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| custom_value_2= Backlot Annex/Lakeside Circle (1989)}}
==History==
What is today known as the Echo Lake area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, opened with the rest of the then Disney-MGM Studios on May 1, 1989<ref> http://www.thisdayindisneyhistory.com/Disney-MGMGrandOpening.html </ref>. On the first Disney-MGM Studios maps, the area was not called Echo Lake, but instead referred to as the Backlot Annex/Lakeside Circle (despite the fact that Echo Lake itself was present and called such on Disney-MGM’s opening day maps)<ref> http://www.florida-project.com/images/guidemaps/ds/disney-mgm-studios-guidebook-1989-mid-02.jpg </ref>. When the park debuted, Lakeside Circle was home to the Monster Sound Show and Superstar Television <ref name= "map2"> http://www.florida-project.com/images/guidemaps/ds/disney-mgm-studios-guidebook-1989-mid-06.jpg </ref>. On the Monster Sound Show attraction guests were recruited to add sound effects to an "all-star haunted house mystery" <ref name= "monster"> http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id69.htm </ref>. Similarly, Superstar Television was another interactive attraction that had guests recreating some of television's greatest moments <ref name=Superstar"> http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id68.htm </ref>. Also located in the land were the restaurants: Hollywood and Vine, The 50s Primetime Café, the Tune In Lounge, Min & Bill’s Dockside Diner, the Backlot Express, and Dinosaur Gertie’s Ice Cream of Extinction <ref name= "map2"/>.
On August 25, 1989, the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! debuted on the Backlot Annex <ref> https://d23.com/a-to-z/indiana-jones-epic-stunt-spectacular/ </ref>. This new attraction had originally been intended as an opening day attraction, however when the show was deemed unready, its official opening was delayed <ref name= "Martin"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?p=757 </ref>. Despite this, since the park opened, guests had been able to visit the Stunt Spectacular and look in on “live rehearsals” <ref> https://www.mouseplanet.com/11330/The_Premiere_of_DisneyMGM_Studios </ref>.
The next major change to Echo Lake came on December 16, 1990 when the Commissary restaurant opened <ref> https://d23.com/a-to-z/abc-commissary/ </ref>. Subsequently, on July 1, 1997, the Monster Sound Show closed <ref name= "monster"/>. The show was briefly replaced with the One Saturday Morning Sound Show from July 1, 1997 until February 20, 1999<ref name= "monster"/>. In this incarnation of the attraction, guests added sound effects to the Disney cartoon 101 Dalmatians: The Series. At this time the name of the theater was changed to the ABC Sound Studio. On April 22, 1999, the One Saturday Morning Sound Show made way for a new attraction- Sounds Dangerous Starring Drew Carey <ref> https://d23.com/a-to-z/abc-sound-studio-sounds-dangerous/ </ref>. This new attraction took place almost entirely in the dark, as guests followed the adventures of undercover detective Drew Carey. After becoming a seasonal attraction, the show would finally close for good on May 18, 2012.
Like the Monster Sound Show, by the late 1990s, Superstar Television was also seeing a decline in popularity. On September 26, 1998, the attraction closed to make way for a new show titled Doug Live! <Ref> http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id68.htm </ref>. Based on the ABC cartoon, Doug Live ran until May 12, 2001 <ref> http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id176.htm </ref>. The short lived Get Happy with ABC then opened on July 1, 2002. More or less a 25 minute advertisement for ABC’s 2003 TV lineup, Get Happy with ABC closed October 5, 2002 <ref> http://allears.net/tp/mgm/m_happy.htm </ref>.
The next addition to Echo Lake came in 2007, in the form of a permanent home for the Jedi Training Academy <ref> http://allears.net/tp/mgm/jedi_mgm.htm </ref>. Originally an exclusive part of Star Wars Weekends, the Jedi Training Academy is a live show that allows young guests to discover their inner Jedi.
