DHS Makeover - What we know so far.....

[captainmoch]

Based on what we know so far, here is my educated guess on how they will re-work the park. Based on Disney theme park design, this seems like the only logical way to make the park have a cohesive master plan and over-arching theme.

The front half will remain largely unchanged, representing Hollywood and serving as the gateway to your favorite Hollywood stories that you can explore in the back half of the park. It will probably be similar to Epcot with 2 distinct halves that sort of relate to one another. In the diagram, the orange line represents the divide.

The Hollywood part of the park will most likely comprise of Hollywood Blvd, Sunset Blvd, half of Echo Lake, and part of the current Animation Courtyard. Animation Courtyard could be themed to be the "movie studio" of Hollywood and would have Disney Jr, a rework Animation exhibit based on DCA's (after the preview center closes) and an expanded show in Mermaid's spot using Mermaid's theater and the old One Man's Dream theater.

Gone will be the Jack Sparrow building and exhibit space of OMD. In its place will be a landscaped pathway that leads from the hub to Toy Story Land. This will provide separation from the "Hollywood" part of the park and the "worlds of Hollywood" part of the park. The current office building and parking garage will most likely be staying. Done the road, in lets say 20 years, they will probably tear it down and create a new land taking over the office building, parking garage, and Animation Courtyard.

On the other side of the park, the entrance road will most likely be moved toward the canal. Indiana Jones' theater would stay (though they may change the show) as would the Hollywood and Vine/Primetime Building. Echo Lake would also be preserved. Star Wars Land would be built south of Star Tours, building out to the new road and over the current SOA/Muppets/Premier Theater.

In order to get to Star Wars Land, there will probably be a new path leading directly from the Hub to accommodate the new crowds. Gone would be the Commissary, Hyperion Theater, Sounds Dangerous, and Sci-Fi Dine In. Echo lake could be expanded to prove better thematic separation between the Hollywood part of the park and Star Wars. In addition, it would finally provide the studios with a large body of water like every other park has.

In the back, southern part of the park, there is room for 2-3 more lands depending on the size.

Red represents the main circulation of the park, with the front Hollywood half having a kind of upside down "V" pathways and the back half being a circle.

I like/agree with all of these ideas. Those other expansion pads could be used for several things (Monsters, Cars, Incredibles, GOTG, etc.), Indy could stay and be updated, (maybe with scenes from 2/3 and the potential reboot?) and is there a chance that Muppets could move to the OMD or Little Mermaid theaters? It would work if that area is still a "studio", wouldn't be super hard to move, and wouldn't be plopped in the middle of Star Wars.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Well, let's clarify: I liked the first two films - I even own a copy of The Empire Strikes Back (it's a VHS tape, but at least it doesn't have those horrible "improvements" Clueless Lucas tacked on later). But as an entity, yeah, I'm pretty done with SW - because of the horrid prequels, which introduced lots of eye candy but no compelling new characters. I think that more than anything, the success of the original Star Wars was character-driven. What else did it have going for it, besides battles with giant glowsticks and the Force concept, which Lucas also ruined with all of that mitochondria nonsense in the Phantom Menace? I'm surprised anybody stuck with the series after that. What's its ongoing appeal, aside from nostalgia, and maybe the hope that somehow, some way, Star Wars the Movie Series can still be resurrected? It'll never be the way people remember it. I took one look at Harrison Ford in that trailer, and then again at D23, and as I've said before, I don't want to remember Han Solo as an old, OLD man. But maybe for some people the glowsticks will suffice.

I'm not going to apologize for saying that I'd like more Disney-created/adapted attractions in Disney parks. That's why I visit them. It's hardly an indefensible position, despite your attempts to fan it into another one of your "Notice me, dammit!" flamewars. Get a life.

First-time poster here but I've been reading these boards regularly over the past year or so.

It seems to be a bit counter-intuitive to claim that the only ongoing appeal for Star Wars is nostalgia and then ask for "more Disney-created/adapted attractions" which, unless you're talking about Frozen attractions (which, of course, seem to get a disproportionate amount of ire on these boards from my observations), are almost all inherently nostalgia-based.

