DHS Does Not Meet Disney Standards

[Airblue1]

We gave it a shot, again!
Well for one I needed a new Star Tours tee, but after 2.5 hrs. We went to the bus and left.
What is up with this place. It is soooooo not Disney when it comes to a lot of things. Thematically it makes sense, but what is before you is a checker board of non sense. Ok, if your not buying it, where does Aerosmith fit into this mess? I have been to Hollywood umpteen times and Aerosmith isn't even a thought???

[Tigerinvestigator]

We love DHS. Rock-n-rollercoaster is one of the better attractions WDW has. I thought they did an outstanding job of incorporating Aerosmith into the attraction. You take a crazy trip through hollywood including the hollywood sign on the way to a concert. I think most of the attractions fit really well into the story. My only complaint would be that they could do much more.....but I like what they have done already.

[BrerGnat]

I totally agree. I actually have never liked this park, and we have been going there since the year it opened. My parents always loved it, but I just don't "get it", I guess.

I do like parts of it, like the Star Tours area, and I love ToT and RnR Coaster, but the rest of it is so disjointed and NOT enjoyable at all.

I would not be sad to see this entire park bulldozed and have them start over a la DCA.

[Dulcee]

Aerosmith is the best selling rock band the US has ever produced... Hollywood has a huge role in the music industry. I think it fits, and I think for a roller coaster they did an awesome job theming it to fit.

I like DHS, it needs some new attractions and uplifts like most of WDW but we spend a lot of time there every trip. Love all the live shows (Indy, Beauty & the Beast, LMA!, Fantasmic) and the thrill rides. Oh and the holiday lights were pretty amazing too.

[Granny Jill A]

I do like parts of it, like the Star Tours area, and I love ToT and RnR Coaster, but the rest of it is so disjointed and NOT enjoyable at all.

I would not be sad to see this entire park bulldozed and have them start over a la DCA.

I'm with you on this one. Unless they open a brand new attraction, I can skip this park completely.

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

I totally agree. I actually have never liked this park, and we have been going there since the year it opened. My parents always loved it, but I just don't "get it", I guess.

I do like parts of it, like the Star Tours area, and I love ToT and RnR Coaster, but the rest of it is so disjointed and NOT enjoyable at all.

I would not be sad to see this entire park bulldozed and have them start over a la DCA.

This! I can ride ToT and RnR and be done for the day.

[Crow]

I dont spend as much time here as at Epcot. I like Muppets. Star Tours, TOT RNR...GMR. One Mans Dream, TOy Story Midway...but it does need some help, remove the giant hat, Stunt Show, Backlot used to be better...and the Animation tour when they had animators.
Ive never been thru American Idol and wont b. do something w the spot next to Midway Mania and where Sounds Dangerous was...

[Tinksalot]

We never seem to be able to spend the whole day at HS. Its one of the reasons I always get a hopper pass.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

It is my least favorite of the parks, but still Fantasmic, Muppets TSM and Great Movie Ride will make it worth going for me. I could probably be done in 2 hours though.

[Gator]

Is it MK? No. Is it Epcot? No. But that doesn't mean it doesn't come up to Disney standards. ToT is probably my favorite ride after SplashMt. RnRC is always awesome. StarTours is incredible now - I can do it 3 or 4 times a day. Love the Indiana Jones show and the B&TB show (Bring back Four 4 a Dollar!). Toy Story Mania is great for the kids, as is the Muppet Show. Throw in Disney Junior, Voyage of the LM, Great Movie ride for some extra fill. End it with Fantasmic! I love this park.

The only things I don't like about the park is that it doesn't have enough park specific clothing and merch, and the dining option could be improved. They do need another big attraction, but that's up to Disney spending money there.

[Cheshire_Girl]

The first time I went to HWS I hated it. I was so used to the wheel/spoke of MK...Then I realized-it's just like my home town-laid out on a grid The worst thing about this park is their food options...Otherwise, they have 3 of the coolest rides in all "The World"..just not mush else to go with it. There is so much dead space ...if they put some time and money into it it could be Fantasmic! The first thing they need to do is get rid of the hideous hat...

[DVC2004]

Wasn't it Disney's answer to try and hold on to market share when Universal was coming to town? I remember when we visited in 1990 when I was a teen. My mother asked us would we rather go there or Universal and we chose Universal (we did do Epcot and MK, just not MGM Studios). And even though Universal was brand new and the rides could barely stay operational, we loved the rides there. When I visited MGM/DHA for the first time in 2001 I was pretty underwhelmed.

I have always thought this park left a lot to be desired. We skip it most trips and when we do go really only hit ToT, RR . If the lines aren't too long we'll do StarTours and Toy Story Mania, but we refuse to wait an hour for those. Sometimes also we'll do the Muppets. But we are never there more than 3 hours tops. It also isn't laid out very well.

