toy story land – Page 3 – A Walk With The Mouse

Disney’s Hollywood studios has received a major facelift over the last year with the opening of Toy Story Land and continuing into this year with the August 29th opening of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. As it celebrates it 30th birthday on May 1st, we look back on the history of this park and its very bright future.

May 1st, 1989

18 years after the opening of the Magic Kingdom and just 7 seven years after the opening of the Epcot Center, Disney debuted a brand new and different theme park called Disney’s-MGM Studios. The third theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida began with an idea for a movie-themed pavilion, resembling a film soundstage. It was originally meant to be an expansion of Epcot. It has now morphed into a 135 acre tribute to movie making.

In its original conception, Disney-MGM Studios was to operate not only as a theme park, but also as a fully functioning television and movie production studio. Disney and Metro-Goldwyn Meyer joined together to create a licensing agreement that would allow Disney to use the name and extensive movie library in their new park. The Disney-MGM Studios had the ability to have working production studios for movies and TV shows.

The Great Movie Ride, along with Studio Backlot Tour, were the only two rides to open with the park.

On opening day in May 1989, Disney’s then-president, Michael Eisner, dedicated Disney-MGM Studios to Hollywood, which he called “not a place on a map, but a state of mind that exists wherever people dream and wonder and imagine.”

The Change – MGM No More

A lawsuit by MGM and a countersuit by Disney soured the relationship that brought this park into being. After a settlement by both parties, it was determined that Disney had the right to continue using the Disney-MGM Studios name on film product produced at the Florida facility.

Book Some Disney Magic Today

On August 9, 2007, it was announced by Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton, that Disney-MGM Studios would officially be renamed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on January 7, 2008. This led the park into a new direction as in that same year, the former Stage 1 soundstage became home to Toy Story Mania! and the surrounding area was re-themed as Pixar Place.

Attractions

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular opened just a few months after the opening of the park, joining The Great Movie Ride and Studio Backlot Tour.

The Earffel Tower was the original icon of this theme park. This fake water tower with Mickey ears joined the Chinese Theater as the face of the park. 2001 changed that with the construction of the Sorcerer’s Hat, inspired from a segment of the 1940 Walt Disney film, Fantasia. This icon lasted until 2015 when it was removed from Hollywood Studios.

MuppetVision 3D and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid were added heightening the parks popularity. The first big expansion took place in 1994 with the creation of Sunset Boulevard and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

With Sunset Boulevard, came reconstruction of the original Theater of the Stars which first held 3 short-lived shows, before finding its permanent resident: Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage.

Fantasmic! is held in the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater that sits in between Tower of Terror and Theater of the Stars. The Hollywood Hills Amphitheater was built specifically for Fantasmic!, opening in October of 1998. It was built to accommodate a much larger capacity than that of Disneyland’s, with 6,900 seats and room for 3,000 more people to stand. Sunset Boulevard was “completed” in 1999 with the opening of Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.

In the fall of 2001, Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream opened. It featured memorabilia of from Disney archives, as well as giving guests a glimpse into Walt Disney’s life and the history of the company. Also in 2001, Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! was introduced at Animation Courtyard.

In the 2010s, Disney began phasing out the park’s “studio-like” attractions that headlined the park during its early years of operation. This included the closure of the park’s Studio Backlot Tour, American Idol Experience, and the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow attractions in 2014.

Visit Bestmickeytrip.com to book your Vacation

The park continued to close more studio-themed attractions; in April 2016, the majority of Streets of America—including the backlot street facades, the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, the Earffel Tower, and the remaining backstage areas—was closed and demolished in preparation for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land.

In 2017, the Great Movie Ride, the last remaining original attraction, and is slated to be replaced by Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway in the Spring of 2020.

What’s To Come

Hollywood Studios has went through a lot of changes in recent years when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise. Adding Star Tours, the Launch Bay, and the stage show Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away.

However 2018 brought a massive addition in Toy Story Land and 2019 aims to be even bigger with Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. The 2 park expansions will bring a high crowd size but also give the park more much needed attractions.

Slinky Dog Dash gives Hollywood Studios its first roller coaster. Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run and Rise of the Resistance, 2 state of the art attractions also give the park a new flare that it lacked. Galaxy’s Edge will also be Disney’s first and hopefully not last all-interactive land.

Disney also just recently opened Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy and will unveil Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway next year.

These additions should help the least visited park at WDW surpass Epcot and Animal Kingdom in attendance numbers.

Placing the Star Wars Franchise in Hollywood Studios along with expanding Pixar’s footprint gives this park much more potential going forward to be a top notch theme park.

Celebrate!

Hollywood has went through more changes than maybe the other 3 parks combined over its 30 year existence. It has made and remade itself and continues to evolve.

Help us here at A Walk With The Mouse as we celebrate its evolution and its 30 year birthday. There are exciting things yet to come of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Stay tuned as we chronicle those changes.

I LOVE Hollywood Studios!!! Some of my favorite shows, rides, and restaurants are there. Plus, with the addition of Toy Story Land and, soon to be open, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, I am literally salivating to get back to WDW to see the new attractions. This park has some of the more unique attractions that you don’t necessarily associate with being Disney.

