Is HS worth the trip?

[omniscientmommy]

We have 2 boys ages 4 & 7. Last year when we went to WDW we didn't go to HS because it didn't have a ton to offer and we knew that once they were in MK they would want to go back multiple days so we skipped HS. This year both boys are finally into Star Wars and more likely to sit through a show/performance. I'm wondering if we should just plan on going one whole day here or just do a half day. We will only be there for 4 full days and are probably going to skip Epcot since they didn't really enjoy it all that much.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Especially if you are skipping Epcot and have more time, I would plan for a full day at HS. With boys 4 & 7 who are into Star Wars, they are likely to love the park. I'm not sure if Star Tours still has different videos they play through the ride (perhaps someone else will chime in on this), but if so, your kids might want to ride that more than once (of course if the 4 yo is tall enough). When are you going?

Things that might interest 4 & 7 yo boys:
- Jedi Training
- Watching the March of the First Order
- Star Tours (40in height)
- Meet and greets with Kylo Ren, Chewie, BB8
- Checking out Star Wars Launch Bay with cool artifacts and memorabilia from the movies
- SW Launch Bay Theater Behind the Scenes movie
- Path of the Jedi short film
- A Galaxy Far, Far Away stage show
- Sampling Star Wars themed snacks
- Tower of Terror (40in height- may be scary for 4 yo, but he may love it)
- Rockin Rollercoaster (48in height- obviously not for 4 yo)
- Star Wars fireworks
- Muppet Vision3d
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Meeting Buzz and Woody
- Would the 4 yo like the Disney Jr show?
- Indiana Jones show
- Meet Cruz Ramirez from Cars
- If Toy Story Land will be open, then you'd have all of that to explore as well
- Sci Fi dine in is a blast with kids that age

Our last trip was with a 7 yo girl and a not quite 2 yo boy. The 7 yo isn't into Star Wars (2 yo had no prior exposure to it). We spent 10.5 hrs at the Studios and still didn't see/ do everything we wanted to. Granted, we did have to use rider swap for the big rides and deal with diaper changes which takes extra time, but I was truly surprised at how much there really was to do there. So many people on here knock the Studios, but we found plenty to occupy a full day and like I said, we ran out of time to do everything! Frankly, if I had two boys into Star Wars, I would consider at least 1.5 days there, especially of you're considering having them do Jedi Training which can take up a little bit of time. With you only having 4 park days, and not wanting to do Epcot, if I were in your shoes, I would do 1 day AK, 1.5 day MK, 1.5 day HS. If you don't have hoppers, I would plan the first 3 days with one at each park and leave the last open for whatever you decide then that you want to return to. You could always schedule fastpasses for whatever park now and try to change them later on.

 

[omniscientmommy]

Especially if you are skipping Epcot and have more time, I would plan for a full day at HS. With boys 4 & 7 who are into Star Wars, they are likely to love the park. I'm not sure if Star Tours still has different videos they play through the ride (perhaps someone else will chime in on this), but if so, your kids might want to ride that more than once (of course if the 4 yo is tall enough). When are you going?

Things that might interest 4 & 7 yo boys:
- Jedi Training
- Watching the March of the First Order
- Star Tours (40in height)
- Meet and greets with Kylo Ren, Chewie, BB8
- Checking out Star Wars Launch Bay with cool artifacts and memorabilia from the movies
- SW Launch Bay Theater Behind the Scenes movie
- Path of the Jedi short film
- A Galaxy Far, Far Away stage show
- Sampling Star Wars themed snacks
- Tower of Terror (40in height- may be scary for 4 yo, but he may love it)
- Rockin Rollercoaster (48in height- obviously not for 4 yo)
- Star Wars fireworks
- Muppet Vision3d
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Meeting Buzz and Woody
- Would the 4 yo like the Disney Jr show?
- Indiana Jones show
- Meet Cruz Ramirez from Cars
- If Toy Story Land will be open, then you'd have all of that to explore as well
- Sci Fi dine in is a blast with kids that age

Our last trip was with a 7 yo girl and a not quite 2 yo boy. The 7 yo isn't into Star Wars (2 yo had no prior exposure to it). We spent 10.5 hrs at the Studios and still didn't see/ do everything we wanted to. Granted, we did have to use rider swap for the big rides and deal with diaper changes which takes extra time, but I was truly surprised at how much there really was to do there. So many people on here knock the Studios, but we found plenty to occupy a full day and like I said, we ran out of time to do everything! Frankly, if I had two boys into Star Wars, I would consider at least 1.5 days there, especially of you're considering having them do Jedi Training which can take up a little bit of time. With you only having 4 park days, and not wanting to do Epcot, if I were in your shoes, I would do 1 day AK, 1.5 day MK, 1.5 day HS. If you don't have hoppers, I would plan the first 3 days with one at each park and leave the last open for whatever you decide then that you want to return to. You could always schedule fastpasses for whatever park now and try to change them later on.

