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| caption= The Sorcerer's Hat, Earful Tower the park’s original icon of Disney's Hollywood Studios.

| icon=The Earful Tower (1989-2001) <br> Sorcerer's Hat(2001-2015)

Like most things in Walt Disney World, Disney's Hollywood Studios can trace its origins back to Walt Disney himself. In the 1960s, Walt wanted to build a theme park that would show guests the movie making process. At that time , Universal Studios had a popular backstage tram tour and Walt wanted to do something similar on the backlot of the Disney Studios. Due to land coasts costs and potential traffic problems however, this idea never came to fruition. Although the Disney Studios backlot tour was never built, the idea would later resurface.

The genesis for what would eventually become Disney's Hollywood Studios begins began in the mid-1980s. Imagineers led by Marty Skylar and Randy Bright were given the task of creating two new pavilions for [[Epcot#Current_Future_World_Pavilions_Pavilions|Future World]] in [[EpcotEPCOT Center]]. One of the pavilions they created was to be called the Great Movie Ride pavilion. The main attraction of the pavilion would have taken guests through various movie scenes and was very similar to the [[The Great Movie Ride|attraction of the same name]] that would eventually open at Disney-MGM Studios. Michael Eisner, then the CEO of the Disney Company, decided that the idea for the pavilion was strong enough to warrant its own theme park and told his Imagineers to begin working on it.

At the same time that the new Epcot EPCOT Center pavilions were being designed, Disney decided that it needed a new production studio. The studio was needed due to the fact that dramatic increase in the Disney production schedule had increased dramatically in during the 1980s. Instead of spending a lot of money on land, it was decided that the studio would be built on the property they already owned in Florida. The This need for a new production studio was one of the driving forces behind the inclusion of a studio tour in the new Disney theme park.

Another factor that played a crucial role in the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios was that in 1982 Universal Studios was planning on building an East Coast east coast theme park. In 1982 Universal began to plan its new park, which would also be located in Orlando, Florida. Universal was looking for a partner in the venture, so they approached Paramount Studios’ CEO Michael Eisner about joining them in the project. Eisner declined Universal's proposal and the plans for a Universal East theme park were eventually tabled. When Eisner was named CEO of Disney in 1984 however, he knew about Universal's theme park plans and wanted to beat them to the punch. Eisner decided to build a movie theme park of his own, and had Imagineers start working on the concept. The idea of a Disney movie theme park was kept on the back burner until Universal announced its plans in 1985. After the announcement, Michael Eisner announced that the Disney was already working on a movie based theme park which would be the third gate in Walt Disney World.

Construction began on Disney-MGM Studios in 1986. Besides As mentioned before, besides being a theme park, Disney-MGM Studios was also a working studio. Both animation and live action studios were built, which guests were eventually able to tour, to see how Disney made films. Imagineers also wanted the park to be the perfect representation of the "Golden Age of Hollywood." To accomplish this, the park was themed to look like a small version of Hollywood, with replicas of icons such as Grumman’s Chinese Theatre and its own version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. To give MGM an "icon," Imagineers created the large "Earful Tower." The 130 ft. water tower looked exactly like the one on the Disney Studio Studios lot in California, with the exception of the large Mickey ears placed on top.

Disney beat Universal to the punch, when Disney-MGM Studios opened on May 1, 1989. When the Studios opened the park consisted of Hollywood Boulevard, Lakeside Circle, and the Backlot annex, (with the production studio and animation studio making up the rest of the park). On opening day, Disney-MGM Studios only had five operating attractions. On The Great Movie Ride, guests boarded large trams and rode through scenes from famous movies. Audio Animatronics were used to recreate these scenes, and at the ride’s end guests could see a compilation of clips from "great movies." The second and third opening day attractions were The Monster Sound Show and Superstar Television. Both of these attractions were interactive stage shows hosted by Sony. On the Monster Sound Show guests were able to help add sound effects to an "all-star haunted house mystery." Superstar Television on the other hand, showed guests how TV production worked by recreating some of the greatest shows in television, with guests as the cast members. The other opening day attractions consisted of a lengthy tour of the animation studio and a shorter tour of the production studio.

Although only opening with five attractions, Disney-MGM Studios was quite popular and quickly expanded. Later in 1989, the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular opened on Lakeside Circle. The stunt show recreated stunts from the popular Indiana Jones movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Also in 1989 , Star Tours, - a motion simulator that transports guests to the world of the George Lucas' film series Star Wars openeddebuted. In 1990, New York Street was opened for pedestrians and the 3D film Muppets Vision 3D was added to it. Also added to New York Street at this time was the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground. The large playground for kids was based on the 1989 Disney movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. In 1991, two shows were added to the park: Beauty and The Beast and the Voyage of The Little Mermaid.

