Fellow parents, tell me about HS

[Megbutnotmegan]

I think it really depends on your kids. My 8 year old daughter gets queasy easily so she doesn’t do any big rides but my 5 year old son (who was just 4 last time we were in HS) loves big rides. His favorites of the whole trip were ToT and Star Tours. He loved Jedi training and honestly I wished we signed my daughter up too because it was so much fun. It really depends on your kids. If you don’t think they’ll love it I say do a half day and spend the rest of the day at Disney Springs or back hanging out at the hotel.

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

My daughter was 6 on our last trip and she loved Star Tours. We ate at Sci Fi and really enjoyed it. I thought the food was really good, plus the ambiance. Some of the stuff we did included Star Tours (a few times because they have different scenes) Little Mermaid show was really cool, we all enjoyed that. Seeing the March of the First Order was really cool, even if you arent into Star Wars. My daughter also enjoyed the Indiana Jones show, and TSMM. Next year when we go she wants to ride ToT, she didnt work up the nerve to ride it last time. And to end the night we watched Fantasmic, which was a hit for everyone. If you arent sure about a full day, use hoppers and go to Epcot and hit a few rides and then walk down the boardwalk to HS, it kills time and is a nice walk. You could get to HS at or after lunch, and be able to occupy enough time until Fantasmic.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Honestly, I'd rather spend time at the other three parks than HS. It used to be "a half day park" but lately? Ugh. Of course, that will drastically change once TSL and SWL come online...

If you want to and can I’d recommend swapping sci-fi for 50s Prime Time.

So this. The 50s Prime Time Cafe is our favorite at HS.

 

[JD80]

I did a full day with my 2.5 and 3.5 yo kids.

We did nearly all the shows.
Beauty and the Beast
Star Wars Launch Bay
Character Meet and Greets (Olaf, Princess Sofia etc.)
Disney Jr Show
Little Mermaid
Frozen Show
Jedi Training (watched it)
March of the First Order
Fireworks
Hollywood and Vine Character Meal
Star Tours

We had an extra hour or so to spare before the fireworks and we sat and relaxed in the plaza waiting while a CM was directing traffic and setting things up and telling us stories and trivia. He was awesome.

 

[ELG13]

You could always YouTube it. People have posted everything. You'll know right away if something is right or not for your family. It could help take away some of the apprehension of the unknown.

Yeah we are gonna do this...I just wanted to see if there was a general feeling one way or another about anything in particular.

 

[ELG13]

Thanks yall! We are trying to make the trip a surprise so me and the hubs Re gonna look at the shows online. Depending on what I can get FP for in toy story might determine if we even go. I'm perfectly happy doing 3 MK days lol.

 

[Tk0021]

We never have before because of that..but we really want to see TSL and with the way prices are going at WDW this is probably one of the last trips for a while...so we were wanting to see it. We did a week in October and had 3 days in MK and 1 day in AK with an off day and we don't really care to go back to AK this trip. By 2 we were trying to find stuff to do.

It’s a small world. My family is in the same position this year. The only difference is we are going in December. We skipped HS for two trips and this one we are skipping AK.

 

[ELG13]

It’s a small world. My family is in the same position this year. The only difference is we are going in December. We skipped HS for two trips and this one we are skipping AK.

I see what you did there
AK was beautiful but it was so hot and the park wasn't as easy to navigate as MK. I could easily do 3 days at MK but I think my mother and husband would loose their minds lol. I think my biggest worry is in have an ADR in HS which locks us in at the park. I did move it up to 430 instead of 530. We did have a resort ADR booked but we thought sci fi would be fun. We are still researching HS just to be certain we could fill our time. Also...I think it depends a lot on TS land and if I can get any FP.

 

[Raegansmommy]

My daughters both like HS. Toy Story Mania, the Star Wars Ride, meet Olaf, Buzz & Woody, Disney Jr. Characters, Little Mermaid, Muppet Vision, etc. We never spend a full day here though. I would also suggest changing to 50's Prime Time Café.

 

[WDWFan2018]

TBH, this was a half day park for us last year. This was obviously before Toy Story land and I'm sure the new Star Wars land will make it much better. We didn't love this park. It was my least favourite. Toy Story Mania was good but my 2 year old couldn't really go on anything else. We did the Frozen sing a long which neither of my kids found entertaining. I thought it was cute though. I was disappointed because I thought they would love it....they did not. We actually skipped HS studios this year and did AK instead. We'll go back next year to see Star Wars Galaxy.

 

[bluefish32]

The only advice I will give about HS is that, in my opinion, it requires more planning than other parks. So much of what is available are stage shows that have specific show times. You need to look at the shows first, decide what you want to see, and then plan around the shows schedules.


-dave

Glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. The planning for this park has been difficult because of all the shows and trying to decide what to go to and when, plus the unpredictable TSMM. We go before TSL opens.

I’m super excited to return to HS after 20 years. Some of my most favorite WDW attractions are there - Indiana Jones stunt show and Tower of Terror are two of the most memorable from my childhood visits and I’d be sad to miss them. I think it will be a more relaxing day with less choices there, and may give us a day where we can get back to the resort in time for an afternoon swim mid-trip. I guess if you’ve been to that one a lot recently, I could see why you might skip it, but for me, I want to see it all after such a long time. I think there’s something each of my kids will enjoy, too. My son loves Star Wars, and I suspect Jedi training will be his favorite attraction this trip. That alone would make it worth it to me, but there’s so much more there we will enjoy than that.

 

[courtlynndear]

My family's fave park after MK is HS. Son started going at 5 and TSL was still being built.. (as is now).. and it's still a full park day for us. It's a slower paced day but we still spend all day there.

 

[Dreaming of Disney World]

We just went to Disney World for a week with our 1.5 and 3.5 year olds. I had fun, but overall it was the hardest day for my family. We went on Toy Story Mania twice, saw 2 shows (Disney Junior and Frozen) that the kids weren't that into, met characters (Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Star Wars characters), and ate at 50s Prime Time Diner. I did the thrill rides by myself. My kids had a little fun but were mostly desperate to run around and play. Unfortunately there are no play areas here and only 1 ride they could go on. So it wasn't great for my kids, but yours are older. If they like thrilling rides and seeing shows they might like the park.

 

[DisneyDaver]

We just went to Disney World for a week with our 1.5 and 3.5 year olds. I had fun, but overall it was the hardest day for my family. We went on Toy Story Mania twice, saw 2 shows (Disney Junior and Frozen) that the kids weren't that into, met characters (Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Star Wars characters), and ate at 50s Prime Time Diner. I did the thrill rides by myself. My kids had a little fun but were mostly desperate to run around and play. Unfortunately there are no play areas here and only 1 ride they could go on. So it wasn't great for my kids, but yours are older. If they like thrilling rides and seeing shows they might like the park.

I will be taking my 2 kids (who will be 13 months and 3.5 years old) in the fall for 4 full days at WDW. Today my wife and I were talking about potentially skipping DHS this visit because we feel there won't be much for the kids to enjoy. Your post validated my thinking.