Why doesn't DHS add value during refurb?

[JOY K]

A few weeks ago Pete asked on The Dis Unplugged, " How can WDW add value while they make all the D23 changes announced?"

I think they need to do that with DHS now. With all the renovations it seems DHS is 1/2 the park it used to be and 1/3 of the park it will soon be. Unfortubatly, my once in a lifetime trip falls in the middle of this massive refurb.

I have tried to tell myself "Disney is always inovating, if I wait until this construction is over, something else will always be coming soon", but then they close TGMR. So I say "It's ok, what they lack in rides they make up for in night time shows". With 3 different shows going on in December I thought "Good Strategy Disney, play up what is still good in DHS", but now I find that the show my family most wanted to see at DHS will not be done. I know Star Wars can be done on the same nights as JBJB, because it will be after we leave.

What gives? Why are they not doing EVERYTHING they can to load value into this park?

 

[epcotty]

I think they're trying, with the extra Star Wars shows and fireworks. Unfortunately the Pixar music concert is ending, that was some more evidence of them trying. If it doesn't seem appealing enough to you in its current state you could skip it and just enjoy the other parks

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Coming up with something temporary can be difficult and costly and coming up with permanent things like they are constructing takes time.

When the park first opened it didn't have as many attractions as it did later same with the rest of the parks.

Unfortunately some like yourself will have to go during a transition period and as I see it you have 2 choices... make the best of what is available or don't go and hope that you can go when there are enough attractions to suit you.

 

[CAS239]

In the big picture, not much has closed at HS vs say 2 years ago.

They have the Pixar show which is ending soon due to being a limited engagement, the newish star wars fireworks, launch bay is still fairly new, Frozen show isn't that old, Olaf/Starlord/Groot meet and greets are still fresh, 3rd track added at Toy Story to bring the wait down

As far as their current layout, HS has no room to just plop new stuff in. Their bringing back Jingle Bell Jingle Bam and sometimes doing it the same nights as star wars.. Along with Fantasmic nightly. So they can't really add another night time show, building a whole new ride overnight wouldn't be feasible. So other than cut the cost of the daily ticket price to HS, idk what Disney could do to please. But like I said, not much is closed now vs a couple years ago, so I can't see them cutting off the price.

 

[noibn]

My thing is that they've got the 3 night shows, but not enough to warrant 3 days of park time. They're basically pushing you into Park Hoppers

 

[JOY K]

Honestly, I do know that they need to add more temporary attractions as much as I think they just need to keep everything they have going. I think they probably could have waited until at least Toy Story opened to shut fown GMR, but I've never been so I could take it ir leave it. I was mainly taking about the shows. If they can run Starwars and Jingle Bam on the same night from 15-30th, they should 1-14th too. I get that it takes $ to do these renovations, but I will probably only have the oportunity to go once and it would just be nice to be able to see the night time show we were looking forward to since there is nothing stopping them from showing it. To say suck it up or go to another park seems a bit unfair.

 

[CAS239]

Honestly, I do know that they need to add more temporary attractions as much as I think they just need to keep everything they have going. I think they probably could have waited until at least Toy Story opened to shut fown GMR, but I've never been so I could take it ir leave it. I was mainly taking about the shows. If they can run Starwars and Jingle Bam on the same night from 15-30th, they should 1-14th too. I get that it takes $ to do these renovations, but I will probably only have the oportunity to go once and it would just be nice to be able to see the night time show we were looking forward to since there is nothing stopping them from showing it. To say suck it up or go to another park seems a bit unfair.

Idk the park hours or times of the shows when they do all 3 night shows in one night. But one issue is they have to wait until it's dark enough and they can't have two shows going off at the same time or while your watching star wars you'll hear Fantasmic. So it's a timing thing.

But there's still plenty of time for them to adjust their hours and showtimes. I'm hoping they can incorporate JBJB without having to stop Star Wars on some nights

 

[Alesia]

There are a lot of people who have been to WDW so many times that they've started to think of it as their own private club and they get bent out of shape when anything changes. Don't listen to them. They will ruin your trip before it even begins.

There's still a lot to do in DHS. My family still needs a day and a half there.

Unless you're staying for a month, you're not going to be able to do everything you want to do. You just can't. That's why so many "once in a lifetime" trips are really just first trips.

 

[Kingdome8]

Hollywood studios is best for our family.
But we have kids from 5-13 all girls. So we still have interest in all characters shows and rides. When we were there in June we stayed all day had. Unreliable extra fast passes and still didn't do everything. Didn't see belle show or Indiana jones. Didn't even see sorcerer Mickey. I still think there is tons to do there. For us Epcot is the park we wish had more. Me and my wife love Epcot and could stay all day. But kids not so much.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

With the amount of data Disney collects on a daily basis, I'm sure, after doing a cost-benefit analysis, if they felt like they needed to add something, they would. It's all about money and if you don't spend it at DHS, you will probably go somewhere else on WDW property and spend it there. We go frequently (3-4 times a year) and only go to DHS if there is something new and interesting (to us). We were going to go to the Pixar show next week before it closed, but chose to attend the first MNSSHP, Pandora at night, HDDR and the HEA dessert party instead - so WDW certainly has not lost any money by us not going to DHS!

