How lame is DHS right now?

[Zombie]

So we're going to be at WDW the first week of September. We have 3-Day tickets -- no hopper. So we're likely only going to go to three parks. AK and MK definitely. We aren't sure about the third.

Usually me and LO love DHS but the other party feels it's dated and lame without much to see. Personally, I'd be happy to go and do Tower of Terror and Star Wars a couple time and maybe check out the stunt show and the Great Movie Ride feel like I pretty much got my ticket value. We've never been able to get on Toy Story Mania yet, though. We always try.

But I know DHS is lacking in attractions right now. And we also are not into Frozen at all to care about any of that. And, LO has a health issue so we won't likely be there in the evening. We'll be doing our parks for 2-4 hours in the mornings and then having resort afternoons/evenings. Or at least that's the current plan.

So is DHS worth checking out right now? Is the Animation Drawing Studio class still there or has that shutdown too?

The park feels like we've seen and done most/all of it on our previous two visits. We loved it. But it'd just be the same old.

We barely scratched the surface at AK or MK -- so that's why we'll be hitting up them again. We aren't sure we want to use our third park day on EPCOT. It also feels dated (though, again, there's some rides we enjoyed and would redo and we missed Test Track last time). And, we aren't really into eating/drinking until we burst so the World Showcase doesn't hold much interest to us (and we've been to most of the actual countries is 'showcases' so ... we don't really feel the need to see the Disney version and LO isn't too interested and walking around the whole lagoon would take a lot out of LO too.).

So we aren't sure what we're going to do with the third day. Maybe go to MK a second day. But it can be so crowded -- which LO also doesn't cope with well -- we aren't sure it'd be a good plan for us. We went there in the evening last year and even though we enjoyed it, it also wasn't a glowing experience due to crowds and darkness and trying to navigate through it all. Didn't feel like we got to see or do much -- in the dark and the mounds of people.

But if DHS is pretty much a shell right now, don't really want to waste the ticket there either.

 

[Robo]

Have a nice trip.

 

[Robo]

1. We've never been able to get on Toy Story Mania yet, though. We always try.

2. Is the Animation Drawing Studio class still there or has that shutdown too?

3. But if DHS is pretty much a shell right now, don't really want to waste the ticket there either.

1. There are FP opportunities.
2. Gone.
3. I wouldn't call DHS a shell.

 

[Julylady]

We spent two full days at HS in July. There is still lots to do.

 

[Mousemommy1]

1. There are FP opportunities.
2. Gone.
3. I wouldn't call DHS a shell.

This ^^^^

 

[BigMommaMouse]

We always seem to find new things (to us) in the Parks every time we go. Last year at DS could not get enough of the actors on the streets in DHS. He was laughing
so hard. We stayed around for a few of there acts.

Point is some rides and stuff may be gone but there is always some great stuff you might not have seen before.

 

[sam1998]

We really enjoy HS. If you haven't done Toy Story you definitely need to! I can't imagine not enjoying it!

 

[Delirium]

Strange that so many people can't find things to do at HS. We love it.

My kids (7 and 9 when we went) didn't care for MK. When we went to MK, we didn't even spend half a day. Arrived at RD, saw the Tiki Room, Stitch, Hall of Presidents, the Riverboat, and got Mary Poppins' autograph. At that point, the kids were begging to go back to the resort and swim.

The next day, we went to HS. Rode RNR, TOT, Star Tours, TSM, and great Great Movie Ride. Saw the following shows: Beauty & the Beast, Indiana Jones, Muppets, Little Mermaid, LMA, and Fantasmic. Walked through One Man's Dream. Saw a lot of neat characters.

Bottom line is you get out of it what you try to get out of it. Go in and focus on what is wrong with the park and you won't enjoy it. Focus on what is good about the park and HS has a whole lot more to offer than people give it credit for.

 

[ariane37]

If you're only doing 2-4 hours in a park each day, you should have no problem finding enough to do in HS. Besides TOT, RnRc and ST there's still Muppets and GMR, and (at least for now) LMA and Beauty and the Beast. Yes, Animation Academy is gone which stinks, but have you ever stopped to watch Mulch, Sweat and Shears? They are *awesome*!! We watch them multiple times any day we're in HS. Also as a pp mentioned the street performers are lots of fun to watch.

