Hollywood studios- how much time do you need?

[CheerT1]

we decided go add a extra day to our park tickets so we can do HS before MNSSHP. We have done it before it's just been a few years. So we have not been since all the changes started. We plan to be there from 9am ( park open there is no extra magic hours that morning) till 12:30 then head back to the hotel to get ready for the party. How much do you think we would get done in 3 hours. We have 4 kids who are 11,10,8 and 6. Top things we would like to do are tower of terror, Star Wars ride, rock n roller coaster for our 11 year old and husband, toy story ride. If anyone would like to share any ideas about timing that would be awesome too

 

[CheerT1]

Oh also we planned on going to Epcot on another day. Would it be better to do Epcot that morning instead of HS that way we don't miss fantasmic?

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

If you get there early before rope drop you can get Toy Story, Aerosmith, and Tower of Terror pretty dang quick. The reason is because everyone will be killing each other just to get to Toy Story and as soon as you get off there you should go to Aerosmith and then Tower of Terror and you could probably do all of those in less than an hour. If you wanna do Fantasmic try and get a Fast Pass to it. I personally don't consider Hollywood Studios an "all day park" but we pretty much always go to it about 3 times every trip. Also if your kids are really in to Star Wars you could try the Jedi Training Academy because it is first come first serve. BUT if you do that you will definitely be waiting in line for rides and be at the park a lot more than you want to.

 

[englanddg]

we decided go add a extra day to our park tickets so we can do HS before MNSSHP. We have done it before it's just been a few years. So we have not been since all the changes started. We plan to be there from 9am ( park open there is no extra magic hours that morning) till 12:30 then head back to the hotel to get ready for the party. How much do you think we would get done in 3 hours. We have 4 kids who are 11,10,8 and 6. Top things we would like to do are tower of terror, Star Wars ride, rock n roller coaster for our 11 year old and husband, toy story ride. If anyone would like to share any ideas about timing that would be awesome too

If you do this plan, go to Toy Story first...do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not stop and admire the merchandise or fresh cupcakes along the way. Otherwise, you shouldn't have any issue, especially if you snag some FPs.

I would say that, if you want to see Fantasmic, doing an EPCOT / HS split day is a better option. HS has lost a lot to do, but it still isn't a half day park...quite....more like a 2/3rds day?

 

[englanddg]

If you get there early before rope drop you can get Toy Story, Aerosmith, and Tower of Terror pretty dang quick. The reason is because everyone will be killing each other just to get to Toy Story and as soon as you get off there you should go to Aerosmith and then Tower of Terror and you could probably do all of those in less than an hour. If you wanna do Fantasmic try and get a Fast Pass to it. I personally don't consider Hollywood Studios an "all day park" but we pretty much always go to it about 3 times every trip. Also if your kids are really in to Star Wars you could try the Jedi Training Academy because it is first come first serve. BUT if you do that you will definitely be waiting in line for rides and be at the park a lot more than you want to.

A note about the Training Academy...

If you go to do that, you MUST have the participating children with you at signup.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

A note about the Training Academy...

If you go to do that, you MUST have the participating children with you at signup.

Yep. I meant to put that actually. That line fills up pretty quick too. I think I'm gonna let my little boy do it on our trip next week. You just have to hustle to get to that line. The people pretty much split between this and Toy Story and that helps free up the space on Aerosmith and TOT.

 

[CheerT1]

Thanks for the tips. We will probably pass the Jedi training because we want to make sure we get to the rides. And we would miss fantasmic because we will be at MNSSHP. Also we don't have park hopper so we can't do split day

 

[englanddg]

Yep. I meant to put that actually. That line fills up pretty quick too. I think I'm gonna let my little boy do it on our trip next week. You just have to hustle to get to that line. The people pretty much split between this and Toy Story and that helps free up the space on Aerosmith and TOT.

Don't quote me on this, but I think if you show up a bit early (15 - 30 mins?), they will let you in through the gate before rope drop if you indicate you are there for signup.

I can't remember where I heard that (and I have not done it)...but...

 

[CheerT1]

Don't quote me on this, but I think if you show up a bit early (15 - 30 mins?), they will let you in through the gate before rope drop if you indicate you are there for signup.

I can't remember where I heard that (and I have not done it)...but...

We have never got in early for it before but when we went a few years ago we went strait to it after rope drop and were able to pick the time slot we wanted

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

Don't quote me on this, but I think if you show up a bit early (15 - 30 mins?), they will let you in through the gate before rope drop if you indicate you are there for signup.

I can't remember where I heard that (and I have not done it)...but...

Yeah I think you can as well. Even if the line is long when you get there you still can pretty much do it but the earlier you get there the earlier you will be able to get it done. They do it up in to the evening. I'm not sure when the last time of it is. I know at MK they've been letting people in to start lining up at attractions before the actual "open" of the park but I'm not sure if HS is doing that yet or not. I saw a review from another DVC member that done that Early Morning Magic at MK and she done Snow White a few times and some other things and then decided to go and get her breakfast. So then when she was done with breakfast at Pinocchio's it was still within the time of the "event". So she went to ride Snow White one more time with her special wristband still one but they had been letting people in to get ready to ride when it officially opened and when she went to go to the front of the line they wouldn't let her and made her get in the Fast Pass line with the general public. Man she was mad and I don't blame her. LOL!