We can quibble about the wisdom of using third party IP such as Avatar where the long-term cultural staying power is undetermined and any real connection to Disney overall is tenuous. That's completely understandable. However, in the case of Star Wars, it's IP that (a) Disney owns, (b) has had a presence in Disney parks for over a quarter century and (c) is the largest movie franchise of all-time by a wide margin with its popularity as high as ever nearly four decades after the original was released. The only debate at this point is why the heck Disney didn't start building this as soon as it bought Lucasfilm. Even if the new movies don't meet expectations, the original Star Wars trilogy is a time-tested cultural landmark in the same vein as the enduring popularity of Mickey Mouse or how people of all ages still watch The Wizard of Oz. I'm personally not a Harry Potter fan, but I can step back and understand pretty clearly that it's a GREAT property to leverage for a theme park (just as I can step back and understand that my love for The Godfather and Goodfellas likely won't be translated into any theme park attractions). By the same token, Star Wars is the no-brainer theme park expansion to end all no-brainers, regardless of how one might personally feel about the movies.

 

[Lee]

Just wondering, and maybe those in the know can verify, but could it be possible the huge $3B approved by the BOD was to build Star Wars Land in both WDW and DL with a little extra for TSPL? As a WDW annual visitor I'm hoping it was $3B just for DHS.

Two seperate budgets. The $3b is staying in Florida.

 

[bristol's mom]

This park is too small to handle the crowds these new attractions are going to draw. What is the max capacity, 50k to 60k? I see us having to line up 2 hours before opening to even get into the park.

 

[FrankLapidus]

This park is too small to handle the crowds these new attractions are going to draw. What is the max capacity, 50k to 60k? I see us having to line up 2 hours before opening to even get into the park.

Presumably the money budgeted for infrastructure improvements and utlising current backstage areas for land expansions will go some way to solving any issues in that regard.

 

[wannabeBelle]

I hope so!!! I was there for the Unleash the Villains and with 44,000 people it was pretty darn cozy!!! Marie

 

[BrianLo]

While not as complex, as a frame of reference, does anyone know how long the TSPL in Hong Kong/Paris took to build?

12 months pretty much. Which is why 18 months is the perfectly realistic, reasonable and probable plan.

My money is on TSL (Phase 1), ???? (Phase 2), SWL (Phase 3).

Oct. 2015-May 2021

I wholeheartedly support you on this. Spring 2017 TSL, Late 2019 "Pixar???" and Spring 2021 SWL.

There will likely be a few more "things" like entertainment refreshes, a Rockin' Roller Coaster retheme etc. that will pop up along the way to fill in the cracks.

DL will be opening SWL first in 2020.

 

[WDW95]

DL will be opening SWL first in 2020.

I believe they will be opening at the same time. I can imagine there being a grand, trans-continental opening of both lands at the exact same moment. Need to build the hype equally for both so there isn't a "first".

 

[Disneyhead'71]

12 months pretty much. Which is why 18 months is the perfectly realistic, reasonable and probable plan.





I wholeheartedly support you on this. Spring 2017 TSL, Late 2019 "Pixar???" and Spring 2021 SWL.

There will likely be a few more "things" like entertainment refreshes, a Rockin' Roller Coaster retheme etc. that will pop up along the way to fill in the cracks.

DL will be opening SWL first in 2020.

I thought it was logical knowing they plan on starting in Oct., but Robert Niles is reporting 2018 for TSL. The only thing that I can imagine that would slow it down that much would be asbestos removal from the existing buildings.

 

[BrianLo]

I thought it was logical knowing they plan on starting in Oct., but Robert Niles is reporting 2018 for TSL. The only thing that I can imagine that would slow it down that much would be asbestos removal from the existing buildings.

2018 is a whole year of slow-down though. If they actually start this October I really can't fathom it taking so long.

TSL is essentially all landscaping and prefabbed offsite, that's how it goes in so quickly.

I'm really iffy on Robert's sources sometimes, he definitely has one, but I think they are generally pretty cagey with how much they actually tell him. Perhaps this is because I still honestly think Toon Town is leaving and he is trumpeting otherwise.

 

[LuckyOswald]

I have a question, not really related to all the talk of opening dates...

Have the Studios ever had a traditional dark ride(character based, not Movie Ride)? If not, is there a reason why? Seems like these new developments would be a perfect time to implement one, i.e Monster's Inc.

 

[Cody5294]

How big is Diagonal Alley acres wise?

 

[ctrlaltdel]

Well it sounds like Muppets is staying, but we don't know where. If I had to venture a guess, it is probably staying in the same spot, with a small area around themed completely to the muppets. That would probably leave, what, 15 or so acres left in the LMA/rest of SoA?

 

[danlb_2000]

How big is Diagonal Alley acres wise?

Around 9.