And get on TSMM! Have you done your FP's yet? If you honestly can't get one just get to the park at RD and head right to TSMM. Even if you can't move quickly, your wait shouldn't be ridiculous.

 

[DVCcurious]

My kids (7 and 9 when we went) didn't care for MK. When we went to MK, we didn't even spend half a day. Arrived at RD, saw the Tiki Room, Stitch, Hall of Presidents, the Riverboat, and got Mary Poppins' autograph. At that point, the kids were begging to go back to the resort and swim.

What is this, a joke?

You seriously only went on those crappy attractions? Never heard of Peter Pan, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, or even It's a Small World? Didn't think of meeting Mickey Mouse instead of Mary Poppins?

I think that if anyone went to MK and did the terrible attractions you did they'd also want to leave (OK, I'm sure those all have fans, but seriously they're all tier 4 attractions..the only things missing on this pathetic list are CoP and the Treehouse!)

 

[nessz79]

What is this, a joke?

You seriously only went on those crappy attractions? Never heard of Peter Pan, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, or even It's a Small World? Didn't think of meeting Mickey Mouse instead of Mary Poppins?

I think that if anyone went to MK and did the terrible attractions you did they'd also want to leave (OK, I'm sure those all have fans, but seriously they're all tier 4 attractions..the only things missing on this pathetic list are CoP and the Treehouse!)

Although I know some people like the aforementioned attractions, I have to agree that if I had only done those attractions at MK, I would be itching to leave, too.

That being said, HS is still worth half a day for our family. We like to do TSMM, ToT, Star Tours, and Great Movie Ride. We also like Muppets if we have time and maybe a show. We'll be visiting this November for that half a day or slightly more, but *really* look forward to returning with the updates.

 

[Micca]

DHS needs some sprucing up, but they're working on that. Meanwhile, TOT is arguably the best attraction on property, TSMM is state of the art, and there is plenty of love for RnRC, TGMR, and Star Tours, also many people love Fantasmic. So "shell" wouldn't be the correct term.

 

[amg35]

We spent two mornings there the last trip. Got some funny pictures on Streets of America. ToT is such a great ride, as is RnR. We had never ridden Midway Mania before...loved it!,


I still think it's definitely worth seeing. Especially now before it all changes!!

 

[Zombie]

We definitely loved DHS. At least me and the LO. The other party -- not so much. I think it will be a battle of the wills about which wins. We had a family discussion this morning. LO indicated they'd be happy going back and forth through the line repeatedly on SW and ToT. I'm all for that as long as we get in GMR and either Indy or the Stunt Show (that's LO not me). Too bad about Animation Studios gone. We LOVED that last year but were disappointed that our character was Tinker Bell. All of ours turned out great, though, and we were hopeful to get to do it again. Due to LO's health issue we don't often plan our days too far in advance because we have to go by how feeling/doing. That's why we haven't been able to get a FP for Toy Story yet. And with LO and the amount of time we are physically able to spend in the parks we just can't spend two hours of our day standing in line. It'd destroy LO and eat up our time. We really were only able to manage about four hour max when we did WDW last year. LO isn't as well this year so it might be less time this time around. But we're all very excited to go.

Debate this morning between DHS and EPCOT resolved around other party reminding LO about Soarin' and that we didn't get on Test Track. So ... I don't know. We'll see. Might be nice to do EPCOT and then go over to BW for a meal. But I'm not sure I'm willing to give up another park to do DHS and EPCOT ... LO is SET on AK. Adored it last time. I know lots of people hate it but it and TL were LO's favorite days.

MK we liked. We just didn't do it well. We really wanted to see Wishes so we decided to time our day for the evening hours. Meant that we got there around 5 p.m. and left around 1 a.m. It was a LOOOONG night for LO. We did get Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Carribean, Jungle Safari, Flying Carpets, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, Stitches' Escape (LO LOVES Stitch but what a stinker of an attraction, IMHO -- and not because of the smell effects) and then Wishes and the Electric Parade. So we did pretty good. We also tried the mythical turkey leg to share for dinner. So it was a nice evening. We enjoyed it. It was just long and it got dark quickly after we arrived and it was crowded. More crowded than we anticipated for that time of year and the evening hours (compared to our experiences at DHS and EPCOT nighttime crowds). That just didn't work well for our family. But that was our own doing with our planning. We plan to hit MK at RD this time and/or on EMH mornings and do a few hours in the morning instead. Maybe if LO is up to it we might go back for Wishes again (I'd like to) but right now we aren't planning to do any evenings this time around ( ... but it is what it is), except maybe Poly for dinner and watch the fireworks and Electric Boat Parade from there. But again ... if LO is up to it, which based on last year's experience ... aren't expecting it.

