A Sunset Boulevard Overhaul

[JokersWild]

Welcome!

So, as we all know, Disney's Hollywood Studios is in a bit of a bad situation. Since the mid-2000s, the park has had a bit of an identity crisis between a working studio park, much like Universal Studios, and a park that celebrates the movies and the idea of Hollywood. With this identity crisis, the park has lost a majority of its cohesiveness, placing Star Wars next to the Muppets, Indiana Jones next to a '50s Americana-themed eatery, and, of course, putting a sorcerer's hat directly in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre at the very end of a beautiful 1930s Hollywood street.

This thread will be focusing on one of the more interesting areas of the park: Sunset Boulevard. Though this area was originally envisioned to represent post-WWII Hollywood, it's lost its way a bit with the opening of Rock 'n Rollercoaster Starring Aerosmith, the Beauty and the Beast Stage Show, and even Fantasmic, to an extent. This overhaul will focus on all of these elements, and hopefully make Sunset Boulevard a more cohesive experience.

So, allow me in the coming weeks to show you what will soon be opening its doors down Sunset Boulevard. Stay tuned for the first update which will be coming tonight.

 

[JokersWild]

So, I would have liked to have had something of substance to put up today, but I had to "study" for a test, and I totally wasn't playing the new Kerbal Space Program update, so I figured I'd take this time, 2:00 am, to quickly go over my plans for Sunset Boulevard before I start posting fleshed out write ups for it. If anyone has any qualms/ ideas, by all means post them. I'd love to hear what you would all like to do to this rather neglected area of the park.

Firstly, I'd like to address the theme. Sunset Boulevard, when it was conceived in the early '90s for Tower of Terror, was really just loosely themed to 1940s, post-WWII Hollywood, probably as an extension of the 1930s "Hollywood That Never Was" that is Hollywood Boulevard right next store. I would like to keep this theme and expand upon it. This would mainly show in the shops. Thus, Planet Hollywood will be going, Villains en Vogue might be getting a retheme, and so on sand so forth. I'd also like to expand upon the theme of Sunset Boulevard a bit. With the Tower of Terror looming at the end of the street giving the area a sort of mysterious aura, I think it would only be fitting to have the rest of Sunset Boulevard reflect this mysterious quality in a way. Allow me to go over the attractions/ restaurants briefly.

.Tower of Terror - Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure what I want to do here, but I do want to do something. The ride wouldn't change that much, more just an overhaul of sorts, as the ride is in desperate need of one. The key elements of the attraction would remain the same.
.Crimestoppers - This ride is obviously based on the trashed concept "Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers." LOOSELY. The only similarities are the EMV ride system with mounted guns, and the fact that the attraction involved gangsters. Other than that, it will be a disappointing experience that I promise will be entirely different from what you expect. This is a ride with a twist. The attraction will be placed right over RnRC, as a part of a next sub land to Sunset Boulevard that I have not yet named. Along with this ride will be a restaurant that I'll talk about below.
.Currently Unnamed Jazz Restaurant - This restaurant will accompany Crimestoppers in this new land tribute to film noir. There's not really a whole lot to say about it without writing it up. There will be live music.
.Untitled Murder Mystery Experience - This is the most exciting concept to me. A hard ticket dinner show right in the heart of DHS. Groups of guests will be brought into a mansion to meet an eclectic group of Hollywood socialites. Of course, a murder's afoot, and you have to solve it. This is essentially an interactive game of Clue that also feeds you incredible food. I intend to have anywhere between 2 and 4 shows a night. I also intend to put this right over the Hollywood Bowl, meaning that Beauty and the Beast is sadly also on its way out.

Those are the very basic ideas for Sunset Boulevard. I'll actually be writing these concepts up in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that. If anyone has any thoughts on this endeavour, I'd love to hear them.

 

[JokersWild]

I'm back. Hopefully, updates will be more frequent over the coming weeks. Here's a quick overview of Huston Street, the new area of Sunset Boulevard




Huston Street
Huston Street is a new area popping right up over what was formerly Rock ‘n Rollercoaster Starring Aerosmith. Gone is the tacky, dreadfully early-2000s modern music studio that is G-Force Records, and in is the elegant, though small, Huston Street. Huston Street is designed to be a loving tribute to film noir, referencing films such as “The Maltese Falcon”, and “The Naked City.” The area features one E-Ticket attraction, Crimestoppers, and a restaurant and bar, The Blue Room Lounge. Both of these attractions will create a wonderful and unique experience for all guests who enter. Though, of course, fitting within the themes of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, not everything is quite what it seems.


Turning away from the looming Hollywood Tower Hotel, guests pass under a large, familiar-looking archway(obviously very loosely based off of this with only one arch and without the Paramount logo), signifying both the passing into a new land and perhaps...something else(?), and find themselves on Huston street. Much like Sunset Boulevard, Huston Street is not quite as bustling as Hollywood Boulevard. The entire area feels rather subdued and mellow; you’re almost waiting for that quiet, almost comatose jazz-like music that you would hear during the start of a noir film. Funnily enough, that slow, subdued jazz is piped in throughout the area to further put guests into the world of Huston street. In front of guests sits a gigantic, dark brick police building, roughly the same size as G-Force Records. This is “Crimestoppers”, but I’ll get into that later.


To the left, guests can see the beautiful Blue Room Lounge. The live jazz hauntingly emanating from the large building sure is enticing. Perhaps we’ll explore this next.