A lot of people have a negative opinion of this park when comparing it to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. It does not have the typical Disney nostalgic feeling. It does not have a heavy variety of rides like the Magic Kingdom. It does not have the plethora of the dining options of Epcot. However, what it does have are a combination of attractions, shows, and dining options that balance the park perfectly.

Since visiting for the first time in 2010, Hollywood Studios has underwent a tremendous amount of change. Some of these were necessary to accommodate the changes that needed to be made to enhance the park, some are a little bit harder to get over.

Book Your Next Disney Trip Now! Click Here!

While the addition of the “Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away” is a decent stage show that recognizes the characters of the movie franchise, and the March of the First Order is a neat thing to witness down the streets of HS, they still do not take the place of Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat, that was a staple of the Hollywood Studios landscape.

So here are my top 5 reasons why Hollywood Studios is my favorite Disney park.

The ShowsI

I believe Hollywood Studios has the best combination of shows of any park at WDW. While the park does not have the ride attractions of some of the other parks, although with the additions of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge that changes, every one of the shows there is an enjoyable time.

The “Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular” is my favorite show to visit each trip to Hollywood Studios. Between the pyrotechnics, the choreography of the stunts and the comedic spots during the course of the show itself, this show takes the audience inside some of the best scenes from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (which, btw, is the best movie of the franchise, in my humble opinion).

Another show that I enjoy visiting is “For the First Time in Forever; A Frozen Sing-along Celebration”. I know what you are thinking, but no. I do not sing along. This is a fun show for the kids to sing along to all of the frozen songs but also get a hilarious history lesson from the official Royal Historians of Arendelle.

“Beauty and The Beast – Live on Stage” brings the classic tale to life in the open-air Theater of the Stars on Sunset Boulevard. This broadway-style show has been giving audiences a shortened version of the Disney movie since the park opened in 1989.

In “Muppetvision 3D”, you are treated to a 3D show that is more than just that. There are different times where the screen becomes just a piece of the overall theater and the theater itself comes to life, with Statler and Waldorf doing their typical heckling from the booth above and a cannon shot from the screen to the back revealing bricks and a hole in the back wall of the theater.

The Rides

While Hollywood Studios does not have as many rides as the Magic Kingdom, the rides that it does have are all worth riding.T

The “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” and I have a love/hate relationship. I am not a huge fan of these types of rides that simply take you up and drop you several times, but this is different. The whole theme of the ride is fantastic. The back story, the look, the feel, the drama, the suspense of not knowing when it will drop, to wondering how many times it will drop (it drops a different amount each time) all works to make this one of the best rides at WDW.

Rock n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is another must when on a trip to WDW. From the speed on the initial launch from 0-57 mph in 2.8 secs, to the awesome soundtrack, this ride is literally a blast. Riders will experience a 5G start, and travel through 3 inversions while flying past bright neon road signs.T

Toy Story Mania has been the one ride at Hollywood Studios that seems to always have long wait times and is the one ride at HS that a fastpass makes a huge difference. This 3D shooter ride is one of the more technologically sophisticated attractions ever developed by Disney Imagineers.

Don’t Wait – Book Now!

This ride puts 2 people head to head, competing in 6 mini games ranging from tossing pies, darts, eggs, baseballs, rings, and suction cup type arrows. This game is so much fun and, for me, blows away another toy story shooter ride in Magic Kingdom. Always a great family adventure (and maybe a little competition)

Fantasmic

While this could have been added in the Shows category, doing that to Fantasmic would simply not do it justice.

This night-time multimedia event features fireworks, lasers, lighting effects, and music. It stars Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia as he fights the forces of evil.

Mickey invokes the characters and spirits of favorite Disney classics such as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Aladdin, Pinocchio, The Lion King, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Tarzan and more.

The show takes a dark turn when the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs appears and gathers classic villains like Ursula, Cruella de Vil, Scar, Frollo, Jafar and a larger-than-life Maleficent, to turn Mickey’s dreams into a nightmare. Mickey must fight back the villains with all of the magic in his arsenal.

This 30 minute show might be the highlight of your HS visit and you will, no doubt, walk away amazed.

New Additions

Disney has put a lot of time, fortune, and imagineering into Hollywood Studios in recent years with the 2 newest additions of Toy Story Land and the new, yet to debut, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, as well as new attractions such as Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy.

Toy Story Land transports you into Andy’s backyard where you feel like the size of one of Andy’s toys. This new section which opened in June of 2018 features new rides in Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers, as well as the aforementioned Toy Story Mania. It also gives HS a counter-service restaurant in Woody’s Lunch Box. You may also see the Green Army Men Drum Corp or be made an honorary Green Army Man by participating in the Green Army Men Boot Camp.

Galaxy’s Edge opens in August of 2019. It will introduce 2 new ride attractions, a new restaurant, and transport a person into the worlds of Star Wars. I will refrain from speaking on this too much except to say, I cant wait for this to open.

50’s Prime Time Cafe

This is my favorite restaurant in all of WDW. This meal has the feel of being in the 1950’s “every family kitchen”. The waiters/waitresses treat you as if you are a guest at their dinner table and must display appropriate manners or be punished for various things. The food is also pretty terrific. Give this place a try and allow the staff to put you in the middle of their show and you will walk away full from food and fun.

Tag: toy story land

Hollywood Studios – Looking back on 30 yrs

Why Hollywood Studios is My Favorite Disney Park!