 

[mm52200]

I think 4 RIDES are the key thing though. The things we're losing are things like LMA, Sparrow, Idol (which got replaced), OMD, Animation (replaced with Launch Bay), BLT (replaced by TS Land), and an incredibly old/outdated Voyage of the LM.

Sure, I hate losing One Man's Dream and Animation, but this park has always been short on RIDES. We only lose 1 of those in all the closures and we are getting 4. I'll be damned if there aren't other side attractions within these lands too. Lands that are 14 and 11 acres need content beyond just rides.

I agree that the park is short on rides, that's why you ADD rides in addition to the wide variety of shows, exhibits and smaller attractions in the park already. Can you imagine how awesome DHS would with four new rides in ADDITION to One Man's Dream, the Magic of Disney Animation, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Lights Motors Action, and Indiana Jones? It would make DHS impossible to do in one day, which I feel should be the goal of every park, that there's so much to do that you can't get it all done in one day.

 

[Next Big Thing]

I agree that the park is short on rides, that's why you ADD rides in addition to the wide variety of shows, exhibits and smaller attractions in the park already. Can you imagine how awesome DHS would with four new rides in ADDITION to One Man's Dream, the Magic of Disney Animation, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Lights Motors Action, and Indiana Jones? It would make DHS impossible to do in one day, which I feel should be the goal of every park, that there's so much to do that you can't get it all done in one day.

I still have hope for at least one more announcement/land. At the end of the day, I agree with you, but DHS has always been incredibly show heavy, almost to it's detriment (well lack of investment led to that). The problem is, even if you do multiple days in a park, no one wants to see, what, 6-7 shows? It's just too many.

 

[mm52200]

I still have hope for at least one more announcement/land. At the end of the day, I agree with you, but DHS has always been incredibly show heavy, almost to it's detriment (well lack of investment led to that). The problem is, even if you do multiple days in a park, no one wants to see, what, 6-7 shows? It's just too many.

As long they add additional rides, can you have too much of anything? The more attractions, and I consider shows to be attractions, the better. Some people love watching shows and having entertainment options. They're what separates Disney from other parks. The more there is to do, the more it spreads out the crowds. How is having 6 shows in addition to four new attractions a problem?

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

I have been spending some time (now that I am home from my "cabin in the woods") to really digest and study the known announcements. My opinion, and it is just that is this.

Disney could not wait much longer to announce changes coming to DHS. The closures and quick fix Frozen events keep the park afloat but that is not going to fly forever. So, D23 it was. It was almost like Iger aides were reading message boards. The BOD must have had concept art and budgets at their disposal in order to approve a massive investment. We just saw some of it. Did we see all of it? Maybe. Some ideas/plans may not have been ready for prime time.

I consider this hopeful. The change of direction for the park would lead one to believe the name change announcement should come when whatever is left is fleshed out. The idea of immersing yourself in popular movies as opposed to visiting an actual movie studio will require more than just the two announced "lands".

What will it take to make DHS a park that immerses you in your favorite movie. What will happen to things like the stunt shows? Doesn't that just scream "movie studio"? Fantasmic still works. What about the shows? Does sitting in a theater immerse you in a movie?

I am cautiously optimstic that this is just what has been conceptualized enough for public announcement at this time. But, I am very curious how they will change the park's entire concept with these two additions.

 

[NoChesterHester]

I thought it was logical knowing they plan on starting in Oct., but Robert Niles is reporting 2018 for TSL. The only thing that I can imagine that would slow it down that much would be asbestos removal from the existing buildings.

MGM studios was completed in 1989. Asbestos had been banned by that point for over a decade.

 

[Next Big Thing]

As long they add additional rides, can you have too much of anything? The more attractions, and I consider shows to be attractions, the better. Some people love watching shows and having entertainment options. They're what separates Disney from other parks. The more there is to do, the more it spreads out the crowds. How is having 6 shows in addition to four new attractions a problem?

I consider shows attractions as well.

But VotLM, BatB, and LMA are all poor shows imo. We need more shows along the lines of the quality seen in the shows at DAK and less shows that try to do a retelling with only a few live mic'd actors in 20+ minutes. The DAK musicals convey the essence of what theater is about imo. And LMA was just unnecessary. They already had/have a perfectly good stunt show and that one actually has covered seating. LMA is cool to see once, but that's about it.

I hope the rumors of BatB being replaced and enclosed come true and we get that as a sort of interim attraction before the big dogs are let loose.