I disagree...Hollywood is still a full day for us.

[Maleficent Dragon]

That is the awesome thing about WDW - there is plenty for everybody and we don't all have to like the same thing. We are not huge fans of Disney Studios. The only time it is a full day for us is when we are seeing Osborne Lights and therefore really have to be there all day. I think it really just boils down to which attractions a person likes.

 

[Accident]

For us it really depends on who or if we're traveling with others. For us, most of the shows we might see 1, maybe 2 and that's just because we're trying to figure out what is still there for us. We do like several of the restaurants so it's really about what else we want to do while we're grabbing a meal at our favorite place(s). If there are kids involved, there is some shows and things that really fit them better and we won't skip it for them. For us, we don't need to see the same shows every trip so we just enjoy the rides and whatever special things are going on.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

In trying to put together a touring plan for DHS I'm finding that I'm having a hard time to get everything done in a day when I try to include lunch and dinner. Part of our issue I think is that we want to be sure we see everything because who knows if this will be the last time for many of these attractions. I know it's making me crazy this trip.

 

[Lavitz]

Half day due to recommendations on our first trip, full day second trip, 2 days this trip. It's pretty fun.

 

[sersee05]

We spent a full day and a half there. I had to fit in the frozen stuff and we were pretty packed. I didn't even get to see fantasmic that night bevause,we had to fit in the fireworks.

The next day we went to epcot and back to dhs. I wanted to see fantasmic. Niw,we did have to waste some time after riding tot and star tours again. Rnr was broken down everytime we tried.

For us it's aone day park, but a full day.

 

[MrPTato]

I really can't understand why people are saying so much there has closed. Only 4 things as of right now, right? I never even considered American Idol while there. Did the back lot tour once and so it was ok but I don't miss it. Animation Academy we did once but not really missing that either.
We always do Toy Story twice, RnR twice and ToT twice. Star Tours is my favorite so I do it as many times as possible when there is not a long wait. Then with the shows and the Muppet Theater and we always have to see Phineas & Ferb, Fanstasmic...HS is my second favorite park right behind MK.

Exactly my viewpoint!! I love HS but not as much as MK.

 

[waffocopter]

I didn't spend a full day last time I was there a few years ago but then we didn't know what they had too well. My group's HS day's hours will be 9-7 and we probably won't show up at RD due to it being the day after MNSSHP. We have never seen Fantasmic so I'm hoping we can do everything we want in the park without rushing or having long lulls of nothing to fill. We are not doing Frozen, no Disney Jr, no Jedi Training but we will have lunch at Sci-Fi Diner. I suppose I'm hoping for it to be a 3/4 day park for me.

 

[Rosebud123]

Just returned from a quick trip to Beach Club. I respectfully disagree that Hollywood should be skipped. We spent a full and fulfilling day there. We saw the Indiana Jones Show, Lights motor action, Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Rock and Roller Coaster, Star Tours, Great American movie ride, Frozen specials and Fantasmic . When you factor in your meals we barely for it all in. We still had a great time.

ITA! Tons to do there. We love that park.

 

[kamik86]

DHS was always only a half day park for us before... What we would do was:

Toy story mania at rope drop. Grab a fast pass for later (or have one already the last time when on FP+)
Star tours... twice as there is generally a short wait. We can only do this twice in a row before it starts bothering us
Animation academy until like 11-11:30 which is generally when the FP was for (so generally that would mean doing it twice, maybe three times
Toy story again
Get a cupcake from starring rolls and leave the park. Generally back to the resort for lunch and rest.

Epcot would be filled in to make up the extra time going around 4 and hanging out there a bit then going to dinner.
Sometimes heading back to DHS by boat for fantasmic at the end of the night.

Neither of us would like tot or rock n roller coaster and with no kids in the party we don't really need to see the same shows again and again.

 

[Turn the Page]

DHS was always a half day park for us. I think the reason why is we aren't really show people. I'm good with going to a couple of shows but after one or two I lose interest.

Because we would always go to DHS in the morning and then leave in early afternoon I have never seen Fantasmic. Normally, we don't go to a park on arrival day we just hang out at the pool and check out the resort. However, this time, I have talked DFi into going to DHS on arrival day so we can go to Fantasmic which I am really excited about.

 

[mom2rtk]

Since we don't do some attractions we'd have to go to/on some multiple times to make it a "full day" now

Good luck with that with FP+.

