Seriously is HS now relegated to a half day park?

[JanaDee]

It always has been a half day park for us.

 

[mom2rtk]

For us, once we've seen the shows there is really no reason to se them again and again unless they are really spectacular or maybe feature a new wrinkle or two. This is the same for us regardless of what theme park chain we visit.

At least the Aladdin show at DCA stays fresh with the addition of new material from the Genie. I really wish they'd find a way to keep the DHS shows fresh.

I told my daughter that next time we do WDW I'm considering completely skipping DHS and Epcot.

 

[kmarie99]

We spend multiple days there, but we don't spend a whole day on any park. We hop everyday!

 

[Tonyz]

For me it's less than half a day. I can get through everything I want in that park in like 2 hours (as long as I have a fast pass for Toy Story).

 

[chelseabun76]

I have our day planned out as a full day. We will do the rides minus ToT and RnRC, and the shows, and Fantasmic, along with a lunch adr at MM. So our day is pretty full. However, we won't be doing a 2nd day, for sure.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I can spend most of the day there but I do not mind attending shows, eating at the park or watching the street performers. If you are only interested in rides then yes, you can finish that park rapidly.

 

[loves to dive]

It's a full day park for us but we are adults and like to just sit and watch. My son and I love to ride TOT so hit it as many times as we can, I love the shows and love just walking in and out of the shops. There is a little bookstore that serves pastries and coffee/tea that I love to wander into and sit for awhile. I agree that there aren't a whole love of big ticket attractions in the park but we love the feeling of the park. Brown Derby is one of our must do sit down restaurants and we plan the day around dinner there.

 

[lugnut33]

With what's happening there right now it's a stinker of park. Hopefully in 5-7 years they get it back up to Disney standards.

 

[Skullcrusher]

So Crusher.....did you get your answer, what are you gonna do?

Obviously the answer to your question is.....it depends. It depends on the composition of your party, if you've ever been, if you only want to do rides or if you want to do it all, if you are eating in the park (especially TS), if you are into meet and greets, and if you are into things like streetmosphere, which many people walk past but can be quite funny.

Yes, DHS needs some new rides and a bit of attention. Hopefully that will be coming in the not too distant future. As one pp pointed out, if you have younger kids and want to do everything you would need more than a day. On the other hand you could hit the half dozen most popular attractions and skip everything else and be out in a couple hours.

We usually spend a little more than a half day of a day there, with a rope drop hour or two on a second day. So for us it's more than a half day park, and we skip a ton of stuff that we've done enough before or our kids are now too old for.

I've read all comments and can see that the responses are fairly polar. I think we are going to do the morning half of the day with lunch and Primetime and leave the evening open instead of scheduling another park. That way if we do find ourselves still enthralled we can stay. The only negative is this will cut into the wife's shopping half day in DTD.
Thank you everyone for your well thought out replies!

 

[L&Lfan]

We have seen the shows so often that we aren't really interested any more. The few rides we like take us less than half a day so we decided to skip DHS. I love some things there so it's kind of sad but it makes the most sense for us.

This is us too. Although we love the atmosphere esp Hollywood and Sunset Blvds and the Broadway/Hollywood musical loop, we have seen the same shows and ridden the same rides so often over the last 26 years that we basically just get there at rope drop, do Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror a couple of times each, do the great Movie Ride, have a cocktail or three at the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge, then we're done with DHS til the next trip.

 

[JimmyV]

Even in its prime, we rarely stayed past 4:00 or 5:00 unless we booked dinner in at 50's Prime Time. Now? I can't imagine staying past 2:30-3:00. Not a bad thing, mind you. It helps to have a "light" day in the midst of a busy week.

 

[jade1]

Been many times just for Fantasmic.

 

[theyoungs07]

I couldn't skip it because Fantasmic! is our favorite show in all of WDW. If you have SW fans then you could ride Star Tours multiple times to see the different experiences...I think I rode it 5 or more times in 2013. I have small children so we do the PlayHouse Disney and Little Mermaid stuff.

Have you gone to the Animation Academy? I have some children who LOVE to draw and really enjoy this.

I can't see loving Disney and not wanting to go to One Man's Dream once per trip...

We usually do longer trips (10 day PH) but I think I average 1.5 days at DHS, the half day with usually just bigger kids to do some of the thrill rides.

AK on the other hand, is a stretch of a full day for us...but that's because I don't stop to smell the roses as much as I could. I love the shows, Safari, EE, Tusker House breakfast...and that's about it...sometimes Kali.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I told my daughter that next time we do WDW I'm considering completely skipping DHS and Epcot.

If they would just switch out the shows at DHS once in a while (at least the BaTB), that would help so much.

Ditto on Epcot. We're so done with Epcot. On our last trip there, I was so bored on our Epcot day and vowed never to return until something changes. I think the way to go now is to pick and choose from Universal/WDW/SW but the tickets get pricey.

 

[ArwenMarie]

AK on the other hand, is a stretch of a full day for us...but that's because I don't stop to smell the roses as much as I could. I love the shows, Safari, EE, Tusker House breakfast...and that's about it...sometimes Kali.

I love AK, I think it's so amazingly themed but yeah, it's a stretch. I think the new nighttime show will help a lot.

 

[IBLarsen]

Our plan for our upcoming trip is to stay till about 1:00 (That will give us time for everything my family wants to do), but then we are going back for dinner at Sci Fi and Fantasmic. Our HS day is mid week and I know the kids will be exhausted and for our list of must do's here, it's a great day to fit in an afternoon break.

 

[theyoungs07]

If they would just switch out the shows at DHS once in a while (at least the BaTB), that would help so much.

Ditto on Epcot. We're so done with Epcot. On our last trip there, I was so bored on our Epcot day and vowed never to return until something changes. I think the way to go now is to pick and choose from Universal/WDW/SW but the tickets get pricey.

Epcot is a mixed bag for us, the interactive exhibits have gotten worse over the years and I'm hoping for some updates. I like exploring the countries, but the amount of walking needed to do it gets extreme (I'll call it the steps to entertainment ratio). My kids have yet to care about Test Track, they do like Soarin, and I'm one of the few who won't miss the Maelstrom. I remember going to Epcot when I was 12 and standing in line FOREVER for it...then my dad telling folks in line when we were done to not waste their time on it

 

[ArwenMarie]

Epcot is a mixed bag for us, the interactive exhibits have gotten worse over the years and I'm hoping for some updates. I like exploring the countries, but the amount of walking needed to do it gets extreme (I'll call it the steps to entertainment ratio). My kids have yet to care about Test Track, they do like Soarin, and I'm one of the few who won't miss the Maelstrom. I remember going to Epcot when I was 12 and standing in line FOREVER for it...then my dad telling folks in line when we were done to not waste their time on it

Love that

My kids were saying something like that last time, like we walk a lot for not-so-many rides lol

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

It's about a half a day park for me - I do the rides I like - TSMM, ST, ToT first usually then do the drawing class - although I am getting tired of drawing the same characters - I was really hoping for Olaf on the last trip but nope got Eeyore again. And sometimes I add in a show like Indiana Jones or VoTLM.

And then I leave and go to DTD for the afternoon or Epcot for the rest of the day.

 

[chapie1968]

Always has been a half day park for us. There isn't much to do there. Funny thing, our son's senior class trip is to WDW and the first day they land at 10 am and go right to Hollywood Studios and the bus to the hotel isn't until after they see Fantasmic. He looked at the itinerary and said "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO THERE FOR 8 HOURS BEFORE FANTASMIC?"