We have a soft spot for Disney's Hollywood Studios as it was the very first Walt Disney World theme park we ever visited back in 2015. We went for the last (so far) Star Wars Weekends event. On that trip we arrived on a Thursday, visited DHS on Friday, Magic Kingdom on Saturday, and EPCOT on Sunday.
We found the scale of DHS and particularly of the Hollywood Blvd section to be an almost perfect match for Disneyland's Main Street USA, so even though it was an all new park to us there was something almost reassuring about how it "felt" like Disneyland. It sort of eased us into the Walt Disney World experience. We were struck by how the surface parking lot was reminiscent of Disneyland before they built Disney California Adventure.
DHS captures the spirit of Southern California very well with only the humidity to spoil the illusion. We rarely visit all 4 theme parks on any one visit to WDW, and as it turns out we've been to Magic Kingdom the most, followed by EPCOT, and then DHS & Animal Kingdom...which was the order they were built in.
DHS is situated on a crescent shaped lake opposite from the side entrance to EPCOT. Between the two parks the lake is lined with several resort hotels. It was opened in 1989 to showcase "The Great Movie Ride" an animatronic trip through movie history housed in a replica of Hollywood's famous Chinese Theater and to dull any momentum the opening of Universal Studios Florida might have had in 1990. "The Great Movie Ride" started out as a proposed expansion pavilion to EPCOT that was found to be worthy enough to anchor a third Walt Disney World theme park. At one point there was a studio tour and production facilities for film & television.
The park started out life as "Disney-MGM Studios", some folks still call it that or "MGM" for short. There were a few MGM references in the Great Movie Ride (a terrific Wicked Witch of the West animatronic from Wizard of Oz for example) but it mostly seemed to be a promotional partnership from a time when Walt Disney Pictures did not have a reputation for a deep bench of films from which to build a theme park on. The name was changed to "Disney's Hollywood Studios" in 2008. Although we were able to ride "The Great Movie Ride" once it has since been removed(to be replaced with a Mickey Mouse themed ride yet to open), and the studio tour & production facilities were gone by the time we first visited.
The park started out life as "Disney-MGM Studios", some folks still call it that or "MGM" for short. There were a few MGM references in the Great Movie Ride (a terrific Wicked Witch of the West animatronic from Wizard of Oz for example) but it mostly seemed to be a promotional partnership from a time when Walt Disney Pictures did not have a reputation for a deep bench of films from which to build a theme park on. The name was changed to "Disney's Hollywood Studios" in 2008. Although we were able to ride "The Great Movie Ride" once it has since been removed(to be replaced with a Mickey Mouse themed ride yet to open), and the studio tour & production facilities were gone by the time we first visited.
We would visit Universal Studios Hollywood on occasion when we lived in California and DHS felt very much like a "Disney" version of that with greater emphasis on place making then you used to find at Universal. Architecturally speaking the DHS version of "Hollywood" is spectacularly detailed and it really does fulfill the vision of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner to be "The Hollywood that never was and always will be". We've always found DHS convincing enough to cure some of our homesickness for California.
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| Scenes from old "Backlot" attractions removed for Toy Story land & Star Wars Galaxy's Edge |
The park is more or less split between two sections...the front half is "old Hollywood" and the back half is a "Movie Studio", Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is being built on the old back lot portion of the movie studio. You enter the park into a idealization of vintage Hollywood that is made up of Hollywood & Sunset Blvds. In this version of Hollywood the Chinese Theater acts as an icon at the end of Hollywood Blvd (in reality it is placed mid-block), Sunset Blvd. at DHS leads to the elegant ruins of the "Hollywood Tower Hotel" (more on that later).
The Chinese Theater is surrounded by a movie studio with various attractions housed in "soundstages" and "backlot" filming locations. Just off to the side of the Chinese Theater hub plaza is "Echo Lake" which does a decent job of capturing the feel of Los Angeles' Echo & MacArthur Parks. The architecture of "old Hollywood" is remarkably recreated LA landmarks running the full width of historical styles you will find in the real LA from Spanish through Modern.
Right now the signature attractions are a fairly new Toy Story Land, the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" in the "abandoned" "Hollywood Tower Hotel", and the "Rock'N Roller Coaster" housed in a "soundstage". Throw in the Florida version of Star Tours and several theater type shows and that is the type of activities you currently find at the park.