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

Thanks for the tips. We will probably pass the Jedi training because we want to make sure we get to the rides. And we would miss fantasmic because we will be at MNSSHP. Also we don't have park hopper so we can't do split day

Oh I didn't realize you didn't have Park Hopper. We always have that so I just assume when I'm talking to people that are going that they have it too. I can definitely see how you feel like you're sorta up against the clock but as long as you give yourself plenty of time you'll be fine. I hope you have a ton of fun. You're really gonna enjoy the Halloween Party!

 

[CheerT1]

Oh I didn't realize you didn't have Park Hopper. We always have that so I just assume when I'm talking to people that are going that they have it too. I can definitely see how you feel like you're sorta up against the clock but as long as you give yourself plenty of time you'll be fine. I hope you have a ton of fun. You're really gonna enjoy the Halloween Party!

It's ok. No biggie. We almost got it but decided not too. We are so excited about the Halloween party. Thanks

 

[CheerT1]

So....just realized the morning we go is that early morning magic. Kind of stinks. So....how will that affect the toy story ride? It's the early morning magic not the extra magic hours. And the early morning magic is sold out. I plan to be there at rope drop so we can go strait to toy story.

 

[andrelaplume]

We just returnedd. We arrived at HS at 930 and walked right on the Great Movie ride then our FP for the RandR coaster. We then did the Walt Disney Musem / brief movie and our second FP for Tower of Terror. We somehow got a reservation for the Prime Time Café (not impressed at all) then saw the Beuaty and Beast show (awesome) and Indy Stunt Spectacular. We never could get a Toy story Fast Pass and did not want to wait in the 40 minute line. We did the Muppet show. We ended up done by 530 pm. With nothing to do until 830 when Fantasmik started, we left and came back for Fantasmk another night. I wish we had tried the new AK nighttime show...Fantasmik was a let down. Anyway, with 15% of the park closed and being turned into Star Wars stuff, and having no desire to do the existing other Star Wars stuff we were left with several open hours before Fantasmik. BTW, if I see those darn stormtroupers one more time I am going to throw up.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

We just returnedd. We arrived at HS at 930 and walked right on the Great Movie ride then our FP for the RandR coaster. We then did the Walt Disney Musem / brief movie and our second FP for Tower of Terror. We somehow got a reservation for the Prime Time Café (not impressed at all) then saw the Beuaty and Beast show (awesome) and Indy Stunt Spectacular. We never could get a Toy story Fast Pass and did not want to wait in the 40 minute line. We did the Muppet show. We ended up done by 530 pm. With nothing to do until 830 when Fantasmik started, we left and came back for Fantasmk another night. I wish we had tried the new AK nighttime show...Fantasmik was a let down. Anyway, with 15% of the park closed and being turned into Star Wars stuff, and having no desire to do the existing other Star Wars stuff we were left with several open hours before Fantasmik. BTW, if I see those darn stormtroupers one more time I am going to throw up.

We LOVE Primetime Cafe. I hate to hear you didn't have a good experience. I always enjoy it the most when our server is in character. I also love the pot roast there. My wife always gets the fried chicken. We have had a couple of sub-par experiences there but we eat there on pretty much every trip so I guess that's bound to happen eventually.

 

[andrelaplume]

My wife enjoyed her meal. I had the chicken..it was no better than what I get at my local diner. My daughter...a vegan...had an issue finding a meal...the waiter said he would whip up a salad...ended up paying 16 bucks for a bowl of lettuce. I t hink I'd prefer the sci Fi diner....

 

[englanddg]

My wife enjoyed her meal. I had the chicken..it was no better than what I get at my local diner. My daughter...a vegan...had an issue finding a meal...the waiter said he would whip up a salad...ended up paying 16 bucks for a bowl of lettuce. I t hink I'd prefer the sci Fi diner....

I like them both, but I agree...if given the choice I much prefer sci fi. It wins with both food and atmosphere.

 

[TXDisney]

Totally depends what you're into. For my wife and I it's a 1/2 day park. We love ToT and RR, 2 of our top 5 rides, but after that we don't love anything. The frozen sing along and beauty and the beast show we try and do. But that's just us. For instance my dads favorite park is HS, so he wants to do multiple days there. And so he should. My wife, me and others will bounce over to Epcot and my mom and him meet us there later. We do this at AK a lot too. But with the added night show now along with Avatarland it will probably be a full day park once avatar opens. We aren't big Star Wars people, I like star tours and all but I can see the lines back in that land being really long. So I can't see me waiting on a long line for something I don't love.

 

[thomas998]

Better question to ask up front is what do you really want to do at EPCOT... If you are going to have 3 hours at one park and a full day at the other then the key is to look at the must does at each park and see which one is easiest to achieve in a 3 hour period.... You can also see what fastpasses you can achieve on the 3 hour day in question and let that help decide. If you can't get any fastpasses at one park but 3 decent ones at the other then you have your answer because for a 3 hour quickie you need to make use of fastpasses as much as possible... But I don't know if you can even get 3 fastpasses in that time frame. In the past when I tried to swap one into the queue and it overlapped an existing fastpass (was only five minutes) it wouldn't let me do it. So depending on the time of the first fastpass you might not even be able to hit 3 in a 3 hour window.

 

[jloucks]

One full day for sure, we have gone twice per trip a couple times. My son really loves the place so... yea...