We haven't planned anything yet. We found last year that most of our plans didn't work out the way we wanted because the kids were of a certain mind on certain days. My husband is terrified of roller coaster/ thrill rides and I have pretty bad motion sickness. So rides aren't on the agenda at all, at least not anything more intense then like the pirates boat ride is in our future. We did plan on having the park hopper option for tickets. We do have an ADR for the sci-fi dinner so we will definitely have to be in HS for 1/2 a day. Thanks for the info

 

[michbaron]

We try to do a half day at HS, usually at night so we can see the fireworks, our son is 5 and he did the Jedi training last year and loved it and we like meeting the characters, I don’t know if it would fill a full day for us until the new lands open but if you’ll have hoppers maybe split it with Epcot or do it on arrival day

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Ahh okay. If you haven't done Star Tours before, I would be hesitant to recommend it for YOU with motion sickness. I can't ride the Tea Cups and have a tough time on the carousel and Star Tours is easily the worst simulator ride for me... Actually worse than the Orange side of Mission Space. Some people with motion sickness are okay, but just wanted to share my experience. It's not bad enough that I won't ride, but will only ride if someone else in my group wants to. For the record, I wouldn't rule out riding Toy Story Midway as even though your vehicle spins a bit as you're shooting, it's not really enough to cause motion sickness IMO, and not really something that would be classified as a thrill ride.

That being said, if you're planning on going with the flow a little more and have park hoppers, just kind of play things by ear with how much time you spend in each park. I know it's tough trying to plan things around the unpredictability of kids, but have found that some of our most memorable things at Disney were completely unplanned. Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[KenHutch]

We do 2 full days at Hollywood every trip and the 8 year old girl is insisting on Jedi Training. Since she has watched all of the films with me even that pathetic piece of crap called The Last Jedi, I am planning on having to go over there both days to register her. You really can spend an entire day there even with all the massive construction going on.

 

[goodeats]

My kids and I aren't into Star Wars at all. We're planning on spending a half day at Hollywood Studios. We won't have PH tickets, so we plan to head to Disney Springs for dinner.

I won't ride Star Tours due to motion sickness. I didn't love the old version, but the new version definitely triggers nausea. I can do TOT though.

 

[DrPhysics]

We have three boys, 3.5, 6, and 7.5. They LOVE the Toy Story ride, Star Tours (older two), all the Star Wars stuff, the Indiana Jones show, and Rock n Roller Coaster (older boy). I love HS because I grew up in L.A. and it really feels like being back in L.A.

 

[TravelingTotMom]

Things that might interest 4 & 7 yo boys:
- Jedi Training
- Watching the March of the First Order
- Star Tours (40in height)
- Meet and greets with Kylo Ren, Chewie, BB8
- Checking out Star Wars Launch Bay with cool artifacts and memorabilia from the movies
- SW Launch Bay Theater Behind the Scenes movie
- Path of the Jedi short film
- A Galaxy Far, Far Away stage show
- Sampling Star Wars themed snacks
- Tower of Terror (40in height- may be scary for 4 yo, but he may love it)
- Rockin Rollercoaster (48in height- obviously not for 4 yo)
- Star Wars fireworks
- Muppet Vision3d
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Meeting Buzz and Woody
- Would the 4 yo like the Disney Jr show?
- Indiana Jones show
- Meet Cruz Ramirez from Cars
- If Toy Story Land will be open, then you'd have all of that to explore as well
- Sci Fi dine in is a blast with kids that age

In addition to this great list, I also wanted to add that you can build your own lightsaber in the gift shop by Star Tours (roughly $25-$35 range).

We recently spent 2/3 of a day there with our almost 4 year old and didn’t do half of the things on that list. And Sci-Fi Dine-In is a must for him each trip.

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

I’m not into Star Wars but we were just there and my 23 month old loved the storm troopers so much we watched pretty much every march that day. When we got home he picked out storm trooper pajamas and now has two storm trooper shirts he asks to wear almost every day it will be a memory I have forever!
If your kids love it I’d def go. HS is not my favorite but I can’t imagine not doing TOT. Also love Sci Fi for lunch. I think Toy Story land will be a great time as well.
FWIW id never skip Epcot, though
ETA- did your boys do the Epcot passports? My daughter (6) just did one, she loved it. They wrote messages to her in the language of each country. It’s a great souvenir and a fun way for them to explore.

 

[friedela]

We have 2 boys ages 4 & 7. Last year when we went to WDW we didn't go to HS because it didn't have a ton to offer and we knew that once they were in MK they would want to go back multiple days so we skipped HS. This year both boys are finally into Star Wars and more likely to sit through a show/performance. I'm wondering if we should just plan on going one whole day here or just do a half day. We will only be there for 4 full days and are probably going to skip Epcot since they didn't really enjoy it all that much.

we LOVED HS and we didn't even get to see everything (we just went about 4 weeks ago). We totally felt like we got our moneys worth and were able to spent the entire day there.

 

[loves to dive]

Since you will have PHs and seem pretty loose in your plans,I would say do a morning at HS then play it by ear after that. If you feel like there isn't enough to occupy you, then hop over to whatever park you feel like you need more time at.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We spent about 2 full days last trip. It is my kids favorite park and we don't even like Star Wars. There is plenty to do there IMO. We like watching the shows and watch the citizens do their little skits so that eats up a lot of our time.

 

[jacknsally19]

I definitely think its a 1/2 day park at the moment. Our family was there in January - we spent maybe three hours there (?) and managed to see the storm troopers, do the M & G with BB-8 & Darth Vader, watched the Galaxy stage show (which was pretty meh IMHO), rode Star Wars & Toy Story rides, and watched the night shows. Just to be clear, we go alot (I was there just last week) and know exactly what we want to do and what we want to skip. I also think young kids despite being fans of the shows have limited interest in memorabilia.

I do think that the Star Wars Meet and Greets are awesome for star wars fans. They are pretty interactive. I also think that night shows - Fantasmic, Star Wars fireworks, and the film projection on the Chinese Theater are the best across all the WDW parks. (I know that is probably blasphemy among Disney fans.) If those things are really appealing to you, you should make time for HS. If not, spend more time somewhere else.