Getting to HS in the afternoon…worth it?

[Ecomommy09]

HS is a half day park for me, but my 6-yr-old has never been and should be tall enough to ride most things when we go April 22.

Im thinking of booking it for the afternoon we fly in. I could use ILL and buy Slinky? Right? And maybe use the G+ to get times scheduled for the other TSL rides? Would this be a waste of a ticket?

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Slinky is not an ILL ride, so you won't be able to get it at all unless you're ON THE DOT at 7 am making reservations. It's easier to get Toy Story Mania and Alien's Swirling Saucers. The Pay to Ride rides are ROTR and MMRR (but not currently since it's also just G+ right now).

 

[Nabas]

We just did a day at Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS). Our adult children tried Genie+ at DHS. It was a big disappointment, not worth the money. By the time they tried to select a ride (a bit after 7 AM), the only ones available in the morning were Rock n Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Slinky Dog Dash was completely gone, while Smuggler's Run was available only in the afternoon. Since you are flying in, you're going to want to try to grab SDD as soon as possible.

The good news is that most lines got considerably shorter in the evening. We jumped onto Rise of the Resistance a few minutes before closing and waited only about 20 minutes.

The question is, how much are you paying for the ticket? For example, if you already are buying a 5-day ticket, then adding one more day only costs $21 more. IMO, that's well worth a partial day at the parks.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Ime evening is the best time. Slinky does stay long so a g+ is good for it but most of the rides are much shorter in the evenings. Every evening I was there it would say 80 or 120 at rotr but it was never more than 45min. Other rides similarly short, mmrr would regularly say 45 but really be 20-25 and the wait until the ll was like 10. most of the others were virtually walk inside in the evening though you do have to watch lines as they fluctuate quite a bit. With g+ booking some evening rides it should be pretty easy to do most of the rides if it’s not an unusually busy day. When trying for SDD give maybe a 1 second count then click it, too early would not be good either, if it’s a Saturday probably cant waste that second though.

 

[wisblue]

HS is a half day park for me, but my 6-yr-old has never been and should be tall enough to ride most things when we go April 22.

Im thinking of booking it for the afternoon we fly in. I could use ILL and buy Slinky? Right? And maybe use the G+ to get times scheduled for the other TSL rides? Would this be a waste of a ticket?

My daughter and I are planning to go to DHS in the afternoon of our arrival for the Marathon weekend.

Whether it is worth it or a waste of a ticket depends a lot on what time you would be able to get to the park and what kind of ticket you have. As a PP mentioned, if you are planning at least 4 other park days on your trip, the marginal cost of one more day is relatively low.

If you are planning to get Genie+, as we are, it should be possible to get in 3 or 4 good rides with LL that would otherwise have fairly long standby lines. If you stay until closing you might also be able to do a couple of attractions standby as the lines dwindle, which often happens at DHS late in the day.

If you do get Genie+ it would be a good idea to try to get one of the most popular attractions right at 7AM. As is often reported, the LL slots for Slinky disappear within a minute after they become available. But, if SDD is a priority, and you can't get a time that fits your schedule in that first minute, I wouldn't give up.

I occasionally "practice" with the Tip Board by signing in at 7 AM EST to see how return times disappear. Pretty much without fail, some time a minute or so before or after 7:10 AM, times for SDD become available again. Whether this is because Disney has released more slots, or because slots are returned from the pool from people who never completed (or cancelled) a slot they clicked on right at 7, these times often seem to stay available longer than during the initial crush.

Some days there are spurts of availability again close to 7:20 and 7:30. By 7:30 the availability seems to be pretty much gone for the day except for an occasional and random slot that pops up and disappears almost immediately.

I wouldn't count on getting a convenient SDD slot after 7:30 so, if I couldn't get a suitable time by then, I would move on to a backup, probably MFSR, which is the second most popular Genie+ attraction in the park. It doesn't take long for the return times for that to get out into the mid afternoon.

