Bored with DHS

[Kimi313]

We have been fortunate to visit DW almost once a year and even though we have never skipped HS we usually only spend one morning and then one evening on another day there so we can ride TT and RNRC a couple of different days. But this year our family felt that it was not worth coming to HS twice just to get to ride those rides another day. I agree that if it is you first visit ever or its been a while you would not be bored there.

With that said I truly believe Disney needs to add more kid friendly rids and update some of the existing attractions for the repeat visitors but not sure how much Disney is really interested in the repeat visitors.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Half day park for us.

 

[Delirium]

Half day park for us.

Why? There is a first time visitor that just posted a few posts above you that is confused by comments such as this. Give her some insight as to why you feel this way. As it is, your comment is misleading at best and not very useful.

 

[circus4u]

If you think it is a half day park now, you should have been there right after it opened. On the up side, of our last five trips to WDW, this is the only park we have actually spent the entire day at; we usually park hop to at least two parks per day.

 

[Delirium]

This is our first time coming to Disney but I'm surprised wtih the comment as there seems like so many great attractions....Muppet 3D, Toy Story, Star Tours, Lights Motor Action show, Little Mermaid, Great Movie Ride, Beauty and the Beast, Studio Backlot Tour, and some neat animation and more adult things. We almost booked 2 days at DHS (with only 5 full days at Disney), but ended up staying with one. We have a son and daughter and certainly can fill our day.

Don't let the negative responses sway you. If you think the attractions are something you would like, then you should spend as much time there as possible to form your own opinions.

We've been to Disney 6 of the last 7 years and last October we went to HS 4 different times during a 10 day visit. Granted, one of the visits was solely to do Fantasmic!, and one was a quick hop over on our last day to finish up a couple of things we had not got to yet. But the bottom line was that we could not do everything we wanted to do in less than 2 full days.

Granted, our kids still like to meet characters, and HS has a lot of good ones, so those take a lot of time to get through. But, even without meeting characters, HS is a tough park to do because of the show to ride ratio. The shows have strict times and it's very difficult to sync them up so they don't overlap. And, if you're seeing shows (and in many cases, a pre-show), you're taking away time to do rides.

Plan at least one full day, and if you find there are things you didn't get to that you wanted to do, HS is a great park to hop to for part of a day (if you have park hoppers), while visiting Epcot.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Don't let the negative responses sway you. If you think the attractions are something you would like, then you should spend as much time there as possible to form your own opinions.

We've been to Disney 6 of the last 7 years and last October we went to HS 4 different times during a 10 day visit. Granted, one of the visits was solely to do Fantasmic!, and one was a quick hop over on our last day to finish up a couple of things we had not got to yet. But the bottom line was that we could not do everything we wanted to do in less than 2 full days.

Granted, our kids still like to meet characters, and HS has a lot of good ones, so those take a lot of time to get through. But, even without meeting characters, HS is a tough park to do because of the show to ride ratio. The shows have strict times and it's very difficult to sync them up so they don't overlap. And, if you're seeing shows (and in many cases, a pre-show), you're taking away time to do rides.

Plan at least one full day, and if you find there are things you didn't get to that you wanted to do, HS is a great park to hop to for part of a day (if you have park hoppers), while visiting Epcot.

We love DHS and any first-timers should know that it is easily a full day park.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I actually like DHS, it has some of my favorite rides. But it definitely needs more rides and less shows.

Like a lot of others, my speculation is that Disney will add some new Star Wars rides and theming to DHS. They could certainly close the Indy show to build a Star Wars E Ticket in that space. It's a good show, but has been there forever. We've all see it enough.

The question is when will all of this happen? New SW movies are coming out soon. Something has to happen within this decade. TSMM can't carry this park forever.

 

[suzimar57]

DHS is one full-day park for us, only because we "pad" it with 2 or 3 ADRs throughout the day (1130 sci-fi, 4p 50s prime time, and either a 7p BD just so i could get a cobb salad and that grapefruit cake, or an ADR at mama melrose)

otherwise, we'd be at RD and then done by 11 (TSM, GMR, Muppets, and that Walt Disney walk-thru thing would be about it)

(DH had open-heart, has bad back troubles - no more RnR or TOT for him - kind of shortens the day at all parks)

 

[Redarrow5150]

DHS basically is the park that highlights Disney channel which targets preteens and teenagers.

RE: High School Musical Parade.. sorry to get OT



Maybe its a regional thing, but HSM did not appear to be targeted at teens. The average age of fans in my area was the 6-8 year old's.

When she was 6, my DD memorized every song, watched every movie at least a dozen times. Teens that I know thought the movie was silly. Participating in the dance at the end of the parade was the highlight of her trip (even if Vanessa wasn't there)

I would suspect the parade is gone because the HSM niche is now being filled by Teen Beach Movie (Disney appears to be distancing themselves from Zac Efron and crew).

 

[itchin2go]

DHS basically is the park that highlights Disney channel which targets preteens and teenagers.

That's funny, 'cause like the previous poster said, my daughter was into Disney Channel from like ... 5-9 maybe? She's 12 now and wouldn't switch to Disney Channel to save her life ... been that way for a few years.

I don't think there are many self-respecting teens watching the Disney Channel. I wish my daughter was still into that -- it's way beyond that now ... ABC Family crap ...

 

[jazzgirl]

Half day park for us.

Why? There is a first time visitor that just posted a few posts above you that is confused by comments such as this. Give her some insight as to why you feel this way. As it is, your comment is misleading at best and not very useful.

