[Chat] Hollywood Studios

[PerrySimon]

This chat is for ideas of what things that they should put into Hollywood Studios.

These are my ideas:

1. Level the Backlot Tour

2. Rename the lands to movie studios that represent the rides (For example Echo Lake turns into Lucas Studios)

3. Expand back into the backlot area for Pixar Place

4. Demolish all of the buildings in te Animation Courtyard Area and replace land with Walt Disney Studios

5. Make Avatar Land in Hollywood Studios instead of Animal Kingdom

Thats it for me but I will hope to hear from all of you guys.

[LordVader]

Re: Hollywood Studios

Ahem, (grabs mic, and steps on soapbox). First thing, revive the Muppet Studios concept, to do this Pizza Planet will be moved to an expanded Pixar Place. Featuring, TSMM, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor moved from MK, A Bugs Life playground where HISTK playground used to be, and an Incredibles attraction, possibly a mission to save the city from Syndrome using kuka arm technology.

Back to Muppet Studio. The old Hunchback soundstage will be used for The Great Muppet Movie Ride, a journey through film history with those wacky Muppets and their trademark humor. Muppet Vision 3D will remain relatively the same with minor enhancements. Waldo will be made to look less 90's. A Swedish Chef themed restaurant will go where Pizza Planet used to be with an interactive Swedish Chef animatronic going around entertaining guests.

And finally. The Great Movie Ride will receive a major refurbishment. Replacing all of the older animatronics for newer more advanced figures, the Fantasia sequence will be upgraded with an animatronic Mickey atop the mountain with water effects. The final touch the demolition of the Hat. I don't care what happens to it. Preferably, take it somewhere secluded and KABOOM!!! It's gone!!

There you have it.

[WDW1971]

Re: Hollywood Studios

1. Level the Backlot Tour

And replace it with what?

2. Rename the lands to movie studios that represent the rides (For example Echo Lake turns into Lucas Studios)

No, I do not really like this idea.

3. Expand back into the backlot area for Pixar Place

What type of expansion are you talking about?

4. Demolish all of the buildings in te Animation Courtyard Area and replace land with Walt Disney Studios

I actually think this area is nice as it was an actual animation studio and it is nice looking.

5. Make Avatar Land in Hollywood Studios instead of Animal Kingdom

Yes but how does this fit in with a studio theme park? We left the studio and now are on a foreign planet? Do not get it. Maybe just one attraction based on it but not a whole land. I would rather see Beastly Kingdom in Animal Kingdom.

[Movie Lessons]

Re: Hollywood Studios

1. Level the Backlot Tour

Backlot tour isn't that big. It's 3 roads and Catastrophe Canyon and that's the size of maybe two Hats. The watertank/prop room/AFI room are where the focus should be, that's about 3/4 the space of Great Movie Ride. No space for a coaster, but a decent dark ride could fit.

2. Rename the lands to movie studios that represent the rides (For example Echo Lake turns into Lucas Studios)

Eeeehhhhh... A name is that: a name. Give me a reason to rename it first. But, to move with that Idea: Sounds Dangerous to become an indoor 2-stage (as in left/right) Jedi Training Academy. IJ Epic stunt and star tours remain the same but change the Backlot Express (which I could never understand...we're not near the backlot) and turn it into the "skywalker ranch archive eatery"... ok, it's the same place with a Planet Hollywood feel, showcasing props seen in some of your favorite Lucasfilm movies, right where you eat. It's the slice of cheese between two awesome pieces of bread to make a cohesive sandwich.

3. Expand back into the backlot area for Pixar Place

Again, backlot isn't that big. You start cutting into the buildings backstage an you're talking about relocating offices and necessary lines of business. Besides, it's bad enough there's only one way to get to Tower of Terror, especially when you see guests in Animation Courtyard going "but I can see it from here!" The last thing guest need is another "alleyway attraction" to dead-end them.

4. Demolish all of the buildings in te Animation Courtyard Area and replace land with Walt Disney Studios

This quote brought to you by the Disney film "Wreck-It Ralph."
Why tear down to just rebuild and what would you put in its place? Tearing down a building to put in another building doesn't seem economical when you can just re-purpose it. They could change Mermaid to Tangled and update the Animation show and I'd be happy.

5. Make Avatar Land in Hollywood Studios instead of Animal Kingdom

WDW1971 brings up a good point and I ask "where would you put it?" Studios was painted into a corner (with World Drive and Buena Vista Drive) and while you could start building into parking lots, that's like selling your teeth for steak. Maybe once or twice, but too much of one means you can't process the other. To take CM parking to put another ride (which requires more CMs to operate) simply doubles up on staffing problems.

