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Disney MGM Studios opened on May 1st 1989 and was Walt Disney World’s third theme
park at the resort. It was built over the course of 3 years and cost the company over
$500 million dollars to build. With today’s inflation is approximately 1 billion dollars.
The park was inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s and was also
designed to be a working film studio in addition to the theme park. This is the map from opening
day. All the purple buildings were part of the production studio and everything else
was the theme park which was a very small portion of the 135 acre park.
Well since opening as Disney-MGM Studios, the park has seen many changes including the
name change to Disney’s Hollywood studios in 2008 and the loss of the working studio
aspect through the late 90’s into the early 2000s. As of recently, the park has become
a shell of its former self. It used to be a place where Hollywood came alive and you
could experience the movies and feel like you were part of the action. It was an exciting
park to visit so we’re gonna relive the prime of Disney-MGM Studios. Through the video
we’ll be looking at the park’s history and will refer to it as Disney-MGM studios
where necessary. So today, we’re gonna be counting down the Top 10 Disney’s Hollywood
Studios secrets & facts.
Number 10- The Crossroads When you walk into Disney’s Hollywood Studios
one of the very first things you’ll see after you pass through the turnstiles is the
Crossroads of the World monument. This opened with the park in May of 1989 and did you know
that this is almost a full scale replica of the original Crossroads monument in Los Angeles?
Built in 1936, the original sits outside of what is said to be the first shopping mall
of America off Sunset Blvd. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the monument sits outside
Hollywood Blvd and is the exact size and scale of the original, but has one major difference;
Mickey Mouse. Thats right, the Disney version features a statue of Mickey mouse on the top
of the spinning globe and he’s actually there on double duty. Not only is Mickey the
company’s icon, Mickey’s right earn which is actually made out of copper actually doubles
as a lightning rod to protect guests at from the inclement Florida weather.
Number 9- A Universal Idea When Disney MGM Studios opened in 1989, the
main attraction at the Park was the Backlot Tour. The attraction used to be a combination
of a tram and waking tour that lasted over 2 hours; a much longer experience than the
30 minute tour the attraction closed with in 2014. It would take guests through the
Streets of America, through the Residential street and into the iconic Cat Canyon.
So lets rewind back a bit. In 1982 while Michael Eisner was the current CEO of Paramount Studios,
he was approached by Universal to join their theme park project in Orlando. Eisner declined
but while he stepped into the CEO position at Disney in 1984, he was very knowledgeable
on the details of the Universal Studios Orlando theme park. This included the headliner attraction
that was supposed to be a tram tour that would feature a scenario like what opened in Universal
Studios Hollywood in 1988. Well looking at Cat Canyon in MGM studios, you can definitely
see the similarities to the attraction at Universal Studios, so you could say Eisner
borrowed this idea from Universal Studios. Cat Canyon was demolished in February 2016
to make way for Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.
Number 8- The Disney Airplane On October 8th, 1992 an airplane touched down
on World Drive in Orlando and found a home on the backlot at Disney MGM studios. Well
this aircraft, which went by the name of “The Mouse,” was in fact Walt Disney’s actual
airplane and holds a lot of Disney history. Walt Disney bought the Grumman Gulfstream
1 in 1964 and in addition to transporting Imagineers from California to New York in
preparation for the 1964 New York World’s fair, it’s also said that it was responsible
for going on secret missions flying over Florida, scouting land for Project X which would then
became Walt Disney World. Well here’s the problem; Walt’s decision to locate Project
X in Florida was made in 1963, but this aircraft was purchased in 1964. Well it turns out the
decision was made on the Beechcraft Queen Air, another aircraft the company owned at
the time. The Mouse may have very well been used to scout out specifics of the land after
the fact, but it’s not where the decision was made to locate to Florida.
Now As of 2016, the entire backlot section of Disney Hollywood Studios like we mentioned
before has been demolished to make way for Star Wars Galaxy’s edge. This includes the
spot where Walt’s airplane was found for almost 25 years. So now the question becomes,
what’s actually happened to Walt Disney’s air plane and this piece of Disney History?
Well its honestly a mystery since no one in the Disney community, aside from Disney themselves,
knows the actual location of the plane. What is known is that it was repainted to the original
orange and white color scheme it used to have, and was removed in tact, from Disney’s Hollywood
Studios. It’s rumoured that its now in the hands of the Disney Archives but who knows
where the plane might pop up someday.
Number 7- The Key Under the Matt Muppet Vision 3-D opened at Disney’s Hollywood
Studios on May 16th 1991. A major part of the attraction is its queue and pre show which
includes a lot of details, gags and theming that will definitely keep you entertained.
As you enter the front doors of the attraction, on the right hand side theres a security booth
with a sign that says back in 5 minutes, key is under mat. Well because it’s Disney where
no little detail goes unnoticed, if you lift the mat on the floor you will in fact find
a gold key. Now the key’s screwed into the ground so don’t get your hopes up of trying
to take it home as a souvenir but its another little secret that makes Disney attractions
stand out from the rest.
Number 6- The Chinese Theatre As you walk down Hollywood Blvd you can’t
help but notice the Chinese Theatre. It’s kinda like the Cinderella Castle of Hollywood
Blvd. But did you know that the theatre is an exact full scale replica of the Graumen’s
Chinese Theatre in Hollywood? It’s actually one of the very few replica buildings in Walt
Disney World thats built to the exact scale. Disney imagineers used the original blueprints
from the theatre in California to build their theatre at Disney MGM studios. Imagineers
took numerous reference pictures of exterior details to match everything as close as possible
from the doors right down to the stone foo dogs at the theatre’s entrance.
