Is Anyone Else Really Stressed About Scheduling their HS Day for later this year?

[MelissaBee]

July trip here, so just trying to stay abreast of the changes and taking nothing for granted. We have allotted 2 days to DHS and I am soooo glad it is just me and DD10 instead of the 12-person multigenerational trips I am usually planning. She and I are RD junkies, so we love an early morning at the tapstiles, and two people are just so much more nimble than a group. Hoping that works in our favor.
I just don’t think there is any way to know what summer in DHS will look like for sure yet. Too many variables to spend much time stressing yet.

 

[clm10308]

We are going for a 5 day trip in May, and I think we have just about decided to skip HS altogether. Hopefully, the next (currently nothing scheduled) trip after that we will try it out.

 

[Angienharry]

I’m not going until October and feel the same way as OP. I’m hoping ROTR will have FP by then

 

[fla4fun]

There isn’t an attraction in any park that is worth the hoops they are making people jump through for RotR, in my opinion. I decided from the first day it opened that I would not be riding until they offer FP. If they never offer FP, then I am OK with not riding. I get up at 3:00am to go to work. I won’t do that on vacation unless it involves immediate family and life support!

Having made the decision, I am not stressing about my trip. I have one day at DHS on the agenda, because I like to spend a lot of time at the Arts Festival instead. I will probably end up canceling the Studios for Epcot. Maybe by the time I go in the fall FP will be available, but not holding my breath.

 

[pooch]

18 trips and have never seen a rope drop. We just will never get up early enough. Next trip will be me & DGS 9. He won’t have a clue about GE or ROTR. We will get to what we can & have a great time. I have enough stress at home, making a very conscious decision not to take any with me.

 

[maryj11]

I go in Mid-August and have no idea honestly what I’m going to be doing. Hoping to see a tier reshuffle before then.

Going mid August also. I have no clue how to plan this except we want a boarding pass for Rise of Resistance. That’s the only plan I have so far lol.

 

[kniquy]

Does your whole group need to be scanned into the park in order to get a boarding group? I will be a party of 7 and with kids who might be difficult to get moving early in the morning I didn't know if one person could enter the park and get the boarding group for our whole family who would join up a little later. Just trying to formulate our plan. Thankfully we are going in early july so hopefully we will have a clearer picture of what is going on in a few months.

 

[Remy is Up]

You can do everything by 1pm easily using refresh, regardless of crowd size.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Does your whole group need to be scanned into the park in order to get a boarding group?

Everyone has to be scanned into the park in order to join a boarding group. I know that makes it hard with kids who usually need more sleep than adults do.

 

[LCoulter]

Yes, I’m stressed thinking about it and reading the threads about it and we don’t go until October. We are traveling with my brother’s family and my Mom. My SIL has already made the decision to skip Rise and I don’t blame her. Can’t imagine Mom will want to be at park at 5-5:30am. Not sure if DD will want to either. Part of me wants to skip HS.

 

[midnight star]

There isn’t an attraction in any park that is worth the hoops they are making people jump through for RotR, in my opinion. I decided from the first day it opened that I would not be riding until they offer FP. If they never offer FP, then I am OK with not riding. I get up at 3:00am to go to work. I won’t do that on vacation unless it involves immediate family and life support!

Having made the decision, I am not stressing about my trip. I have one day at DHS on the agenda, because I like to spend a lot of time at the Arts Festival instead. I will probably end up canceling the Studios for Epcot. Maybe by the time I go in the fall FP will be available, but not holding my breath.

I like this way of thinking. I was getting worried with all the logistics with ROTR since we only have 1 HS day. But if we get a BG and ride great, if not, we aren't going to stress. It's vacation, it shouldn't stress you out.

 

[kathy884]

Neither of the star wars rides have Fastpass, Mickey and Minnie's is opening in March and no word on FP, Slinky Dog Dash is near impossible to get one for, and then you still have TOT and Rock N Roller Coaster that are 1st tier so you can't even get FP 2 of the big-big rides that offer it.
I feel like I'm going to spend literally my entire day there in extremely long lines because there are zero FP options for all of the popular rides.

I can't even plan to rope drop some of the big rides for short lines because of boarding passes for ROTR and possibly MM, so everyone else will also be rope dropping the same few big rides and it could end up with very little impact.
I've never been to HS and I'm crazy stressed. We don't even go till June!

I sent my son (24) and niece (30) to DHS on Dec. 24th, a crowd level 10 day. They were the only Disney diehards who so much wanted to see the new star wars stuff who were willing to brave the crowds (family in Orlando, so we were there to see folks at Christmas). I was thinking the same things you were (OMG crowd level 10, everyone is there at rope drop to get a boarding group for Ride of the Resistance eliminating those great first two hours with low crowds, is it really even worth it to go). Plus tickets were $150 a person, so no wonder we just sent two out of the eleven people. All that, though, I have to say they had a really great day. They absolutely loved their time there and thought it was totally worth it. Just sharing that in case it eases your mind. Let me tell you about their day in case that ease your mind too.

Rope Drop and being there b/f rope drop to get in the park right at opening is critical to get your boarding group for Ride of the Resistance and they did that.

First of all, at least with the boarding groups for the Rise of the Resistance that isn't that long a line and goes super fast with interesting queue. They did Rock N Roller Coaster as their tier 1 fastpass (only one they could get early). They did Star Tours too right away, and then a throw away Beauty and the Beast one (doing that too), but not till later in the day. They did this to try for another tier one and did get another Rock N Roller Coaster. With the crowd level 10 crowds, though, extra fastpasses for tier one stuff just wasn't a reality, but maybe that would work on a lower crowd day These two fastfasses meant lines weren't that long for these. They did Tower of Terror as early as they could too, planning everything, of course around their Ride of the Resitance boarding group and their line for T of T was only about 20 minutes with so many others going for other things early.

