Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney's MGM Studios) is a theme park located in Walt Disney World.

History

Conception

Like most things in Walt Disney World, Disney's Hollywood Studios can trace it's 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 the time Universal Studios had a popular backstage tram tour and Walt wanted to do something similar on the backlot Disney Studious. 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 genies for a theme park based on movie making really begins in the mid 1980s. Imageneer's led by Marty Skylar and Randy Bright were given the task of creating two new pavilions for Future World in Epcot. One of the pavilions they created was to be called the Great Movie Ride pavilion. The attraction would have taken guests through various movies and was very similar to the attraction that would eventually open at Disney's MGM Studious. Michael Eisner, then the CEO of the Disney Company decided that the idea for the pavilion was strong enough to warrant it's on theme park and told his Imageneers to begin working on it.

At the same that the new Epcot pavilions were being designed, Disney decided that it needed a new production studio. The studio was needed because the Disney production schedule had increased dramatically in the 1980's. 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 Disney's 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 and approached Michael Eisner who was then the head of Paramount Studios. Eisner declined the proposal and the plans for a Universal East were tabled. When Eisner was named CEO of Disney, he knew about Universal's plan and wanted to beat them to the punch. Eisner decided to build a movie theme park of his own, and had Imageneers start working on the concept. The idea of a Disney movie theme park was kept on the back burner until Universal announced it's 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 allowed Disney to used the MGM name, logo and certain film clips. The new theme park would eventually be named Disney's MGM Studios, and would feature the classic MGM logo Leo the Lion.

Construction

Construction began on Disney's MGM Studios in 1986. Besides being a theme park, Disney's MGM Studios was also a working studio. Both animation and live action studios were built, and guests would eventually be able to tour these studious to see how Disney made films. Imageneers wanted to create 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 and their own version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. To give MGM an "icon" Imageneers created the a large water tower, "Earfull 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.

Opening Day

Disney beat Universal to the punch when on May 1, 1989 Disney's 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 Anamatronic's were used to recreate these scenes. 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 showed guests how TV production worked by recreating some of the greatest show's in television with guests as the cast members. 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 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. Tony Randell, President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher all appeared in video clips. The festivities started with Smokey Robinson singing and dancing has way down Hollywood Boulevard. Michael Eisner read the dedication:

"The World you have entered was created by The Walt Disney Company and is dedicated to Hollywood—not a place on a map, but a state of mind that exists wherever people dream and wonder and imagine, a place where illusion and reality are fused by technological magic. We welcome you to a Hollywood that never was—and always will be." Michael Eisner May 1, 1989

Changes Since Opening

Although only opening with five attractions, Disney's 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 series. Later in 1989 Star Tours opened. Star Tours is a motion simulator that transports guests the world of the George Lucas film series Star Wars. In 1990 New York Street was opened for pedestrians and the 3D show 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 Studious. 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 The Twilight Zone where the 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 night spectacular Fantasmic! was added to Disney's 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 Aerosmith.

Disney's MGM Studios 2000-2007

With the turn of the 21st century, Disney's MGM Studios began to change. Walt Disney's One Man Dream opened in 2001 featuring both a museum and a short film. In 2003, the animation studio located at the park closed. This closure also ended 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 bulldozed in 2004 in order to make room for a new stunt show, Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, which opened in 2005.

2007 Name Change

In 2007, Disney announced that it would be renaming the park Disney's Hollywood Studios. The contract signed in 1985 between MGM and Disney had expired in 2005, and Disney choose not to renew it. When announcing the name change, Meg Crofton the President of The Walt Disney World Resort stated:

The new name reflects how the park has grown from representing the golden age of movies to a celebration of the new entertainment that today’s Hollywood has to offer—in music, television, movies and theater,

— Meg Crofton, President of Walt Disney World Resort

Reflected in the name change was the fact that over time the theme of the park had changed. Originally the park was set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, but by 2007 the theme had clearly shifted to a more modern view of film making. By 2008 the park had been renamed Disney's Hollywood Studios, however it took more time to change all the affect signs.

Disney's Hollywood Studios 2007-Present

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 attractions 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 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.

Change of Name

In By 2005, however, Disney was major player in film, TV, and home video markets. In addition, Kirk Kerkorian, who was the owner of MGM in 1985, had always been unhappy with the deal and was still influential in the company until 2005. This may have affected the decision not to continue the partnership. It is who made the official decision not to renew the deal, or if both parties simply allowed it to expire, but by 2008 the park had been renamed to Disney's Hollywood Studios.