Hollywood Studios: how do you fit everything into 1 day?

[*pixie*dust*]

Yeah well unfortunately I need to have that time scheduled for my older son. He needs those sit down meals to get away from the hustle and bustle of the theme park and quick service meals don't really work for our family. The ts meals are my sons relaxing points. He will get over stimulated then have a meltdown so the meals break up our days. Unfortunately that's the 1 thing in our schedule that we can't do away with. i guess we will just see how our day plays out when we get there.

If your DS gets overstimulated easily, you may want to pick other TS locations. H & V is loud and chaotic with the characters and such. Sci Fi is also loud and has the old monster movie clips playing throughout the meal. While I definitely understand the need for quite times, these two are not great for that.

 

[GillianP1301]

I guess the simple answer is something would need to be cut from your list and you'd have to figure out what is most important to you. We do 2 - 3 TS a day on WDW all the time because we enjoy them and I view restaurants like another attraction and they are also great built in rests, so for me that would not be where I would cut. We actually end up going to HS twice during our vacations. Once is usually a pretty full day and then the other is a half day and we get everything in that we want (we also do not do the thrill rides). We don't always do every show and M&G though, so for me that's where I would look to cut if it was looking too crammed or if I only had one day.

 

[Laketravis]

My kids are still young so we don't do the headliner rides (RnR & tot). We currently have adrs for Hollywood & Vine (pre park opening), sci fi dine in for lunch, and beaches and cream for dinner. We have FPs for the little mermaid show, the frozen show, and tsmm. My kids want to see every other show as well.

With two of your ADR's in the park itself and one of them before the park even opens I don't think you'll be wasting as much time on sit-downs as might be assumed.

Kids perceive time much differently than adults and their eyes are still much bigger than their stomachs when it comes to how much they think can be accomplished versus actually doing it.

I think with everything you've already got scheduled you're going to wear them out anyway and they won't even notice anything they haven't done.

Have a good time.

.

 

[msmama]

I totally get the "down time" needed for your son, hence all the TS meals, BUT if you're mostly doing shows, does he still need the break? You're going to be doing a lot of sitting and relaxing at the shows (which is different than going from ride to ride or even standing in line).

It sounds like you have mostly/all boys so I would skip B&B or LM, but keep Indy and LMA. I don't feel like I've ever not fit in everything I want to fit in at HS, but I don't do many meals there either so that could be why.

Good luck!

 

[GillianP1301]

If your DS gets overstimulated easily, you may want to pick other TS locations. H & V is loud and chaotic with the characters and such. Sci Fi is also loud and has the old monster movie clips playing throughout the meal. While I definitely understand the need for quite times, these two are not great for that.

I actually disagree with this statement. Sci-Fi is one of the quietest dining locations in all of WDW. It's a bit counter intuitive because of the movie clips playing, but it is so quiet and cool in there it makes for an awesome midday getaway on a hot day. Now, I do agree that some of the clips may be a bit scary to a younger child. It was never a problem with us, but I have read it to be the case with others.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I actually disagree with this statement. Sci-Fi is one of the quietest dining locations in all of WDW. It's a bit counter intuitive because of the movie clips playing, but it is so quiet and cool in there it makes for an awesome midday getaway on a hot day. Now, I do agree that some of the clips may be a bit scary to a younger child. It was never a problem with us, but I have read it to be the case with others.

It has been quiet all times we have gone. I agree completely with you.

 

[Jennytoon]

On the need for downtime -- do playgrounds work? One thing we found on our first trip to Disney was that although we didn't expect to spend much time in the playgrounds because of so much stuff to see, we did. That didn't come out quite right, because it was also that before visiting we didn't even *realize* that there are playgrounds in every park. For our kids (who are pretty neurotypical, so YMMV), we found that although they get overstimulated what the playgrounds provided wasn't quiet time, it was "doing something normal" time, and that was just as good. The playgrounds are heavily themed, yeah ... but they're still playgrounds.

Just a suggestion, because if this is workable for you it gives you a more controllable outlet than an ADR, where you're not only locked into a start time but also once you arrive sort of locked in place until you have completed the meal, with relatively little control over how much time it will take. If you build in a planned playground stop, it doesn't matter if you get there a few minutes late, decide to stay a few minutes extra because you're ahead, or leave a few minutes early. Or, you can not plan the specific time at all and just drop by depending on when you see signs of "too much", which is what we tend to do.

 

[minniemous]

I have to say that if you are going to eat three meals a day in the park making all the meals a sit down versus a quick service is not going to make a huge difference with time. For example we often wait at a table for my husband to get through the quick service line to get our food and it can take a while. These days they move you right along at those sit down meals. It may take you a little while to get seated but then they certainly get that food to you fast in my experience.

50's prime time kept us moving really fast to turn over those tables as well as Mama Melrose. We actually take more time at quick service because the waiters are not rushing you out the door. At least that is our experience. I guess if you wanted to scarf down your food at a quick service you could but I feel that especially at a theme park you need to take it easy eating before you jump on TOT LOL.

I have a family member that seems to get a lot more done than us and they usually use the deluxe dining plan and eat three sit down meals. They get to the parks at rope drop.

