Navigating DHS: Was I just tired?

[gharter]

It does seem like its laid out differently than the other parks. Many small back paths that may or may not lead where you expect.
I think the 2 biggest problems is its been under construction of some sort for years so you never get used to the layout because it continually changes. The other parks even with construction, there isn't the major layout changes like HS (even with MK adding the land, it was added to the back). The other part for us, is we don't spend as much time there as other parks, so just not as familiar with it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep!

And for the record, I also get lost every time I go there. To be fair, that is normally a 1/2 day park, so we have spent far less time there than any other of the four parks. But still, it confuses me, and I like to think I have an excellent sense of direction.

Things make so much more sense now.

(It's like walking in Anaheim from Katella towards Paradise Pier or the Grand Californian. If you don't look like at a satellite view you have NO idea you're walking in half a giant Mickey head and it just feels long and ridiculous.)

 

[FastPasser.]

But it seemed like at DHS that things weren't where they were supposed to be, or shops/stores/rides on the map weren't as easily identified.

I'm expected to know, and I do, where everything at WDW is located both onstage and backstage, and how to get there. For me, AK was more of a challenge to learn than DHS.

 

[Monykalyn]

I could never quite figure out which street was Sci-Fi and which street was Toy Story.

It sounds like it is currently a lot worse than normal with current construction closures
https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/h...updates-and-new-drinks-at-baseline-tap-house/

About the path in front of Hyperion (Frozen Singalong)


And any direction you actually knew is now wrong:

you mean "constant" construction and closures? And now construction in front of Path of Jedi and Olaf on way to Star Tours-you literally have to go through part of Olaf M&G line to get there, there is bathrooms back there and it is a narrow path. My CM DD says her shifts there are about "yelling at people on which way to go". No she doesn't actually "yell" but it is constant giving directions - and many of it seems contradictory to what should be the "right" way, due walkways being ripped up (literally, overnight, with no warning to leaders in that area).

 

[JETSDAD]

HS I have no problems with. MK on the other hand I always seem to get all twisted around. Thankfully MK is the only park that my wife seems to be able to navigate well so we're set.

 

[MomOTwins]

I find it confusing because it is such a hodgepodge with no consistent theme. in MK it's super easy to know what rides you are near just by observing the imagineering which tells you what land you are in. Same with Work Showcase, and AK. I get lost sometimes in Future World but I think it is the same problem - a lot of the buildings in the central part of Future World look similar.

 

[tex1989]

I can navigate it pretty well but it took a number of years to get there. I think the issue with it is that it has to many dead ends. Get to RnR and you have to turn around and reverse back out. Currently the way to TSM dead ends because of the construction. Animation Plaza is a straight in straight out. The only dead end at MK I can think of is Splash Mountain. Epcot is pretty much two big circles FW and the Countries. AK is big but with pretty much two ways out of everything except the safari area. DS is definitely the least navigation friendly park of the four.

 

[Mr. Mysto]

It's all part of the fun! The mystery of not knowing where you are, solving the puzzle, and that moment of triumph when you finally find TSMM!

Seriously I love navigating, I have to hike 2 days into the wilderness for there to be any question about my location and even then I still have a pretty good idea. Revel in your confusion people, don't ask them to fix it.

 

[kwdw]

HS has dead-ends right now - that's what makes it hard for some folks. You have to back-track.

I don't think it's hard to navigate at all - but I do agree its layout is annoying. I'm hoping one day the flow will be developed better.

 

[DisneyFive]

I don't think that DHS is all that different from the layout of MK.

If you're standing in front of the stage, the walkway to get to TSM is at 1 o'clock, the animation courtyard is at 3, the street with ToT and RnR is at 5, Indiana Jones is at 7, star tours is at 9, MuppetVision is at 11. I'm too lazy to look at a map right now, so I've probably missed a few things, but it's really just a hub and spoke layout.

You could very loosely call it a hub and spoke layout, but the spokes dead end. At the MK the lands nicely spoke out from the hub, and then as you get close to the outside of the wheel there are many more connecting points between spokes. HS doesn't have many ways at all to get from spoke to spoke so you do a LOT of backtracking to get from one area of the park to another.

