Disney's Hollywood Studios: What's Next

[ZaneB]

I hate the idea of bringing Cars Land to DHS. I know you all want it in Florida but in my opinion we should just let Anaheim have this one and plus, it would be a horrible fit in DHS! Have a pixar movie themed land at the back of the park when we have a pixar studios themed land at the front, how ridiculous! However, I do believe a Cars Attraction could be utilised. DHS lacks things for kids to do. In fact, many people feel Magic Kingdom is the only place they can take their kids and keep them entertained all day. That could change!

Disney's Hollywood Studios. Lose the Hollywood. Disney's Studios. Lose the 's. Disney Studios. The new park name. Now emphasise on the s at the end. I think the entire park could be broken up into large lands based on studios.

Cinema Court, Hollywoodland, Lucasfilm Ranch, Pixar Studios, Disney Greats, Animation Courtyard, Marvel Studios, Muppet Studios, Hot Set.

Each area strongly dedicated to a specific theme, unlike the current DHS where everything seems the be all over the place.

Cinema Court-
The entrance to the new updated park. Each building reflects a well known set from the most popular movies ever made. Walk down the court to the recreation of The Chinese Theatre, which houses an updated Great Movie Ride which takes on you on a journey through the history of film!

Hollywoodland- Recently known as Sunset Boulevard, this street now puts guests into 1950's hollywood, complete with Hollywoodland sign! The tower of terror stays in it's rightful place, but the Rock n Roller Coaster has been altered to reflect the First Era of Rock n Roll! Fantasmic has been replaced with a modified World Of Color. This WoC focuses only on Disney's early work.

Lucasfilm Ranch- Replacing the Indiana Jones + Star Tours area is a new area which is made to feel like the home of George Lucas. This is made to truly feel like a Ranch, from the dirt all the way to animals. Once you pass through the Ranch Home, things change fast. Go left and head into the world of Indiana Jones, including a stunt show and both rides from DL Paris and DL Anaheim. Go Right and enter the Star Wars universe. Ride the Star Tours ride, Eat with the characters, Learn to be a Jedi or ride THE FORCE coaster. But if those movies aren't your thing, go upstairs in the house and learn how Lucasfilm tech has changed cinema.

Pixar Studios- Imagine the current Pixar Place. Now imagine it 4 times bigger. That is almost as big as the new Pixar Studios! It now includes Crush Coaster (DL Paris), a Wall-E Play Area, a Ratatouille QS Restaurant, Cars 2 Stunt Show, A Bug's Life Train Ride, The Incredibles Super Labs and UP Adventures! Enough to keep a child busy for an entire day!

Disney Greats- A small chunk of the backlot area is now an area dedicated to the disney movies the changed cinema! The area honours Roger Rabbit, Snow White, Toy Story, Mary Poppins and Fantasia. Attractions include an updated Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin, Mary Poppins Flying Automobile and a Dark Ride that shows the breakthroughs in animation done by Walt Disney.

Animation Courtyard- This area has great potential, and that potential will be full achieved in this expansion! It is now a fully running animation studio that are continuously making shorts. Art Academy is now updated to have different characters hosting each show. Disney Junior live is now gone, but only to be replaced by a tangled dark ride! More updates are in Animation Courtyard, but I am yet to think of them.

Marvel Studios- Replacing a large part of the backlot, the marvel studios is your chance to get up close to the heroes that save our world everyday! Walk down a metropolitan street being attacked by villains, and watch as the heroes save the day! Attractions include Avengers: Earth Protectors Roller Coaster, Hulk dark ride, Spiderman 360 Dome show and a marvel hero parade!

Muppet Studios- Similar to the original muppet area but with small expansion. The muppets are making their new movie at their studios and need your help. Unfortunately the premiere is in a few hours! To hurry up the Casting, they decide it do it while eating lunch! Have some of Swedish Chef's fine cuisine while watching the muppets perform on screens next to your table at the Casting Cafeteria! Then it's time to get on the new dark ride where you film the movie! And finally, the premiere! Replacing Muppet Vision 3D is the great new Muppet Movie!

Hot Set- Hot Set is where guests can experience what it's like to be on an actual movie set! This area takes up where the Tram Tour is currently. Actors, Directors, Producers and Cameramen walk around as you make your way through the hot set. The main attraction here is the Backlot Tour, now upgraded to feel like a real Disney attraction. Drive through sets and see popular props on this amazing ride!