On it's own it is not really a full lineup unless you manage to see all of the shows...but as part of an overall WDW vacation it is a worthwhile collection of experiences. Even Galaxy's Edge is only slated to add two attractions to the park lineup. One of the big things that sets Disneyland apart from Walt Disney World is that the California parks individually have more attractions than the Florida parks, even if the total number of attractions is nearly equal.
Toy Story Land
Right now the most popular area of the park is "Toy Story Land"- an area themed as if Andy from the Toy Story movies has set up an amusement park in his backyard for his toys. The detailing is fantastic of course, and once Star Wars opens next door you can pretend Andy's neighbor has dragged all of his Star Wars toys out and set them up in his backyard. Why there are two backyards in a "Movie Studio" is anyone's guess...the whole Movie Studio gimmick is not adhered to 100%, but the environments are done to the typical high Disney level of quality.
"Slinky Dog Dash" looks on the surface to be a "children's coaster", but is surprisingly thrilling...definitely a great ride. The "Alien Swirling Saucers" is a spinning ride and the "Toy Story Midway Mania" ride has been incorporated into the new land. As Fisher-Price fans were excited to see the "Play Family Camper" vendor cart and the "Imaginext" inspired "Alien Swirling Saucers" entrance.
There are so many great details like popsicle stick fencing, wooden train track benches, game boards, giant sized toy "statues". We have spent most of our time here at night as during the day there is not a lot of shade.
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| Toy Story Land Under Construction |
"Slinky Dog Dash" looks on the surface to be a "children's coaster", but is surprisingly thrilling...definitely a great ride. The "Alien Swirling Saucers" is a spinning ride and the "Toy Story Midway Mania" ride has been incorporated into the new land. As Fisher-Price fans were excited to see the "Play Family Camper" vendor cart and the "Imaginext" inspired "Alien Swirling Saucers" entrance.
There are so many great details like popsicle stick fencing, wooden train track benches, game boards, giant sized toy "statues". We have spent most of our time here at night as during the day there is not a lot of shade.
Tower Of Terror
Our first experience with the Tower of Terror was at Disney's California Adventure so we were blown away by the original Florida version. At DHS the classic spooky elevator ride is set as the icon of the Sunset Blvd section of "Hollywood" where it sits on a hill with hauntingly beautiful decaying gardens befitting a grand abandoned hotel. The ride experience is completely different from all other versions of this ride as the cars travel forward through several "scenes" before they drop down the shaft. This completely took us by surprise and is why we think it is definitely the best version of this ride.
Rock'N Roller Coaster
Our first time riding this was during a Star Wars Galactic Nights event so the ride was nearly in the dark set to Star Wars music and with basic Star Wars slide projections on the wall. This is a pretty intense coaster, it was disorienting in it's Star Wars guise. We have since gone on the normal version of the ride and it was no less intense and with bright set pieces that simulate a crazy race through Los Angeles. The concept is that you are late to an Aerosmith concert (after visiting them in the recording studio) and must zoom through Los Angeles in a stretch convertible limo to get to the venue. Disney does a great job on these roller coasters set inside of a building (the Space Mountains for example) and the recording studio/gritty LA locales are all done very well as is the Cadillac like ride vehicle. Again this ride is surprisingly intense and not just for a Disney coaster....there are inversions, loops, etc.
Star Tours
The Star Tours mini-land built up around the ride originally simulated an "Endor" shooting set complete with Imperial Bunker, AT-AT walker and Ewok village from Return of the Jedi. It was remodeled slightly to become a Jedi Temple Shrine inspired by the Star Wars Rebels animated series in lieu of the Imperial Bunker. Here they have a Jedi Show where kids are selected to duel against Sith Lords.
The gift shop was themed as a Tatooine set from Star Wars Episode I. The ride is otherwise pretty much identical to the California version with minor differences in the queue, it was a bit surreal to enter into the queue on this one as the main chamber (with R2 & 3P0) and the starspeeder) is almost an exact replica of the Disneyland version we have been on many, many times. They used to have a speeder bike photo opportunity here but it may have been removed.
