1930s Disney Studio Land for DHS

[mharrington]

I can. I associate those songs with the early 1930s animation studios that coupled them with the cartoons they made. We will never see a land like this in Magic Kingdom again, and besides, it never really fit a castle park anyways. You’re used to it being in one, so you’re trained to see it fitting there the best. It would be like someone who grew up with the Sorcerers Hat in DHS. To them, it fits the park like a glove and shouldn’t have been removed.

I'm used to a cartoon world being in a castle park because my background is primarily Disneyland. It came about at a time when only WDW had multiple parks to do, whereas Disneyland (and Tokyo Disneyland) only had one. And I remember the Studios park more without the Sorcerer's Hat than with it.

This is just me, but in terms of music, when I think of the Studios, I don't think of silly cartoon music. I think something more like this:


Or this:


Like I said, it's just me.

 

[spacemt354]

@Brer Oswald still interested in a map for this?

 

[Brer Oswald]

@Brer Oswald still interested in a map for this?

Yes . I’ll definitely need to help you with that though.

 

[spacemt354]

Yes . I’ll definitely need to help you with that though.

An outline of the basics of what you want in it would be good!

 

[Brer Oswald]

An outline of the basics of what you want in it would be good!

I’ll try to come up with one this weekend...if I remember

 

[Pi on my Cake]

I'm used to a cartoon world being in a castle park because my background is primarily Disneyland. It came about at a time when only WDW had multiple parks to do, whereas Disneyland (and Tokyo Disneyland) only had one. And I remember the Studios park more without the Sorcerer's Hat than with it.

This is just me, but in terms of music, when I think of the Studios, I don't think of silly cartoon music. I think something more like this:


Or this:


Like I said, it's just me.

I mean, parks have more than one land. And those different lands can have different feels and tones and music. there is no reason the classic studios park you desire can't have a land dedicated to a more cartoony style.

I mean Magic Kingdom can take you to deep jungles and also to space
Epcot can take you to an idealic future fueled by technology and also to a slice of ancient Japan
Animal Kingdom can take you to the heights of Mount Everest and also to an alien planet

Disney parks work best when they explore every aspect of the theme.

 

[mharrington]

I mean, parks have more than one land. And those different lands can have different feels and tones and music. there is no reason the classic studios park you desire can't have a land dedicated to a more cartoony style.

I mean Magic Kingdom can take you to deep jungles and also to space
Epcot can take you to an idealic future fueled by technology and also to a slice of ancient Japan
Animal Kingdom can take you to the heights of Mount Everest and also to an alien planet

But if the guides and the WDW Explorer CD-Rom are any indication, there was a time when the Studios didn't really have separate lands (certainly not distinct lands with their own identities), just attractions strewn about. Get a load of this (from as late as 2003):

Or this:

As you can see, unlike with the MK or Epcot (the Animal Kingdom did not get its own section in the second version), they did not bother to separate out all of the attractions into separate lands. On the map above, the guide does not really separate out the lands, only simply labels the paths on the map itself. And anyway, it would be pretty difficult now to do a cartoon-like area in the Studios because there is a Mickey ride going into the Chinese Theater, right in the relative center of the park.

I'm also thinking that this would the Studios park THE place to meet Mickey and the gang.

 

[spacemt354]

But if the guides and the WDW Explorer CD-Rom are any indication, there was a time when the Studios didn't really have separate lands (certainly not distinct lands with their own identities), just attractions strewn about. Get a load of this (from as late as 2003):

Or this:

As you can see, unlike with the MK or Epcot (the Animal Kingdom did not get its own section in the second version), they did not bother to separate out all of the attractions into separate lands. On the map above, the guide does not really separate out the lands, only simply labels the paths on the map itself. And anyway, it would be pretty difficult now to do a cartoon-like area in the Studios because there is a Mickey ride going into the Chinese Theater, right in the relative center of the park.

I'm also thinking that this would the Studios park THE place to meet Mickey and the gang.

If you look at the first map the lands are written as streets or landmarks in bold black letters.

Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Blvd, Animation Courtyard, Mickey Avenue, Echo Lake, Commissary Lane, New York Street, Washington Square.

While these don't have the stereotypical 'land' designations, they are very much themed to their designations. Animation Courtyard has the backstage Animation tour and Little Mermaid for example...which wouldn't make sense in Washington Square.

The Hollywood Tower Hotel is located at the end of Sunset, which wouldn't make sense on New York Street.

