Thoughts on how much time to devote to HS with young kids?

[2019TripIdeas]

Curious what you all think is the right amount of time for doing Hollywood Studios with young kids. Our kids are 2, 3, and 5 and I think they'll enjoy the shows and I know they'll LOVE Toy Story land. They've never seen Star Wars but I'm sure my husband and I will want to do a little time wandering through there and maybe try to Single Rider- but I don't think we need to devote a ton of time to that part of the park.

Given that, would you do two partial days instead of one day at Hollywood Studios (I'm thinking more like "half days" i.e. we'd get there in the morning before rope drop, and be out of the park by early afternoon OR we'd come into the park around 4 p.m. and stay til close which seems to be 8 p.m. on the nights we're there)? Or do you feel like one day is plenty given what's available for kids?

Also, do you all think that doing EMH is a huge difference in terms of getting the Toy Story rides in? We hadn't planned to go on a day that offered EMH but that is a possibility, would just need to juggle around our schedules. Thanks for any advice!

Edited to add: We have 7 day parkhoppers for a 10 day trip, so I don't think we'll be rushed for time elsewhere at the expense of doing 2 days at HS.

 

[KayaWildfire]

Honestly I would do one day, it should be plenty if you can get a FP for Slinky, you should be able to rope drop the other two toy story rides fairly effectively as everyone runs for Slinky. The issue you might run into is with the lines and lack of FP for the Star Wars rides. So far it's been fine, but... If Star Wars works out ok with the lines, that leaves plenty of time for all the shows, any disney junior meet and greets, and the muppets if so desired. If the lines turn out crazy for Star Wars closer to your trip, I might lean towards two rope drop mornings if you want partial days. We aren't big emh people so can't comment there, but I would plan HS towards the end of your trip for that coveted Slinky fastpass.

 

[sullyfam]

For us, one day has always been sufficient for HS. It's rare we would go back for a second day. We have 3 kids as well but they are now older than yours. We always take advantage of EMH when available. It is a great opportunity to get a few of the bigger attractions done and then do FP for the other ones when the park starts to fill up mid to late morning. We are mid day break people so we would hit HS early, do as much as we can in the morning, have lunch somewhere (we love 50's or Sci Fi) and go back to the hotel for rest time. We'd then come back to HS in the late afternoon/early evening and do any rides we might have missed/want to repeat and perhaps stay for fireworks if the kids were up to it. Keep in mind that things like Rock N Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror are likely going to be above the height limit/beyond the scare factor for your crew and that's 2 of the main rides there. So you eliminate those and you've got the 3 rides in Toy Story Land, Star Tours and the Railway if it's open when you go plus the various shows (Little Mermaid, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Muppets, Indiana Jones). Usually we do 1 or 2 of the shows at most. HS is the smallest of all the parks and if your kids aren't interested in Star Wars, I think 1 full day is more than sufficient to get everything done.

You could always plan a full day there early in your trip and if you don't get everything done and you want to go back, you could add another day later on. For a 7 day park hopper you probably have that flexibility. We always spend the most amount of time at MK (2-3 days), 1 day at HS, 1 day at AK and 1-2 days at Epcot.