Tough call.

I still see things to do at DHS but I think we did manage to do a lot of it before and then some things that we liked have shutdown and like I said ... Frozen is of no interest to us. And we won't likely try an evening at Fantasmic. So just not sure DHS is worth it for us and should given in to the EPCOT push. Ultimately I think LO will get the final say but we'll likely try to nudge a bit one way or the other. Just not really sure which way to nudge. I like that DHS is a smaller, more compact park. But with EPCOT we'd likely just stick to FW side and not venture over to World Showcase unless we decided to walk through to BW for a meal. We've never been to BW and other party is definitely interested in checking it out. But we'd also discussed saving that as an activity on a quiet/resort day as an outing ... BW and mini putt maybe?

So torn. Maybe we'll end up splurging and upgrading to the 4-day ticket on site. In a worse case scenario of indecision. It's not too much of a jump. It's not about the money. It's about not wanting to wear LO out. We did 4-days at the theme parks and a day at TL last year and LO loved it but it was pretty exhausting. We paid for it in a way. But LO loved TL so much last time that we got WP and More this time so beyond the three days in the park we're likely going to do TL and/or BB this time too. LO has requested to do BOTH, which likely isn't going to happen. Too much. LO LOVED TL but got back to the resort and LO passed out immediately (actually on the bus too and OMG ... trudging through the transfer at EPCOT like we were going through the Sahara!) and didn't move until into the next day. So I think we're going to have to be careful with the water parks. And with one of the meds LO is on right now we're supposed to be SUPER careful about the sun so all day at a water park isn't the brightest idea. And last year we went thinking, "Oh yeah, we'll spend two or three hours. Go around the lazy river, go down a slide or two." Yeah ... there at opening, dragged LO out of there about 20 minutes before close.

So that's part of the reason for the 3-day ticket. We want the time for the water parks and we only have a week and we've got really limited energy and ability to deal with too.

 

[bbjunkie]

If you are honestly only spending 2-4 hours in the park, you can go anywhere and have a "full" day using that standard. There is plenty to do at HS that will take more than 2-4 hours. (TSMM, GMR, TOT, RNR, ST, and then any of the shows, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Lights, Camera, Action, Indiana Jones, Muppets 3D) you say you won't be there at night, so you won't see Fantasmic, but there is stilll plenty to do.

But the same can be said for Epcot. Even if you are only doing FW, you can fill 2-4 hours with Spaceship Earth, Soarin, Mission Space, The Land, The Seas, Turtle Talk, Journey into Imagination, Test Track, etc.

Honestly, though, if you are only spending 2-4 hours in the parks as your entire day, I personally think you need to spend them all at MK. You won't even scratch the surface of everything to be done there with a total of 6-12 hours of park time. Maybe do Main Street and Tomorrowland one day, Fantasyland one day, and Fronteirland/Adventureland one day. I know you said you don't do evenings or nights, but maybe one day you spend your time during the day at the hotel and use your 2-4 park hours in the evening ending with Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. I just can't imagine going to Disney World and seeing none of the evening shows.

ETA:: we were typing at the same time, So you have seen Wishes. Maybe this time of your LO (Little One?--sorry, not familiar with that) either Epcot or DHs would be a good idea because if LO is up to it, you could return in the evening for Illuminations or Fantasmic.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

We definitely loved DHS. At least me and the LO. The other party -- not so much. I think it will be a battle of the wills about which wins. We had a family discussion this morning. LO indicated they'd be happy going back and forth through the line repeatedly on SW and ToT. I'm all for that as long as we get in GMR and either Indy or the Stunt Show (that's LO not me). Too bad about Animation Studios gone. We LOVED that last year but were disappointed that our character was Tinker Bell. All of ours turned out great, though, and we were hopeful to get to do it again. Due to LO's health issue we don't often plan our days too far in advance because we have to go by how feeling/doing. That's why we haven't been able to get a FP for Toy Story yet. And with LO and the amount of time we are physically able to spend in the parks we just can't spend two hours of our day standing in line. It'd destroy LO and eat up our time. We really were only able to manage about four hour max when we did WDW last year. LO isn't as well this year so it might be less time this time around. But we're all very excited to go.

