Does This Mean Disney World Is Bringing Hollywood Studios Back From The Dead?

For a period in the early 2010s, the Disney World park once known as Disney-MGM Studios was in a somewhat sad state. It was nearly unrecognizable from the park that had opened in 1989, and visitors noticed. However, over the last decade, Disney has stacked the park with some heavy hitters, and now three major upcoming projects look ready to complete Hollywood Studios’ rebirth.

I’ve been visiting the Studios park for over 30+ years, and have been a witness to its evolution from a “real working studio” to its current incarnation. (In fact, I literally did so, as I happened to be in Walt Disney World in January of 2008, and visited the park on its last official days as the Disney-MGM Studios and first official day as Disney’s Hollywood Studios). However, the transformation in its final stage right now might be the most pronounced in its history.

To understand what Hollywood Studios is turning into, we first have to go back to how it began. The genesis of the park started as an EPCOT pavilion that was going to be based around Hollywood and moviemaking, headlined by a behind-the-scenes attraction that would eventually evolve into the Great Movie Ride.

However, upon seeing the plans, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner — allegedly inspired by Universal plans he had somewhat surreptitiously become aware of — decided to expand the pavilion’s concept into a full park AND working film studio that would aim to bring film production to Orlando.

When the park first opened in 1989, its primary attractions were The Great Movie Ride — an animatronic trip through Hollywood history that was initially planned for the EPCOT pavilion. There was also an hour-long tram tour called the Studio Backlot Tour, which toured the studio buildings, which included working production stages for films and television shows.

It also included a collection of backlot streets designed to look like New York City, an area of residential neighborhood facades, a wardrobe department, a special effects department, and a satellite animation studio. In addition, the overall theme of all areas of the park was that of a studio in a “Hollywood that never was” with guests being cast as movie stars, and all other attractions taking place on “hot sets” that put them in the midst of movie-making magic.

Other attractions that opened to complement these attractions in the park’s early years included a tour of the park’s animation studio known as the Magic of Disney Animation, Star Tours, Superstar Television, the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt, and the Streets of America and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, which were carved out of the studio tour in the park’s early years.

During the park’s early years, there were many productions produced at the park, including Newsies, Ernest Saves Christmas, The New Mickey Mouse Club, Adventures in Wonderland, Superboy, MTV’s Remote Control, Thunder in Paradise, Passenger 57, and World Championship Wrestling programs, including several episodes of their flagship series, Monday Nitro.

However, by the mid-1990s, the number of live-action productions began to dwindle, while theme park attractions like the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith were added to the park.

The animation studio, Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, fared slightly better. The division worked on several of the company’s feature-length animated films in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear. However, the studio closed in 2004.

The closure of the animation studio was the first of many that hit the park during the 2000s and 2010s, as the park fell into a strange state. The Backlot Tour continued to shrink, while shows like the Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show and the American Idol Experience were added to add some temporary life to the park.

By the middle of the 2010s, the park was in a sad state, featuring a hodgepodge of aging attractions, some of which tied into a studio theme that no longer existed. Things began to change in August of 2015, when it was announced that two new lands (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land) were coming to the park.

These massive single-IP lands opened in 2019 and 2018, respectively, replacing the Streets of America (and displacing the Osborne Family Christmas Lights) and the remnants of the Backlot Tour.

2017 then saw the closure of the iconic Great Movie Ride, to be replaced by Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. With the closure, Hollywood Studios became the only Disney park in the world to have ZERO attractions from its opening day still in operation in some form. (Both Star Tours and the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular had been built for opening day, but neither opened with the park.) The Railway attraction, the first of its kind to star Mickey, debuted in 2020.

That brings us to the current day, as three more projects are completing Hollywood Studios’ rebirth.

In 2025, Muppet*Vision 3D — and the rest of the former Muppet Courtyard — closed to make way for construction of a massive new Monsters, Inc. land that will create Monstropolis and be headlined by a suspended coaster — Disney’s first — based on the film’s iconic door sequence.

The Muppets won’t be gone for long, however, as the characters will be taking over the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster from Aerosmith. We’re sorry, “Bad Boys of Boston” fans, but this change will feel like a breath of fresh air for a ride that has seemed very 90s dated for a while now.

Finally, in a bit of a full-circle moment, Star Wars Launch Bay has closed to make way for a NEW take on the Magic of Disney Animation, hardening back to the park’s early days. The new version will feature theming based on the Emmy-winning Once Upon a Studio short that celebrated Disney’s 100th Anniversary. This will include “moving” portraits, as well as character meet & greets. Sketch classes, where guests will be able to draw their own favorite Disney characters, similar to the original Animation Academy.

The Drawn to Wonderland playground, which will feature an oversized flower garden with musical instruments, a Mad Tea Party playset, and a Tulgey Wood exploration area, all designed in the style of Disney Legend Mary Blair.

By the time Hollywood Studios’ construction is projected to finish in the next few years, it will be radically different than the park that opened 40 years prior. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Disney World’s history and evolution.

Disney’s Forgotten How To Make Rides Like the Great Movie Ride

Are you excited for Hollywood Studios’ evolution? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments (1)