Can we do HS in 1 day?

[la79al]

We have a 7 day trip coming up in February. I originally planned on 2 days per park with 1 for HS. I'm wondering if this is going to be enough. Adding hoppers on is not an option. We would lose an Epcot day (the one park 2 kids are interested in and don't remember going to). At HS we are interested in ToT, probably RnRC, SDD (hoping for a FP), TSMM and a few minor things. DH will probably want to check out the Star Wars stuff until he sees the wait times. Right now park hours are 9-8 and I'm hoping to be there at 9 but really can't guarantee how much earlier.

 

[DWillowBay]

Timing is everything! IF your timing for your rides lines up very well, then yes you could do HS in one day. However, if crowds cause wait times to be higher or if your lunch or dinner takes longer, or if weather or glitches with the rides happen, then no. You didn't mention what Fps you have already, so that makes a difference too. If DH/ SWL takes up a lot of your time, then you'll have to decide how to triage. Just a suggestion: make AK one day (very doable) and do 2 HS days.

 

[epcotty]

I don't think there's ever a reason to do more than 1 day at HS, and I really like the park. I think you can do everything you want in 1 day

 

[Robo]

There are 5 of the most popular “shows” at WDW in DHS. They’ ve just added two complete new “lands” with attractions that are extremely popular, and FPs either “won’t help” (due to them “all” being Tier 1,) or they are not even offering FP for a couple of “destination rides,” and we’re still to believe the entire park can be “done in a day.”
Hmmmmmm.

 

[slpeters]

We spent a day and a half there a couple years ago and didn't make it to everything we wanted to--and that was before Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land and without waiting longer than 15 minutes for anything.

 

[britneybrawdy]

Hi! Sounds like you have a great trip to look forward to! In regard to doing HS in one day, I think it is absolutely possible. Living in Florida, but not right next to Orlando directly means that I do not go to the parks all the time so when I do I try to make the most of my trips. I have gone to HS in a half day and still was able to do everything I wanted, so I think only having one day is perfectly fine. I will say the crowd levels may make it so you miss one or two attractions, but just do the most important things during the first half of the day to ensure you get everything you absolutely must do done. Also, it may help to book some FPs for the attractions that are available if you really want to do them! Have a great trip!!

 

[billlaurie]

We could have never done HS this trip in 1 day even though we have been able to accomplish it in the past. There is so much to do there now. If your family likes rides, but is only mildly entertained by touring the countries, then Epcot is definitely a one day park right now. A lot of what you probably remember is gone and with the refurb it reminds me of a strip mall with half the stores closed. AK is a favorite for us and I don't like to rush it but IMO it is more doable in one day compared to HS.

 

[xipotec]

Heres a question, Can you do SWGE in 1 day. I was thinking of park hopping after a morning and afternoon there, maybe AK for the evening, Not sure how realistic that is with the random nature of ROTR. I have done HS MANY times, and really just want to get the full experience at SWEG.

 

[krayzie]

Heres a question, Can you do SWGE in 1 day. I was thinking of park hopping after a morning and afternoon there, maybe AK for the evening, Not sure how realistic that is with the random nature of ROTR. I have done HS MANY times, and really just want to get the full experience at SWEG.

You could do SWGE in half a day if your boarding group is low enough.

 

[billlaurie]

Heres a question, Can you do SWGE in 1 day. I was thinking of park hopping after a morning and afternoon there, maybe AK for the evening, Not sure how realistic that is with the random nature of ROTR. I have done HS MANY times, and really just want to get the full experience at SWEG.

You definitely can do just that part of the park in a morning if you get there early, get a low boarding group, and hop in line for Smugglers. We did a whole day Thursday and the AM on Friday at HS, hopping to Epcot and then Animal Kingdom after. We got BG 38 and were out of the park by 1130. We did Star Tours with a FP, then secured a FOP FP in AK for 3pm. We still had a SDD FP for 11. Went back to our resort on the skyliner, checked out and checked in for our 11 pm flight, went back to HS from POP on the skyliner, got in the queue for ROTR because our BG was ready, off in 40 minutes and onto SDD with our FP. Then went to Epcot for a couple of hours, spent the last of our snack credits on holiday food booths, and then hopped to AK on the bus. We rode FOP, got an EE FP immediately, got another FOP FP while in line, watched the Nemo show, went to BOMA for a 5 pm reservation, came back at 630 for our last FP and then took the bus back to POP to get on the DME. It was a whirlwind but was our last day and wanted to go out with a bang!

