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HS sold out. Will it be miserable??
- Thread starter LindsayW
- Start date
Shiriki_Utundu
Member
even a non-sold-out Dis Studio is routinely miserable with wait times.
So, yes, expect misery.
So, yes, expect misery.
graphite1326
Well-Known Member
Well I wouldn't have gone on a Saturday to begin with. You will have loooong lines and probably will not get to go on alll the attractions you want to. Sorry for the bad news.
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I thought HS "sold out" most days now. Honestly, it's the absolute worst park from a lines standpoint: there's no such thing as a "good" day there, because it has so few attractions to absorb crowds. If fewer people have reserved it, Disney just lowers staffing and ride capacity, so lines still stay long.
That said, if you're staying on property you can still get in a couple attractions during early entry, and if you have parkhoppers, you can also visit more than once last thing in the evening when lines start to dip again. If you only have one day, I'd prioritize the top 4-5 headliners you want to do at HS, hit them first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and fill in the rest of the day (10am-7pm) by leaving and going elsewhere, or concentrating on shopping, meals, live shows, movie shorts, Star Tours, and Muppets. In trying to plan a day at HS, I found it helpful to chart out the hourly wait times for each attraction using touringplans data for the projected crowd level, so I could see which rides have wait times that jump up immediately and stay long all day, which ones take a couple of hours to break the 45-90 minute mark, and which ones dip considerably during the last hour of park operation. Having that information in your brain will help you react in the most nimble and time-efficient way if, say, you show up and find a planned attraction closed.
(For example, good morning combinations for the first 2 hours of park operation, especially if you have early entry, are Rise of the Resistance/Millennium Falcon/Rock 'n' Rollercoaster [or Tower of Terror], and a good evening combo for the last 2 hours of park operation is Slinky/Toy Story Midway Mania/Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway).
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FWIW, here's my one-day (standby only, no G+ or ILL) plan for my family's planned visit in August 2023, staying onsite, with a touringplans crowd level of 7 (wait time estimates from touringplans, and you'll notice we skip all the character M&Gs, Frozen Singalong, Disney Jr. stuff, Alien Swirling Saucers, Tower of Terror, and Fantasmic!, all of which we've done before and don't place a high priority on repeating):
7am - Arrive at park to be at the head of the line for 8am early entry and 8:30am regular opening. Rope drop for RoTR may begin as early as 7:30am for that attraction only, all others will open at 8am.
7:30am or whenever RoTR rope drop occurs: RoTR (up to 25-min. wait time, 18-min duration if preshows are running), Millennium Falcon (15-min. wait, 5-min. duration). If RoTR is down at opening, hit Slinky/TSMM/MMRR at 8am instead, and shift Galaxy's Edge attractions to evening.
After 8:30am regular park opening: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (15-25-min. wait, 2-min. duration), Walt Disney Presents or Star Wars Launch Bay (if desired, spend up to 30 min.), Star Tours (15-20-min. wait, 7-min. duration), MuppetVision (12-min. wait, 17-min., duration), Animated Shorts (9-min. wait, 15-min. duration)
11:30am - LUNCH (e.g., Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, 50 min.)
AFTERNOON: Indiana Jones or Beauty & The Beast, if desired. Otherwise, leave the park for naps/swimming at the hotel, because from 10am-evening, the headliners will all have lines of 60-120 minutes or more.
EVENING: Return to the park by 7pm (with a 9pm closing time). Ride Slinky Dog Dash (50-min. wait/3-min. duration), Toy Story Midway Mania (25-min wait, 7-min. duration), and Runaway Railway (16-min. wait, 5-min. duration).
That said, if you're staying on property you can still get in a couple attractions during early entry, and if you have parkhoppers, you can also visit more than once last thing in the evening when lines start to dip again. If you only have one day, I'd prioritize the top 4-5 headliners you want to do at HS, hit them first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and fill in the rest of the day (10am-7pm) by leaving and going elsewhere, or concentrating on shopping, meals, live shows, movie shorts, Star Tours, and Muppets. In trying to plan a day at HS, I found it helpful to chart out the hourly wait times for each attraction using touringplans data for the projected crowd level, so I could see which rides have wait times that jump up immediately and stay long all day, which ones take a couple of hours to break the 45-90 minute mark, and which ones dip considerably during the last hour of park operation. Having that information in your brain will help you react in the most nimble and time-efficient way if, say, you show up and find a planned attraction closed.
(For example, good morning combinations for the first 2 hours of park operation, especially if you have early entry, are Rise of the Resistance/Millennium Falcon/Rock 'n' Rollercoaster [or Tower of Terror], and a good evening combo for the last 2 hours of park operation is Slinky/Toy Story Midway Mania/Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway).
___________________________________________________________________________
FWIW, here's my one-day (standby only, no G+ or ILL) plan for my family's planned visit in August 2023, staying onsite, with a touringplans crowd level of 7 (wait time estimates from touringplans, and you'll notice we skip all the character M&Gs, Frozen Singalong, Disney Jr. stuff, Alien Swirling Saucers, Tower of Terror, and Fantasmic!, all of which we've done before and don't place a high priority on repeating):
7am - Arrive at park to be at the head of the line for 8am early entry and 8:30am regular opening. Rope drop for RoTR may begin as early as 7:30am for that attraction only, all others will open at 8am.
7:30am or whenever RoTR rope drop occurs: RoTR (up to 25-min. wait time, 18-min duration if preshows are running), Millennium Falcon (15-min. wait, 5-min. duration). If RoTR is down at opening, hit Slinky/TSMM/MMRR at 8am instead, and shift Galaxy's Edge attractions to evening.