On a side note, we never get it ALL done. I would be so miserable if I felt like we had to do every single little thing......because you can not. I think when people say they get through HS in one day I am sure they are not doing everything. They are doing the things that they want to do or is enjoyable to their family. There are many shows, rides, street performances, etc. We have so much fun but we take it easy. When I say I thick Animal Kingdom is a one day park it does not mean I can actually do everything in one day. We just do what matters most to us.

Also the restaurants are an experience in themselves so if you go to the sic-fi that will be something that others who have dispensed with the dining are missing. We have yet to make it to the sci-fi and it looks like it would be fun. Also character meals will save you a TON of time not having to wait to meet characters if that is important your kids. So, relax and if the restaurants are something you need to do for your son then enjoy it and you will do most of the other things you want to do. However I find something has to give.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I would skip the little mermaid show. It is not good at all. Ariel basically sits on a rock and sings

 

[quagmire0]

Agree with cutting the table service. As for the other stuff TOURING PLANS TOURING PLANS TOURING PLANS. Even if you don't follow them religiously, they'll get you to everything you need to hit in one day - no problem.

 

[georgina]

I love the Little Mermaid show and make a point of seeing it every time I go. The puppets in the Under the Sea song are my favorites. I would skip Beauty and the Beast first. I think we got everything done because we did not take time for meeting characters and prioritized our attractions. My kids always liked the playground and the Muppet Movie. I only discovered the Animation Academy after they were grown up, so we never did that either.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We've seen the little mermaid show before and my boys actually love it. They like the little mermaid over beauty and the beast which is y we chose that one as a FP. I think I may just tell my son we are forgetting about the M&Gs. We will be doing enough character M&Gs between magic kingdom and all the character dining we have scheduled that if we miss 1 or 2 I don't think it will matter. Plus the toy story characters are in magic kingdom so if he has the urge to see them we can just see them there.

 

[mrzrich]

If 3 TS is non negotiable, then might I suggest NOT leaving the park for Beaches and Cream. The boat ride is at least 15 minutes each way not including time spend waiting on the dock for the next boat.

Beaches and Creams menu is burgers and shakes, similar to what you might have for lunch at Sci Fi.

Maybe stay in the park and hit Mama Melrose, 50's or Brown Derby

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I actually disagree with this statement. Sci-Fi is one of the quietest dining locations in all of WDW. It's a bit counter intuitive because of the movie clips playing, but it is so quiet and cool in there it makes for an awesome midday getaway on a hot day. Now, I do agree that some of the clips may be a bit scary to a younger child. It was never a problem with us, but I have read it to be the case with others.

It has been quiet all times we have gone. I agree completely with you.

You all have been luckier than we have. The last two times we were there, we experienced loudly crying/screaming children. I assume that they were scared of the monster clips but may have just been over tired or stimulated. Either way, it was not a quite or relaxing experience.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We've been to 50s and mm and weren't that impressed honestly. Plus my DS likes boats and ice cream so beaches and cream is something he is looking forward to. I think the boat ride in itself will be an attraction for us cause we've never done it. I'm also excited to see another resort. We usually only stick to monorail resorts so seeing a non monorail resort is exciting to me lol

 

[ghtx]

Yeah well unfortunately I need to have that time scheduled for my older son. He needs those sit down meals to get away from the hustle and bustle of the theme park and quick service meals don't really work for our family. The ts meals are my sons relaxing points. He will get over stimulated then have a meltdown so the meals break up our days. Unfortunately that's the 1 thing in our schedule that we can't do away with. i guess we will just see how our day plays out when we get there.

Obviously you know your son better than I do. But, it might be the case that those first two meals - at H&V and Sci-fi - aren't very good ways to avoid "hustle and bustle" and may themselves be over-stimulating. At H&V you will have characters dancing and singing and kids screaming. At Sci-fi it is loud and dark with movies playing in front of you.

 

[mrzrich]

Your question was "how do we fit it in?" The answer is not eating 3 TS and not leaving the park for one of those 3 meals.

Both of these points are non negotiable for your group...

So... My short answer is, you won't fit it all in.

You're gonna have to sacrifice a few things.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We did H&V last year and didn't find it that loud. We had a 8AM ADR and had a quiet little booth and yes there were kids up and dancing but it didn't seem to bother my son much and like I said it wasn't loud at our booth. We have another 8AM ADR for H&V so hopefully it will be the same experience as last time. We've never eaten at sci fi but my DS requested it bc he thought it would be cool to eat in cars. I have given up on meeting the characters there lol. I think I will stick to my original plan and day of if my DS really wants to meet some characters we give up the beauty and the beast show. I'm pretty flexible but my DS needs to have some sort of schedule so he knows what to expect. Thanks for everyone's advice

 

[luvsJack]

If he has requested the character m & g, doesn't that mean that is more important to him? I think I would try to work them in or at least some of them. OR give him the choice of "toy story characters" OR "Beauty and the Beast". Let him have the control and maybe it won't bother him so much if he has to miss one or the other.

 

[crazylady]

You could do H&V for breakfast and schedule a later lunch at B&C. That would get you out of the parks for a good chunk of time for your son to decompress and take a boat ride and/or run along the lake. Then you could head back for round 2 in the park until you need to leave or the night. You could also just leave the park for a break without eating to take the boat ride or run out some energy or even just plop a blanket down and rest for a bit. That boat ride always put me to sleep! Toy Story is a long M&G line but Monsters, Inc is usually quick. How old are your kids? I would skip the Disney Jr show unless one of them was still into the preschool shows.