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| caption=''' A replica of Grauman's Chinese Theater houses the Great Movie Ride in at Disney's Hollywood Studios.'''

The genesis for what would eventually become Disney's Hollywood Studios began in the mid-1980s. Although there are varying accounts as to what sparked the creation of the new park, it was likely a confluence of factors. One possible launching point came when 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 [[EPCOT Center]] <ref name= "history"> http://www.studioscentral.com/history-great-movie-ride </ref>. One of the pavilions idea they created came up with, was to be called the Great Movie Ride pavilion<ref name= "history"/>. The main , which would house an attraction of the pavilion which would have taken guests through various iconic movie scenes and was very similar to (a concept that would eventually materialize in 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 he told his Imagineers to begin working on it<ref name= "history"/>.

At A second factor in the same time that creation of the new EPCOT Center pavilions were being designed, Disney-MGM Studios came when Disney decided that it needed a new production studio , due to the dramatic increase in the Disney production schedule during the 1980s. Instead of spending a lot of money on to purchase new land, it was the company decided that the studio would be built on the property they already owned in Florida. This need for a new production studio was is often mentioned as 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 While the Great Moments in the Movies pavilion and Disney's need for a new production studio may have been the catalyst for the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios was that , perhaps the most crucial factor in the creation of the park happened before either of the aformentioned events. In 1982 , Universal Studios was planning on building an East Coast theme park in Orlando<ref name= "studios"/>. Universal was looking for a partner in the venture, so they approached Paramount Studios’ Studios' CEO Michael Eisner about joining them in the project <ref name= "realityland"> Koenig, David. Realityland: True-life Adventures at Walt Disney World. Irvine, CA: Bonaventure, 2007. Print. </ref>. 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 <ref name= "realityland"/>. 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<ref name= "realityland"/>.

Construction on Disney-MGM Studios began in 1986 <ref name= "studios"/>. 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 and to see how Disney made films<ref name= "studios"/>. 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 Theater, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the Brown Derby. To give Disney-MGM Studios an "icon," , Imagineers created the large "Earful Tower". The 130 ft. water tower looked exactly like the one on the Disney Studios lot in California, with the exception of the large Mickey ears placed on top <ref name= "studios"/>.

Disney beat Universal to the punch when Disney-MGM Studios opened on May 1, 1989 <ref name= "yesterland"> http://www.yesterland.com/mgm-beginning.html </ref>. 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)<ref name= "yesterland"/> .[[Image:MGMGrandOpening.jpg|thumb|400px|Michael Eisner and Bob Hope leading the first family into the park on its opening day]] 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 montage 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 <ref name= "day"> http://www.thisdayindisneyhistory.com/Disney-MGMGrandOpening.html </ref>. 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 cast in the show. The other opening day attractions consisted of a lengthy tour of the animation studio and a shorter tour of the production studio <ref name= "day"/>.