That's a Wrap! ---A Look at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Back in 1989, then CEO Michael Eisner had great plans for the Disney parks, particularly in the Orlando resorts. In competition with rival Universal Studios, Disney wanted to create an onsite studio where guests could visit and watch as real life movies came to life, giving movie fans that one-of-a-kind experience of how it feels to actually be "in the movies."

  Disney’s MGM Studios was born and it was a marvel to behold. It had an array of theme park attractions to entertain the entire family. It had a real life animation studio that helped create blockbuster hits such as Mulan and Lilo and Stitch. It had a working movie lot where trams took guests on tour of their latest projects and displayed large props and character costumes of Disney old. 

It was incredible. I repeat… it was incredible.

Years later, after the 9/11 attacks, Disney lacked the cash to fund studio costs and soon closed attractions that made MGM Studios…a studio. When that happened, the park lost its identity, even more tragic…its purpose. 

When I was growing up, this was my favorite park. As a movie lover, I was obsessed with every single detail of this park. It excited me when I hopped aboard the tram for the 45 minute tour into the backstage lot. I skipped and sang my way onto The Great Movie, marveling at the animatronic figures of some of my favorite movie scenes. Remember when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were at the park? I couldn’t get there fast enough to snag a picture with my favorite reptiles. 

Now it’s a bare facade of a once great theme park, unable to pick up the pieces of the golden age and put itself back together. Much like EPCOT, Disney is scrambling to solve the problem of neglected theme park attractions, trying to work with what they have and incorporate the new developments that they have accumulated in the past ten years. With the acquisition of both Marvel and Lucas Films, Disney identifies the urgency of incorporating live action franchises to utilize their mature theming to create thrilling e-ticket rides that will bring back tweens/teens. 

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a lot of news coming out from the Hollywood Studios team. Three new lands are expected to open within the next few years; Toy Story Land being the first to open in the lineup, followed closely by Grand Avenue dining district and the highly anticipated Star Wars Land. 

As a longtime MGM/Hollywood Studios fan, I can’t help but wonder what in the world is going on in those executive meetings. They are so anxious to roll out rides and entertainment that they are forgetting the most important piece of information that we fans need. And that is…

What is this park going to be? Where’s the cohesion of all these new lands and how do they fit into the current layout of the park?

Speculation of retheming has run rampant over the past few years and now with new developments coming out in back to back weeks, it’s clear to fans that Disney has something cooking up for this highly neglected theme park. My only hope, speaking on behalf of my younger self, is that they don’t forget...

Walt Disney came to Hollywood to make a childhood dream a reality. He grew up going to the movies and many of the films he saw as a child would influence the films he made once he created the Walt Disney Studio. He had a deep love of the golden age of film making and would have appreciated the fact that- for a time- guests from across the globe got the chance to experience the Hollywood dream. 

Like Walt said, “Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.”

 Hollywood Studios has an underlying message that one shouldn’t shy away from creativity. It’s the imagination of those who think outside the box that gives us extraordinary stories that shape a generation. Films like the Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, even characters as iconic and enduring as the Muppets, can inspire those who think that their ideas are weird or too complex to be shared. This theme park, to me, tells those young thinkers to dare to make that dream a real vision to behold by anyone who takes a seat and watches.