But to make a more cohiesive Pixar place...

Studio Catering Company to become a two story Pizza Planet (with a walk-thru like Innoventions to allow access to Streets of America). Bottom floor - quick service. Second floor - additional seating & games. (similar to current Pizza Planet setup). HISTK playground to become A Bugs Life (again) and get them to commit to that Dang-blasted Monsters Inc ride next to Toy Story.

Back to Muppet Studio. The old Hunchback soundstage will be used for The Great Muppet Movie Ride, a journey through film history with those wacky Muppets and their trademark humor. Muppet Vision 3D will remain relatively the same with minor enhancements. Waldo will be made to look less 90's. A Swedish Chef themed restaurant will go where Pizza Planet used to be with an interactive Swedish Chef animatronic going around entertaining guests.

I like the Swedish Chef themed resturaunt, but I can't picture an animatronic going around. With general wear-and-tear, I'd give it weeks before failure. Now, a High-def "window" where you can look inside to see the food "prepared" by the Chef and seeing odd things happen would be more probable.

As for the Hunchback theater, not enough room for a ride, but how about "The Muppet Show (already in progress)" where guest see real Muppets (with dialogue pre-recorded by the actual Muppet performers) attempting to complete the filming of the new Muppet Show. As Guests walk into the theater they see the previous guests leaving with an exasperated Kermit asking them to come back and not to mention this to their new boss. As the entering guests take their seats, Kermit informs them that the last act was so bad, that the audience walked out and the Muppets are using their "stand-by audience" to complete the show. A series of show selections can be played (similar to the Star Tours rotating destination) allowing different Hollywood Stars to interact with the live Muppets (via Musion Eyeliner - used for the 2Pac appearance at Coachella). The rotating segments mean a different show in different orders for each show - culminating in the grand Finale, big enough to bring the house down (literally) and end the show. As your group of guests are ushered out, a new group of guests enter with Kermit delivering the same spiel as when you originally entered. MuppetVision 3d is a tribute to Jim Henson and the original muppets, TMS(aip) focuses on the lesser known and newer muppets.

And finally. The Great Movie Ride will receive a major refurbishment. Replacing all of the older animatronics for newer more advanced figures, the Fantasia sequence will be upgraded with an animatronic Mickey atop the mountain with water effects.

No water effects... Footlight parade: ask any cast member who has worked at GMR and they'll tell you why "no water effects."
I have a soft spot for GMR. (as I still work there) and can offer my two cents.
Footlight Parade: replace the slide show with a high-def video projector to display swimming girls and a screen of bubbles (as the lighting inside goes up and we see the tiered "cake."
Gangster: Add a shady character standing over the 55 gallon drum (with a "fire" inside) next to the bar and a duo of made-men exchange glances across from Cagney at the Red and Blue Cab gives a sense of a foreboding neighborhood.
Western: An arm holding a tin cup dangles outside the jail cell window as the animatronic Old deputy sits in his chair, sound asleep, unaware of the gun play going on around him.
Alien: Tie a mudflap to a rotating motorized clothesline above the ceiling to slap down and travel across the room to give the sensation that something's moving out there. Change the pipe design across from Sigourney Weaver to mirror the look of the one with the wall-Alien in it... And fix the wall-Alien so he doesn't look like he's already sticking out.
Fantasia: Make about 5 of the Broomstick guys and make a 6 inch ledge on the wall opposite Mickey. Place the broom stick guys dumping their buckets with mylar streamers standing in for water.

Other than that, fix all the lights, make sure the sound is upgraded, get the vehicles to all work at the same speed, work on the air conditioning, get the Gangster car to work consistently and for Pete's sake... Stop talking over John Wayne!

[Bronco21]

Re: Hollywood Studios

Overall the park would be divided into Studios: Animation Studios (Toontown and Animation courtyard mini lands), TV Studios (Sunset Boulevard, ABC Studios, and Music Studios mini lands), Pixar Studios, Muppet Studios, Lucas Studios (Star Wars and Indiana Jones mini lands), and Hollywoodland (enhanced entrance area).

Heres how I would fix it:

1. Remove the hat! It destroys any theme that Disney is trying to create! It's removal would allow a clear uninstructed view of the GMR and would help immensely to fix the thematic problems of the area. the whole area would recieve a minor facelift that would bring the theme closer to the golden age of movies (1930's 40's).

2. Update the GMR. The scenes have become very dates (along with the movies) and it really should be THE signature ride of the park like it once was.

3. Demolish the lake, sounds dangerous, Indiana Jones stunt show, and everything around it. Echo lake destroys any thematic cohesion that you would create by removing the hat. I would remove it and sounds dangerous then absorb this area into Lucas Studios.

