Alright, now that Disney pretty much admitted that there is a problem with Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it is my time to attempt to convince you all of the changes that should occur to this park for the future. It is time to bring out all the potential that was contained in this park that had not been realized since 1989. Now that Universal Studios Orlando has pretty much become the superior park thanks to its entourage of additions (Springfield from The Simpsons is my personal favorite), it is Hollywood Studios’ turn to make the epic comeback that the suffering guests and cast members deserve.
The name change should be Disney’s Hollywood Adventure. The park should be the stage, television, and movies of Disney (and other companies) brought to life through attractions, shows, and other methods. No more “live production” stuff, we are now at a point in the world in which it’s much easier to see how movies are done without forking over the money to see the techniques. The draw nowadays is the mix of great service and great attractions that deter your mind away from the problems that plague people outside the Disney Bubble.
The front of the park can represent Classic Hollywood, so most of it shall remain intact. The Citizens of Hollywood can continue bringing their fun magic to the entrance with their skits and presentations. As a matter of fact we should see more of these characters pop out more often to continue the fun well into the evening. Of course we can’t move Tower of Terror, we can’t move Rockin’ Roller Coaster, but we can update the Beauty and the Beast show.
The Beauty and the Beast building should become a theater that hosts all types of different musicals depending on the time period and depending on what the Imagineers want. One day it can be Tangled, one day it can be Hercules, one day it can be a total medley of different Disney songs. The goal of this (The Disney Musical Show) is to keep the locals and the cast members intrigued with the constant changes. We can dedicate one day to Disney sidekick songs, we can dedicate one day to classic Disney music (Very odd we don’t have an Alice in Wonderland musical anywhere yet), we can even do a Disney Renaissance day (From Beauty and the Beast all the way through Mulan). The possibilities are endless in that stage. All we need is a good deep staff and a very dedicated group of cast members to put up with the ongoing changes. I would love to see a Nightmare Before Christmas musical special in time for Christmas, or a villains medley during the Halloween season. And Hunchback of Notre Dame deserves a comeback...........
Fantasmic needs to also upgrade itself to include new scenes and a new soundtrack (The Peter Pan section, PLEASE!), and for goodness sakes make the climax just a little bit better…
The Great Movie Ride needs to be updated. It can start with the classics, but it needs to modernize itself a little with modern classics like Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and other movies that have made their mark in cinema history. The relationship with TCM was an awesome idea, so let’s keep it up by updating the repertoire. By the way, we need to throw in James Bond, a Hitchcock classic or two, and maybe even some Marvel. Lastly, let’s include many more songs from recent great musical scores in the background. When you have just two songs from the 21st century in the background---it’s an issue.
We are still in the Hollywood Classic section of the park. So with that, I would like to see the Frozen show moved (AGAIN, I know) to the Animation section of the park (more on that later). The Superstar Television Theater should become Hollywood Studios Live, which is an attraction I had discussed before on another article. Basically, guests throughout the day audition for the chance to perform their favorite song in front of a live audience with costumes and props. Age will not be an issue, as it would be fun to see 10-year-olds belt out Let it Go and potentially even some duets from older couples to classic Elton John. We can see people in need of courage to go up there and belt out their favorite empowering song. With an energetic host, we can see guests at their most talented, their most ambitious, and their most accessible. Each guest has a story, and Hollywood Studios Live can definitely bring this to life. Picture American Idol minus the competition and this time with less restrictions and a little more karaoke. But, if we don’t want to move Frozen, there’s always the smaller but more intimate ABC Sound Studio.
In front of the Chinese Theater we need more shows. Not just Mulch, Sweat, and Sheers, I would love to see the car from Grease make an appearance and we hear songs from that classic musical once in a while. I would also love to see some “flash mobs” in the same area as talented cast members can do music from classic Hollywood gems like Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, West Side Story, and maybe even some modern musicals like Chicago, A Hard Day’s Night, Hairspray, and Into the Woods.
I want to split the park into different genres and aspects of filmmaking and art creation. The Animation section will focus on Pixar and the Disney animated classics. Disney Junior needs to upgrade into that infamous Frozen show. From what it looks like, Frozen doesn’t need that much of a setting to pull off the performance—it’s a sing-along for crying out loud. The Disney Animation building should remain intact, but we need a wider variety of characters roaming this building. It can’t just be Mickey and Minnie, we need some unsung heroes in these parts.
Little Mermaid Show needs to be lengthier and bigger-scale, so gone are the continuous shows. We need more time in between presentations. The shows should be far longer, and should include all the songs, for it was a great soundtrack. Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream should remain intact but the building next door needs to be Art of Pixar. What better way to celebrate animation then to see all the early sketches of Pixar movies before they transition into the computer period?