After 8:30am regular park opening: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (15-25-min. wait, 2-min. duration), Walt Disney Presents or Star Wars Launch Bay (if desired, spend up to 30 min.), Star Tours (15-20-min. wait, 7-min. duration), MuppetVision (12-min. wait, 17-min., duration), Animated Shorts (9-min. wait, 15-min. duration)
11:30am - LUNCH (e.g., Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, 50 min.)
AFTERNOON: Indiana Jones or Beauty & The Beast, if desired. Otherwise, leave the park for naps/swimming at the hotel, because from 10am-evening, the headliners will all have lines of 60-120 minutes or more.
EVENING: Return to the park by 7pm (with a 9pm closing time). Ride Slinky Dog Dash (50-min. wait/3-min. duration), Toy Story Midway Mania (25-min wait, 7-min. duration), and Runaway Railway (16-min. wait, 5-min. duration).
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Chi84
Premium Member
Touringplans has the crowd level predicted to be 7 out of 10 for that day. "Sold out" doesn't mean what it used to under this new reservation system - Disney uses it to even out the crowds somewhat so MK and HS often become unavailable nearer the date. One of our HS days on our vacation last month was sold out (not a Saturday, though) and it was manageable as far as getting into and around the park, mobile ordering, finding a place to sit for a few minutes, etc.
That said, if you want to go on rides in a reasonable amount of time these days, my advice would be to get up a bit before 7 am, buy an ILL for RotR, buy Genie+ and start scheduling using the stacking method described in other threads. Standby wait times are pretty bad these days.
ETA: The post immediately above showed up while I was typing and also has some good ideas.
This entire post is a perfect example of why, after 20+ years, I stopped renewing my Annual Pass and no longer enjoy the WDW parks.
jloucks
Well-Known Member
I have been on days that is was not sold out and it was miserable.
So, yea, if crowds and lines make for a miserable experience, it will be bad.
However, there are certain things you can do that aren't too bad. The shows are really good, and the wait times are not too bad.
The larger your group, the better you can self entertain in line. When I went with a group a 8 a few years back, we could generate copious amounts of conversation while in line, and that passed the time better than just silent line suffering.
So, yea, if crowds and lines make for a miserable experience, it will be bad.
However, there are certain things you can do that aren't too bad. The shows are really good, and the wait times are not too bad.
The larger your group, the better you can self entertain in line. When I went with a group a 8 a few years back, we could generate copious amounts of conversation while in line, and that passed the time better than just silent line suffering.
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jloucks
Well-Known Member
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I hate the game, but as very infrequent visitors whose visits have been getting progressively shorter, if we don't want to utterly waste our time, it's a game I've gotta play.
Chi84
Premium Member
I don't want to start an argument over the new paid system, but if you don't want to stand in lines all day, we had pretty good success on our vacation last month with Genie+ and ILL (Used ILL in AK and Epcot). It was a huge improvement over the fiasco we went through in April 2022 as far as using the app and getting the time windows we actually wanted.
Even though we only spent a few hours at HS we were able to get SDD, ToT, Star Tours, and MMRR without any wait at all. (We did Rise on a prior trip and had no desire to repeat it.) We didn't try for MFSR or RnR because we don't care for them.
I'm not advocating one way or the other, but prior answers in this thread are leaving out this info, which may be valuable to some who are new or not aware.
Even though we only spent a few hours at HS we were able to get SDD, ToT, Star Tours, and MMRR without any wait at all. (We did Rise on a prior trip and had no desire to repeat it.) We didn't try for MFSR or RnR because we don't care for them.
I'm not advocating one way or the other, but prior answers in this thread are leaving out this info, which may be valuable to some who are new or not aware.
jloucks
Well-Known Member
Good point!
We dumped as much money as we could into the express line options back in March. But back then, it did not work so good. We could only secure 2-3 attractions a day.
The VIP access that was included with Starcruiser was the best!
...so... start off with Starcruiser and do the best attractions while you are staying there.
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
Not for the Parks Division, though. There's a ton of people in that park on this early November Monday.
I for one cannot wait for the TEA attendance numbers for 2022 to come out. It wouldn't surprise me at all if MGM breaks 12 million this year.
Chi84
Premium Member
Genie+ and ILLs were just under $220 for the two of us for 4 park days and we didn't stand in a single line. I know it's not for everyone, but it is available and people should be made aware of it. I much preferred FP+ which was free and worked better for us, but it doesn't exist anymore and we're not able to stand in the kinds of lines at WDW now.
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networkpro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
For returning guests HS is a half-day park at best.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
I do not know what sold out means.
If you mean, there are no more PPRs left, that is not the same as the park being closed to capacity.
While I despise Genie+, I think you are forced to get it because the experience is so poor without it (and with it for that matter, just not a bad as having nothing)
Oh I don't blame you at all. It's the only way to at least get some sort of enjoyment out of the park. I just hate that there is a game to be played.I hate the game, but as very infrequent visitors whose visits have been getting progressively shorter, if we don't want to utterly waste our time, it's a game I've gotta play.
My new home away from home has honestly become Cedar Point. I love the big coasters, but they have really become a solid family destination in the last 4-5 years with many of their newer offerings. And they have a Fall/Halloween event that rivals HHN, not necessarily with the haunted houses, but the live shows and overall atmosphere. And as long as you don't go on a Saturday, you're guaranteed to have a good time with manageable crowds.
Or just got to universal and have a better time. Studios has never had much going for it and to be there when it is sold out is to just make yourself miserable.... and even worse when you end up having to pay extra to still be almost as miserable as before.