Would FP+ be better than RD at HS?

[myhoney]

We are going to HS on 12/5. It's listed as a 1 on the crowd calendar. There are 6 of us: me, DH, and 4 kids ages 11, 9, 4, 3, staying at POFQ. We plan to do rope drop on MK days, but at HS...is it really necessary? We will get a FP+ for TSMM and spend time at Star Wars, but the other big attractions aren't that attractive for our family. We want to stay for the Star Wars fireworks, so we thought maybe we would head to HS in the early afternoon. It would be nice to have a morning where we don't have to be up super early, or to even have a leisurely breakfast at Kona before heading over.

Will it go as smoothly as I think? Or will we be stuck in long lines because we aren't there early?

 

[mco65]

I think your plan will work well. FP for TSMM will probably be a must.. of course if you want to ride it twice, and you will.
IMO, RnRC and ToT are must do's as is Beauty and the Beast... (but that's just me and I think those can be had standby in early DEC). As for Star Wars.. I have always felt that the standby line moved rather quickly and there is no doubt you will want to ride this one multiple times.. they have several different story lines that you can get making each ride different..

 

[g-dad66]

Yes, if you're skipping Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, then I think you will be fine with a late arrival (and FP+ for TSM and Star Tours). The only long line you might encounter would be for The Great Movie Ride, but it's possible you could get a 4th FP for it.

 

[cmsb]

The only reason I would suggest a rope drop is if your 3 older children are interested in participating in Jedi Training. On most days, you have to get to the park early in order to participate. As the pps said, you should be fine as long as you have the FP+ for TSMM and aren't riding the other tier 1 attractions.

 

[ryukage]

I was at HS with my parents this past Mother's Day. We didn't arrive until 4, but we managed to do everything we wanted to do with only a TSMM fastpass. We did TSMM, Muppets 3D, Star Tours, GMR, watched Trials of the Temple, RnRC (with a FP we got after TSMM), and the Symphony in the Sky fireworks. Plus we had a TS dinner. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Jambo House. HS is lots of fun, but it rarely requires an early arrival. In fact, if you're looking to do Fantasmic and/or the fireworks show, it might be hard/boring to wait around the park all day. Without the HISTHK playground (and the adjacent Studio Catering bar), I expect kids would get bored by 4 pm.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I think your plan is fine since you plan to skip RNRC and Tower of Terror. We have the same plan for our DHS days, so DD can sleep in while the extra adults hit rope drop for the thrill rides.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

We arrived at WDW on Monday just before noon. I and two of the kids headed over to HS shortly thereafter with FP for TSMM, ToT and Star Tours. We got a 4th FP for GMR for 2:55 at 2:43. We did the four rides and stopped for ice cream and multiple pictures in a little over two hours. You should have no trouble.