Is HS a full day park?

[OFF2NVRLAND]

My family of 4 (myself, DH, DS 3, DS 10) will be at Disney Nov 14-19. We have never went to HS before and wondering if it is a full day park or half day. Don't plan on doing any of the Disney Jr. shows or Beauty and the Beast show. We have seen Lights Motor Action at Disneyland so there might be a chance we skip it. Experience or thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[pumpkin3]

I think it is, although I used to get several passes for Tower of Terror and several others throughout the day and ride them multiple times; now with fastpass plus and aversion to standby lines I'm not so sure.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

For us it is. Actually it is a 2 day park for us.

 

[davale4]

I could be there all day just watching the "street shows" (sorry, don't know what else to call it). I just sit down on a bench and enjoy the actors do their thing. That is one of my must do's when I go to WDW.

 

[abidale]

I would never call a Disney park a half day park, just because there's always so much to do and I think each park should be given an equal chance.

That being said, we usually do leave Hollywood Studios after lunch (it's one of the hotter parks in our opinion), but return multiple days (2 or 3) of the trip. It definitely takes multiple half days to get everything done. So, if your family is interested in Fantasmic, or having dinner in the park- there's definitely enough to fill a day with.

 

[RllngRckBrw]

HS is our favorite park. In fact we are going on 3 days on our upcoming trip. We love the atmosphere in this park and enjoy taking it slow. We also could ride TSM, Star Tours, and ToT many, many times. For us we seem to tour this park slower than the others because we like the overall feel.

 

[CarouselOfProgress4]

For us it is more of a 3/4 day park. There is enough for us to see and do but not enough to need to go back another day for. For some reason, DHS is the hottest park in our opinion, maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I needed it to be because I had breakfast, lunch and dinner ADRs the latter being a Fantasmic dinner plan. I factored in a 2 hour rest in the afternoon and was still coming up with a lot of downtime. So I took to disboards and asked for help and my plan from TP now has 19 activities on it and only 40 minutes of free time. Here's the thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3292793

 

[disneymac000]

It is if you do everything else but those few things and take time to relax and enjoy the parks. Hollywood Studios is the park where you don't have to rush everything, it all can be done in a day. Your little one may be two small to ride the RNC and the ToT but he will have fun doing other stuff like the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground and Toy Story Mania. Sign DS 10 up for Jedi Training Academy. There is so much you can do.

 

[wareagle57]

In planning for our December trip, I have noticed I keep trying to schedule more time at HS than MK and I have to scale back because I know I can never sell that to everyone else. haha. Like someone else said, I could ride ToT over and over if they still had paper FP. But I'll tride TSMM, ToT, Star Tours, and RnR all at least twice. I rope drop all for of them in about an hour to an hour and a half. Then FP TS, ToT, and ST. And ride RnR single rider.

I also have to see the Indy Show. I'm really going to miss it when it's gone. Then there is Fantasmic and the Osborne Lights at night. And I have to ride ToT at night, so that makes me want to schedule a second night to be there. There is also plenty of stuff to do during the afternoons when it is crowded like the Animation Academy, Muppets, Several Shows, Backlot Tour.

 

[CarouselOfProgress4]

I have to stop myself also from scheduling more time at DHS. On multiple occasions I have scheduled two days at DHS and on the second day everyone starts to get bored (impossible, i know!) and poops out halfway through the day.

 

[ZoZo]

OP, welcome to the DIS!

Here's my advice - take everyone else's opinions with a grain of salt. I've found that when people here on the DIS say "XXX is a half-day park" what they really mean is "XXX is a half-day park FOR ME!"

We DIS-ers have often been to the parks multiple times, and know what we like (and don't like) to do. So it's easy to skip attractions you're not interested in repeating. That might make a park a "half-day" park for a WDW veteran. People often call AK a half-day park, but personally, I spend two full days there!

But I would always recommend planning at least one full day at each park if you've never been to WDW before. You might be surprised what you like best!

 

[pigletgirl]

I think it is. Plan on it anyways!

 

[Delirium]

Between shows, characters, rides, and other activities (such as One Man's Dream and the drawing class), there is enough to be a two day park without repeating anything. But, it's really up to the individual group to decide what is of interest to them. If all you're interested in is rides, then no, it's not. But, if other things are of interest, then you could spend a whole day there without even riding a ride.

 

[itchin2go]

Make a list of your must-see attractions and go from there. It totally depends on what you're trying to get done there.

For us, it's a less than half day park. I think that's because so many of the attractions are things we've seen and didn't like enough to repeat ... Voyage, Great Movie Ride, Beauty and the Beast show, American Idol, Stunt Show ...

Toy Story Mania is our one must-do there, and it's over with pretty quick ...

Plus, the QS food is so crappy there ....

 

[ariane37]

It's nice to see a thread on this topic where the majority are NOT saying it's a half day park! I agree with a PP and would say the question of whether a park is a half day one or not depends on the family and should be decided on yourself. What is a half day park for one family is the park another family visits 3 days out of 7.

For myself, DH, DS8 and DS12, HS is at least a 2 day park and is often the park DS12 picks as his choice for our last day when we leave it open (DS8 picks AK or EPCOT) You can most certainly fill it between rides, shows, character meets, and DO NOT forget the street performers! Especially Mulch, Sweat and Shears, whom I like to give a shout-out to whenever I can They're awesome, and if you watch them 3x a day it'll be 3 different shows.

 

[illinidp]

I would make it a whole day or two half day park if you haven't been there before. Hit the rides, the Indiana Jones show, Animation Courtyard, One Man and His Dream, Great Movie ride, Backlot Tour, etc. and you definitely have a full day. If you add LMA and Fantasmic you have a packed full day.

If you haven't been, go to the Backlot Tour and ask at the entrance to be volunteers.

 

[AllieBoo]

For my family, it's definitely a full day park, sometimes two days. We like to do all the rides, plus take time to do the Animation Academy (at least twice if possible), One Man's Dream, and all the shows.

 

[rosebery]

I agree that if you haven't been before, it's best to budget a full day for it. We can see everything we want to see in a half day, but that's because we've been before and we know we don't want to go on the roller coaster or see the Little Mermaid or One Man's Dream again, etc.

 

[3CW]

If you've never been before, I'd definitely recommend planning on spending the full day there. Between the Indy stunt show, Jedi Training Academy, Rock n' Roller Coaster, Toy Story Movie Mania, the Tower of Terror, the Muppets show, Star Tours, the Great Movie Ride, One Man's Dream, Animation Academy, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Fantasmic...there's a lot to explore!

Now, after several trips, it's generally only a half-day for us, but that's because there are several attractions that we enjoy but don't feel the need to experience every trip. So we hit our must do's of Toy Story and RnRC, pick 2 or 3 out of the rest, and call it a day.