If this once-in-a-lifetime and you feel like you will miss something, perhaps postpone the trip?

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I can easily spend a day at DHS. Frozen, Indiana Jones and beauty and the beast easily take up a good portion of the day. Throw in some rides, a few smaller shows (little mermaid, disney junior live) and a meal and some shopping and you've got a full day.

Now that being said, 1 day is enough. What I don't like is disney trying to get us to splurge on park hoppers or trying to get us to do a 2nd day at DHS. They are purposely making it impossible to see all the night time shows in 1 night so if you really wanted to see 2 shows, you'd have to go 2 separate nights. I really really wanted to see JbJb. Unfortunately fantasmic is my favorite show in all of WDW and I can't see both in 1 night forcing me to choose 1 over the other or get park hoppers/ visit DHS twice. To me it's silly to go back just to see 1 show.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Deleted - double post.

 

[HopperFan]

While I don't agree it's a half-day park, especially if you do shows ...
... Disney does offer a way to work around it ...
... PARK HOPPERS.

They make money without spending money.

 

[BabyPiglet]

I understand where you're coming from. DHS is in such a state of transition right now, it's hard to get excited about the current offerings.

 

[FSU Girl]

I think they should add villain meet and greets like they had the other day. They were wildly popular and I think it would draw in a lot of people who might have skipped otherwise. It wouldn't require too much effort on their part either

 

[JOY K]

I just want to be clear. I am not saying Im not going to DHS or that it's a 1/2 DAY park, I just feel like that not only do they have 2 big construction projucts under way, they are now closing additional rides and NOW the nightime show we were planning to see is also going to be closed the week we are going. There is no postponing this trip at this point. We will go. We will still have a great time. I just hate to already be disappointed months before we even go. They know most vacation guests make ADRs 180 days in advance, I wish they would announce these changes as early when they can. If this announcment had been made earlier we would have booked our hard to get ADRs and arranged our park days differently so we could go on the only Starwars day of our trip. As it is, it conflicts with our Ohana night.

There are things they could do that would cost them nothing: like open the park from say 11-10 instead of 9-8 and spread out the shows so people could do 2 in 1 night if they wanted. It wouldn't cost anything to do Starwars every other night instead of off 1/2 the month and on 1/2 the month. It's not about expecting big additions during renovations, it's about making guests not feel like they don't matter bc this is when they chose or were able to come to the park.

 

[tlmadden73]

Personally I feel that during this construction period they should basically make Epcot/DHS one park (I mean they are easily connected by a walkway and/or boat ride). Give you a free park hopper between their two worst parks (for now).
1) It may help spread out crowds a bit as people hop between these parks rather than hop over to MK or AK.
2) It may get people to check out the Food and Wine Festival that normally wouldn't (and spend money there eating/drinking).
3) Would help the tiering problem (My thought is they should ditch tiering and let you make FPs at both parks if you want).

Though, when you look at what they've shut down the last few years . .it's not much.
Backlot Tour (what used to be a major attraction, which was a boring shell of its former self)
Lights, Motor Action - a pretty cool stunt show . .but a one and done for most people.
Honey I shrunk the Playground - fun for sure (Disney should have more playgrounds in its parks), but wouldn't be missed by a lot of people.
Streets of America - simply a "walk through" attraction . .something to just see.

So really .. they only lost one ride and one show.

And they've replaced it with a lot of cool, temporary stuff while the physical footprint of the park was literally cut in half.

They've created "temporary" events. The summer I went (2015) .. it was all about Frozen Summer Fun in DHS . .a parade, a continuous showing of the Frozen short, a boutique to get dolled up like Elsa or Anna, etc. That kept my group entertained for some of the day.

This past two years its the Star Wars stuff (like Launch Bay, Star Wars Fireworks, March of the First Order, Star Wars Galaxy Far, Far Away, etc.).

It probably has the most meet and greets of any of the parks (especially in such a small area)

 

[ITALIANNYC]

Most people have park hoppers or just don't choice one park. There is more than enough to do at Disney in all the other parks for them to pump everything into HS. They are doing enough with all the renovations.

I say we should give them a break a little bit and let them work and enjoy the vast array disney offers as a whole

 

[WEDWDW]

Why they didn't wait to close GMr will always baffle me-now there is a "dead spot" right in the middle of the Park along wiht all the "dead ends".

But a good time can still be had at DHS-all the Star Wars happenings help a lot.

And DHS still has the most unique "attraction" at WDW-the Citizens of Hollywood!

 

[DaisyNY]

My daughter (23) and I visited in May and found ourselves there for only a half day; partially because we visit one-two times a year and also because it is offering less and less for us now. I'm missing Osbourne Lights at DHS....one of my favorites during the Christmas season! Wish they could find somewhere else to place them. Am excited about the new Star Wars attractions, however!