DHS Disney Animation-Inspired Experience Coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

[BrianLo]

Having a resort in which three out of four parks are covered in walls is terrible show, especially when the company is charging absurd prices for tickets.

This is a US-centric complaint and a large part of the problem with Florida parks over the last decades. I’m not sure if Tokyo parks are ever free of walls for refurbs.

My complaint would be Epcot also should have something on the go - to go 4/4. No excuse to not take advantage of the need to have constant project turnover.

 

[Timothy_Q]

It's funny that nobody that complains about how long the Epcot project took and how many of its pieces were cancelled ever mention that there was a global pandemic that caused both of those issues. But anyway

 

[Casper Gutman]

This is a US-centric complaint and a large part of the problem with Florida parks over the last decades. I’m not sure if Tokyo parks are ever free of walls for refurbs.

My complaint would be Epcot also should have something on the go - to go 4/4. No excuse to not take advantage of the need to have constant project turnover.

Having a ride behind walls for refurb is just fine. Big Thunder being shut down for a couple years for a retrack and upgrade is great - until you cover the rest of the surrounding area in walls and the whole thing stops looking like an operating theme park.

It is, largely, a Florida-centric problem. The other resorts don’t replace attractions with anything like the frequency of WDW. Now, there are plans for big changes to Tokyos Adventureland and Future Island (can’t remember the precise name), but that’s a significant change.

When DCA went through its redo, how much of DL was being replaced at the same time?

These are full price parks. Posters here tend to take the long view because we visit regularly so we can look at walls and see what they’ll be in six years. That doesn’t change the fact that less frequent guests - and, frankly, us as well - should not have to accept a partial experience when paying $120 and up to get through the gates. Some walls here or there for refurbs or additions is perfectly fine - the current state of the WDW parks is not.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It's funny that nobody that complains about how long the Epcot project took and how many of its pieces were cancelled ever mention that there was a global pandemic that caused both of those issues. But anyway

Lots of posters mention it. It was discussed at length.

How much were EPCOT ticket prices reduced to account for the pandemic delays?

 

[BrianLo]

Having a ride behind walls for refurb is just fine. Big Thunder being shut down for a couple years for a retrack and upgrade is great - until you cover the rest of the surrounding area in walls and the whole thing stops looking like an operating theme park.

It is, largely, a Florida-centric problem. The other resorts don’t replace attractions with anything like the frequency of WDW. Now, there are plans for big changes to Tokyos Adventureland and Future Island (can’t remember the precise name), but that’s a significant change.

When DCA went through its redo, how much of DL was being replaced at the same time?

These are full price parks. Posters here tend to take the long view because we visit regularly so we can look at walls and see what they’ll be in six years. That doesn’t change the fact that less frequent guests - and, frankly, us as well - should not have to accept a partial experience when paying $120 and up to get through the gates. Some walls here or there for refurbs or additions is perfectly fine - the current state of the WDW parks is not.

Perhaps I’m over normalizing things to prior decades, but the DHS walls are frankly inconsequential. Both areas benefit from being annexes already. I’m just not sure why this is the thread warranting the specific notation. MK is a major project, but far less onerous than Disneyland that has major guest flow issues in the corridor. DAK is the one that’s honestly the worst because it forces you through walled corridors of nothing to navigate the park.

SW:GE/Avenger Campus, the sequence of MK hub, Disney Springs, Pandora, DHS 2.0 and Epcot, then elsewhere HKDL, WDSP, DCA 2.0 all feel more consequential walled projects to me with far more impact to the guest experience. Hubs, entryways, much more important attractions and much more capacity strained gates at those times.

Plus again, the one time guest mentality is how we got where we are. In its current state WDW is a much better one time guest experience than it has been for maybe over two decades. Other than price, naturally.

 

[Disstevefan1]

FYI, Epcot's transformation was bluesky announced in 2016 (AKA something is going to happen at Epcot but we don't know what), with construction only beginning on a few projects in 2017 (Guardians, Ratatouille & Space 220) and construction on the center area beginning in 2019 and being completed by 2024. Whilst the walls at Epcot were annoying at the time and did feel to last a while, I'm sure it's mentioned to you already before that was a pandemic in the middle of the construction.

I'm not sure how the Epcot exception is causing you to believe that everything Disney ever does will cause delays, escpecially when this project was announced with a defined deadline

Hey, let’s see what happens. Very glad to be wrong! WDW is my park!

The EPCOT “exception” has shaken my faith. There are plenty of folks with high confidence in all the projects happening at WDW.

I want Disney to prove me wrong! Time will tell.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Yes, it is ridiculous. Everything is bad. Change is bad. No matter what it is. Bad. Only nostalgia good. That covers 99% of the complaint posts.

You haven't seen anything come out of any of these projects, but they're all bad.