Ummm, I'm going to guess it's because they spend a half of a day there. It's allowed. They won't kick ya out of Disney World for it. I didn't realize every post made on this public message board had to meet your "qualifying" standards. I also didn't realize you were quality control either....

Oh, I didn't see that the first time visitor was confused. Surprised, but not confused. They already said they found plenty to fill their day with.

 

[itchin2go]

This is our first time coming to Disney but I'm surprised wtih the comment as there seems like so many great attractions....Muppet 3D, Toy Story, Star Tours, Lights Motor Action show, Little Mermaid, Great Movie Ride, Beauty and the Beast, Studio Backlot Tour, and some neat animation and more adult things. We almost booked 2 days at DHS (with only 5 full days at Disney), but ended up staying with one. We have a son and daughter and certainly can fill our day.

You certainly CAN fill the day there. I personally don't want to. I'm guessing other "half day posters" feel the same.

For me - Toy Story Mania is great, Star Tours is good. Little Mermaid is ok - done it twice, won't spend the time to do it again (our own Little Mermaid has grown up, so no need anymore). Great Movie Ride is just ok. Same with Beauty and the Beast - saw it once, don't feel the need to do it again.

Long story short, we certainly devoted a full day to it the first time we went, but found there are things that we won't do again. Maybe that's the disconnect?

Having done all the parks many times, we're sticking with MK and EP for this next trip. I don't think we'll set foot on AK property, and we've planned one evening for DHS - just to see Osborne Lights and have dinner at Brown Derby.

 

[Ulysses]

Ever since I've started paying for an annual pass, I really budget my time in DHS. I can't remember the last time I sat through Indiana Jones. The Back Lot Tour is really dull now, especially since there is no film production occurring on site like in the early days. So that's another thing I don't do when I go.

I've noticed increasingly, that if you don't attend those two things or the shows (Beauty and the Beast, Mermaid), then you can find yourself with a whole bunch of time to kill.

EPCOT is my favorite park, but that's also because it's the only park you can hang out and have a beer and relax a little bit. plus it has the best food.

 

[Redarrow5150]

I think you're confusing ABC Family with the Disney Channel. Just one gander at the shows they have on the Disney Channel can pretty much sum up they are targeting pre-teens and teenagers.

That's funny, 'cause like the previous poster said, my daughter was into Disney Channel from like ... 5-9 maybe? She's 12 now and wouldn't switch to Disney Channel to save her life ... been that way for a few years.

I don't think there are many self-respecting teens watching the Disney Channel. I wish my daughter was still into that -- it's way beyond that now ... ABC Family crap ...

 

[ArwenMarie]

It would probably be the last theme park in Florida I'd consider visiting if it wasn't tied in with the Disney package.

If I had to rank the six WDW and UOR parks, DHS comes in last.

 

[itchin2go]

I think you're confusing ABC Family with the Disney Channel. Just one gander at the shows they have on the Disney Channel can pretty much sum up they are targeting pre-teens and teenagers.

Ok, we may be saying 2 different things.

Maybe Disney Channel is targeting preteens and teens ...

but they're not getting them ....

Again, my daughter is 12 and she wouldn't be caught dead watching Disney Channel, and neither would any of her friends.

She was of the Hannah Montana/High School Musical/Wizards of Waverly Place age. She doesn't watch the current shows ever, and cringes when we try to change the radio to Disney radio.

I'm a card carrying mom of a 12 year old girl - take my word for it.

I know what's on ABC Family - Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, etc. Those are the shows she wants to watch.

I'm not confused .... at least not about this.

 

[Redarrow5150]

Just because your daughter isn't watching doesn't mean the rest of the preteens and teens are not. I have an 18 yr and 17 yr old girls and they watched Disney channel for about 6 years and so did all of their friends. The programming they carried was and continues for the most part targeting that young female audience.

Ok, we may be saying 2 different things.

Maybe Disney Channel is targeting preteens and teens ...

but they're not getting them ....

Again, my daughter is 12 and she wouldn't be caught dead watching Disney Channel, and neither would any of her friends.

She was of the Hannah Montana/High School Musical/Wizards of Waverly Place age. She doesn't watch the current shows ever, and cringes when we try to change the radio to Disney radio.

I'm a card carrying mom of a 12 year old girl - take my word for it.

I know what's on ABC Family - Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, etc. Those are the shows she wants to watch.

I'm not confused .... at least not about this.

 

[surferdave]

If I had to rank the six WDW and UOR parks, DHS comes in last.

I put it behind Sea World and Busch Gardens as well.

 

[itchin2go]

Just because your daughter isn't watching doesn't mean the rest of the preteens and teens are not. I have an 18 yr and 17 yr old girls and they watched Disney channel for about 6 years and so did all of their friends. The programming they carried was and continues for the most part targeting that young female audience.

Ok, I give up. Teenagers are watching Phineas and Ferb.

 

[shannon006]

I am never bored with DHS. As a matter of fact we spend about 1 1/2 -2 days each time we visit. I know, they haven't added anything in what seems like forever

Honestly, we like to take our time. We always arrive prior to RD, head straight to TSM. From there it varies. Our always list consists of, TSM, RNC, TOT, ST, LM, One man's dream, pirates, VOLM, B & B, GMR, Muppets, Indiana Jones, maybe every other visit, Sci Fi, Starring Rolls. We really enjoy going to American Idol as well. We always say we will watch all the shows and the finale, but yet to see more than 1 show per day. Only have seen Fantasmic one time though

We really enjoy taking our time and looking at all the detail. There really is a lot to take in that can be missed. Although the dining options are pretty poor IMHO.