Debate this morning between DHS and EPCOT resolved around other party reminding LO about Soarin' and that we didn't get on Test Track. So ... I don't know. We'll see. Might be nice to do EPCOT and then go over to BW for a meal. But I'm not sure I'm willing to give up another park to do DHS and EPCOT ... LO is SET on AK. Adored it last time. I know lots of people hate it but it and TL were LO's favorite days.

MK we liked. We just didn't do it well. We really wanted to see Wishes so we decided to time our day for the evening hours. Meant that we got there around 5 p.m. and left around 1 a.m. It was a LOOOONG night for LO. We did get Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Carribean, Jungle Safari, Flying Carpets, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, Stitches' Escape (LO LOVES Stitch but what a stinker of an attraction, IMHO -- and not because of the smell effects) and then Wishes and the Electric Parade. So we did pretty good. We also tried the mythical turkey leg to share for dinner. So it was a nice evening. We enjoyed it. It was just long and it got dark quickly after we arrived and it was crowded. More crowded than we anticipated for that time of year and the evening hours (compared to our experiences at DHS and EPCOT nighttime crowds). That just didn't work well for our family. But that was our own doing with our planning. We plan to hit MK at RD this time and/or on EMH mornings and do a few hours in the morning instead. Maybe if LO is up to it we might go back for Wishes again (I'd like to) but right now we aren't planning to do any evenings this time around ( ... but it is what it is), except maybe Poly for dinner and watch the fireworks and Electric Boat Parade from there. But again ... if LO is up to it, which based on last year's experience ... aren't expecting it.

Tough call.

I still see things to do at DHS but I think we did manage to do a lot of it before and then some things that we liked have shutdown and like I said ... Frozen is of no interest to us. And we won't likely try an evening at Fantasmic. So just not sure DHS is worth it for us and should given in to the EPCOT push. Ultimately I think LO will get the final say but we'll likely try to nudge a bit one way or the other. Just not really sure which way to nudge. I like that DHS is a smaller, more compact park. But with EPCOT we'd likely just stick to FW side and not venture over to World Showcase unless we decided to walk through to BW for a meal. We've never been to BW and other party is definitely interested in checking it out. But we'd also discussed saving that as an activity on a quiet/resort day as an outing ... BW and mini putt maybe?

So torn. Maybe we'll end up splurging and upgrading to the 4-day ticket on site. In a worse case scenario of indecision. It's not too much of a jump. It's not about the money. It's about not wanting to wear LO out. We did 4-days at the theme parks and a day at TL last year and LO loved it but it was pretty exhausting. We paid for it in a way. But LO loved TL so much last time that we got WP and More this time so beyond the three days in the park we're likely going to do TL and/or BB this time too. LO has requested to do BOTH, which likely isn't going to happen. Too much. LO LOVED TL but got back to the resort and LO passed out immediately (actually on the bus too and OMG ... trudging through the transfer at EPCOT like we were going through the Sahara!) and didn't move until into the next day. So I think we're going to have to be careful with the water parks. And with one of the meds LO is on right now we're supposed to be SUPER careful about the sun so all day at a water park isn't the brightest idea. And last year we went thinking, "Oh yeah, we'll spend two or three hours. Go around the lazy river, go down a slide or two." Yeah ... there at opening, dragged LO out of there about 20 minutes before close.

So that's part of the reason for the 3-day ticket. We want the time for the water parks and we only have a week and we've got really limited energy and ability to deal with too.

In 2004, we went knowing we would not get it all done. We didn't even make it to AK that trip. My DS was so tried I had to cancel our dinner reservations. This was when they had no expiring tickets, so the 2 day in we spent at the hotel. The best part of that trip or any trip is quality time together. Tried and grumpy don't do it for me. With
each trip I keep learning and adjusting our touring plans.
Sounds like you have some great plans and know how much LO can handle. Each trip will be a little different with great memories from all the trips. If you don't get to DHS don't sweat it.