With a first selection at 7 AM, and then second and third ones at 11 AM and 1 PM (assuming a 9 AM opening), you can be armed with 3 good LL reservations before arriving at the park, and might be able to add more later depending on the crowd that day.

 

[Sakurachaek]

Does your 6 year old like Star Wars? Galaxy’s Edge is a half day in itself for a Star Wars fan.

 

[gharter]

It really depends how busy the parks are at that time.
Galaxys edge is fun to walk through. However, getting there that late, without Genie+ or ILL$, not sure you will get on the rides you want without a very long wait.

 

[wiggy500]

Since you are flying in, you're going to want to try to grab SDD at midnight.

This is not something that can be done. Booking rides starts at 7 a.m. Eastern.

Lining up lightning lanes worked great for me when I entered Hollywood Studios at 3:30 p.m. This should work great if you're entering late afternoon and will be able to be online to book.

 

[Ecomommy09]

Does your 6 year old like Star Wars? Galaxy’s Edge is a half day in itself for a Star Wars fan.

She likes the new three (with Rey) and would enjoy looking around. She loves TS so I think that would also be a big draw. And maybe we could watch the frozen show which I think is showing again. I’m leaning toward trying to make it a full park day and just taking a midday break if we’re bored or tired. She is a super awesome kid and would be happy to go back and swim, but she doesn’t love long lines so I have to hold her and my back can’t take multiple 60 minute holds.

Tell me what you do to fill 1/2 a day at Galaxy’s Edge? In my mind I would be doing everything possible to get on SDD and TSM and then going through GE because it’s super cool. But, we won’t ride RNR or TOT so two big rides are out for us. I like Star Tours which doesn’t usually have much of a wait.
I could try Oga’s but it depends on the stupid Corona situation in April. If it’s killing people I’ll avoid indoor dining. Which I know not everyone worries about but my oldest is disabled and I make what I feel are reasonable precautions to have fun but not tote the virus home with us. If it’s not a deadly strain we’ll probably do indoor dining.

 

[Ecomommy09]

My daughter and I are planning to go to DHS in the afternoon of our arrival for the Marathon weekend.

Whether it is worth it or a waste of a ticket depends a lot on what time you would be able to get to the park and what kind of ticket you have. As a PP mentioned, if you are planning at least 4 other park days on your trip, the marginal cost of one more day is relatively low.

If you are planning to get Genie+, as we are, it should be possible to get in 3 or 4 good rides with LL that would otherwise have fairly long standby lines. If you stay until closing you might also be able to do a couple of attractions standby as the lines dwindle, which often happens at DHS late in the day.

If you do get Genie+ it would be a good idea to try to get one of the most popular attractions right at 7AM. As is often reported, the LL slots for Slinky disappear within a minute after they become available. But, if SDD is a priority, and you can't get a time that fits your schedule in that first minute, I wouldn't give up.

I occasionally "practice" with the Tip Board by signing in at 7 AM EST to see how return times disappear. Pretty much without fail, some time a minute or so before or after 7:10 AM, times for SDD become available again. Whether this is because Disney has released more slots, or because slots are returned from the pool from people who never completed (or cancelled) a slot they clicked on right at 7, these times often seem to stay available longer than the during the initial crush.

Some days there are spurts of availability again close to 7:20 and 7:30. By 7:30 the availability seems to be pretty much gone for the day except for an occasional and random slot that pops up and disappears almost immediately.

I wouldn't count on getting a convenient SDD slot after 7:30 so, if I couldn't get a suitable time by then, I would move on to a backup, probably MFSR, which is the second most popular Genie+ attraction in the park. It doesn't take long for the return times for that to get out into the mid afternoon.

With a first selection at 7 AM, and then second and third ones at 11 AM and 1 PM (assuming a 9 AM opening), you can be armed with 3 good LL reservations before arriving at the park, and might be able to add more later depending on the crowd that day.

