DHS - Waste of Time

[Matt_Black]

I shant return.

Not taking away anything from your post or your opinion, but this particular turn of phrase amused me more than it should. I imagine you saying it while wearing a powdered wing and making a grand flourish with your fancy embroidered coat.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Not taking away anything from your post or your opinion, but this particular turn of phrase amused me more than it should. I imagine you saying it while wearing a powdered wing and making a grand flourish with your fancy embroidered coat.

...with my nose firmly in the air.

 

[marni1971]

Don't get me wrong - there's still a lot to experience. First and second timers can spend two full days easily, though the cynical would say the show times are so scheduled so you can't see them all in one day.

GMR needs a huge overhaul but really could shine again. Star Tours received a stunning update (thanks to Burbank not TDO) and MuppetVision looked great in October as did Fantasmic (the latter was a constant sell out).

LMA drew huge crowds, though again limited shows helps. Nether the less the demand was there for the amount of shows laid on.

However, Tower needs a lot of technical love. The backlot annex and South East area are just a waste of space, as is Streets of America to a certain degree. The backlot tour is out of its misery but needs to be redeveloped sensibly with an appropriate budget, vision and spread of proper rides.

Pixar Place /Mickey Av is a street of fillers, wasted space and a draw that's a victim of both its own success (and FP) and a lack of equivalent attractions.

Factor in the two theatres on echo lake with so much potential and it's clear with a cohesive plan and proper funding it wouldn't take that much to rebuild the park into a real force to be reckoned with as opposed to a faded has-been with few merits.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I've gone to DHS, back when you'd have to arrive early to get Fast Passes, and would get them and they'd be for noon or 1PM and then would just feel kind of stuck. We'd literally think, "Ok.. Now what are we going to do to kill the time?" That's not a good thought inside a theme park, especially one run by a premier theme park company like Disney.

I've never had that thought in the Magic Kingdom. If I have Fast Passes for later I can always find something to do that's fun and interesting and it doesn't have to be an E-ticket ride.

I think that the problem with HS is that, somewhere along the line, they decided, "We're no longer a working studio," which I can understand from an economic standpoint, but they didn't really do anything with HS after that, though. Sure, they put TSMM in one of the empty buildings but that's about it.

Avenue of America is a bizarre waste. You can walk down it but you don't get anything out of it.

I don't even find myself going into the shops all that much at HS.

Hopefully they really think it through and reinvent it the way they did DCA.

Something else that I bet happens: Plenty of people will pay full price for a one-day ticket at the Magic Kingdom. I bet there are those, though less in number, that'll do the same for Epcot and even Animal Kingdom. Hollywood Studios? I have a hard time believing they sell a lot of one-day tickets to there. It should be a premier theme park but, instead, it's a theme park step-child for Disney.

 

[EOD K9]

...with my nose firmly in the air.

And the pinky, don't forget the pinky. It reminds me of the line from PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl

Barbosa, "...we will put your town to our rudder and ne'er return".

 

[Magenta Panther]

Heaven forbid they put in stuff that's popular....

Just saying that it'd be kind of nice to see new DHS attractions based on Disney-generated/adapted classics. Or weren't you aware that those are popular too?

 

[Matt_Black]

Just saying that it'd be kind of nice to see new DHS attractions based on Disney-generated/adapted classics. Or weren't you aware that those are popular too?

Most of the popular ones have already been adapted, some several times over.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

I've never understood the "half-day park" complaints for either DHS or AK. I comfortably fill a day or two at each every trip.

I was this way with AK until we took the kiddo. We easily spent almost 3/4 of two days there and still didn't do a lot that we would have liked to with her! This was with minimal waits in lines.

 

[brifraz]

I like it. First, the rides there are awesome. Second, I will never, EVER get tired of the Indiana Jones show. The other shows are fun too. Third, there are so many little details that I keep discovering. Fourth, the Characterpalooza is a lot of fun and a refreshing change from the other character meets.

Love the Indy show. Hoping that last summer isn't my last chance to see it. We went on a rainy day with storms in the area and they couldn't do the entire show. Sat in the very front row, audience left, right in front of the stone idols with the axes and then right in front of the fire extinguisher brigade. So, that was what I watched. That show has so much going on besides the focus points, I love it.

Love BaTB. Yes, it has been there since my first visit in 1994, but it is still of high quality and, yes, I can watch a live stage show many times (and since I've been in the pit orchestra for more musical productions than I can count, I like to see quality).

Love the details. The rain umbrella. Some of the signs in the shops and on the streets, really creative stuff. I make a point to 'sneak' into the Muppetvision outdoor weave whenever possible to see the posters in there - genius!

Wish we had discovered Characterpalooza earlier in life. We've gotten to experience it once and had the time of our life. The selfie that Capt. Hook took with us is one of my favorite all time Disney pictures. Also, the shot of my daughter with an army guy and Jasmine is a winner.

Yes, I think DHS is in desperate need of love and attention and affection and attractions, BUT, I can certainly still spend a day there and be quite content, but I have always considered the parks themselves to be attractions and spend a lot of time between the 'official' attractions enjoying the park itself.

 

[Little Green Men]

Me, DAK not so much. But DHS is a great park - although the loss of the Backlot Tour is a massive blow.


DHS may have only five rides, but they are all terrific. Which puts it, ridewise, neatly on par with DAK and EPCOT. How many good rides are there left at EPCOT? Of the kind you'd want to do every time you visit, or more than once per vacation?
Then there are a great number of shows, and some truly fantastic themeing and atmosphere. DHS is nowhere near dead. A little bit of clever rethinking of the theme, and some investment, and it is an amazing theme park.