You say things like 'after what happened to Epcot'. What exactly happened?
They closed Innoventions. It was lost space for a long time with no redeeming value or anything of note.
They closed an outdated attraction in UoE that hadn't been updated in decades for a coaster which is, without a doubt, currently the most popular attraction at the entire resort. I hate to break it to you, but UoE was bad, outdated, and saying it was lightly attended is generous.
The Moana walkthrough is a cute little distraction that took nothing else away.
Is it the FoN? Is that the hill you're going to die on? Because, okay, it was a cool fountain. But it was a freakin' fountain.

Incorrect. Not all was bad.
I linked the points of light on SSE.
I like the updates of the entrance plaza lighting.
I like the return of the spires in front of SSE.
I am glad we did not lose Club Cool even though it looks like a low rent spot in a strip mall. Could they make that place any smaller? I shouldn't complain as its still there as I say.

Connections and Creations, what kind of names are they anyway? Did they try to minimize the tooling charges for the letters on the signs? Although I dislike the "Apple store minimalism" of these, at least I can get out of the heat. Terrible selection of hats in Creations BTW, but I digress.

The planter and forever broken in ground lighting will be an ongoing embarrassment.
I dislike the rust finish all over the place.
I am happy they got rid of the trip hazard, cement mounds holding up the light poles. The moment I saw them when World Celebration opened it was an obvious hazard. This is a little thing, but it is am indicator that after 5 years of walls the were rushing to open something, anything.

You are right about the fountain. If I want to see fountains I can go to EPIC

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Lots of posters mention it. It was discussed at length.

How much were EPCOT ticket prices reduced to account for the pandemic delays?

Why would they be reduced to account for pandemic delays when the demand was pretty major coming back??

People wanted to go to the parks and showed it with their wallets. The only people who were that sour about a few walls was a small vocal minority online.

The Disney parks don’t base their pricing on small vocal minorities

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

WDW should create a Labyrinth attraction made up of walls. Then people will be happy to see walls!!!

Featuring a digital David Bowie with AI-generated dialogue?

 

[Kamikaze]

Nope. Change can be good or bad. I think the Animal Kingdom changes are good. I think the Studios and Magic Kingdom changes are bad.

And I think forming an opinion on anything before you experience it yourself is, frankly, stupid.

Having a resort in which three out of four parks are covered in walls is terrible show, especially when the company is charging absurd prices for tickets.

Most people don't care.

Animal Kingdom has 1 of its 5 lands behind walls. The Magic Kingdom has walls dominating 2 of its 6 lands, replacing the second most important aesthetic element of the entire park. The Studios has 2 of its 6 lands largely behind walls. This is unprecedented and yes, it’s fair to say that ”covered.”

Yes, its never happened before, but they've also never worked as many projects at once if you want to look at it that way.

The walls are good because they mean new things are coming, you shout. What the walls actually mean are that Disney has made a conscious decision to replace rather then add. There are many, many expansion pads in all three parks that could be used without this years long disruption. AK is profoundly underbuilt. The plan for MK until shortly before D23 was to expand the parks footprint into largely unused space. Additionally, the spate of walls is the result of well over a decade of chronic underinvestment. All of this adds up to the most important fact - the walls are the result of the fact that, overall, Disney management simply does not care about good show.

This is the part where we agree.

 

[Casper Gutman]

And I think forming an opinion on anything before you experience it yourself is, frankly, stupid.

This is an utterly absurd thing to say that essentially attempts to discount all of human nature and the entire idea of critical thinking. We all form ideas of things before we experience them based on experience and evidence, and the posters on this board have a lot of both when it comes to Disney parks. When we go to see a movie, we’ve likely seen the trailer, we may know the IP, we may have experience with the writer or star or director. We’ve decided to go BECAUSE we’ve formed a tentative opinion. That opinion may change and mine often has - the Skyway was a much better idea then I thought it would be and SWL was worse then I expected. But this idea that we shouldn’t use our critical abilities to form opinions about upcoming developments is very, very silly.

Most people don't care.

You absolutely don't know that.

Yes, its never happened before, but they've also never worked as many projects at once if you want to look at it that way.

That’s sort of the point, and it’s very related to the fact that they’ve never replaced as much of the parks before. If Disney prioritized the guest experience and show, at least some of these projects could be built on expansion pads. But Disney doesn’t prioritize those things.

This is the part where we agree.

 

[eddie104]

I see the same characters are still at it with the same arguments and complaints as usual.

Arguing about walls seriously ??

What else is Disney is suppose to do to hide construction activities ?

It is, largely, a Florida-centric problem. The other resorts don’t replace attractions with anything like the frequency of WDW.

You always make this point but fail to point out the frequency is like years apart from one another.

Only when Disney is in a building spree do several attractions tend to close.

 

[James Alucobond]

That’s sort of the point, and it’s very related to the fact that they’ve never replaced as much of the parks before. If Disney prioritized the guest experience and show, at least some of these projects could be built on expansion pads. But Disney doesn’t prioritize those things.