Thank you for all this detail! This is what I was hoping would work. Then, we’d land at 10am, drive from Sanford to the park, and have several rides already lined up to enjoy before we head back to the hotel to relax.

 

[Ecomommy09]

Slinky is not an ILL ride, so you won't be able to get it at all unless you're ON THE DOT at 7 am making reservations. It's easier to get Toy Story Mania and Alien's Swirling Saucers. The Pay to Ride rides are ROTR and MMRR (but not currently since it's also just G+ right now).

I’m gonna have to check into when G+ changes. I’ve heard rumbles but I hadn’t been working on it too much yet since the trip isn’t until April.

 

[Sakurachaek]

She likes the new three (with Rey) and would enjoy looking around. She loves TS so I think that would also be a big draw. And maybe we could watch the frozen show which I think is showing again. I’m leaning toward trying to make it a full park day and just taking a midday break if we’re bored or tired. She is a super awesome kid and would be happy to go back and swim, but she doesn’t love long lines so I have to hold her and my back can’t take multiple 60 minute holds.

Tell me what you do to fill 1/2 a day at Galaxy’s Edge? In my mind I would be doing everything possible to get on SDD and TSM and then going through GE because it’s super cool. But, we won’t ride RNR or TOT so two big rides are out for us. I like Star Tours which doesn’t usually have much of a wait.
I could try Oga’s but it depends on the stupid Corona situation in April. If it’s killing people I’ll avoid indoor dining. Which I know not everyone worries about but my oldest is disabled and I make what I feel are reasonable precautions to have fun but not tote the virus home with us. If it’s not a deadly strain we’ll probably do indoor dining.

Well the marketplace for one, Rise of the Resistance ride and Millenium Falcon ride, Oga’s as you said, Docking Bay 7 for dinner, meeting characters, making a droid if you want, and the data pad app can be really fun to immerse yourself in the world, you could spend an hour or so just hacking things and doing missions on the app. Usually I’d say Savi’s but much too expensive and fragile for a 6 y.o! Droids are great fun tho

 

[hsmamato2]

This is not something that can be done. Booking rides starts at 7 a.m. Eastern.

Lining up lightning lanes worked great for me when I entered Hollywood Studios at 3:30 p.m. This should work great if you're entering late afternoon and will be able to be online to book.

So did you reserve that as your main park,and then go on at 7 am to book the rides for later in that day?

 

[wiggy500]

So did you reserve that as your main park,and then go on at 7 am to book the rides for later in that day?

In my case I reserved Epcot as my main park, but I used no lightning lanes there. After getting my Remy boarding group I booked Slinky Dog Dash at 7:02 a.m. Two hours after Hollywood Studios opened I booked my second lightning lane, two hours later my third, and two hours later from the Skyliner on my way over my fourth. Upon arriving in rapid succession I then went on Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, Slinky Dog Dash, and Star Tours with the lightning lanes.

If I had been planning a late start at Hollywood Studios it would have worked the same way.

 

[hsmamato2]

In my case I reserved Epcot as my main park, but I used no lightning lanes there. After getting my Remy boarding group I booked Slinky Dog Dash at 7:02 a.m. Two hours after Hollywood Studios opened I booked my second lightning lane, two hours later my third, and two hours later from the Skyliner on my way over my fourth. Upon arriving in rapid succession I then went on Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, Slinky Dog Dash, and Star Tours with the lightning lanes.

If I had been planning a late start at Hollywood Studios it would have worked the same way.

So you could reserve Epcot, and then book at HS? This is using Genie+? I thought you weren't allowed to book a ride at another park until after 1 pm...

 

[wisblue]

So you could reserve Epcot, and then book at HS? This is using Genie+? I thought you weren't allowed to book a ride at another park until after 1 pm...

You can book them at any time after 7 AM.

But, for a park that you will be hopping to the system will only offer you return times after 2PM.