After the Florida theatre was built, the owners from California asked Imagineers for their
blueprints so they could be used for the theatre’s renovation since they were gonna be more up
to date with building codes. So the Florida blueprints of the replica were used for the
California renovation of Grauman’s Chinese theatre. Actually Disney wasn’t able to
secure licensing rights to use the Grauman’s name, so from the park opening until now,
the theatre is simply referred to as just The Chinese Theatre.
Number 5- The Largest Hidden Mickey Hidden Mickey’s can be found all over the
Walt Disney World Resort. Now for those of you that don’t know, hidden Mickey’s are
representations of Mickey mouse found designs of pretty much anything at the Disney resorts.
They’re typically made up of three circles creating the silhouette of Mickey mouse. Well
did you know that Disney’s Hollywood Studios is home to the largest hidden Mickey at Walt
Disney World? Thats right, and its a hidden Mickey that you won’t really be able to
see from in the park. You sort of need to be above it.
When Disney-MGM Studios was built, a giant Hidden Mickey was designed right into the
park’s central hub through the buildings and landscaping. Do you see it? The Chinese
Theatre is Mickey’s mouth, Echo lake was the right ear, the roof of the Brown Derby
restaurant was the left ear and the planters and trees were his eyes and eyebrows. Now
every day thousands of people walk right by all these things not even knowing they’re
a part of the largest hidden Mickey. Now over the years, with expansion and just the overall
evolution of the park, you can see that the Mickey silhouette is slowly becoming harder
to make out but its a cool little feature incorporated into the design of the theme
park.
Number 4- Studios A & B Rock n Roller coaster opened in July of 1999
and is definitely a thrilling attraction. In the ride’s queue while waiting to tour
Studio C, try to listen to the sounds coming from the doors of Studio A and B. You’ll
hear sounds from real Aerosmith recording sessions. Some of the sounds even came from
the rerecording sessions for the attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Also while
you’re in Studio C watching the pre show, take a look at the ground of the recording
studio to spot a hidden Mickey. The wires by the rack of guitars are coiled up into
the silhouette of Mickey Mouse!
Number 3- Theatre of the Stars Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage opened
on November 22, 1991 at Disney MGM Studios playing in Theatre of the Stars. The current
theatre can be found off Sunset Blvd but the Sunset Blvd expansion opened in July of 1994
and Beauty and the Beast opened in 1991. So how can this be? Well that’s because where
theatre of the stars is today, isn’t the original Theatre. The original actually opened
with the park on may 1st 1989 and was located where Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd meet
today. This theatre didn’t have covered seating but the stage design and circular
proscenium arch was very similar to whats there today. Since the entire park is based
on Hollywood, its design inspiration seems to have come from the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater
located in Los Angeles, California. From park opening until Beauty and the Beast opened,
the theatre was home to a couple stage shows about Hollywood that featured many of your
favorite Disney characters.
In Sept of 1993, theatre of the stars closed while the Sunset Blvd expansion was being
completed. In Sept of 1993 Beauty and the Beast was temporarily relocated to the Premiere
Theatre in the backlot section of Streets of America. The show played the premiere theatre
until July of 1994 when it reopened at the newly built Theatre of the Stars on Sunset
Blvd.
Stop! Stop it I say. DO you hear me!
Number 2- Don’t pull the rope So the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
officially opened on August 25th, 1989, almost 3 months after the park opened. The show takes
place in a amphitheatre type venue but the experience actually begins outside of the
theatre.
So you know how we’re always told to not do something but we do it anyways cause we
wanna know what would happen, well Disney knew this would be the case when designing
elements for Disney MGM Studios. So outside of the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular,
there’s an archeological dig site with a sign that reads “Warning: Do Not pull rope”
but you’ll notice that the not is crossed out. Well next time you’re at the park,
go ahead and give the rope a couple pulls and you’ll learn there’s some people down
in the excavation site. Number 1- Moroccon Pink
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in July of 1994
as part of the Sunset Blvd expansion. The Hollywood tower hotel is a 199 foot building
with a pinkish brownish facade, but have you ever wondered about that pinkish color on
the Hotel? Why that exact color? Well Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood studios are very
close in proximity. Since they built Tower of Terror just one foot under the Florida
building code, the imagineers knew it would be visible from parts of Epcot. If you’ve
looked across the World Showcase lagoon at the Morocco pavilion from the right angel
you’ve probably completely missed it.
When you look at the buildings in Morocco they have a very similar color scheme and
architecture design to the Tower of Terror. So to solve the problem of seeing the ride
from Epcot, they designed the attraction to blend right into the Morocco pavilion so it
appears like its part of the architecture.
Now as of today Disney’s Hollywood Studios is going through a lot of changes, specially
the construction of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, as well as Toy Story Land and the new Mickey
and Minnie attraction. There’s also rumours that the name of the park will be changed
once again. So the question for you today is how do you
feel about the loss of so much history at the
former Disney-MGM Studios? Do you have any favourite memories or stories from the park?
Leave a comment down below and start
a conversation!