Any idea what is going on with DHS in December?

[JennaDeeDooDah]

DHS is my favorite park and I am really looking forward to going there in December, but things seem odd. Fantasmic isn't scheduled for the entire month right right. The park is closing at 7:00 early in the month with absolutely no Fantasmic scheduled until December 29. And, no idea if this is related or not, but Mama's is only open for lunch during December, as well. Do they just think there is not enough demand for the place to be open, to have Fantasmic, or for restaurants to be open for dinner? Are there rumors floating around about something?

 

[TiggerBouncy]

No idea, but at the moment, good large sections are closed. It's a half a day park at most right now unless you are my son aiming for ToT 14+ times in a day (really! I counted!).

I would say either
* they need to close it for construction purposes
* they haven't posted hours yet as they just haven't figured out the entertainment section

 

[yulilin3]

We don't have a full schedule for things happening at DHS next month, it's WAY too early for December hours to be anywhere near accurate

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

No idea, but at the moment, good large sections are closed. It's a half a day park at most right now unless you are my son aiming for ToT 14+ times in a day (really! I counted!).

I would say either
* they need to close it for construction purposes
* they haven't posted hours yet as they just haven't figured out the entertainment section

It's my favorite park so it's more than a half day park for me, too. In fact, I like to spend 2-3 days there most trips. Your son sounds like a fun traveling companion! I had a friend do RnRC 12 times in a row with me once. Thanks for the suggestions.

We don't have a full schedule for things happening at DHS next month, it's WAY too early for December hours to be anywhere near accurate

I hate how they keep changing their hours. We are expected to plan our dining 180 days out and our FP+ 60 days out, which we do based on their schedules, but then they go and change that schedule weeks before (and sometimes even the week of).

 

[TiggerBouncy]

It's my favorite park so it's more than a half day park for me, too. In fact, I like to spend 2-3 days there most trips. Your son sounds like a fun traveling companion! I had a friend do RnRC 12 times in a row with me once. Thanks for the suggestions.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love HS. However right now there is SO MUCH closed, you will have to be riding headliners 4 or 5 times to spend a day there. What is left unfortunately feels forced as a way to try to give you things to do - like the storm trooper march and the star wars show were just........... sad. really - the best they could come up with was a chewie suit firing a couple of bolts with a bowcaster? Path to the jedi.... miserable. a 10 minute show of some basic film editing.

They can and will do better. These are interim things only - so I get why not a lot of effort was put into them. However, its difficult to spend too much time there unless your plan is to ride headliners multiple times. TS has too bad of a line, so you are really limited to ToT, AeroSmith and Star Tours.

 

[CAS239]

Expect hours for all parks to be extended/changed. December is way too far out from right now so none of those hours are fully set. Hours for July just recently changed.

Use the current hours they have up as just a guideline. If you're planning on scheduling ADR's around park opening/closing, just be prepared for the hours to be adjusted and keep an eye out

 

[21stamps]

Expect hours for all parks to be extended/changed. December is way too far out from right now so none of those hours are fully set. Hours for July just recently changed.

Use the current hours they have up as just a guideline. If you're planning on scheduling ADR's around park opening/closing, just be prepared for the hours to be adjusted and keep an eye out

I think the main thing that us December people were curious about is the actual dining and shows. I'm fully prepared to have my park hours change, but also since this was my first time ever being able to do my ADRs at 180 days, I was hoping to be able to book a F! package dinner! I'm not stressing over it since no one else could book either, it will open up for us at some point.

They will get released eventually OP. We have to wait for the CP pack anyway, so my plans at least couldn't be finalized. I'm really excited for the new stuff at HS!!!!! Definitely not a half day park for me and my Star Wars fan.

 

[sharonabe]

HS does close earlier in December than the rest of the year. F! can be as early as 7 pm and the park does often close as it begins. It's very difficult to do a F! pkg dinner in the winter, but you should be able to do a lunch once the F! schedule gets set.

Unless there is some kind of refurbishment planned for F!, expect to see it on the schedule for every night.

As to MM dinner, I have no idea why they aren't offering dinner times.

 

[NancyIL]

With no Osborne Lights this December, DHS just won't be the same at holiday time.