Would like to see more attractions. For example, the Indiana Jones Stunt show can go. I would much rather have the Indiana Jones attraction they have over at DL. An amazing ride.

[BrerGnat]

Sadly, this park is suffering from a major identity crisis. It has evolved so far from what it started out as, there really is no way to bring it back. Best they could do is clone DCA now, at least the theme of "Hollywood when Walt arrived in Hollywood" but then that would be perceived as lame since they just did that at DCA. Really, though, this park needs a lot of help. I think it will just continue to devolve over time, because no one seems intent on fixing what's wrong over there.

[EJS-Houston]

I guess I'm very much in the minority, but Hollywood Studios is often my favorite of all the parks. I love the feeling of the Hollywood backlot, as well as the day players, and Mulch, Sweat and Shears. Tower of Terror, Rock'n'Roller Coaster and Star Tours are three of my all-time favorite rides, I enjoy the Muppet 3-D movie and Toy Story Mania, and while there could certainly be more good dining options, I like Mama Melrose's very much...plus I have a blast at the Sci-Fi Drive-Iin DIner and the Prime Time Cafe. The food isn't anything to write home about there, but that's not what you go for. Fantasmic remains a thrill, and I personally love the iconic Sorceror's Hat. Sorry y'all don't agree...but let's not be in such a rush to raze it to the ground and start over. I suspect there'd be a lot of us throwing ourselves bodily in front of the bulldozers.

[1DisneyNut]

I agree, this park is a mess. We completely skipped it on our last trip. We like Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. Backlot is okay and Fantasmic is a great show but I have seen it so many times I can skip it. My biggest gripe with this park is it is poorly laid out causing the crowd traffic to be a disorganized congested mess all the time. Why on earth did they not make a circle or big rectangle street around this place so you could navigate it in some sort of orderly fashion?

[wdwfamilyof4]

The first visit I had to WDW my children were very small so the parts of DHS I saw were the Honey I shrunk the Kids playground and muppet theatre. I wasn't super excited about it but thought it was nice. During our subsequent trips I've fallen in love. I think if you take your time and absorb the ambience you'll feel something also. We sat and watched and joined the street performers for 2 hrs on our last trip and still talk about it.

[VWL Mom]

I think if you take your time and absorb the ambience you'll feel something also. We sat and watched and joined the street performers for 2 hrs on our last trip and still talk about it.

I totally agree, the street performers a favorite for me. My boys are now 17 & 21 and we spend a lot of our time at DHS every trip. While I agree that it could use a new addition (another thrill ride) and some sprucing up, I think it has a charm of its own.

[Quadstriker]

I always enjoy HS a lot and I think it gets a bad rap.

Star Tours is great. ToT is a classic. RnR is an excellent coaster. The street performers are wonderful (If you're not watching them, that's a mistake). And one of the best afternoon pitstops in the form of the Tune-In Lounge.

They've just got too much wasted space. LMA was interesting once, no desire to ever go again. American Idol Experience? About 7 years too late to the bus stop there. The backlot tour is a snoozer. Walking through unused streets under the guise of "hey they film stuff here. At least... they uh... used to... kinda." just feels wrong in a theme park and takes you completely "out of the magic"

[hauntedmansiongirl]

The biggest disappoint to us at DHS is the backlot. It used to be so much fun. Now there is really nothing to see and 40 of the 45 minutes seem like a huge waste. Same with the Animation Tour. It used to be a highlight, now we just feel sad nostalgia every time we go in.

On the other hand, RnRC is my DH favourite ride in the entire world (not just WDW). And the new Star Tours is pretty amazing and the line actually moves well, which is great!

We hope that with Disney buying Marvel and Lucas Films that some cool "lands" come to DHS!

[TheVBs]

I agree that the park seems to lack a cohesiveness. While it's our least favorite park, I would not say it has a non-Disney feel. And, I think the RnRC Aerosmith theme makes sense. We would never skip it completely. DH and DD12 love RnRC and ToT. But usually during a 10 day stay where we're hitting the other parks at least twice, DHS gets hit once. We've never done TSM because we're never there early enough to get a FP and aren't willing to wait more than 20-30 minutes to try it.

Now, having said all that, I have to add that on our last trip we really made much more of an effort to maximize our experience in this park. We had an awesome day there! While DH and DD12 rode the thrill rides, DD8 and I watched the street performers and laughed so much. We hit many more attractions and shows than we had in the past, lots of firsts for us including LMA and Fantasmic! It was a much better experience. The layout was still frustrating, but knowing where we wanted to go and when made a huge difference.