Is anyone else disgusted about the state of Hollywood Studios?

[momimouse27]

I hadn't really though much about the state it was in until I started planning this current trip. It really is in a state of utter disarray. My kids ride the thrill rides but my son and I don't. They really have not left much for us to do there Lights, Motor, Action, TSM, Art of Animation, GMR, Little Mermaid, and maybe IJ and that's about it for us. We enjoyed Idol and were sad its left. Disney, in the past, has been pretty good about having something to make up for what is being worked on-a parade, a show, anything. But DHS, even though it's moving in the right direction, will sadly be a half day park for us. The bad part about it is that we'll have to burn a day's admission to go in, and we don't have park hoppers.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just hope they take their time with an announcement. Maybe that way they can make all the cuts they're going to make to said plan BEFORE it gets announced.

 

[ilovebassets]

Sadly, it is the first time I can say that it truly is a half day park for our family. I have never felt that way about any of the parks, ever. But there just isn't enough to do there, and we aren't thrilled with the restaurants either. Part of the problem is that there aren't tons of attractions, and so many of the ones left are shows that only occur at specific times, so there's nothing to fill your day in between all the shows.

When we return in fall, we will be spending one evening there and that's it. We plan on seeing Disney Jr. live on stage, riding Toy Story and Star Wars, and seeing either the auto stunt show or Fantasmic depending on our kids' moods. That's it

 

[mshanson3121]

My son and daughter were just at Disney World last weekend on a school music department trip. The first thing my son said when he got home was, "What's with all of the construction walls at Animal Kingdom???? It felt so crowded because everyone has to squish together between all of the walls."

Yeah I can only imagine what it's going to feel like this June when it's busy


Yeah... I ca

 

[PatMcDuck]

Yeah I can only imagine what it's going to feel like this June when it's busy

I believe most of the walls in the middle of AK are from the construction that is supposed to be completed soon, on the area near the BBQ place, a new marketplace area. The Avatar construction is off to one side and not really too much in the way, where Camp Mickey Minnie was? But they are also putting in stuff for the new nighttime show of course, in the water.

 

[amber.miller]

I'm really nervous about this. We haven't been since May of 2013 and I just booked a trip for September of this year. We have a 7 yr old, 5 yr old, and 1 yr old. We'll be on property for 11 days, so I'm thinking we'll go once, but I'm doubting the few things there are to do for our party will take more than a half day. Is the Muppets stuff still there?

 

[bluezy]

Yeah I can only imagine what it's going to feel like this June when it's busy

Yeah, I can hardly wait to find out when we're there....in June.

 

[mshanson3121]

I believe most of the walls in the middle of AK are from the construction that is supposed to be completed soon, on the area near the BBQ place, a new marketplace area. The Avatar construction is off to one side and not really too much in the way, where Camp Mickey Minnie was? But they are also putting in stuff for the new nighttime show of course, in the water.

When is that supposed to be done?

 

[Itinkso]

Is the Muppets stuff still there?

Yes, the Muppets 3D movie is still there.

The only non-Frozen thing being added is the Doc McStuffins meet and greet near Jake and Sofia's meet area.

Baymax along with Hiro, who wipes make-up off of Baymax, will continue their meets.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

When I went to HS last December, we saw Beauty and the Beast, ate at H&V for the kiddos, say Disney Jr, rode TSMM, Muppets and the Frozen sing along. We also spent about 5 minutes in the Osbourne Light display because it was so crowded. We didn't have time to do RnR, ToT, Indiana Jones, Animation and our Frozen Sing Along fps were when Fantasmic was going on. We tried to make it back to HS, but due to someone taking my backpack, we spent 5 hours at MK Guest Services hoping it would turn up. I used to love the Sound Studio.

 

[ariane37]

There have been a couple threads lately about DHS, along the lines of whether it's worth going right now and such. I read through and usually "like" a lot of posts like I did on here but now I want to say HS is my favorite park even though it's not at its best right now. My family never saw it as a half-day park and when DH and I were there a few weeks ago, we spent more than half a day even w/o kids. If our trip had been longer, we would have gone a 2nd day.

I think the rumors of what's to come sound great and I do believe something good is going to happen but in the meantime, I still think there's a lot to do! DS12 and I could ride TOT and RnRc multiple times each day. Ditto DH and DS9 on TSMM. GMR, Muppets, Voyage of the Little Mermaid are always done and each day we're there we try to do minimum 2 drawing classes. Every other trip we do either BaTB or Indiana Jones. One of our most favorite things is to watch Mulch, Sweat and Shears and we'll also try to catch their show more than once a day. Both DS's will force us to stop any time they see Streetmosphere performers out and one of them usually ends up getting picked each trip to take part in a skit Every few trips we walk through One Man's Dream That's not even including Star Tours, Fantasmic, or the LMA show!
Oh and how could I forget Characterpalooza???? One of the absolute coolest things to "accidentally" happen upon! And all this is going on despite other attractions being closed and no new ones opening soon. So while no one park can be everyone's favorite and I totally agree HS needs some love (which I hope and believe it's getting) I definitely think it's still worth a trip and still a great place to spend a day.