 

[gharter]

i think it depends what yo uwant to do and how lucky you are with FPs.
It sounds ike you need to get there very early to get an early BP.
MFSR still ahs a decent line, but less later in the day.
These 2 could take the better part of the morning.
If you want to do SDD and don't have a FP, expect well over an hour.
If you don't care about a lot of the rides and shows, then 1 day easily does everything.
If you want to do most things there, 1 day is doable, but more difficut.

 

[Nancyg56]

There are 5 of the most popular “shows” at WDW in DHS. They’ ve just added two complete new “lands” with attractions that are extremely popular, and FPs either “won’t help” (due to them “all” being Tier 1,) or they are not even offering FP for a couple of “destination rides,” and we’re still to believe the entire park can be “done in a day.”
Hmmmmmm.

I know! We had 2 days and in order for the girls to hit the attractions they really wanted, and to see some of the shows, we still missed Toy Storyland and just walked through GE. The only way we could have managed all of DHS without missing anything would have been to get up before sunrise to be in line for a boarding pass.

I firmly believe the DHS is an underappreciated park. How anyone manages to get it all absorbed in less than a day is beyond me. The details alone are worth taking time to enjoy, which is what my sister and I did when we passed our bands to the girls to FP ToT twice and then to head over and get in the queue for Rocking Rollercoaster.

 

[wilbret]

Everyone has their preferences, but we don't consider HS a full-day park, even with all the additions. The catch is, you might not get to ride everything while you are there, due to tiering of FP and crowds. For us, it's a great park to split with AK or Epcot.

That being said, we did the early early opening (and we arrived AT opening, not hours before), and rode EVERY. SINGLE. RIDE. by the time they opened the gates. And some multiple times. We didn't do every show, because that just wasn't the plan for the day. We watched the SW live action show, Little Mermaid, and for some reason... the boys wanted to watch the Launch Bay *cough* commercial *cough*.

We went back to HS a month or so later, and only focused on the shows. We rode ToT, and I think that's the only ride we rode that day. We did a lot of pin trading and browsing stores. We split the day with another park.

I know you could find a way to spend an entire day there, as many do, but for us... that's not the case. Enjoy it, either way. I think it's fun to experience the parks in different ways. Our last visit to MK, we didn't even leave "the left side" of the park, we did a lot of stuff we rarely do and just soaked it in. One trip, we didn't ride a single ride...and just played Wizards, played on playgrounds, traded pins, and ate.

 

[kwdw]

It depends on what all you are interested in. Alot of folks on this board don't try to hit every show, for example, hence why they say its one-day (or less) park. Experienced WDW goers likely skip some of the more "low key" attractions at HS. I love all the shows - and have to time it right to hit all of them in one day - but I skip the rides of RnRC, TOT, and ST routinely.

I don't think its possible to do every attraction at HS in one day. But - you can do ALOT in one day - as long as you prioritize the shows/rides you want to hit - and skip the others.

Given your plan to not arrive before 9 am, it's unlikely ROTR will be on your touring plan, and that's a bit of a shame - as it really is an awesome experience - you don't need to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate it. Your husband can probably ride SR as a single rider if he wants - that's not been too long of a wait. You'll need to decide which shows to attend as I don't think you can hit all of them and all the rides in one day.

While I'd still like to see HS have another ride (in addition to the Mickey's train thing that opens soon), a regularly scheduled show in GE, and a couple more sit-down restaurants (one is planned with a very disappointing menu), I still think it is a FULL day park - and some folks will find that too short - if they really want to do everything.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

For us, I’d plan 2 days in HS and only one in Epcot. It’s never taken us more than one day to finish all the rides in Epcot and we’d only be sacrificing some of the world showcase which my kids aren’t super into anyway. I’ve definitely done HS in one day, but that was before Star Wars land, and I was lucky to get SDD fastpass.