Well that's my idea, if you read this much then I thank you

 

[WDWLover#1]

I hate the idea of bringing Cars Land to DHS. I know you all want it in Florida but in my opinion we should just let Anaheim have this one and plus, it would be a horrible fit in DHS! Have a pixar movie themed land at the back of the park when we have a pixar studios themed land at the front, how ridiculous! However, I do believe a Cars Attraction could be utilised. DHS lacks things for kids to do. In fact, many people feel Magic Kingdom is the only place they can take their kids and keep them entertained all day. That could change!
Disney's Hollywood Studios. Lose the Hollywood. Disney's Studios. Lose the 's. Disney Studios. The new park name. Now emphasise on the s at the end. I think the entire park could be broken up into large lands based on studios.
Cinema Court, Hollywoodland, Lucasfilm Ranch, Pixar Studios, Disney Greats, Animation Courtyard, Marvel Studios, Muppet Studios, Hot Set.
Each area strongly dedicated to a specific theme, unlike the current DHS where everything seems the be all over the place.
Cinema Court-
The entrance to the new updated park. Each building reflects a well known set from the most popular movies ever made. Walk down the court to the recreation of The Chinese Theatre, which houses an updated Great Movie Ride which takes on you on a journey through the history of film!
Hollywoodland- Recently known as Sunset Boulevard, this street now puts guests into 1950's hollywood, complete with Hollywoodland sign! The tower of terror stays in it's rightful place, but the Rock n Roller Coaster has been altered to reflect the First Era of Rock n Roll! Fantasmic has been replaced with a modified World Of Color. This WoC focuses only on Disney's early work.
Lucasfilm Ranch- Replacing the Indiana Jones + Star Tours area is a new area which is made to feel like the home of George Lucas. This is made to truly feel like a Ranch, from the dirt all the way to animals. Once you pass through the Ranch Home, things change fast. Go left and head into the world of Indiana Jones, including a stunt show and both rides from DL Paris and DL Anaheim. Go Right and enter the Star Wars universe. Ride the Star Tours ride, Eat with the characters, Learn to be a Jedi or ride THE FORCE coaster. But if those movies aren't your thing, go upstairs in the house and learn how Lucasfilm tech has changed cinema.
Pixar Studios- Imagine the current Pixar Place. Now imagine it 4 times bigger. That is almost as big as the new Pixar Studios! It now includes Crush Coaster (DL Paris), a Wall-E Play Area, a Ratatouille QS Restaurant, Cars 2 Stunt Show, A Bug's Life Train Ride, The Incredibles Super Labs and UP Adventures! Enough to keep a child busy for an entire day!
Disney Greats- A small chunk of the backlot area is now an area dedicated to the disney movies the changed cinema! The area honours Roger Rabbit, Snow White, Toy Story, Mary Poppins and Fantasia. Attractions include an updated Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin, Mary Poppins Flying Automobile and a Dark Ride that shows the breakthroughs in animation done by Walt Disney.
Animation Courtyard- This area has great potential, and that potential will be full achieved in this expansion! It is now a fully running animation studio that are continuously making shorts. Art Academy is now updated to have different characters hosting each show. Disney Junior live is now gone, but only to be replaced by a tangled dark ride! More updates are in Animation Courtyard, but I am yet to think of them.
Marvel Studios- Replacing a large part of the backlot, the marvel studios is your chance to get up close to the heroes that save our world everyday! Walk down a metropolitan street being attacked by villains, and watch as the heroes save the day! Attractions include Avengers: Earth Protectors Roller Coaster, Hulk dark ride, Spiderman 360 Dome show and a marvel hero parade!
Muppet Studios- Similar to the original muppet area but with small expansion. The muppets are making their new movie at their studios and need your help. Unfortunately the premiere is in a few hours! To hurry up the Casting, they decide it do it while eating lunch! Have some of Swedish Chef's fine cuisine while watching the muppets perform on screens next to your table at the Casting Cafeteria! Then it's time to get on the new dark ride where you film the movie! And finally, the premiere! Replacing Muppet Vision 3D is the great new Muppet Movie!
Hot Set- Hot Set is where guests can experience what it's like to be on an actual movie set! This area takes up where the Tram Tour is currently. Actors, Directors, Producers and Cameramen walk around as you make your way through the hot set. The main attraction here is the Backlot Tour, now upgraded to feel like a real Disney attraction. Drive through sets and see popular props on this amazing ride!

