I disagree...Hollywood is still a full day for us.

[PersonalizedMouse]

Just returned from a quick trip to Beach Club. I respectfully disagree that Hollywood should be skipped. We spent a full and fulfilling day there. We saw the Indiana Jones Show, Lights motor action, Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Rock and Roller Coaster, Star Tours, Great American movie ride, Frozen specials and Fantasmic . When you factor in your meals we barely for it all in. We still had a great time.

 

[whitney250]

We spent almost a full day there, too. We went in the morning until about 1-2 and then came back to the room to rest for a bit and went back around 5 til close. We love HS!

 

[Alesia]

We need a day and a half there.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We are doing two half days there. One is PM EMH and we might stop by one evening JUST to watch Fantasmic if I can't fit it in on the PM EMH. It all depends on the Frozen fireworks timing with Fantasmic.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Similarly we are intending one afternoon 1/2 day and one morning until about noon.

 

[JimmyV]

We spent almost a full day there, too. We went in the morning until about 1-2 and then came back to the room to rest for a bit and went back around 5 til close. We love HS!

To be fair, if one arrives at RD, and stays until Fantasmic is over, then by definition they have been at the park for a "full day". What matters is how you fill the void in between. If your first departure was closer to 1:00, then you had a 4 hour break. That's a pretty big chunk of downtime. We don't do Fantasmic anymore. And we find ourselves pretty much done with the park by 3:30-4:00. Not too long ago, we had a 6:45 ADR at 50's and found ourselves trying to kill over 3 hours of time in between our last attraction and dinner. And that included doing the backlot tour, spending time in the Film Academy Museum and spending over an hour in One Man's Dream. So now we book our ADR for lunch and plan to be somewhere else for dinner.

 

[OB1]

That is probably the big question - to Fantasmic or not. If not, then this is not a full day at this point. Lots to do for sure, but a lot is gone. I'm sure this discussion will be totally different in a few years when it is probably a 2 day park.

 

[PersonalizedMouse]

I agree that there is a lot closed. I can't wait to see it after the renovation. To be fair it was the only day we did Hollywood. I think if you've been many times I could see it seeming tired. If you are new to Disney it's worth a look.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Some people go and only want to ride the thrill rides then they're done. So for people like that it would be a half day park.

Some people go with small children who can't do the thrill rides. It may be a half day park for those people too.

But sure, if you're going to go to all or most of the shows and all or most of the rides, you can fill a day.

 

[willowsnn3]

I really can't understand why people are saying so much there has closed. Only 4 things as of right now, right? I never even considered American Idol while there. Did the back lot tour once and so it was ok but I don't miss it. Animation Academy we did once but not really missing that either.
We always do Toy Story twice, RnR twice and ToT twice. Star Tours is my favorite so I do it as many times as possible when there is not a long wait. Then with the shows and the Muppet Theater and we always have to see Phineas & Ferb, Fanstasmic...HS is my second favorite park right behind MK.

 

[itchin2go]

Some people go and only want to ride the thrill rides then they're done. So for people like that it would be a half day park.

Some people go with small children who can't do the thrill rides. It may be a half day park for those people too.

But sure, if you're going to go to all or most of the shows and all or most of the rides, you can fill a day.

We don't care to see the shows again, any of them, really. That's what makes it hard for us to fill a day there.

 

[snayak]

I suppose it depend on each individuals definition of "full day". When I work a full day, I'm done by about 4:30pm (from 8 or so; certainly not 8 or 9 pm!) - a half day is done by noon - e.g. I can leave for lunch and not go back. So to me, DHS is more of a full day. AK is a "half day" (more like 1pm instead of noon, based on show timing). However, we purposely structure our park days to be done by 2 or 3pm so we can rest up for a couple of hours and hit World Showcase every evening - we do usually go during F&WF or F&G.

 

[Delirium]

One trip, we had to spend 2.5 days there to do everything. One size fits all comments like 'it's a half day park' are so misleading. If you have small children who like thrill rides AND are still young enough to enjoy all of the characters, by the time do those and squeeze in time to see the shows, it simply can't be done in 1 day, let alone a half day.

 

[TMJR]

We are planning 2 days. It is one of our favorites!

 

[bookgirl]

I'll be honest, I can pretty much do any of the 4 parks in half a day at this point. That being said, I still really like DHS, and I don't even ride TSMM. I love the GMR, Star Tours, Rockin Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror and Beauty and the Beast and the Muppets are some the better shows. And while I can take or leave the nighttime shows, Fantasmic is worth closing a night down in DHS.

And if you need some filler Indy and Lights Motors Action are both fun. (I did ride the Backlot tour once before it closed and if it was still going I might ride it again.

It's not quite as packed with rides/shows as MK but there's as much to do there as Epcot or AK.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We always go for two days (over a two week trip). DHS is the favourite park of both DD's and I know they would be disappointed if we ever skipped it. Youngest DD loves Fantasmic! and we try to see it once a trip (last year it was rained out so really looking forward to seeing it this year).

 

[alicat8]

We don't care to see the shows again, any of them, really. That's what makes it hard for us to fill a day there.

This is what hurt it for us too-we'd seen them all a few times and didn't bother for our last few trips. The Backlot Tour used to be great, until it was stripped down to nothing and became worthless anyway. BUT we recently took my daughter for the first time, so that added a whole new list of must-dos. Without the toddler stuff, there's very little left for us. (especially since RNR always seems to be down!!)

 

[wdw4rfam]

We need a day and a half there.

Same here. We do a full day and then a half. This year we may do an extra half because we love the lights, and dont get down there at that time of year very often.

 

[MadisonMouse13]

I am a firm believer that you need AT LEAST 1 full day per park...and then some! LOL! There's just so much to see and so much to do!

 

[epcotty]

Since we don't do some attractions we'd have to go to/on some multiple times to make it a "full day" now