! Maybe get later flights..that is how we do MK the last day..we get there in the am and leave by noon to catch our later in the day flights