The good news too is that they did Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Walt Disney Presents, Beauty and the Beast, and Muppets and those NEVER have long lines and were nice to go to even on a crowd level 10 day.

They had a about a 45 minute wait for Falcon's Run which they didn't think was too bad. The killer is if you have to do Slinky Dog. I was trying to talk them out of that one, but it was a must do for them and a good 75 minute wait (they weren't able to get a fastpass). Too me it's kind of like 7DMT (insane popularity and long lines). We subscribed to Touringplans.com, the unofficial guide people, so had a plan (sort of) because you don't know in advance what boarding group you'll get. They were boarding group 25 or so I believe.

And if you want to get a good seat for Fatasmic that is a long line too or last minute and be at the side.

DS thought Rise of the Resistance is the most impressive ride he's been on ever. They had so much fun even on a crowd level 10 day. Just saying in case this eases your mind in any way.

 

[yulilin3]

There isn’t an attraction in any park that is worth the hoops they are making people jump through for RotR, in my opinion. I decided from the first day it opened that I would not be riding until they offer FP. If they never offer FP, then I am OK with not riding. I get up at 3:00am to go to work. I won’t do that on vacation unless it involves immediate family and life support!

Having made the decision, I am not stressing about my trip. I have one day at DHS on the agenda, because I like to spend a lot of time at the Arts Festival instead. I will probably end up canceling the Studios for Epcot. Maybe by the time I go in the fall FP will be available, but not holding my breath.

Just to be clear for people that might be unfamiliar, the only thing you need to do is be inside the park by the time it opens, which is currently 7am. No need to arrive at dhs before 6:30. And times for February, if they don't change , are 9am. This is for a guaranteed ride, people can arrive as late as 2 hours after park opening on most days and still be able to get into a backup bg
After that the process takes less than 10 seconds
I don't think that's a lot of hoops, but to each their own. Obviously the best approach is to make the decision to not stress

 

[slyster]

I'm going at the end of August and I don't want this stressing me out. I don't usually care if I arrive after parking opening, but it seems if I want to guarantee a spot, I need to arrive and be walking in by the time it opens. 7am is toooo early for me. 8 or 9 I can do which would not be stressful.

 

[whitney37354]

We usually do five days at WDW, 2 at MK, 1 day at the other 3 parks. This time we're planning for 2 days at DHS, 1 day at the other 3 parks. We have light saber building & F! dining package reserved. We plan to get a boarding pass ASAP and spend the first day in the Star Wars section. The second day we want to do Toy Story Land first since we've never been there, then anything else is gravy!

We had a group of ten people on our last trip and I wasn't this stressed about a day in the park. We're trying to just have a laid back trip once we get the 1st day at DHS out of the way.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I figure everyone is in the same boat so choosing not to stress. I'll book our FP's at 7am, 60 days out and work from there. Our DHS day will be the first day of FP's that I book.

 

[TTA Rider Matt]

It seems overwhelming, and I am going for 10 days (with a resort only day before we enter parks, giving me an extra day to get fastpasses). I think it is just going to have to be a very staggered approach. We are going to be in DHS 3 mornings and 2 evenings. At least 2 of the mornings, we may have to bite the bullet and go for RD, which my family generally does not do, one day to get in a BG for RotR, the other to RD Smuggler's, while allocating my evenings to the shows, and using FP's on SDD, Rock'n, and Tower. We were there 2 years ago a week after Toy Story Land opened, and it actually wasn't as bad as I expected. That said, I feel like the first summer of GE being open is going to be insane. We'll see. I'll try not to stress too much, because after all, it is vacation.

 

[cindyfan]

Who would have thought a few years ago people would have be stressed about tour plans for Hollywood studios and planning 2 or 3 days at the park

Yep!
However, I still don't think that it's a 2 day park! With the addition of SWGE and now MMRR, it's a full day. And if you struggle to get in a boarding group... probably have to hit it on 2 mornings. The shame is if you don't have a hopper.
For now.... I'm just seeing what happens...

 

[havoc315]

Yep!
However, I still don't think that it's a 2 day park! With the addition of SWGE and now MMRR, it's a full day. And if you struggle to get in a boarding group... probably have to hit it on 2 mornings. The shame is if you don't have a hopper.
For now.... I'm just seeing what happens...

Depends on crowds, what you want to get done, and future of FP tiers, etc.

If you want to see Fantasmic AND the Star Wars fireworks, you really could use 2 nights.
As of now, ROTR requires a morning.
If you get stuck with only 1 tier 1 FP.... use it for Slinky Dog..
It can be really hard to get Smugglers Run, RNR, TOT, Saucers, TSM, and Runaway Train all done in standby in 1 day. You basically need another morning just to get another tier 1 FP. ... and if you want to see some of the shows too...

I see it becoming a minimum of a 1 1/2 day park, but can easily fill 2-3 days if you really want to do everything.

 

[DrunkJam]

My 60 day FP is in April. I will wait and see. I am not bothered about riding the SWGE rides, and I have an ADR to try Oga's. I DO want to ride MMRR, so i will see what is going on with that when FP comes round.
I have hoppers so, that may mean I change plans a bit, but, don't foresee spending more than part of a day in DHS