4. Build a new water ride themed to Indiana jones in place of echo lake, Sounds dangerous, and the Indiana Jones stunt show as part of the new Indiana Jones mini land. This park desperately needs a water ride (It is the park with the least shade and has no rides water rides? That makes no sense to me). A huge mountain for the attraction would be built, but to keep cohesion, a Hollywoodland sign would be placed on the Hollywood side of the mountain. The "Indiana jones mini land" would also include a jungle jeep ride (think autopia with jeeps) and a new Adventurers club restaurant. This park needs more kid friendly rides so a Indiana Jones themed autopia fits perfectly.

5. Indiana Jones mini land would merge into a new Star Wars mini land with a setting more like Endor (but without the cheap set look). Star Tours would remain the same with only minor facade work. Add a lot of trees to the area along with a few chicken walkers and storm trooper walk around characters. The main new draw of the new area would be a new kiddy racing coaster themed to the speeder bikes used on endor in return of the Jedi.

6. Muppets Studios would expand into the area currently used by Lights, Motors, action!, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and the backlot tour. Great Muppet Movie ride would be built along with a new muppets playground replacing the HISTA one. The area would also be home to a new Muppets Lounge Restaurant featuring Doctor Teeth and the electric mayhem.

7. Backstage areas behind animation courtyard would be removed and a new Toontown area would be placed behind the Little Mermaid building. The area would include 3 rides: Donald's squirt and splash boating adventure (aquatopia with water effects), Epic Mickey (the next generation of TSMM with animatronics and lots of projections), and Oswald's Trolley Trouble (a basic Trolly).

8. Sunset Boulevard would be rethemed to TV Studios. American Idol would be moved to the parking lot next to RnRC. The new courtyard would be renamed music studios. A new Nightime Dance party (think ElecTRONica) would be take up the street surrounding ToT and RnRC. The new show would be themed to the Twilight Zone with lots of lighting effects, music, entertainment, and drinks. This would help to make the park more of a draw during the nightime hours and I'm sure they would be just as popular as the similar parties in DCA except this would actually fit the theme of the area. The parking lot behind the food court would be removed for a new ride.

9. A new dark ride would be added to the parking lot behind the food court on Sunset Boulevard. This new dark ride, called "Television: More than pictures in a box", would take guest's on a journey through the invention of the television up to the development of blockbuster tv programs we have today (think Spaceship earth of television). The onimovers attraction would give the park another unique attraction with high capacity.

[LordVader]

Re: Hollywood Studios

Backlot tour isn't that big. It's 3 roads and Catastrophe Canyon and that's the size of maybe two Hats. The watertank/prop room/AFI room are where the focus should be, that's about 3/4 the space of Great Movie Ride. No space for a coaster, but a decent dark ride could fit.


Eeeehhhhh... A name is that: a name. Give me a reason to rename it first. But, to move with that Idea: Sounds Dangerous to become an indoor 2-stage (as in left/right) Jedi Training Academy. IJ Epic stunt and star tours remain the same but change the Backlot Express (which I could never understand...we're not near the backlot) and turn it into the "skywalker ranch archive eatery"... ok, it's the same place with a Planet Hollywood feel, showcasing props seen in some of your favorite Lucasfilm movies, right where you eat. It's the slice of cheese between two awesome pieces of bread to make a cohesive sandwich.


Again, backlot isn't that big. You start cutting into the buildings backstage an you're talking about relocating offices and necessary lines of business. Besides, it's bad enough there's only one way to get to Tower of Terror, especially when you see guests in Animation Courtyard going "but I can see it from here!" The last thing guest need is another "alleyway attraction" to dead-end them.


This quote brought to you by the Disney film "Wreck-It Ralph."
Why tear down to just rebuild and what would you put in its place? Tearing down a building to put in another building doesn't seem economical when you can just re-purpose it. They could change Mermaid to Tangled and update the Animation show and I'd be happy.


WDW1971 brings up a good point and I ask "where would you put it?" Studios was painted into a corner (with World Drive and Buena Vista Drive) and while you could start building into parking lots, that's like selling your teeth for steak. Maybe once or twice, but too much of one means you can't process the other. To take CM parking to put another ride (which requires more CMs to operate) simply doubles up on staffing problems.

But to make a more cohiesive Pixar place...

Studio Catering Company to become a two story Pizza Planet (with a walk-thru like Innoventions to allow access to Streets of America). Bottom floor - quick service. Second floor - additional seating & games. (similar to current Pizza Planet setup). HISTK playground to become A Bugs Life (again) and get them to commit to that Dang-blasted Monsters Inc ride next to Toy Story.