I do at least 6 EPCOT rides multiple times every trip and the others I do at least once. But that's just me.

 

[Pocahontas]

A bit offended because DHS is my favorite park.

Seriously, though, there is much, much more to do in DHS than there is to do in AK. For me, at least.

If there is a park to skip, it's AK. There are maybe 3 "rides" there? Safari, Everest, Dinosaur.

 

[BigRedDad]

All that said, Disney is less about "rides" and more about experiences. I do think the shows at DHS are all worth seeing, even multiple times and ToT alone is worth the price of admission.

Rides are a side part of the attractions. DHS use to have the street performers out all of the time. I could spend a 1/2 day on Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Blvd interacting with Streetmosphere. Now, they are only out for a little while, perform a skit, and then off. When they interacted like the Characters of Main St, it was so much more.

There is a lot of nothingness in parts of DHS. Unlike Main St, Hollywood Blvd is filled with shops and nothing else with Streetmosphere gone. Make a right turn down Sunset Blvd and you have about 50% of the park: RnRC, ToT, Sleeping Beauty, and Fantasmic. After than long walk, you have about 25% of the park up and to the right with TSMM, Under the Sea with Ariel, Disney Playhouse, and the Art of Disney area for M&Gs. After that, there is a long area of nothing around. Useless, wasted space. After looping around all of this nothingness, you come to Muppets 3D, Star Tours, and Indiana Jones. After that, there is nothing else except the GMR.

There is SO MUCH ROOM to add attractions, especially for families with younger kids. They could make a Phineas and Ferb, Cars, Monsters Inc, etc rides similar to what is in Fantasyland quickly. At least this will thin the herds.

 

[JiminyandTink]

I've been to MGM/DHS more times than I remember but I can still easily spend a whole day on Sunset and Hollywood just people watching and taking in the details of those two streets.

That being said, the park needs a lot of work and additional attractions, but that will be starting to happen soon enough (relatively speaking) and then DHS (or whatever it will be called) could hopefully end up rivaling any of the other Orlando theme parks.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I've been to MGM/DHS more times than I remember but I can still easily spend a whole day on Sunset and Hollywood just people watching and taking in the details of those two streets.

As much as I complain about it, those areas are really well done. Even the area over by Gertie the Dinosaur is pretty good.

 

[cheezbat]

A bit offended because DHS is my favorite park.

Seriously, though, there is much, much more to do in DHS than there is to do in AK. For me, at least.

If there is a park to skip, it's AK. There are maybe 3 "rides" there? Safari, Everest, Dinosaur.

I used to feel that DHS was the superior park, but in the past number of years I find it to be far more stale and less enjoyable than DAK. I'm debating skipping DHS again this next visit...(Tower is the one thing that really makes this difficult for me!)and I know if I do I probably won't regret it.
DAK has a lot in terms of themeing, great animal exhibits, and a completely different feel from the other parks.

Regardless, both parks are not full day parks for me (and yes I do everything).

 

[BoarderPhreak]

A bit offended because DHS is my favorite park.

Seriously, though, there is much, much more to do in DHS than there is to do in AK. For me, at least.

If there is a park to skip, it's AK. There are maybe 3 "rides" there? Safari, Everest, Dinosaur.

If you go strictly by "rides" rather than "attractions" then DHS probably noses ahead a little. Either park, if you're hitting it for the first time and seeing most major attractions (especially with kids) then of course, they're "full day parks." The Indy and stunt show are big and relatively time-consuming. Though in AK's defense, don't forget the two trails that aren't rides - but very much worth checking out as major attractions. There are also a bunch of rides "hidden" in Dinoland, USA.

The problem with both parks though, is that they don't have the sheer number of attractions or "staying power" that EC and MK enjoy. Once you've done the full monty at AK or HS, you probably won't be as inclined to return - or stay nearly as long. Some of us grizzled (and perhaps jaded) vets therefore, see these parks as "half day parks." Personally, and as mentioned - I don't even think of HS that highly. AK yes, but only because I like it - especially for photo opps. But IMO, neither will ever have the draw of MK/EC. Well, maybe after Avatarland comes online.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Most of the popular ones have already been adapted, some several times over.

True, but there are those that have been neglected, like Poppins, and that's a shame IMO.

 

[doctornick]

Regarding the "half day park" thing...

DHS has a lot of shows. Shows, by the nature of their schedules, tend to be time consuming and hard to time well for efficiency. If you make it a point to see most/all of the shows at DHS, you can easily fill up a day or day and a half. I find the problem with the scheduled shows is that you might have the double back to make a showtime or "waste" 15-30 minutes in an area of the park waiting for the show to open. They are not conducive to efficient touring or being able to do one area completely and move to the next land.

DAK has only a few shows, so that is less of an issue. It does, however, IMHO have more "wandering around" value between the great theming and the animal trails. These can take a lot of time if you want them to, but can be done more spontaneously and, thus, more efficiently. So, I think it is easier to "do" all of DAK in a day or so.

The both have a similar number of rides (5 now for DHS, 6 [7 if you count the Wilderness Train] for DAK). DHS's tend to have longer waits overall, so that is going to necessitate more time in DHS to do them.

Both parks need more rides, especially "all ages" family type rides that have been the hallmark of Disney parks.

 

[mimitchi33]

I like Hollywood Studios. Animal Kingdom is much worse-it's very boring, except for the dinosaur-themed attractions and Everest.

 

[Matt_Black]

I like Hollywood Studios. Animal Kingdom is much worse-it's very boring, except for the dinosaur-themed attractions and Everest.

Clearly, you've never had lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue. I DARE you to call eating ribs while fending off aggressive ducks boring.