Every part of the parks, whether undergoing replacement or not, should and will be surrounded by construction walls at some point. You can't only wall off future areas because heavy refurb will eventually be needed, especially as the resort continues to age. Ultimately, the effect of the walling off of the Rivers is no worse in terms of show than when they were routinely drained for maintenance. It will last longer, but as the average visitor is only there every 3-5 years, they'll see it once, just as they might have any other year if their trip happened to coincide with that refurb work.

And again, this is an odd thread for the complaint since it's about Hollywood Studios. The Muppet Courtyard wall is so out-of-the-way as to be almost irrelevant to the average guest, and the Animation Courtyard wall, while slightly more visually obtrusive, will be up for far less time and is in a location that saw minimal foot traffic previously.

 

[Kamikaze]

Having a ride behind walls for refurb is just fine. Big Thunder being shut down for a couple years for a retrack and upgrade is great - until you cover the rest of the surrounding area in walls and the whole thing stops looking like an operating theme park.

The thousands of people in the area would disagree.

It is, largely, a Florida-centric problem. The other resorts don’t replace attractions with anything like the frequency of WDW. Now, there are plans for big changes to Tokyos Adventureland and Future Island (can’t remember the precise name), but that’s a significant change.

Are we now arguing that Disney does too much in Florida? Because thats completely 180.

When DCA went through its redo, how much of DL was being replaced at the same time?

A lot.

These are full price parks. Posters here tend to take the long view because we visit regularly so we can look at walls and see what they’ll be in six years. That doesn’t change the fact that less frequent guests - and, frankly, us as well - should not have to accept a partial experience when paying $120 and up to get through the gates. Some walls here or there for refurbs or additions is perfectly fine - the current state of the WDW parks is not.

Then don't go while its happening. They make it quite clear what is not operating before you go. Changing pricing based on refurbishments is silly talk. Should Epic be giving a discount since Stardust is closed? Even though, without a doubt, it effects capacity more than any of the current WDW closures?

 

[Kamikaze]

Incorrect. Not all was bad.
I linked the points of light on SSE.
I like the updates of the entrance plaza lighting.
I like the return of the spires in front of SSE.
I am glad we did not lose Club Cool even though it looks like a low rent spot in a strip mall. Could they make that place any smaller? I shouldn't complain as its still there as I say.

Connections and Creations, what kind of names are they anyway? Did they try to minimize the tooling charges for the letters on the signs? Although I dislike the "Apple store minimalism" of these, at least I can get out of the heat. Terrible selection of hats in Creations BTW, but I digress.

The planter and forever broken in ground lighting will be an ongoing embarrassment.
I dislike the rust finish all over the place.
I am happy they got rid of the trip hazard, cement mounds holding up the light poles. The moment I saw them when World Celebration opened it was an obvious hazard. This is a little thing, but it is am indicator that after 5 years of walls the were rushing to open something, anything.

You are right about the fountain. If I want to see fountains I can go to EPIC

Yeah so you hate everything. The only things you like are inconsequential to a normal park guest.

 

[Kamikaze]

This is an utterly absurd thing to say that essentially attempts to discount all of human nature and the entire idea of critical thinking. We all form ideas of things before we experience them based on experience and evidence, and the posters on this board have a lot of both when it comes to Disney parks. When we go to see a movie, we’ve likely seen the trailer, we may know the IP, we may have experience with the writer or star or director. We’ve decided to go BECAUSE we’ve formed a tentative opinion. That opinion may change and mine often has - the Skyway was a much better idea then I thought it would be and SWL was worse then I expected. But this idea that we shouldn’t use our critical abilities to form opinions about upcoming developments is very, very silly.

And its stupid. You should be INTERESTED in a movie from a trailer, but you cannot fairly judge whether or not its going to be good or bad. Thats what I'm talking about.

You absolutely don't know that.

I certainly do. A normal guest sees a construction wall and walks by it, and thats it. There's no deep discussion about 'OMG we're losing value because there used to be something behind this wall'.

That’s sort of the point, and it’s very related to the fact that they’ve never replaced as much of the parks before. If Disney prioritized the guest experience and show, at least some of these projects could be built on expansion pads. But Disney doesn’t prioritize those things.

They've placed this new value on 'prime' locations - hence the RoA removal. But once those prime locations are filled with newer or popular attractions, they only have one other place to go, and thats to new locations.

 

[ToTBellHop]

WDW should create a labyrinth attraction made up of walls. Then people will be happy to see walls!!!

Been to Dinoland lately? I made three wrong turns and ended up at Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.

 

[gerarar]

Construction walls now fully encompass the entire HS archway.

A second temporary ramp has been put in place too in the staircase on the right of the Chinese Theater.

Source and more:

 

[Stupido]

I really hope they prioritize the front half of this re-imagening so that Mermaid is more accessible quicker.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The walls have wainscoting, how chic!