Toy Story Mania of course has to stay, that and its upcoming extra track. Pixar Place does need to expand a bit though. Honey I shrunk the Kids should become A Bug’s Life (complete with character interaction), Pizza Planet needs to move to this side, we need another Pixar-based attraction put in here (Perhaps Monster’s Inc. roller coaster, a Ratatouille ride, or a slow-moving Up attraction). We need to start proving to the guests that Toy Story isn’t the only Pixar movie out there, and we can do this by updating the soundtrack to include other Pixar movies, do more meet-and-greets with other Pixar characters, and just basically expand the entire area.
Streets of America and Lights Motors Action both need to go, and Spectacle of Dancing Lights needs to move to Epcot (I can see those lights interact beautifully with Illuminations). This is where Star Wars and Toy Story meets. Wherever Toy Story ends, Star Wars can continue. Star Wars Land will start from Star Tours and stretch to include most of the Streets of America space. The Muppets area needs to go. Sorry. Backlot Express should become the Tatooine Bar (complete with the band and character interactions), Pizza Planet needs to be a cafeteria from the Death Star (with lots of Stormtroopers and Star Wars games), Mama Melrose should become dark-lit restaurant with a galaxy view setting, the Christmas Store should be where the Jedi Training Academy is held (Indoors, no weather affecting it, can hold more kids, and can include more effects). Muppets 3-D Vision should become a 3-D Star Wars symphony movie of some sort. In this space we could use a couple roller coasters: one for the kids and a massive one for the adults. I would love to see an outdoor roller coaster that resembles an aerial battle of some sort or potentially the speedbike scene from Return of the Jedi.
An indoor podracer ride definitely wouldn’t hurt either.
The Premiere Theater survives because we can use this movie screen for movie debuts and special screenings of classic movies when the time comes. Sci-Fi Diner survives because it remains intact with the science fiction/adventure scheme of Star Wars and Indiana Jones (more on THAT later) and ABC Commissary lives because it’s next to Great Movie Ride and Hollywood Studios Live. Now we can talk about Indiana Jones. It needs to upgrade itself from stunt show into an actual ride. Perhaps even two rides if you put them right next to each other. Something that resembles the Disneyland ride but with a new storyline and new effects. That or it can be the mine cart chase from Temple of Doom. Whatever is decided, Indiana Jones deserves a true ride right here, right now. Hollywood Studios has already been considered the park for the teenagers because it has back-to-back intense rides so it would beef up the Hollywood Adventure image a lot if we threw in an intense Indiana Jones ride and a few Star Wars rides as well.
So there you have it: Classic Hollywood, Animation Section, Pixar Place, and Epic Section (name pending, but basically Star Wars/Indiana Jones Land). We add variety to some of the shows, add a few intense roller coasters, upgrade some of the attractions already here, and lastly: turn Disney’s Hollywood Adventure into the premiere event park of the Big Four.
Yea, I had talked about this before..........
We are talking Disney Villain Weekends (all the villains are available here), Pixar Weekends (special Pixar parade and fireworks), 50 Days of Oscar (Special screenings of Academy Award-winning movies topped with a special event when Oscar Sunday occurs), Disney’s Halloween Weekends (more teenage version of Magic Kingdom’s Not-So-Scary), ESPN Weekends, and perhaps even expanded Star Wars Weekends, among others. To top it all off, Hollywood Adventure should become the only park open 24 hours on the last day of the year to complete the year in total style.
Hollywood Adventure will remain the smallest park with the least amount of available space to expand. So with that, we need more variety within the space already allowed. Beauty and the Beast, American Idol/Frozen, Fantasmic, Little Mermaid, and area in front of Great Movie Ride are all places that can host a multitude of thing and prevent the small park from being redundant. The Streets of America/Backlot space I far too big to seem so dead---throw in major Star Wars/Pixar material to breathe life into the left corner of the park.
We need more events, we need more live shows, and we need more guest interactions to maintain the unpredictability that would give this park a different flavor from the others. Magic Kingdom is the only park that essentially is allowed to stay the same. Epcot has the ishload of special events, and Animal Kingdom has the animals always surprising you.
Hollywood Adventure can become a ball of pure mayhem when given the opportunity. This park needs to have the best shows, and needs to have the most intense rides. Hollywood Studios/Adventure/MGM has suffered because it doesn’t have a reputation, it doesn’t really have a true image. With all these changes, it might become the impulsive thrill park that we all secretly crave out of this land.
Make it happen Disney. Now, if you want to hear how I would fix Epcot, let me know….
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