 

[Delirium]

No idea, but at the moment, good large sections are closed. It's a half a day park at most right now unless you are my son aiming for ToT 14+ times in a day (really! I counted!).

Half day park at most?

I'm going to be very conservative and still prove it's not.

Assume you FP Toy Story, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. RNR gets done first thing at rope drop. Let's look at the time commitment to do MOST (still not all) of the things there are to do at HS. Ride times include getting to, and into, the attraction and getting re-organized as a family after. Non-fast pass attractions such as the Movie Ride include a minimum wait. Shows assume you arrive about 10 minutes early to ensure seating. I'm also assuming only one meal is eaten at the park.

Toy Story - 20 minutes
Tower of Terror - 20 minutes
Star Tours - 20 minutes
RNR - 20 minutes
Great Movie Ride - 35 minutes.
Muppets - 30 minutes

Beauty & the Beast - 35 minutes
Indiana Jones - 40 minutes
Frozen Sing-Along - 35 minutes
Voyage of the Little Mermaid - 35 minutes
One Man's Dream - 30 minutes
Disney Junior - 30 minutes
Fantasmic - 45 minutes
Star Wars Fireworks - 20 minutes

Toy Story Characters - 30 minutes
Star Wars Characters - 45 minutes (combined Chewbacca and Kylo Ren)
Characterpalooza - 20 minutes

Lunch - 45 minutes
Bathroom Breaks, Minimal Shopping, Photopass Opportunities - 40 minutes


That's about 10 hours and does NOT include Jedi Training Academy, several character meet & greets, marching Stormtroopers, the Star Wars stage show, etc.

Quite simply, Hollywood Studios is not remotely a half-day park unless you've been there a dozen times or skip attractions/activities that don't interest you. But, for those that don't go often and/or are interested in the full experience the park has to offer, it's very tough to get done in a full day, let alone when the hours are shorter in the Winter (which is when the OP indicated they were going).

 

[WEDWDW]

Half day park at most?

I'm going to be very conservative and still prove it's not.

Assume you FP Toy Story, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. RNR gets done first thing at rope drop. Let's look at the time commitment to do MOST (still not all) of the things there are to do at HS. Ride times include getting to, and into, the attraction and getting re-organized as a family after. Non-fast pass attractions such as the Movie Ride include a minimum wait. Shows assume you arrive about 10 minutes early to ensure seating. I'm also assuming only one meal is eaten at the park.

Toy Story - 20 minutes
Tower of Terror - 20 minutes
Star Tours - 20 minutes
RNR - 20 minutes
Great Movie Ride - 35 minutes.
Muppets - 30 minutes

Beauty & the Beast - 35 minutes
Indiana Jones - 40 minutes
Frozen Sing-Along - 35 minutes
Voyage of the Little Mermaid - 35 minutes
One Man's Dream - 30 minutes
Disney Junior - 30 minutes
Fantasmic - 45 minutes
Star Wars Fireworks - 20 minutes

Toy Story Characters - 30 minutes
Star Wars Characters - 45 minutes (combined Chewbacca and Kylo Ren)
Characterpalooza - 20 minutes

Lunch - 45 minutes
Bathroom Breaks, Minimal Shopping, Photopass Opportunities - 40 minutes


That's about 10 hours and does NOT include Jedi Training Academy, several character meet & greets, marching Stormtroopers, the Star Wars stage show, etc.



Quite simply, Hollywood Studios is not remotely a half-day park unless you've been there a dozen times or skip attractions/activities that don't interest you. But, for those that don't go often and/or are interested in the full experience the park has to offer, it's very tough to get done in a full day, let alone when the hours are shorter in the Winter (which is when the OP indicated they were going).

Great illustration.

I think when folks call any Park a "half-day" Park,they would be more accurate to say "We can do everything WE ARE INTERESTED IN in a half-day."

 

[Nancyg56]

Great illustration.

I think when folks call any Park a "half-day" Park,they would be more accurate to say "We can do everything WE ARE INTERESTED IN in a half-day."

I think this is true for every park. I hear that DAK is a 1/2 day park and I woke in what universe this can be. We can spend an entire day there and still miss a lot, and need to plan an additional day if we want all the shows and trails. It took two years to get them all in because we are not commando RD to park close people.

