Is anyone else disgusted about the state of Hollywood Studios?

[Huggups]

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."

Those walls are the one thing I'm not looking forward to but at least there will be an end result so it is the price we have to pay, I guess.

 

[DisneyFive]

DHS is definitely a half day park for us..never used to be. Now it's Toy Story Mania, Muppets, Rock n Roller Coaster, and maybe Tower of Terror and we are out

What's changed that made it that way?

Dan

 

[Huggups]

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

There are only a handful of things we like to do there like Hollywood Brown Derby, TSMM, strolling Hollywood Boulevard and Streetmosphere. Also the fact that we're going during the holiday season and like to see OFSODL. If I actually had to choose which one to eliminate because of time constraints, DHS would, unfortunately, be the one.

 

[spacefly67]

I think everyone that is going the last week in august should skip DHS!
This way I don't have to run to Jedi signups or stand in any lines.....

 

[Josh Hendy]

The thing is, the extra parks were created in order to sell you multi-day tickets with the extra days at approximately half price. And what they give you for your half-price admission is ... half parks.

It's sounds fair that way, or at least reasonable. Assuming that it takes about $100 per guest per day to operate MK and Epcot and make a healthy profit, they've built DAK and shrunk DHS to the scale of the $50 or so they're getting for each guest who visits them.

The trouble is, the entire selling point of the multi-day passes is that you're getting FOUR (4) PARKS at a discount. The official message is, wow, we're giving you discounted tickets to 4 parks ... each of which is a great park. But they're not giving you a bargain. Maybe they're not even sure how to build and operate 4 equally great parks, with discounted tickets, and still make money on volume of guests or on hotels, meals, shopping etc.

The trouble is, the reality doesn't match the hype. You're getting value for the money, but the unfulfilled promise of "even more" for your dollar leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth. Hype is a synonym for exaggeration, and exaggeration is technically a form of lying.

Disney will never change the hype. They will never stop offering discounted multi-day passes. They will never "finish" DHS or DAK to make them the equal of Universal Studios or Busch Gardens. They will instead keep the big capital investments as delayed, stretched out and prolonged as possible. They will close some attractions and let others decay to irrelevancy in order to keep operating costs scaled to the revenue from discounted tickets. That's why you hear vague announcements that "big additions are coming" without any specific promises of attractions, completion dates, concept art, etc.

Will the public accept being lied to if in the end they get decent value for their money? Yes. Will they complain about it at the same time? Yes!

 

[ArwenMarie]

The thing is, the extra parks were created in order to sell you multi-day tickets with the extra days at approximately half price. And what they give you for your half-price admission is ... half parks.

It's sounds fair that way, or at least reasonable. Assuming that it takes about $100 per guest per day to operate MK and Epcot and make a healthy profit, they've built DAK and shrunk DHS to the scale of the $50 or so they're getting for each guest who visits them.

The trouble is, the entire selling point of the multi-day passes is that you're getting FOUR (4) PARKS at a discount. The official message is, wow, we're giving you discounted tickets to 4 parks ... each of which is a great park. But they're not giving you a bargain. Maybe they're not even sure how to build and operate 4 equally great parks, with discounted tickets, and still make money on volume of guests or on hotels, meals, shopping etc.

The trouble is, the reality doesn't match the hype. You're getting value for the money, but the unfulfilled promise of "even more" for your dollar leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth. Hype is a synonym for exaggeration, and exaggeration is technically a form of lying.

Disney will never change the hype. They will never stop offering discounted multi-day passes. They will never "finish" DHS or DAK to make them the equal of Universal Studios or Busch Gardens. They will instead keep the big capital investments as delayed, stretched out and prolonged as possible. They will close some attractions and let others decay to irrelevancy in order to keep operating costs scaled to the revenue from discounted tickets. That's why you hear vague announcements that "big additions are coming" without any specific promises of attractions, completion dates, concept art, etc.

Will the public accept being lied to if in the end they get decent value for their money? Yes. Will they complain about it at the same time? Yes!

I totally agree with this comment.

Assuming $100 is the market price for MK, the other parks should cost $50 for a one-day ticket, at most. But that would reveal just what this comment says.

The only way the other parks make sense to visit is part of a multi-day ticket of at least six days or an AP.

However, I think for a first-timer they are not necessarily half-day parks if you include all of the shows. Which goes along with Disney's strategy of putting the most focus on that customer group. That is probably the customer group least likely to feel this way about the other three parks, as long as they buy a week-long ticket anyway.

 

[ArwenMarie]

What's changed that made it that way?

Dan

For us, it's the tired shows. Imagine if they switched them up once in a while, people would be very enthusiastic. But if a large portion of the day is meant to be spent on shows, and the shows are old and tired to you, then it can turn into a half-day park. Taking out the parade didn't help. Unlike shows, I don't mind watching the same parade visit to visit.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Our most recent trip was our first visit to DHS, and it was everyone's least favorite park. I enjoyed everything we did there, but in retrospect it doesn't seem like a lot. We're going to try it again this upcoming trip, though, and try some things we couldn't do with the kids as well as get some ideas for the next family trip. (I will probably still have to ride ToT unaccompanied, but that'll give Himself time for an extra cup of coffee.)

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

There is some really awesome things at DHS. Can't miss things for us. Trip highlights even.

But I agree that without park hoppers it would be rough. We are hopping to it once and then away from it another day and with FP+ it makes that SO much easier.

