Hollywood Studios Strategy

[eyehartdisney]

Thank you for all these suggestions. VERY helpful. Just what I was hoping for! We were at DHS last summer and my DS4 LOVED Star Tours. We are definitely riding that twice and I'm going to try for a FP to TSMM. I've seen Indiana Jones a bunch of times and think I can skip it. Oakens is a good idea. We are generally Frozened out, so I was planning on skipping the whole parade/sing along thing, but I probably dismissed Oakens too quickly.

Good suggestion about scheduling shows for the afternoon. A great way to "rest" in the park. And if the kids (or the grandparents) are getting antsy or worn out we can head to DTD or the Epcot hotels and return for Fantasmic.

One last (I hope) question. What do you suggest between Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid? My boys have a higher tolerance for princesses than many boys, but neither movie really held their attention like Star Wars! They will enjoy one princess show but not two.

They didn't bring back the snow this year, did they?

 

[dprincessmom]

Thank you for all these suggestions. VERY helpful. Just what I was hoping for! We were at DHS last summer and my DS4 LOVED Star Tours. We are definitely riding that twice and I'm going to try for a FP to TSMM. I've seen Indiana Jones a bunch of times and think I can skip it. Oakens is a good idea. We are generally Frozened out, so I was planning on skipping the whole parade/sing along thing, but I probably dismissed Oakens too quickly.

Good suggestion about scheduling shows for the afternoon. A great way to "rest" in the park. And if the kids (or the grandparents) are getting antsy or worn out we can head to DTD or the Epcot hotels and return for Fantasmic.

One last (I hope) question. What do you suggest between Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid? My boys have a higher tolerance for princesses than many boys, but neither movie really held their attention like Star Wars! They will enjoy one princess show but not two.

If you split them up, they might actually sit thru both. Little Mermaid mixes bits of the movie with animatronics and live actors. B&TB is a mini Broadway production. You could always do like I do sometimes and say but X really wants to see this and she/he sat thru x for you, let's let her have a turn )

 

[tabistar]

Beauty and the Beast is better, but Little Mermaid is air conditioned B&tB is covered and has huge fans circulating air, but it's still pretty toasty.

 

[Baptist]

I agree 100% that the Beauty and the Beast is the better show. However, from the perspective of a 7 and 4 year old boy, I'm leaning towards Little Mermaid. I think they would enjoy the stage effects better than appreciating a Broadway type show.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

My daughter's FAVORITE thing at HS is the drawing class at Animation Academy. Its a class, led by a Disney cast member, where you draw a Disney character. They have a large screen at the front of the room so you can see each step. Everyone sits in the classroom facing forward, with a "drafting table" type thing in front of them. They supply the paper and pencil and you follow along, drawing the character (often just the face/head). It makes a fun/unique "souvenir." we actually bring along a paper towel tube to roll up and save our drawings to bring home. last trip my daughter had us do this 4 times. They do not repeat a character in a day, so you can return in 1 day and get something new.
Classes start every 30 minutes. Once the class starts, the doors are shut and you need to wait for the next class. Often the wait is less than 30 minutes (however long until the current class ends), but occasionally we've had to wait more than 1 cycle. You can ask and they will tell you if you'll get in the next class or not. there are some soft benches in the waiting area, and animation on TV screens, so its not a bad wait in the A/C.

I highly recommend trying this at least once.