**Notice I didn't mention any "Frozen Fun" stuff. The fireworks are beautiful and worth a trip just to see them. However, last year they turned my beloved Mulch, Sweat, and Shears into stupid cavemen during FF. And that was so NOT cool **

 

[ols386]

I've skipped HS the last few times I've been to Disney World.

 

[richmo]

I'd go with hopeful, rather than disgusted, but I see your point. DHS has never been one of my favorite parks, and I've ranked it as my fourth favorite for awhile now, even before the recent closings. I'm hoping that the Star Wars expansion, whatever it may be, puts some life into the park. Maybe when the Marvel contract at Universal ends, there'll be even more. 2018 does sound far away, but it is less than 3 years. Not really all that long. My real hope is once they get Pandora at AK done and this DHS re-do done, they'll get serious about doing something about Epcot Future World.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

Of all the construction that was going on during our last trip this past Jan/Feb, DHS was the least bothersome. We still had more than day's worth of stuff to do there (TSMM, TOT, RNRC, Star Tours, JTA, Meet n Greets with Disney Jr. characters as well as Baymax Sorcerer Mickey Buzz & Woody and Mike & Sully, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, BATB stage show, Voyage of the Little Mermaid. One Man's Dream, Animation Academy, and Fantasmic!).

 

[mrsmomo]

I always loved MGM and DHS has also been good to me. We have yet to do everything the park has to offer! Granted a lot of those things are shows but hopefully I will get to them one day. My dh like lma and wants to watch at least every other trip rnr tot are my dd's fav and ds loves disney jr and tsmm. so for us a full day is easy here! However I'm still one that says it needs more rides!

 

[DisneyFive]

Besides closing down the Backlot tour, what attractions are different at HS in the last 5 years?

Dan

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

There have been a couple threads lately about DHS, along the lines of whether it's worth going right now and such. I read through and usually "like" a lot of posts like I did on here but now I want to say HS is my favorite park even though it's not at its best right now. My family never saw it as a half-day park and when DH and I were there a few weeks ago, we spent more than half a day even w/o kids. If our trip had been longer, we would have gone a 2nd day.

I think the rumors of what's to come sound great and I do believe something good is going to happen but in the meantime, I still think there's a lot to do! DS12 and I could ride TOT and RnRc multiple times each day. Ditto DH and DS9 on TSMM. GMR, Muppets, Voyage of the Little Mermaid are always done and each day we're there we try to do minimum 2 drawing classes. Every other trip we do either BaTB or Indiana Jones. One of our most favorite things is to watch Mulch, Sweat and Shears and we'll also try to catch their show more than once a day. Both DS's will force us to stop any time they see Streetmosphere performers out and one of them usually ends up getting picked each trip to take part in a skit Every few trips we walk through One Man's Dream That's not even including Star Tours, Fantasmic, or the LMA show!
Oh and how could I forget Characterpalooza???? One of the absolute coolest things to "accidentally" happen upon! And all this is going on despite other attractions being closed and no new ones opening soon. So while no one park can be everyone's favorite and I totally agree HS needs some love (which I hope and believe it's getting) I definitely think it's still worth a trip and still a great place to spend a day.

**Notice I didn't mention any "Frozen Fun" stuff. The fireworks are beautiful and worth a trip just to see them. However, last year they turned my beloved Mulch, Sweat, and Shears into stupid cavemen during FF. And that was so NOT cool **

DHS is BOTH of my DD's favourite park. They always want at least 2 days (full) there on our 10-12 days vacations. I'm happy with that because I love doing Animation Academy both days and one day we will eat at 50's and the second day we will eat at Sci-Fi
Can you tell me what Mulch, Sweat and Shears is???

 

[Itinkso]

Besides closing down the Backlot tour, what attractions are different at HS in the last 5 years?

Dan

American Idol has closed. The Pirate experience thing has recently closed. Character Palooza moved from Streets of America to the ToT exit area. The Frozen Sing Along moves from Premiere Theater to the Hyperion (AI) Theater in June. Jake and Sophia have meet and greets outside of Disney Jr.

Star Tours was updated in 2010. Minnie's meet and greet was updated.

 

[maxiesmom]

Anyone else think it funny that on one thread we have someone complaining about the lack of construction, as well as poster complaining about construction? There really is no way to win.

 

[DVCcurious]

One good thing about the sucky-ness of HS is that it gives me more MK time! We're headed out this week 4/1-4/6 for our trip to WDW. Thanks to HS and AK's weak offerings for people with little kids we're doing a half day at each on 4/5. We're sleeping in, then heading to HS in the morning for Muppet Vision and Dis Jr. live on stage. Then we're doing the Dis Jr character meal. Then we're heading to AK where I have FP for Safari, Meet Mickey, and then FP for EE and DINOSAUR for the two adults. We'll take turns riding those while the kids are in the boneyard. The plan is to ride safari, do flights of wonder, meet Mickey, then the boneyard for an hour and then leave.

Frankly I can't see spending an entire day at AK or HS when there's just nothing there that comes close to competing with Magic Kingdom for little kids. The Safari is great. Nothing else in those two parks comes close to Fantasyland for the little ones. The only reason we're going to HS is because my DS3 loves the Muppets. Our vacation time is limited, why should we spend it doing sub-par attractions when Fantasyland exists.