 

[lustergirl]

For us, it's the tired shows. Imagine if they switched them up once in a while, people would be very enthusiastic. But if a large portion of the day is meant to be spent on shows, and the shows are old and tired to you, then it can turn into a half-day park. Taking out the parade didn't help. Unlike shows, I don't mind watching the same parade visit to visit.

I agree. You can only watch show much Indy or Lights.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

AK is the park I'm skipping this year. Want to wait another year or two until the walls come off. The photos with the Tree of Life was pretty bad last summer. Instead of AK, I am doing that 1/2 day before our return flight at HS. Last year, I didn't have enough time to do everything along with Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package. This year, I am planning 3 days at MK, 2 EPCOT and 1 1/2 HS.

I can't say I'm spending $100 for HS or AK. For me, I see those park as my add on's. I don't see myself going solely to HS or AK ever. Either my forth day add on, $20/ or beyond, $10 add on. It is how I justified the adding of an extra day to my husband--just for $10 per person!!

 

[Huggups]

For us, it's the tired shows. Imagine if they switched them up once in a while, people would be very enthusiastic. But if a large portion of the day is meant to be spent on shows, and the shows are old and tired to you, then it can turn into a half-day park. Taking out the parade didn't help. Unlike shows, I don't mind watching the same parade visit to visit.

I totally agree! If there is one thing that will get me into a park it's a parade, and I mean a REALLY TERRIFIC parade like the FoF in MK, which I'm dying to see. I would schedule my day around one of those. I know they had problems with the last one and it doesn't look like there will another anytime soon.

 

[Huggups]

For us, it's the tired shows. Imagine if they switched them up once in a while, people would be very enthusiastic. But if a large portion of the day is meant to be spent on shows, and the shows are old and tired to you, then it can turn into a half-day park. Taking out the parade didn't help. Unlike shows, I don't mind watching the same parade visit to visit.

It is the same tired stuff. I took a 10 year break from traveling to WDW mainly because of family health reasons and when I went back in 2013, I was shocked that it was the same tired Muppets 3D film. I love the Muppets but not one thing had changed in all that time. That's just one example of what I experienced at DHS. The GMR is another. Never been a big fan of Indy or LMA so I don't know if or how much they may have changed? What I don't understand is why they don't do anything with the Villains? DHS has SO much potential and it's just sad to me that it's become rather lackluster.

 

[The Uh-Oa!]

I wasn't really that disappointed with DHS....until we went to DCA and saw how much nicer the "Hollywood" section is. Buena Vista Street is what Hollywood Blvd used to be, and what it should become again.

They will absolutely be pumping some serious money into it in the next few years. Did they wait to long to give it some major updates? Yes. But it's coming. Very soon. If you consider everything that they have recently updated, are updating now and are about to be doing across ALL U.S. Disney Parks (DHS update, New Fantasyland, Avatar, and now DHS, and hopefully Epcot soon), it's not a small task, for sure. (Not to mention MDE/MMP, new resorts, infrastructure, etc.)

 

[BelleBriarRose]

My only real complaint is that they closed down major areas of Hollywood Studios without confirming any plans for new attractions to go in there. Unless they're already doing construction now, unbeknownst to the public, why close Studio Backlot Tour etc.?

 

[The Uh-Oa!]

My only real complaint is that they closed down major areas of Hollywood Studios without confirming any plans for new attractions to go in there. Unless they're already doing construction now, unbeknownst to the public, why close Studio Backlot Tour etc.?

There's a lot of demolition work that would need to be done before other things start getting built.

 

[BelleBriarRose]

Right, but is that happening now or is the area just gathering dust while decisions are made behind closed doors about what should go in there? It seems to me that a decision should be made, but not necessarily announced publicly, and THEN they should shut down areas for demolition and construction.

 

[The Uh-Oa!]

I'm not necessarily one to believe Disney can do no wrong, but I would imagine in these cases they've done the math and it makes sense for them. They surely have worked up the staffing and production costs for each attraction, and can know whether it makes more financial sense to shut it early or not. If it costs X amount to run something and they are only getting X bodies in that attraction per day = X cost per visitor. Then consider they can either pay 5 people to demo/rehab over 10 months or 10 people to demo over 5 months, they can decide which option offers the most cost benefit. (I'm oversimplifying of course.)

But then, we have all known areas of Disney to sit vacant for years while attendance skyrockets and lines increase....which is when it is the most frustrating for me to see empty spaces stay empty. For the most part, I agree with you. But some of these things (Backstage Tour, American Idol) were getting dated to the point of embarrassment, too.

 

[Amunet]

I agree with half day. But I can also see a full day if crowds are larger.

For us, we were going to skip DHS but then found out about the galactic breakfast ... Considering we won't be there for the official SWW, we are adding an extra day to our tix (departure day) plus the cost of breakfast (2 adults).
To us, it's worth it just for that, but then TSMM, Frozen and star tours?! Just awesome. Plus extras not found (or explored) in the other parks.
I'm really not a fan of the theme, but I like the activities and attractions.

Wish I could be there for the frozen summer!!

 

[Sarahbelle341]

We really enjoy Hollywood Studios. In fact its our favorite park after Magic Kingdom. There are a lot of unique characters in that park and it seems like there is more for boys with Indiana Jones, Toy Story, Star Wars, Muppets, etc. I really wish there was a parade though.