The gift shop was themed as a Tatooine set from Star Wars Episode I. The ride is otherwise pretty much identical to the California version with minor differences in the queue, it was a bit surreal to enter into the queue on this one as the main chamber (with R2 & 3P0) and the starspeeder) is almost an exact replica of the Disneyland version we have been on many, many times. They used to have a speeder bike photo opportunity here but it may have been removed.
Shows & Exhibits
The rest of the park is pretty much show based attractions. The Muppetvision 3D show is still here, as is a "Frozen" Sing-a-long. They have a Disney Junior show as well but we have not seen it before. We love dropping in on the "One Man's Dream" Walt Disney exhibit and have posted on that previously. There is also currently a Star Wars Launch Bay exhibit with meet & greets. There are quite a few meet & greets actually...we have met Olaf, Vampirina, BB-8 & Chewbacca, but there are more. We did a post on Star Wars Weekends and Star Wars Galactic Nights events as well.
There is a clever "Adventure of the Little Mermaid" puppet show with some classic 90's laser effects that is worthwhile. A facsimile of the "Hollywood Bowl" hosts a "Beauty & the Beast" stage show. We have only watched it once but there is a cavernous arena that hosts an "Indiana Jones" stunt show, complete with giant rolling stone ball and a fist fight next to the Nazi flying wing bomber.
There is a clever "Adventure of the Little Mermaid" puppet show with some classic 90's laser effects that is worthwhile. A facsimile of the "Hollywood Bowl" hosts a "Beauty & the Beast" stage show. We have only watched it once but there is a cavernous arena that hosts an "Indiana Jones" stunt show, complete with giant rolling stone ball and a fist fight next to the Nazi flying wing bomber.
We finally saw the Florida version of Fantasmic on our last visit to DHS. The Fantasmic stage show (how to describe it, show hardly seems appropriate...spectacular?) has a dedicated arena which is quite different from the way it is staged on the Rivers of America at Disneyland. "Mom & Dad" here at the Family Blog were never huge fans of this show from our California experiences but as it turns out our displeasure was primarily because of how it brought life on the west side of Disneyland to a grinding halt. Folks would line up for hours along the Rivers of America making navigating that part of Disneyland so difficult if you were not waiting for the show.
The show itself is actually very entertaining. It can be described as a Disney's Greatest Hits clip show set to costume performers, pyrotechnics, and lots of water! There are some differences between the shows, the biggest being Disneyland's use of the Mark Twain & Sailing Ship Columbia. In Florida they have no sailing ship and in lieu of the Mark Twain is a Steamboat Willy themed barge. Production value is slightly less in places at the Florida version but there is an intense Pocahontas scene and a more permanent set (including a mountain) that sets it apart from the California version, combine that with the impressive dedicated venue and it stands on its own pretty well compared to the original.
The show itself is actually very entertaining. It can be described as a Disney's Greatest Hits clip show set to costume performers, pyrotechnics, and lots of water! There are some differences between the shows, the biggest being Disneyland's use of the Mark Twain & Sailing Ship Columbia. In Florida they have no sailing ship and in lieu of the Mark Twain is a Steamboat Willy themed barge. Production value is slightly less in places at the Florida version but there is an intense Pocahontas scene and a more permanent set (including a mountain) that sets it apart from the California version, combine that with the impressive dedicated venue and it stands on its own pretty well compared to the original.
For food we have been big fans of the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater, a table service restaurant where you "sit" in "convertibles" in a drive-in theater, it appears as if you are on a soundstage where they are filming some sort of drive-in scene. It's very clever and the night lighting is pretty believable. We've also enjoyed some meals at the commissary We've done several reviews of some of the other DHS eateries on the blog like the Prime Time Cafe and the Hollywood & Vine character meal.
It will be interesting to see what Galaxy's Edge will do to the park. One of the things that DHS does so well is to pull all of the Disney World Star Wars activity to one place leaving the Magic Kingdom relatively Star Wars free. At DHS some areas have a lot of room to soak up crowds but most of the rides are slow loaders leaving shows to absorb the people. Or perhaps they will park hop to a different park. You can take a boat to EPCOT from Hollywood Studios. We have appreciated the rich theming of the old Hollywood areas, and are crazy for Tower of Terror but see Hollywood Studios primarily as a way to fill out a WDW visit, more Star Wars and hopefully the opening of the Mickey Mouse ride in the Chinese Theater may change that.