In 1994, the Sunset Boulevard area was added to the Studios. As a part of the expansion The Twilight Zone Tower Terror opened. On the Tower of Terror, guests are transported into Rod Sterling's Twilight Zone where they board a haunted elevator. The elevator drops guests 15 stories before rising back up and dropping them again. The next change major to the park came in 1997 , when the Monster Sound Show was replaced with the ABC Sound Studio: One Saturday Morning. The new show was used to feature cartoons airing on ABC, a network recently purchased by Disney. In 1998, the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic! was added to Disney-MGM Studios. The new firework show was a battle of good vs. evil staring Mickey Mouse. In 1999, Sunset Boulevard got another thrill ride with the addition of the Rock N' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. The new attraction , which took guests on a high speed tour of Hollywood and was set to Aerosmith music.

With the turn of the 21st century, Disney-MGM Studios began to see a series of changes. As a part of the 100 Years of Magic celebration, a 122 ft. tall Sorcerer’s Hat (from the Disney movie Fantasia) was added in front of Grumman’s Chinese Theater. At this time Walt Disney's One Man Dream also opened in 2001, featuring . The new attraction featured both a museum of Disney artifacts and a short biographical film about the man Walt Disney himself. In 2003, the animation studio located at the park closed. This closure also ended , ending the Animation Tour that had been a staple of the park since opening day. In 2004, New York Street was expanded to include architecture found in San Francisco and renamed The Streets of America. The section of the Studio Tour that resided behind the Streets of America (Residential Street) was then bulldozed in 2004 in order to make room for a new stunt show titled Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, which opened in 2005.

Since the 2007 name change there have been two a few major additions to the Hollywood Studios. In 2007, Mickey's Avenue was renamed Pixar Place, and all attractions on the Avenue were closed. Opening in their place was Toy Story Midway Mania! The , a new 4D attraction that lets guests travel through (and play ) classic Midway games, while wearing 3D glasses. The opening of Toy Story Midway Mania! was followed by the opening of the American Idol Experience in 2009. The American Idol Experience is was located on Hollywood Boulevard in the ABC Theater and based on the popular television show American Idol. On December 6, 2012 an interactive walkthrough attraction named The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow replaced the Journey Into Narnia walkthrough attraction is . Also in 2012, Sounds Dangerous! officially closed.  2014 saw a series of changes occur in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. On August 30, the American Idol Experience closed its doors. Subsequently on September 27, the Studio Backlot Tour (an interactive show where guests get to see if they have what it takes to opening day attraction) was closed. Following this pattern of change, in October 2014 Disney announced that the Sorcerer’s Hat (which had been built as a temporary structure in 2001) would finally be demolished in 2015. This announcement was paired by the next singing sensationannouncement that The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow would be closing for good on November 6, 2014.  

'''[[Muppet Vision 3D]]'''-A 3D film starring the Muppets, the show features a combination of 3D video and Audio Animatronics to bring the Muppets to life.

'''Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show'''- This stunt show allows guests to see how big-time vehicle stunts are done for Hollywood movies. The 33 minute show features cars, motorcycles and (of course, ) explosions.

'''[[Walt Disney: One Man's Dream]]'''- An exhibition of various items celebrating Walt Disney's life. Guests start out by exploring a Disney museum that tells the Walt’s story of Walt's life, before viewing a 15 minute biographical film.

'''Superstar Television'''- Located in what is now the ABC Theater, Superstar Television was open from 1989 until 1998. The attraction was a live interactive show that allowed guests to re-enact famous television scenes. Using special effects guests would be superimposed and would appear to be in the television shows along with the original actors. The attraction was replaced by Doug Live!

'''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'''-Located in the Backlot Theater (Now the Premiere Theater), The Hunchback of Notre Dame opened on June 21, 1996 and closed on September 28, 2002. Like the Spirit of Pocahontas before it, The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a live, musical show. The show attraction was a retelling of the 1996 Disney Movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

'''Here Come the Muppets'''-Located in the Animation Courtyard Theater, Here Come the Muppets opened on May 25, 1990 and closed on September 2, 1991. The show was a live stage show featuring full sized characters from the Muppets. The show was always thought to be temporary, as Muppet Vision 3D was set to open soon in a new area called Muppet Studios. With the addition of Muppet Studios it would have made no sense to keep a Muppet attraction in the Animation Courtyard. Although Muppet Studios was never created, Here Come the Muppets did close in 1991 and was replaced by the Voyage of The Little Mermaid.

''' [[The American Idol Experience]]'''- This interactive show allowed guests to take the stage and sing, just like on the television show American Idol. Guests also have the option of sitting in the audience and watching the performances. The American Idol Experience opened on February 14, 2009 and closed on August 30, 2014.  '''[[Studio Backlot Tour]]'''- The Studio Backlot Tour let guests see the behind the scenes aspects of movie making. Guests were able to see how special effects are were created, and also tour a museum of movie props. The attraction consisted of both a tram and walking tour and lasted about 35 minutes. The Studio Backlot Tour opened with the park on May 1, 1989 and closed on September 27, 2014. '''The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow'''- The interactive walkthrough attraction allowed guests to join Jack Sparrow’s crew and help the pirate defeat Davy Jones. The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow opened on December 6, 2012 and closed on November 6, 2014.