Cancel Hollywood studios day?

[Micheleelle]

Trying to plan fast passes for Wednesday (two days!). My family (2 parents, 3 kids 8,6 and 2) was planning on doing all four parks on our trip from april 30th to May 5th. However, I just found out that Toy Story midway mania will be down to one track and no FastPass on the day we will be there. My kids are not going to do the Rock n Roller Coaster or tower of terror. I’m thinking of cancelling Hollywood studios however I would have liked to have seen fantasmic and we had dining res. at sci-fi drive in. If we cancelled, I thought we could do two days at Epcot. We’d try to rope drop test track and fast pass Frozen and on the second day we could FastPass Soarin. What would you do? Any opinions?

 

[BigB0882]

Fantasmic is absolutely great. However, Sci-Fi Drive In was not really that great foodwise. Nothing horrible, but I had better food at almost every other ADR we had during that trip.

 

[ChristineOH]

If your kids won't ride RnR or ToT, and they're not huge Star Wars fans, I'd go to Epcot. I've been to WDW four times for at least a week each trip, and I've never seen Fantasmic. I've lived. lol!

Is your Sci Fi for dinner or lunch? If it is dinner, you could have a sleep in/pool day and just go do a few things in the late afternoon/evening and see Fantasmic. But I'd still suggest two days at Epcot instead.

 

[sponica]

If TSMM wasn't standby only, what else would you be doing? My thought is you could RD TSMM, do frozen sing along, the muppets, maybe star tours (and what have you). Grab lunch in the park, maybe head back to the hotel for some pool time and go back for fantasmic?

 

[Amanda999]

I'd recommend doing Epcot 2 days, but go to HS early evening one of those nights for dinner at SciFi and Fantasmic! Although the food at Sci-Fi isn't amazing, its reasonably priced, and the theming of the restaurant can't be beat - you know you are at Disney World and not a restaurant in your home town.

Unless you've already been to Sci-Fi, and then I'd eat dinner at Epcot and walk over (or take the Friendship Boat over) to HS from Epcot for Fantasmic. HTH!

 

[supitscarrie]

I love Sci-Fi, it's one of my must-do's at Hollywood Studios. Burgers and milkshakes (and the fried pickles) are pretty A+ in my opinion and I loooooove the theming. It's definitely more of an atmospheric experience but I've never once had a negative food experience there. If you have your ADR for dinner, I'd echo what ChristineOH said and maybe use your Hollywood Studios day as a sleep-in day, head to the park in the early afternoon, hit Star Tours, Midway Mania (if the wait isn't terrible), do character meet-and-greets, see MuppetVision 3D, Frozen, Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, and then stay for Fantasmic! (Unless, of course, you have the Parkhopper option on your tickets, in which case, do whatever else with the rest of your day and then head over for Fantasmic at some point during your trip.) There's plenty to do at HS that I feel gets overlooked. It's one of my favorite parks for characters, and the younger kids will probably enjoy the shows a lot too.

 

[leahlefler]

With TSMM down to one track and no fast passes, I might skip it - especially if your boys don't want to do RnR or ToT. If you have park hoppers, you could hop over for dinner at sci fi and the fireworks one night.

We did spend a day at HS, but my youngest's favorite ride is ToT so we can't miss it. LOL! If you do go, use it as one of your "rest" days. We were there over President's Day week and went on the Tuesday after President's Day. We slept in and had fast passes for Star Tours, TSMM, and ToT. We got into the park at around 10:30, rode Star Tours with the FP, watched the March of the First Order and Galaxy Far, Far Away (my boys are huge Star Wars fans). We saw Muppet Vision, ate lunch at Sci Fi, rode ToT, Star Tours again with my mom (she had been at urgent care in the morning), watched the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, had dinner at Prime Time, did TSMM, then saw the Star Wars fireworks show. I was actually surprised that we did a full day there, as I had expected to leave earlier than we actually did.

 

[AFwifelife]

Do you have park hoppers? I'm planning a HS morning with RDing TSMM and doing a few character M&Gs then park hop to Epoct after a little break (or just push through). You could do a reverse.

 

[Scar1199]

If you have Park Hoppers, I'd do Epcot in the morning and then head over to HS late afternoon. But I love Fantasmic, I couldn't go to WDW without seeing it.

 

[Micheleelle]

If your kids won't ride RnR or ToT, and they're not huge Star Wars fans, I'd go to Epcot. I've been to WDW four times for at least a week each trip, and I've never seen Fantasmic. I've lived. lol!

Is your Sci Fi for dinner or lunch? If it is dinner, you could have a sleep in/pool day and just go do a few things in the late afternoon/evening and see Fantasmic. But I'd still suggest two days at Epcot instead.

I think this is what I am going to end up doing. I don’t want to have to buy Park hoppers just to go see fantasmic. Thanks for the input!

 

[Micheleelle]

I'd recommend doing Epcot 2 days, but go to HS early evening one of those nights for dinner at SciFi and Fantasmic! Although the food at Sci-Fi isn't amazing, its reasonably priced, and the theming of the restaurant can't be beat - you know you are at Disney World and not a restaurant in your home town.

Unless you've already been to Sci-Fi, and then I'd eat dinner at Epcot and walk over (or take the Friendship Boat over) to HS from Epcot for Fantasmic. HTH!