Dan

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I'm ok in DHS now but the first year was rough. My navigation nemesis (tm) is AK. I seem to be able to find the longest distance between any two points in that park every. time.

 

[SouloTravlr]

HS has dead-ends right now - that's what makes it hard for some folks. You have to back-track.

I don't think it's hard to navigate at all - but I do agree its layout is annoying. I'm hoping one day the flow will be developed better.

HS has always had dead ends.

 

[KelNChrisKYDis]

We always get lost in HS. Our first time there we were there at RD and everyone was running. We joined in not having a clue where we were going, just that we had to run there, haha. I finally asked a gentleman next to us where we were going and he didn't know either. We figured it out when we got there, it was TSMM, but we didn't have a clue how we got there. We had a FP for it later that day and spent almost 20 minutes walking in circles before we finally stumbled on it. I don't know why it's so difficult to navigate for some of us.

 

[Beauty&TheBooks]

It's really good to know that I'm not the only one! I have no problems with the other 3 parks and I'm generally really good with navigating an using maps, but even with a map I somehow always manage to get lost in HS.

 

[YawningDodo]

I worked there for four and a half months and it took me at least half that time to stop getting lost onstage. I never stopped getting lost backstage if I used anything other than my usual route to my work area; if you think the guest-accessible portions are a maze, you should see the cast areas. After I was away for a few years, I went back as a guest and found that I was back to getting lost onstage constantly.

 

[FastPasser.]

I never stopped getting lost backstage if I used anything other than my usual route to my work area.

What was your work area?

if you think the guest-accessible portions are a maze, you should see the cast areas.

To me it's not as bad as backstage AK.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm expected to know, and I do, where everything at WDW is located both onstage and backstage, and how to get there. For me, AK was more of a challenge to learn than DHS.

I'm ok in DHS now but the first year was rough. My navigation nemesis (tm) is AK. I seem to be able to find the longest distance between any two points in that park every. time.

I can get around all the parks blindfolded now but AK was the last for me to master, that's for certain.

 

[nighttowll]

In general, I’m usually great at navigating, but I have to admit HS has gotten me all turned around a few times. I also agree it is definitely worse now with the construction. I had a harder time than usual getting it all straight in my head last trip, and definitely looked at the GPS on my phone a time or two. I never do this at the other parks.

The two I always get confused are the streets Sci Fi and TSMM are on. For both, you go straight back from the park entrance, cross the courtyard area and make a left. I always forget which is which and make the wrong left.

I do think the fact you can’t just make one big circle really contributes to the confusion. That and all the needed backtracking and dead ends. Then you add the construction, and for a newbie it’s a lost cause. There is also no tall center piece to orient yourself by. In MK, you can orient yourself by the castle, and in AK, you have the tree. Epcot is basically two large circles. You have the sphere to orient by in FW and the lake keeps WS easy to navigate. There’s nothing at HS, and all the street theming keeps everything looking the same.

 

[TriSeb°o°]

I can get around all the parks blindfolded

+1; with XP comes familiarity.

 

[YawningDodo]

What was your work area?
To me it's not as bad as backstage AK.

Fantasmic, when I wasn't in main issue -- I was in costuming. If I remember correctly I eventually learned how to get to the cafeteria from both on my own, but it was pretty hit or miss for a long time. I only ever went backstage at AK during my departmental orientation tour; I was very disoriented there as well but kind of expected to be since it was a bit of a whirlwind tour.

I think for me the issue with DHS is that it's got a lot of similar-looking areas both onstage and off, and a lot of dead ends both onstage and off. I probably could have learned it better if I'd made more of an effort, but once I found the route I needed to get to work on time I just stuck to it and stuck with the rest of the crew whenever we went to get food or came back to clock out by a different path.

Edit: While I'm sharing, something my supervisor always used to say was "This park is the size of a shoebox." And it really is; it's got a very small footprint compared to how long it takes a visitor to walk around inside it due to all those dead-end spokes. It's folded in really tightly on itself; when you can pass through the backstage areas it very quickly becomes clear that everything is right on top of everything else.