DHS is a park in transition, so it will be different for everyone. For years though it was classified by many as a 1/2 day park and for them it may have been. For us? Not so much. We spend 2 days there evey trip.

 

[OB1]

We were there last DEC, and they do host a fair amount of private parties at HS. My guess is that they have sold the entire park, and close early to allow them to host a private event. We could not get parking at 1:00 in the afternoon because they were holding 1/4 of the parking lot for the evening party. Not too happy about that. The solution was to park at Epcot and be bussed over.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Great illustration.

I think when folks call any Park a "half-day" Park,they would be more accurate to say "We can do everything WE ARE INTERESTED IN in a half-day."

Sorry - Yes. I kinda assumed that most people don't do EVERY RIDE. Usually if you are going on RnR, you do not also have the same family makeup to do Disney Junior. I was also discounting meet and greets. I shouldn't do that - I know they are popular; just not with my family so I forget about those activities.

You might also have noticed I was clear on "What is left unfortunately feels forced as a way to try to give you things to do".

Basically from your list I did this in May
Toy Story - 5 minutes (FP; no wait)
Tower of Terror - 30 minutes
Star Tours - 10 minutes
RNR - 25 minutes
Great Movie Ride - 15 minutes.
Muppets - 5 minutes
Indiana Jones - 5 minutes (FP)
Voyage of the Little Mermaid - 20 minutes
Star Wars Launch Bay - 30 minutes

I would have liked to cover Beauty and the beast (love that show), but the times were not convenient. Was done by about 1pm and just couldn't come up with anything else to do for 6 hours waiting around for fireworks.

I contrast that to a few years ago before things started shutting down in mass droves and I still had American Idle, fast and furious, drew carey, animation studio, etc...

 

[pmaurer74]

we spent the whole day there Sunday and did to even get to 1/2 the park. I do not understand why people say it is a half day park?

 

[gtpoohbear]

DHS is my favorite park and I am really looking forward to going there in December, but things seem odd. Fantasmic isn't scheduled for the entire month right right. The park is closing at 7:00 early in the month with absolutely no Fantasmic scheduled until December 29. And, no idea if this is related or not, but Mama's is only open for lunch during December, as well. Do they just think there is not enough demand for the place to be open, to have Fantasmic, or for restaurants to be open for dinner? Are there rumors floating around about something?

We are going in December as well, and only doing Epcot and DHS. I think the hours that were posted are just a shell, and mostly useless. I really wish that they didn't expect us to make ADRs 180 days in advance, when they clearly have no idea what they are doing by that time. They could at least admit that they have no idea and not post anything, instead of posting something that's really just a placeholder with the bare minimum of commitments.

If for some reason it does turn out that there is no F! and no SW Fireworks, then I guess we will change our plans and go to MK instead. But I highly doubt that will be the case. At least I hope not.

Half day park at most?

I'm going to be very conservative and still prove it's not.

Assume you FP Toy Story, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. RNR gets done first thing at rope drop. Let's look at the time commitment to do MOST (still not all) of the things there are to do at HS. Ride times include getting to, and into, the attraction and getting re-organized as a family after. Non-fast pass attractions such as the Movie Ride include a minimum wait. Shows assume you arrive about 10 minutes early to ensure seating. I'm also assuming only one meal is eaten at the park.

Toy Story - 20 minutes
Tower of Terror - 20 minutes
Star Tours - 20 minutes
RNR - 20 minutes
Great Movie Ride - 35 minutes.
Muppets - 30 minutes

Beauty & the Beast - 35 minutes
Indiana Jones - 40 minutes
Frozen Sing-Along - 35 minutes
Voyage of the Little Mermaid - 35 minutes
One Man's Dream - 30 minutes
Disney Junior - 30 minutes
Fantasmic - 45 minutes
Star Wars Fireworks - 20 minutes

Toy Story Characters - 30 minutes
Star Wars Characters - 45 minutes (combined Chewbacca and Kylo Ren)
Characterpalooza - 20 minutes

Lunch - 45 minutes
Bathroom Breaks, Minimal Shopping, Photopass Opportunities - 40 minutes


That's about 10 hours and does NOT include Jedi Training Academy, several character meet & greets, marching Stormtroopers, the Star Wars stage show, etc.