 

[Zombie]

@bbjunkie Thanks for the advise. We managed all the night shows last year. It was a priority for us then. Though, whoa, I could tell you the disaster that was Illuminations (basically ... again another late start, tired Little One -- LO, it gets rained out, delayed, we finally decide can't do it anymore, give up great viewing spot, stop at bathroom on the way out, of course it starts then, decide to still continue out since can't see much with the crowds, LO in tears, so stop but don't see much ... you know the drill). And Fantasmic it had a rain delay and then the wind was blowing so the images on the water screens weren't that great. So we'd like to do them again -- but won't be devastated if we don't. I'd really, really like to see Wishes again (another less than ideal experience with the crowds and the family in front of us hoisting their not-so-LO to their shoulders and blocking everyone's view. We didn't want to start a dominio effect of doing the same with LO so our view wasn't great but were still amazed).

Clearly we're kind of newbies at this. Figuring it out and excited and amazed.

Definitely won't spend all the days at MK but we definitely recognize that we barely scratched the surface there last time and that the same will be true this time. We'll just have to work at it bit by bit over future trips. We're used to that. We do what we can as a family and are happy with what we get to do. Trying to cram too much in ultimately means we end up getting to do less.

LO loves the resort pool, so resort/pool days -- or at least afternoons -- will be fine. It's the together time that matters.

LO's priorities are DINOSAURS... so AK (and TRex Cafe at DTD has been requested ... again!) and though the animals are a dfinitey attraction there too and the Rapids ride and the Safari. We really enjoyed Nemo too but didn't get to Lion King ... or ANY of the animal viewing trails or Bug's Life or the train. So lots to still do there. Then DHS would likely be good because of affinity for SW and ToT. But EPCOT would be OK too. I'm not opposed to EPCOT just turn because I like HS too and would be disappointed in my own accord and LO's to miss out on SW and ToT. But EPCOT we'd enjoy most of FW again, I think. And we didn't get to do the Mexico ride last time either. Or Innovations.

LO actually seems indifferent about LO. When asked what to do there wants to do HM and Pirates and Safari again. The rest we got shrugs. Likely isn't so sure what it is or what's there. There's a sight issue (not blind but missing peripheral vision) so with it being dark didn't see so much or have a really perspective of what was around. Tunnel vision and night blindness given the darkness and the crowds basically. But me and the other party would like to do Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Mine Train, etc. And get a pork shank. We've got quite the list. We even want to do People Mover and Hall of Presidents. But if LO isn't into it and the crowds are beyond what we can cope with again ... a morning there will likely be enough for our family. We'll do what we can do and we'll do more next time.

I should add we talked about upgrading to Hoppers but we just don't think it would make sense because based on last year's experience we really feel after we leave the parks we won't likely be going back that day. So if we can't even managed to go back -- we definitely won't be managing hopping to another. It's just asking for more exhaustion and trouble.

ANOTHER ADD ... I completely forgot about Muppets being there! We didn't get to that last time. Must add that to the list of fodder in making this decision.

 

[ashley1992]

I just returned from a trip where we went to DHS twice. I still had a blast and multiple family members who joined me on the trip called it their favorite park! Between RnR, TOT, TSM, The Great Movie ride, and some of the lower key attractions such as The Voyage of the Little Mermaid and One Man's Dream, we loved the park. We also loved the shopping and the restaurant options such as 50s Prime Time and Sci-Fi Dine In. We visited for two half days and I wish we would have spent more time there. I suggest making a visit on this trip and hope you enjoy!

 

[joelkfla]

You really need to get some FP+ for TSM. If you're not taking advantage of FP+, you're setting yourself up for disappointment, especially saying that you can't stand in long lines.

Remember, there's no penalty for failing to use a FP+; you'll be no worse off than if you never had it. If you find yourself too tired to use one that you have, just let it go.

And speaking of letting it go -- don't write off the Frozen Sing-Along so quickly. It's actually a pretty fun show, played largely for laughs. The "royal historians", I believe, are former street atmosphere players.

 

[Boopuff]

I'm really disheartened at the current state of DHS. I'm in a constant state of "remember when" every time we go. I must confess that my family really considers it a half-day park especially with the removal of the animation building -my fave!