I like the Swedish Chef themed resturaunt, but I can't picture an animatronic going around. With general wear-and-tear, I'd give it weeks before failure. Now, a High-def "window" where you can look inside to see the food "prepared" by the Chef and seeing odd things happen would be more probable.

As for the Hunchback theater, not enough room for a ride, but how about "The Muppet Show (already in progress)" where guest see real Muppets (with dialogue pre-recorded by the actual Muppet performers) attempting to complete the filming of the new Muppet Show. As Guests walk into the theater they see the previous guests leaving with an exasperated Kermit asking them to come back and not to mention this to their new boss. As the entering guests take their seats, Kermit informs them that the last act was so bad, that the audience walked out and the Muppets are using their "stand-by audience" to complete the show. A series of show selections can be played (similar to the Star Tours rotating destination) allowing different Hollywood Stars to interact with the live Muppets (via Musion Eyeliner - used for the 2Pac appearance at Coachella). The rotating segments mean a different show in different orders for each show - culminating in the grand Finale, big enough to bring the house down (literally) and end the show. As your group of guests are ushered out, a new group of guests enter with Kermit delivering the same spiel as when you originally entered. MuppetVision 3d is a tribute to Jim Henson and the original muppets, TMS(aip) focuses on the lesser known and newer muppets.



No water effects... Footlight parade: ask any cast member who has worked at GMR and they'll tell you why "no water effects."
I have a soft spot for GMR. (as I still work there) and can offer my two cents.
Footlight Parade: replace the slide show with a high-def video projector to display swimming girls and a screen of bubbles (as the lighting inside goes up and we see the tiered "cake."
Gangster: Add a shady character standing over the 55 gallon drum (with a "fire" inside) next to the bar and a duo of made-men exchange glances across from Cagney at the Red and Blue Cab gives a sense of a foreboding neighborhood.
Western: An arm holding a tin cup dangles outside the jail cell window as the animatronic Old deputy sits in his chair, sound asleep, unaware of the gun play going on around him.
Alien: Tie a mudflap to a rotating motorized clothesline above the ceiling to slap down and travel across the room to give the sensation that something's moving out there. Change the pipe design across from Sigourney Weaver to mirror the look of the one with the wall-Alien in it... And fix the wall-Alien so he doesn't look like he's already sticking out.
Fantasia: Make about 5 of the Broomstick guys and make a 6 inch ledge on the wall opposite Mickey. Place the broom stick guys dumping their buckets with mylar streamers standing in for water.

Other than that, fix all the lights, make sure the sound is upgraded, get the vehicles to all work at the same speed, work on the air conditioning, get the Gangster car to work consistently and for Pete's sake... Stop talking over John Wayne!

I like your idea for the high def window for the Swedish chef restaurant.

The only thing I disagree on is the Footlight Parade section for GMR. How about, instead we turn it into a section celebrating silent films. Put a scene with Charlie Chaplin causing some shenanigans.

[BrianLo]

Re: Hollywood Studios

WDW1971 brings up a good point and I ask "where would you put it?" Studios was painted into a corner (with World Drive and Buena Vista Drive) and while you could start building into parking lots, that's like selling your teeth for steak. Maybe once or twice, but too much of one means you can't process the other. To take CM parking to put another ride (which requires more CMs to operate) simply doubles up on staffing problems.

I recently was looking at that Reedy Creek Development plan. One thing I found very interesting was a proposed expansion of DHS across the street to World Drive. It got me thinking, they could use a underground tram quite similiar to OceanPark which has a very high capacity. Theme it to a "spaceship journey" and dump you on the other side of the road to face a Star Wars Land, Pandora, or really both. A pod racers on the scale of RSR probably couldn't be spotted from the main park and would really add to that illusion of actually having traveled somewhere.

I know people don't like the idea of another Test Track in WDW, but it's REALLY not the same thing what so ever when the theme is so dramatically different and a ton of AA's worked in. The only people mildly irritated by the idea is Disney Fans. It's not like having one roller coaster "mountain" at WDW means another should never enter the resort. More of a good thing (especially with how dramatically different Disney will make it) is a good thing.

[mx6789]

Re: Hollywood Studios

This is my first post, so I hope it's good!

