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Like most things in Walt Disney World, Disney's Hollywood Studios can trace it's 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 Disney Studios. Due to land coasts and potential traffic problems this idea never came to fruition. Although the Disney Studios backlot tour was never built, the idea would resurface later.

The genesis for a theme park based on movie making, really what would become Disney's Hollywood Studios begins in the mid 1980s. Imageneers 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]]. 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 movies movie scenes and was very similar to the 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 it's own theme park and told his Imageneers Imagineers to begin working on it.

At the same time that the new Epcot pavilions were being designed, Disney decided that it needed a new production studio. The studio was needed due to the fact that the Disney production schedule had increased dramatically in the 1980's1980s. 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 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 Universal Studios was planning on building an East Coast theme park. In 1982 Universal began to plan its new park , which would also be located in Orlando. 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 it's 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.

Before the new park was even announced Disney had already been working behind the scenes to acquire the rights to the name and logo of Metro-Golden-Mayer Inc. Disney and MGM agreed on a contract in 1985, that which allowed Disney to use the MGM name, logo and certain film clips. The new theme park would eventually be named Disney-MGM Studios, and would feature the classic MGM logo Leo the Lion.

Construction began on Disney-MGM Studios in 1986. Besides being a theme park, Disney-MGM Studios was also a working studio. Both animation and live action studios were built, and which guests would were eventually be able to tour these studious to see how Disney made films. Imageneers 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 Grauman's Chinese Theater Theatre and their own version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. To give MGM an "icon", Imageneers Imagineers created the large water tower, "Earfull Earful Tower." The water tower looked exactly like the one on the Disney Studio lot in California, with the exception of the large Mickey ears placed on top. The tower stood an astonishing 130 ft tall.

Disney beat Universal to the punch, when on May 1, 1989 Disney-MGM Studios opened. When it opened the park consisted of three separate parts. The theme park was made up of the Hollywood Boulevard, Lakeside Circle, and the Backlot annex. The rest of the park consisted of the production studio and the animation studio. The Studios only had five opening day attractions. On The Great Movie Ride, guests boarded large trams and rode through scenes from famous movies. Audio Animatronic's Animatronics were used to recreate these scenes, and at the end of the ride guests 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 a "all-star haunted house mystery". Superstar Television on the other hand, showed guests how TV production worked by recreating some of the greatest show's 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.

On hand for opening day were camera crews from various television stations. Actor John Ritter hosted the festivities, and celebrities such as Mickey Rooney, George Burns, Ann Miller, Willie Nelson, Jane Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Dick Van Dyke and The Pointer Sisters attended. Tony RandellRandall, President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher all appeared in video clips. The festivities started with Smokey Robinson singing and dancing has his way down Hollywood Boulevard and Michael Eisner reading the dedication:

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". Later in 1989 Star Tours opened. Star Tours is a motion simulator that transports guests to the world of the George Lucas' film series Star Wars. In 1990 , New York Street was opened for pedestrians and the 3D show film Muppets 3D was added to it. Also added to New York Street 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: Beauty and The Beast and the Voyage of The Little Mermaid were added to the park.

In 1994 , Sunset Boulevard was added to the Studios. The popular attraction the Twilight Zone Tower Terror was opened along with Boulevard. On the Tower of Terror guests are transported in Alfred Hitchcock's Twilight Zone where they board a haunted elevator. The elevator drops guests 15 stories before raising them back up and dropping them again! In 1997 the Monster Sound Show was replaced with the ABC Sound Studio : One Saturday Morning. The new show was used to feature cartoons airing on the now Disney owned ABC. 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. Fantasmic! was added to try and keep guests in the park all day. In 1999 Sunset Boulevard got another thrill ride with the addition of the Rock N' Roller Coaster Staring Starring Aerosmith. The new attraction took guests on a high speed tour of Hollywood and was set to Aerosmith music.

Since the 2007 name change their have been two 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 new 4D attraction, lets guests travel through and play classic Midway games, while wearing 3D glasses. Toy Story Midway Mania ! was followed up by the American Idol Experience in 2009. The American Idol Experience is Located located on Hollywood Boulevard in the ABC theater and based on the popular television show American Idol. The attraction is an interactive show where guests get to see if they have what it takes to be the next singing sensation.

'''[[The Great Movie Ride]]'''-This opening day attraction lets guests board trams and travel through some of the most popular movies of all time. The ride lasts about 22 minutes and is located inside Grauman's Chinese TheaterTheatre.

'''[[Studio Backlot Tour]]'''- The Studio Backlot Tour let's lets guests see the behind the scenes aspects of movie making. Guests are able to see how special effects are done and also tour a museum of movie props. The attraction consists of both a tram and walking tour and lasts about 35 minutes.

'''[[The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror]]'''- A thrill ride which drops guests up to 13 stories. Guests arrive at the Hollywood Tower Hotel in the Twilight Zone before entering "a most uncommon elevator". "

'''[[Rock N Roller Coaster Staring Aerosmith]]'''- A road trip through Hollywood featuring twists, turns, loops and even a quirk-screwcorkscrew. Set to the music of Aerosmith, Rock N Roller Coaster is one of the fastest rides in Disney World. The ride starts by accelerating from 0 to 57 miles per hour in an astonishing 2.8 seconds!