Back when Disney’s Hollywood Studios first opened, there wasn’t much to it. Sure, the park was only slightly smaller than the Magic Kingdom, but if you looked at the map, you’d see that it fully half of the real estate was taken up by something called a “Backstage Tour.” Yes, this was a hearkening back […]
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
A Great Place To Meet Models
As a Disney World fanatic growing up, I would always end each trip with a collection of park guide maps, so that I could pour over them later back home in Indiana. Sometimes I couldn’t wait until I got back home, so I would pour over them in the hotel room. Remember back when it […]
Disney World Goes To the Oscars
In honor of the Academy Awards, I have decided to devote an entire post linking the most famous American award show to a 43-square-mile patch of Florida swampland. Here are the nominees and winners of the Oscars, Walt Disney World style. Best Supporting Actress The Great Movie Ride is packed with Supporting Actress nominees. Of […]
Atlantis is Waiting
When Christopher Robin backed up that giant dump truck, cackled maniacally, and pulled the lever, he buried Atlantis forever beneath several metric tons of pliable playground flooring. Now youngsters crawl through Winnie the Pooh’s house and clamor over Piglet’s Crypt-o-Wheel of Doom, never realizing that just 20,000 leagues below the surface, guests once explored the […]
Footprints in Cement
Disney’s Hollywood Studios likes to make a big deal out of the celebrity handprints around the Chinese Theater. And I’ve already called out the handprints of famous animators that were once easily accessible at the Animation Tour. But there are even more celebrity footprints over by Echo Lake, and most people just walk right over […]
Who Needs American Idol?
The original Disney MGM Studios had a location to showcase guests’ musical performance skills long before Ryan Seacrest showed up, and I’m not talking about SuperStar Television. It was a shop of sorts, very similar to those photo booths where they will green screen your head onto a movie poster. Only in this case, you […]
Muppet Lockers
The Stage 1 Company Store near the exit to MuppetVision is riddled with gags and in-jokes, just like the 3D theater. But oftentimes it’s easy to overlook some of the nice touches hidden in the clutter. For instance, as you enter through the door pictured on the left, you pass through what is ostensibly a […]
Where Can I Find the Jurassic Park Ride at Disney?
Guests often want to know where they can find Jurassic Park the Ride in a Disney theme park. And they’re often surprised when they can’t. Universal Studios owns Jurassic Park the Ride. Their version in Universal Studios Hollywood even took potshots at Disney in the form of disembodied Mickey Mouse ears floating ominously in the […]
Does the Original Star Tours Break the Star Wars Canon Timeline?
Star Tours is one of those rare Disney attractions based on a property owned by someone else. George Lucas officially sanctioned the ride — and with this level of detail, there’s no doubt Lucasfilm opened the archives to the Imagineers for reference. They scrutinized costumes, painstakingly recreated props, and hired original actors like Anthony Daniels […]