BrianLo, I like your idea of using land on the other side of World Drive, so I'm using it in my idea. I know this might seem a bit extreme compared to other ideas, but I think it could maybe work. My plan would involve using the land on the other side of World Drive to make a companion park connected by monorail. DHS would be renamed to Walt Disney Studios and would focus more on what it was originally supposed to be: a celebration of Hollywood and a behind the scenes look at how it works.
In WDS, Pixar Place, Mickey Avenue, and Animation Courtyard would merge to create Walt Disney Alley. The hat would be moved to the second park to become the symbol there, and the Chinese Theater would regain the spotlight yet again. The Echo Lake area and the Streets of America (except the Backlot Tour, LMA, and the streets where the Osborne lights are) would be merged to form Lucas Studios. Sounds Dangerous would close to make room for something new, maybe a presentation on how 3d works.

The second park would be called the World of Movies and would have distinctive lands that go along with different themes. There would be Muppet Studios, Cars Land, Pixar Studios, and Toon Town. Preferably, Lucas Studios would be there too, but it would probably be too tedious to move and I can't think of anything that would go in its place.

The attractions would be spread out something like this:


THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS (SYMBOL: THE CHINESE THEATER)

Hollywood Blvd. and Plaza
The Great Movie Ride – Updated with some new, modern scenes

Sunset Blvd.
Gangster Getaway – RNR rethemed
Tower of Terror
Fantasmic!
Some Stage Show (either B+TB or a replacement)

Walt Disney Alley
The Disney Museum – One Man’s Dream Movie + Museum and Artifacts
The Prop Room – The room of props from the Backlot Tour is moved to connect to the Disney Museum and be called the Prop Room. Each prop will have a small description so viewers can know when it was used. Computer terminals will be added so guests can search for props from specific movies and locate them in the room.
The Magic of Disney Animation – New movie, actual production for new traditional animation movies.

Lucas Studios
The Adventures of Indiana Jones – from CA
Endor Racers – bicycle-type vehicle ride through the forests of Endor
Star Tours
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

Backlot
Studio Backlot Tour
Lights, Motors, Action
The Making of a Movie – Interactive Ride in TSMM building

THE WORLD OF MOVIES (SYMBOL: THE SORCERER’S HAT)

Muppet Studios
Muppet Vision 3d
The Muppet Show Live – live Muppet performers with prerecorded voices
The Great Muppet Movie Ride
Swedish Chef’s Restaurant – as described above

Cars Land
Like at DCA

Pixar Studios
Up Into the Sky – Peter Pan-like dark ride
Monster’s Inc: Through the Doors
Pizza Planet
Toy Story Midway Mania! (Double Sized to deal with crowds)

Toon Town - it would be a lot like in MK, but each character would have a signature rides and a meet and greet. For example with Mickey, his house would be in the middle with the entrance to the meet and greet on one side and entrance to the ride on the other. I don't know how the talking character technology works, but it would be great if it could be for all of the characters.

Mickey's House
Meet and Greet with Talking Mickey
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Mild Roller Coaster)

Oswald’s House
Meet and Greet with Talking Oswald
Oswald’s Runaway Trolley (In Ostown (Mini Section))

Donald’s Boat
M+G Talking Donald
Donald’s Bumper Boats

Minnie’s House
M+G Talking Minnie
Minnie’s Be-YOU-tiful Boutique

Goofy’s House
M+G Talking Goofy
Goofy’s High-Flyin’ Swings

Pixie Hollow Meet and Greet

Whether or not Toontown would work in the World of Movies, I really think that all the characters need a permanent home in WDW.

Again, this plan is pretty extensive (by adding a new park), but I think it would really help with theming problems in DHS and give a chance to expand on Pixar, Muppets, and Lucas.
If I find a way to do it, I'll try to make and post drawings of my ideas.

[Disneytwins]

Re: Hollywood Studios

I will be so happy when they finally level the backlot tour. The only part that I'm worried about it Walt's Plane. Renaming echo lake "Lucas Lake" will be more trouble than it's worth. Lucas will have to agree to it and probably wants royalties off of it. The Studios Backlot idea sounds great, but those buildings are kind of historical. They are Disney's old Florida Animation Studios.

[WDW1971]

Re: Hollywood Studios

I recently was looking at that Reedy Creek Development plan. One thing I found very interesting was a proposed expansion of DHS across the street to World Drive.

Where have you seen it? Can you post pictures of it? Or go into more detail of their master development plans?

I remember reading on Jim Hill (I know, not always the most reliable source) that when they were thinking the Studios aspect would skyrocket and Florida would become Hollywood East, they would add more production studios and soundstages to the West of World Drive and it would not allow tourists to visit it for production companies that would not want tourists to watch their every move. If only production took off better at Disney MGM and Universal Studios.

Any more insights you can provide? I would love to see a master plan if possible. Think of all the possibilities that have been abandoned.

[sbk1234]

Re: Hollywood Studios

I'd be happy if they just got rid of the hat.

[Disneytwins]

Re: Hollywood Studios

Don't we all...