Thanks so much! If I had park hoppers, I’d be all about this plan! I just don’t want to buy Park hoppers just for fantasmic

 

[Micheleelle]

With TSMM down to one track and no fast passes, I might skip it - especially if your boys don't want to do RnR or ToT. If you have park hoppers, you could hop over for dinner at sci fi and the fireworks one night.

We did spend a day at HS, but my youngest's favorite ride is ToT so we can't miss it. LOL! If you do go, use it as one of your "rest" days. We were there over President's Day week and went on the Tuesday after President's Day. We slept in and had fast passes for Star Tours, TSMM, and ToT. We got into the park at around 10:30, rode Star Tours with the FP, watched the March of the First Order and Galaxy Far, Far Away (my boys are huge Star Wars fans). We saw Muppet Vision, ate lunch at Sci Fi, rode ToT, Star Tours again with my mom (she had been at urgent care in the morning), watched the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, had dinner at Prime Time, did TSMM, then saw the Star Wars fireworks show. I was actually surprised that we did a full day there, as I had expected to leave earlier than we actually did.

You really did have a full day! Haha! Thanks for the input... i’m leaning towards skipping it... my middle son enjoys Star Wars but isn’t a HUGE fan

 

[Micheleelle]

If you have Park Hoppers, I'd do Epcot in the morning and then head over to HS late afternoon. But I love Fantasmic, I couldn't go to WDW without seeing it.

Thanks for the input. I need to price out Park hoppers and decide if it is worth buying for fantasmic. Thanks!

 

[Linkura]

Thanks for the input. I need to price out Park hoppers and decide if it is worth buying for fantasmic. Thanks!

Park hoppers are gonna be about $70 more per person. For a family of 5, totally not worth it.

 

[Micheleelle]

Park hoppers are gonna be about $70 more per person. For a family of 5, totally not worth it.

I just priced it... $310 for the parkhopper! My oldest two were at hollywood studios 3 years ago, so my youngest (who wasn't born yet) will just have to look at the HS memories from that trip. Haha!

 

[dreiwhit]

If your kids won't ride RnR or ToT, and they're not huge Star Wars fans, I'd go to Epcot. I've been to WDW four times for at least a week each trip, and I've never seen Fantasmic. I've lived. lol!

FWIW, on our last trip earlier this month, I really wanted to skip DHS, but its one of my daughter's favorite parks, so we went grudgingly. We got there at RD and would have been done by 2:30pm except we took a two hour break and just sat and watched people go by.

My wife and I can't ride RnR or ToT because of our backs, and now Star Tours as well (it hurt my back on the last trip.) So that leaves the shows. We've seen Fantasmic before, and to be honest with you, none of us were impressed.

If I had a choice between DHS and a 3rd day at Epcot, i'd go Epcot!

Park hoppers are gonna be about $70 more per person. For a family of 5, totally not worth it.

Its not worth it for our family of 4. It just costs too much!

 

[GillianP1301]

My first choice would be park hoppers, this is exactly the type of situation they are perfect for, but it sounds like you have already determined the value is not there for your family.

So, my 2nd choice would be to stick with the plan of 1 day HS and 1 day EP. My son won't ride RnR or ToT and he still loves HS. He's a big Star Wars fan though and TSMM is also his very attraction. I would RD to get onto TSMM to avoid too long a line. This may be a good day to take a little midday break/pool time if you don't think you'll have enough to fill a full day and night up until Fantasmic. If your family don't care much for Star Wars, then I would consider skipping it and doing the extra EP day instead.

 

[zomama]

My kids love HS. They were 7 and 5 last time we went. They loved the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Frozen Sing Along, Little Mermaid, muppet vision and of course TSMM.

 

[crazylady]

I think my kids might kill me if I told them we were doing 2 days at Epcot.

Have you been to HS or Epcot before? HS is one of the more relaxing parks for us so it makes a good rest day mid week. The shows are enjoyable to watch if you haven't seen them a million times. They kind of force you to sit down and chill and they take up more time than you think they will. My kids loved to see the characters in HS because they were different than the rest of the parks so we always spent a good amount of time doing that. My kids also rode R&R and Tower of Terror as soon as they were able to so you might be surprised at what they will and won't ride. My non roller coaster kid road R&R the first time simply because his brother couldn't, and he loved it. It could be a relaxing day for you.

We typically have only spent 1/2 day at Epcot. I'm sure we could fill a whole day there but the kids are just not interested. I keep trying though! They do like soarin, living with the land, Nemo and crush, test track and one or two countries and then they are bored. Also a relaxing day but there is alot of walking.

If I were you, I would not try to rope drop after an 11 close MK day. I'd prob plan for another Epcot day because it's seems to be the better FP park for you. But I would go in with the attitude that we could change things up if we decided we'd rather do a day at HS instead.

 

[jina]

I agree with @crazylady (that was fun to write down!). We have hoppers for this trip but if we didn't I would have made DHS be as follows: ropedrop, sign up for Jedi Training, do a few rides (including Star Tours, ToT, Muppets 3D - 20+ years later and I still love it), see a show or two, then back to the hotel to chill/play in the pool (will be at Boardwalk). then back in the evening for Star Wars fireworks (we are doing the dessert party too). If we hadn't seen Fantasmic when we visited 4 yrs ago we would have probably done that instead of the dessert party. Looking forward to that being a much more relaxing day than the others. We aren't even going to try for TSMM as we've done it at DCA many times at rope drop there where you can literally do it 4-5 times before a line builds if you go during EMH as everyone else has gone to Radiator Springs Racers.