 

[loves to dive]

I have an AP so park hopping is my regular touring style. I tend to stay at the Epcot resorts so I got to HS at least 2 times if not 3 during the course of one trip. I don't spend all day there but I don't spend all day at any one park. I love it, I like just wandering around the streets and looking at everything, if I'm by myself I only ride two rides now, TOT and GMR, if I'm with DS and DIL we do TSM as well. DS and I have been known to get off TOT and get right back on multiple times. I enjoy the shows and try to hit at least two of them if I'm by myself (DS doesn't like them). For me, MK is a half day park but we have no little ones so don't even go back to FantasyLand.

 

[cakebaker]

HS has always been my least favorite park, but there are things that each of us in our family like to do there, so we still find it very much worthwhile to go. Between all of us, there aren't many things we skip there. Not all of us visit every attraction, but there are few that are skipped entirely. This is what happens when the group includes a big age range.

We never do open to close in any park and rarely do mornings at HS now that there's FP+, but we almost always visit HS 2-3 times as our evening park.

 

[alicat8]

Good luck with that with FP+.

Spending all that time waiting in lines can help fill up a day

 

[mom2rtk]

Spending all that time waiting in lines can help fill up a day

 

[tlmadden73]

If you JUST want to hit the rides .. then a half-day.

The problem is that DHS has ALWAYS been more about the shows .. and simply the schedule and the timing of them means you can't hit everything usually.

I am planning a full day there come end of August even though we are going with some toddlers (going with a lot of first-timers)

 

[bcrook]

I have an AP so park hopping is my regular touring style. I tend to stay at the Epcot resorts so I got to HS at least 2 times if not 3 during the course of one trip. I don't spend all day there but I don't spend all day at any one park. I love it, I like just wandering around the streets and looking at everything, if I'm by myself I only ride two rides now, TOT and GMR, if I'm with DS and DIL we do TSM as well. DS and I have been known to get off TOT and get right back on multiple times. I enjoy the shows and try to hit at least two of them if I'm by myself (DS doesn't like them). For me, MK is a half day park but we have no little ones so don't even go back to FantasyLand.

WDW is one big park to me and my family. I don't even separate them anymore. The concept of spending all day in any park doesn't even cross my mind. I go in to a park in the morning, go somewhere else for lunch (another park, resort, dd) decide where I want to be in the evening. I like staying at the Epcot parks so I can travel back and forth as much as I want too.

I wander in and out of DHS, but the last evening I was there RNRC was down all night and the back of the park closed early for fireworks and the Tower of Terror FP return time was about 25 minutes, and earlier the FP return for TSMM stretched out the door down the street under the Pixar sign. And for the most part, the park was empty everywhere else. Plenty of seating at restaurants, shows were empty, streets were easy to get around.

FP+ has made it very difficult to tour this way though. If I book an evening TSMM, then I am out of luck for the rest of the day. That makes it hard to enjoy more than one park at a time. But I guess that's all part of the plan. I am adjusting.

 

[rainboots]

I'm planning on an early dinner & then about 3 evening hours. We want to see Fantasmic! I want to ride TOT. Anything beyond that will be a bonus. I pray F! Does not get rained out this trip, because I don't want to rearrange the rest of our week to go back! It was rained out 1/2 way thru on our first trip & DD6 cried all the way to the bus.... It was her one must do of the whole trip.

 

[BigHeroKen]

I think it all comes down to a person's entertainment preferences. For my family, the first time at Hollywood Studios was a full day experience, but now that we have experienced the shows we just don't have the desire to see them again. Because of that, Hollywood studios is now a half day park at most for us.

We all value our time and entertainment options differently. The key is to have fun your way and ignore anyone who implies you are doing it wrong.

 

[andyman8]

Completely agree! ToT and RnRC are two of my favorite rides to re-ride, which of course takes time. Plus, Star Tours has perhaps the best re-ridability of any WDW attraction. You add TSM!, some of the stage shows like Indiana Jones and B&tB, and F! to the mix and I'd call that a solid full day. On top of that, I find walking down Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards to be just great, especially at night with the neon. And the poster who brought up the dining is spot on as well! Sci-Fi is one of the very few restaurants I must eat at when I'm at WDW! While if I only had one day at WDW, I probably wouldn't spend it at DHS, it's definitely worth a full day still.