Walt Disney promised that his parks would never be completed, “as long as there was imagination left in the world.” With the latest announcements including a Toy Story Land (at WDW) and a Star Wars Land (at both WDW and DL), Walt continues to keep his word to his fans. These highly anticipated additions will certainly propel the park going experience to new heights for droves of Disney fans from around the globe, and I can’t wait to be one of them.
Like with all opportunities, there is a cost for this great dream to be realized. For Disney Parks fans the price comes in the form of both temporary and permanently attraction closures at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Park . Change isn’t anything new for Disney Park-goers though, despite how much we sometimes whine about it. And particularly for DHS, this is far from the beginning of its change of course.
Originally touted as a working movie studio opened to the public when it debuted in 1989, the park then known as Disney-MGM Studios was where guests could watch live tapings of The Mickey Mouse Club, go behind the scenes to see how movie explosions are rigged at Catastrophe Canyon, or get a glimpse of real Disney animators at work on actual films (i.e. Mulan). These attractions have all since been put to rest, as have many others responsible for the original Hollywoodland atmosphere leaving DHS with a lack of cohesion and in definite need of rebranding.
It makes sense then that with Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars, arguably the most popular movie franchise in cinematic history, and with the success the Toy Story films (and the Toy Story’s Midway Mania ride, which is already one of the park’s busiest attractions), that the reinvention of Disney’s Hollywood Studios would center around these sure things. It only leaves fans to wonder what, if anything, will remain from the park’s original vision by the time these new lands are completed. Will there still be a place for Hollywood Boulevard somewhere in between Tatooine and Andy’s Room? Or, will there be even more changes to come to unite the park’s new themes?
If you’re interested in all that’s come to pass since it opened in 1989, check out this Disney produced documentary The Making of the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park.
Have any predictions of your own for what’s to come at DHS? Dream along with us in the comment section below.
It seems like the brand is changing from “see how movies are made” to “step inside your favorite movies”… I think Harry Potter world has shown that there is a market for immersion in theme parks, and I am guessing this is the direction Disney will movie Hollywood toward…
I really think they are going to call it “Disney Studios” and nothing more. Don’t expect a complete re-branding. It’s still a movie themed park. ALL of the of ride are from movies or TV. Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror The Great movie ride, Fantasmic. So the name has to have something with movies and TV. They are not going to confuse everyone also and name it something “wordy” that says the same thing. “Disney Movie park”, not special, sounds cheap. . “Disney’s Hollywood Adventure”, way to wordy and too easily confused with Island of Adventure at Universal. “Walt Disney Studio Park”, repetitive name everyone knows its’ a park. Nothing about any of the specific area’s, not going to call it Star Wars Park, Pixar Studio or anything like that. But “Hollywood” doesn’t really say anything about what the studios are.
IMO – 95% chance it’s going to be named just “Disney Studios” or “Walt Disney Studios” to match what is at the beginning of every single movie Disney puts out to subliminally remind everyone of the park. It’s Descriptive of what it is, short and memorable. Disney’s new mission is to tie everything together so one promotes the other. Those to names do just that.
@Jim – all the attractions and rides are movie (and TV) themed, true, but little by little, it is having less and less to do with being a studio… I could see going the Disney Hollywood route.
I agree that either Disney Studio’s or Disney’s Hollywood Adventure would be the name of the park. Keeping “hollywood” or “studios” will help with the ease in transition.
I think the biggest thing we will see with this park is a lot of emersion and “lands”. I would expect the footprint for this park to grow a lot in the next 10 years pending the success of Star Wars/Toy Story land towards the Art of Animation resort potentially creating a Disneyland style entrance for that park into an Animation land area of the park.
Also, I think this redevelopment of “Studios” will show an idea as to what EPCOT’s immersion might look like in the future.
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