Not sure about a day at DHS - not understanding the draw...

[cbellasmomma]

I'm sure DHS is fun and DD would like it but I'm inclined to skip it on our trip. Just on paper it seems outdated. Honey I Shrunk the Kids (??) Indiana Jones (??). I believe they are probably great in person but...

I am mostly thinking of skipping it because it isn't a monorail park (although we are doing AK) and dd (9/10) is NOT a thrill ride kind of girl. She would love the Beauty and the Beast shows but there are shows at other parks too. And I am sure she would like the toy story ride.

Is there something I am missing? Should I spend a day there? (We are not hopping).

 

[720L]

There are only 2 "thrill rides". DHS is my least favorite park but I wouldn't skip it.

 

[yulilin3]

That's a decision you can only make.
DHS has the Frozen Sing Along, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Muppetvision 3D and Star Tours, also the Animation class is fun, it's the only park to meet Hiro and Baymax and Fantasmic! is a great way to end the day.

 

[Kingdome8]

Me and my girls 2nd fav park. Never understand how people say not much to do.

They love all the shows and characters and drawing classes.

 

[lustergirl]

I totally get what you are saying OP. I am skipping DHS all together on my next trip.

 

[mom2rtk]

We love the BATB show. If you haven't seen it, it's worth trying to find a way to do so.

That said, if your trip is short and it would cost much to add this park, I'd be really tempted to skip it. I don't think it's worth the full price of a day's admission.

 

[cjparker0110]

When are you going? How long will you be there? And what are you hoping to get out of your experience?

The Studios is my least favorite park, but I still go to it. It's my least favorite because it never feels as magical as the others...I think because it's all different movies...from different studios, not just Disney stuff. However, there are some fun attractions there. They have changed a few since my last trip, so I can't speak for all of them. It looks like they made improvements though.

If you are unsure about the park, just look at how long your there for. If it's just 3-4 days, you will probably want to skip at least one park. There's just too much to do. If you're there for 5-7, give it a try. If nothing else, use a park hopper and do Animal Kingdom in the morning, followed by the Studios in the evening.

You know your daughter best so you will have to make the best decision based on her likes. I can say that the BATB show is worth going to!! I would pay to see that if it were available outside of the parks.

Also, if you don't go to this one, it gives her something to look forward to the next time you visit!

 

[kj2mom]

Looking at your sig, you will be going in 4 months? If she is into Frozen at all you may want to look into the Frozen Summer details.

 

[prune1977]

I'm sure DHS is fun and DD would like it but I'm inclined to skip it on our trip. Just on paper it seems outdated. Honey I Shrunk the Kids (??) Indiana Jones (??). I believe they are probably great in person but...

I am mostly thinking of skipping it because it isn't a monorail park (although we are doing AK) and dd (9/10) is NOT a thrill ride kind of girl. She would love the Beauty and the Beast shows but there are shows at other parks too. And I am sure she would like the toy story ride.

Is there something I am missing? Should I spend a day there? (We are not hopping).

I wouldn't skip it, DHS is actually my DS10 favorite park and has been ever since we started going to Disney back in 2011. Now we have skipped it as well as other parks in the past just because we don't go to every park every time. Now his and my DD7 favorite ride is there as they love RocknRoller coaster. I wouldn't skip Indiana Jones either or Beauty and the Beast. First time we ever went my eyes teared up as I watched my kids during BATB. Kids hadn't seen Indiana Jones but they loved the show there. Honestly for us AK is the park thats more of a half day park and the one we usually choose to skip if we are going to skip one though there are cool things there too.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

It is my least favorite park, but I love Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. I also like Toy Story Mania, the Great Movie Ride, Muppet Vision 3D, and Fantasmic a lot. Star Tours is nice too. My toddler son really enjoyed Playhouse Disney. But other than those, I can take or leave a lot of the other attractions. So if I were taking a short trip, I would skip it, but if I were going for a week, I would spend at least a half day there.

 

[misse320]

We never skip DHS, but it's always a 1/2 day park for us. The shows make me feel a little like Sea World in that you have to be so conscientious of show times and schedules. I don't like that so we maybe only see one show a trip. All that said, the rides that I do like at DHS I really LOVE! We go for Star Tours, TOT, and TSM. Anything else we manage to get to before leaving is gravy. Oh, and we go for 50's PT! Can't forget that.

AK is our skip-it park, although we are planning a day there this next trip.