Also I know the WDW Explorer it was one of my favorite games as a kid...the maps are caricatures, not to scale. It was like that for every park...just take a look at the home screen that showed the WDW Resort layout...it's a cartoon design on purpose.

 

[spacemt354]

And before you say 'but they divided up the Magic Kingdom into lands in the WDW Explorer' that's because there are more attractions to cover in the MK per land. It's a design choice.

DHS, or at that time in 1998 (MGM) was Tower or Terror, GMR, Backlot Tour, Star Tours, and a bunch of shows...they can cover all the clickable items on one screen easier than dividing up into areas that had 1 or 2 things.

 

[mharrington]

In any case, it would be rather awkward to do a Toontown-like land, since a ride relatively suited for such, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is going in the Chinese Theater where the Great Movie Ride once stood. You really can't do a Toontown in this park now and not include that in there, and the only way to do that is to add the decidedly non-cartoonish Chinese Theater and, by extension, the hub.

 

[mharrington]

Sorry for bumping up an old thread, but I have to get this off my chest...

My personal feeling is that if the Runaway Railway coming to Disneyland's Toontown is any indication, then the same ride coming to the Studios should be included in this Toontown-like area as well. The question, however, is this: wouldn't it be awkward to have this land jut far out into the decidedly neutral hub of the park to incorporate the Chinese Theater into it? Here's a map of the park (it's just before Toy Story Land opened, but it gives you a rough idea):

The location "Center Stage" shows that this is the hub, and I don't think it has ever been done that a land from off to the side juts out into the hub to incorporate that land.

My thought is that the Toontown-like area could replace the Animation Courtyard, but it would still have to incorporate the Chinese Theater, which, again, stands at the end of Hollywood Boulevard like Cinderella Castle at the end of Main Street. It would be awkward to incorporate it, don't you think?

Anyway, I'm rambling here, but how would you incorporate the Chinese Theater into the Toontown-like area when it's so far away from the entrance there (again, I think it's best to replace the Animation Courtyard)?

 

[Miru]

This is a pretty fascinating idea. Maybe revive “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” as part of this land? We could also have an animation studio-Type area like in DCA, where we can learn how to draw and animate.

 

[mharrington]

This is a pretty fascinating idea. Maybe revive “Snow White’s Scary Adventures” as part of this land? We could also have an animation studio-Type area like in DCA, where we can learn how to draw and animate.

There used to be something like that here, I believe, in the former Animation building, but it's gone now. As for the Snow White ride, I think the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is something of a spiritual successor to that (even including several figures in the original ride there).

Also, you didn't answer my question: the Runaway Railway ride should be incorporated into the area, but that's pretty difficult to do given that it's over in the Chinese Theater. How can that be done?

 

[Miru]

There used to be something like that here, I believe, in the former Animation building, but it's gone now. As for the Snow White ride, I think the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is something of a spiritual successor to that (even including several figures in the original ride there).

Also, you didn't answer my question: the Runaway Railway ride should be incorporated into the area, but that's pretty difficult to do given that it's over in the Chinese Theater. How can that be done?

Simple; bring back The Great Movie Ride and move RR to a new building.

 

[mharrington]

Simple; bring back The Great Movie Ride and move RR to a new building.

Well, I prefer to be realistic and work with what I have. I'd rather just keep the Runaway Railway where it is.

 

[Miru]

Well, I prefer to be realistic and work with what I have. I'd rather just keep the Runaway Railway where it is.

Retool RR to make it a transportation system to this sub-area, maybe?

 

[mharrington]

I took some time to try to figure out how to ask this, and now I think I have (especially in light of Epcot's overhaul as a guide):

Without becoming too unrealistic, I feel that any Toon-themed area that would come to the Studios would likely take over the Animation Courtyard and include Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which, of course, is located at the Chinese Theater. The problem with incorporating the Chinese Theater into the area the Animation Courtyard is in is that that land would stick out at a rather funny angle on the map. Cinderella Castle works because it's the entrance to Fantasyland, which is behind it. But the Animation Courtyard is located off to the side, like so (the area in red incorporates both the Theater and the Courtyard):

Shouldn't the Chinese Theater continue to be part of Hollywood Boulevard?

 

[Brer Oswald]

Been thinking about this a lot recently. Maybe as an indoor land?

 

[Miru]

Been thinking about this a lot recently. Maybe as an indoor land?

Inside a replica of the 1930s Disney Studio? That would be so neat-looking, and evoke Epcot a lot.