Quite simply, Hollywood Studios is not remotely a half-day park unless you've been there a dozen times or skip attractions/activities that don't interest you. But, for those that don't go often and/or are interested in the full experience the park has to offer, it's very tough to get done in a full day, let alone when the hours are shorter in the Winter (which is when the OP indicated they were going).

This is why it's definitely a full day park for us, thanks for doing the math! And we will definitely want to see the Star Wars stage show and stormtroopers. My kids are 7 years apart, so pretty much everything in the park appeals to one of them. And we'll have to do rider-swap for at least RRC which eats up even more time.

 

[Delirium]

Sorry - Yes. I kinda assumed that most people don't do EVERY RIDE. Usually if you are going on RnR, you do not also have the same family makeup to do Disney Junior. I was also discounting meet and greets. I shouldn't do that - I know they are popular; just not with my family so I forget about those activities.

You might also have noticed I was clear on "What is left unfortunately feels forced as a way to try to give you things to do".

Basically from your list I did this in May
Toy Story - 5 minutes (FP; no wait)
Tower of Terror - 30 minutes
Star Tours - 10 minutes
RNR - 25 minutes
Great Movie Ride - 15 minutes.
Muppets - 5 minutes
Indiana Jones - 5 minutes (FP)
Voyage of the Little Mermaid - 20 minutes
Star Wars Launch Bay - 30 minutes

I would have liked to cover Beauty and the beast (love that show), but the times were not convenient. Was done by about 1pm and just couldn't come up with anything else to do for 6 hours waiting around for fireworks.

I contrast that to a few years ago before things started shutting down in mass droves and I still had American Idle, fast and furious, drew carey, animation studio, etc...

Follow-up to some of your points
- People that go all the time are more apt to be more selective in what they do. People there for the very first time, or that are returning after not going for several years, are going to be more apt to try and do as much as possible. And, keep in mind that those are the people that come on these boards asking for advice. Those that go more often tend to give advice more than ask for it.

- I would bet there is a significant percentage of Disney families that have children that fit the profile for both RNR and Disney Jr. Not unreasonable that a family may have both an 8 year old and a 4 year old. When we went 3 years ago, my then 6 year old did both. But, even in the scenario where Disney Jr. doesn't work for a family, I could easily substitute in the Star Wars stuff I left out of my original timeline. In fact, if you have a huge Star Wars fan and throw in The Stormtrooper March, the Stage Show, and the Jedi Academy, just one of those would be an equal substitute for Disney Jr. Adding all three in would actually move the total touring time from 10 to 11 hours.

- And, understand I'm not trying to be be picky here, but the discussion is about TOTAL touring time, not time waited in line. In that vein, you did not 'experience' Muppets or Indiana Jones in 5 minutes. Those are shows between 20-30 minutes in length. You may have arrived 5 minute before the show started, but by the time the show was over, those two things combined resulted in an hour of park time, not 10 minutes. That's significant when determining total time spent at a park. And, using the same logic, the Great Movie Ride, assuming you walk on without stopping at all in line, lasts longer than 15 minutes. I'm not sure of the exact length of the ride, but I'm guessing 20-25 minutes. So, if the 15 minutes you posted represents the time waited in line, the total commitment is about 40 minutes.

 

[DekrRini]

It's so funny what some people find sad, like the stormtrooper march, others of us find it fun. The stormtrooper march made my trip because I was within touching distance of them. I love my stormtroopers.

 

[monorailrabbit]

I hate how they keep changing their hours. We are expected to plan our dining 180 days out and our FP+ 60 days out, which we do based on their schedules, but then they go and change that schedule weeks before (and sometimes even the week of).

think the main thing that us December people were curious about is the actual dining and shows. I'm fully prepared to have my park hours change, but also since this was my first time ever being able to do my ADRs at 180 days, I was hoping to be able to book a F! package dinner! I'm not stressing over it since no one else could book either, it will open up for us at some point.

Our window for DDP opened up today, and this will be the first year we will try a F! package. We were super excited about a holiday dinner with Minnie. F! is one of my favorite shows, but HS is not my favorite park, so I haven't seen it for a few years. I will be super bummed if it isn't going to be showing during our trip - I did call the dinning line, and she said look for packages in the next few weeks - fingers crossed!

 

[lynch34]

Disney knows its a half-day park. That's why they are doing all of the additions to the park.