 

[nilla]

We skipped HS on our first few trips, and it's certainly my least-favorite park, but we still love it. Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, Backlot Tour, Toy Story Mania, Animation Academy, One Man's Dream, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc., etc. And that's not even getting into Tower of Terror or Rock 'n Roller Coaster. Also, the street performers are a lot of fun, and Fantasmic is great.

If you MUST skip a park, that's the one to skip. But I wouldn't skip any of them, if I didn't have to.

 

[librarymom2007]

We never skip DHS, but it's always a 1/2 day park for us. The shows make me feel a little like Sea World in that you have to be so conscientious of show times and schedules. I don't like that so we maybe only see one show a trip. All that said, the rides that I do like at DHS I really LOVE! We go for Star Tours, TOT, and TSM. Anything else we manage to get to before leaving is gravy. Oh, and we go for 50's PT! Can't forget that.
.

Same here. We don't skip any parks. We go and do the things we like and then leave.

 

[andrencau]

IMO, if you have not been to WDW in a while, you need to prioritize based on interests of the group. We go every year and get Park Hoppers, so we tour a little differently. Also, for our family, Toy Story Midway Mania is the main reason we go here (adults 50's Primetime Cafe). Having said all of that, we take DHS at a leisurely pace, seeing what we want to see and head elsewhere. We enjoy the street performers and take time to sit and really enjoy them. I agree with the animation class being a must do. There are also some characters that you will not see elsewhere (Characterpalooza has some that you will not see very often). Fantasmic is also our favorite night time show, we see it at least once on our trips. Another idea for you is to go at opening, do what you want, ride over to the Boardwalk for a while and then come back for Fantasmic.

It really is important as to what your interests are, length of stay, budget, and type of tickets you have. Hope this rambling helps.

 

[Indecisive]

As the others said, it all depends what you want to do. I agree that the park seems to have a lot of very outdated rides featuring very outdated movies. However, even avoiding all of that outdated stuff, my family (DS4, DS7, DH, my in-laws, and myself) fully enjoyed a full day at DHS last year. Here are the things we did, all of which we very much enjoyed:

Hollywood & Vine - breakfast with Sophia, Doc McStuffins
Toy Story Midway Mania
Star Tours
Jedi Training Academy
Muppet Vision 3D
Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area [the play area is fun for kids in and of itself and doesn't necessarily need to relate to the movie]
Lights, Motor, Action show
Rock N Roller Coaster (FP+)
Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage
Tower of Terror (FP+) (15 min)
Magic of Animation
Hollywood & Vine - Star Wars character dinner

 

[IBLarsen]

I sort of agree....I love the Old Hollywood feel of the park, and like a couple of the rides, but agree not much to do. Our trip last week with DS11 and DD9, we only did Toy Story, Star tours, Great Movie Ride (which, I was very surprised we all liked), Tower of Terror and Beauty and the Beast show. Kids were not interested in the others. We had lunch at Sci-Fi dine in, which the kids loved, then we left for a half day at the resort to swim. We actually love Fantasmic and were planning on going back for it that night, but were all too tired, as this was mid-week for us so we decided to skip it last minute.

 

[Newsies]

Personally, I'm drawn in by the characters (I'm always down for characterpalooza) and shows. DHS also has the 50's Prime Time Cafe, which is one of my favorite restaurants in WDW.

If you're unsure about going there, and you're not hopping, I'd say go there for a lunch or dinner reservation and see if your opinion changes once you're there. I really didn't like Epcot much until my last trip, then did a complete 180 and now it's one of my favorites.

Have a great vacation!

 

[JRawkSteady]

Indiana Jones is timeless, so that's not outdated at all...however taking into effect the large amount of attractions that have closed, the abandoned attraction space all around the park, and lack of worthwhile additions, I would skip the Studios if you're already on the fence about it. There are at least 5 attractions I can think of off the top of my head that have been closed with zero replacements...In a few more years, it's going to be a great park again (I'm guessing 2017). But until then, I would only go if I a) had park hoppers and b) had the time. That's just my personal opinion.

 

[minniemous]

We love HS. My 5 year old daughter really enjoys it. She does like TOT and Star tours though. It is personal decision and if we have the time we do not skip any parks because every park has some really fun attractions. If you are going a short time then perhaps doubling up a MK day will perhaps be the better choice for your family since you are on the fence.

 

[Alfalfa]

There's getting to be so few things to do between Future World in Epcot and Hollywood Studios that we've come to consider both as one large park with a boat ride in the middle. We'll spend the morning/afternoon in Epcot and then take the boat over to HS with FP's for Star Tours, Tower of Terror, and Rockin' Roller Coaster then head back to Epcot for Illuminations.