Well that's my idea, if you read this much then I thank you

I think this is a great idea but if they were going to do a expansion that we want they would probaly have 2 close the whole park or close a large part of it. If anything is going to happen i'm guessing it woul be announced at D23.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

I don't really understand the difference between DVDs and blue-rays. Aren't they the same thing, but blue ray is a special kind of HD DVD?

Blu-Ray has a much better picture quality (like going from standard definition television to HD).
They call it Blu-Ray because it actually uses a "Blue Ray" to read the information off of the disc.

This "blue laser" has the ability to read a greater amount of information over the "red laser" that standard DVD's use.

I'm not 100% sure the difference between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray but I do know that Blu-Ray won out because of the movie studios...they all jumped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, and paired up with it being included on the Playstation 3, it put it in the homes at a relatively "cheap" price.

 

[Beholder]

I always thought it'd be nice to have a store within DHS that sold nothing but Hollywood/film related things. No Disney plushes, no pin trading, no Vinylmation, just movie related stuff. DVD/Blue Ray, movie posters, prop replicas, movie star photo/autographs, biographies and maybe one of a kind, authentic movie paraphernalia (scripts, props, clothing, etc).

DHS is somewhere I expect to find this kind of stuff. If I go to DHS and I get all inspired to bring some Hollywood home with me, I'd like to have that available. The possibilities are quite endless.

I know there was a shop near the entrance that sold posters, but is it still there? I bought a small 8x10 still from Dragonslayer, years ago (1996).

Speaking of Dragonslayer, there's a movie with a cult following that would make an awesome attraction. In AK or DHS.

 

[ChrisM]

People love pizza and it's served in the park anyway.

I suppose what Disney serves in their parks can be described as pizza. And while I enjoy all the myriad styles of pizza pies out there, I still can't wrap my head around the idea that what Disney dishes up is worse than a frozen Digornio.

Somehow, some way the freaking food service operation for the Wildlife Conservation Society (the New York Zoological Society) can get their shiftless and bored employees to make (gasp!) fresh dough and reasonably tasty pies for the teeming throngs. Yet I'd rather have a freaking frozen pizza roll than what they are dishing up at "Pizzafari" (for example).

PIZZA RAGE.

I digress. As for Carsland or RSR being cloned at DHS, I'm completely ambivalent. Just give us something high quality in that park...if it's the full blown Carsland, just RSR, some combination thereof or something else completely new and original, that's just fine by me. Just do something.

 

[BryceM]

Digornio is actually really good... Just saying.

But I guess you're right, DHS needs something, even if it is Cars Land.

 

[Beholder]

I'm in the camp of those who'd like Carsland to stay unique to DCA. I'd prefer something unique to the easy coast. Replicating an existing attraction won't have nearly the "wow" factor something completely new will. Disney owns FAR to much intellectual property to have to clone everything. Let DHS have it's own crowning jewel.

 

[Mickey_777]

Agree same here. Must everything physical go away? Dont mess with my books, and movies and music thankyou.

Yep and I still buy CD's too believe it or not

 

[ImagineerToBeZB]

I think the monsters inc coaster is long overdue. And if this were not to be added to DHS i would be dissapointed. I agree with disney suprising us with some great attractions. Its so hard to keep a secrets now

My brother and I just brainstormed on the possibilities of the ride. The Scream Floor could be the Coaster Loading area, complete with the coaster lowering to the floor for loading, then the door holder would close around the coaster car. When the cast member had cleared the car, he would press a button on the keyboard that sits next to the lowered car, and when the head cast member gave the all clear, the coaster cars would be pulled up and onto the track, beginning their journey into the door warehouse. The queues could wind through the factory, recreating the locker room, the halls, and especially the lobby/atrium, where you may see a few monsters (possibly Mike & Sulley Animatronics) talking and going to work. You would see Celia (the Receptionist) talking on the telephone and answering calls. The possibilities are endless for a ride like this. The inspiration is already in the movie... I wonder why WDI hasn't chose to fully act on this movie.... I wish they would!

 

[flynnibus]

Disney fans seem to be our worst enemy. We have no idea what we want. If WDI gives us what we want fans will still find a way to complain about whatever they create. WDI needs to dust of plans and invent things that we never heard of so we can be suprised when we do recieve an awesome attraction. We don't need a clone from another park. Why you ask, because you already know what you're getting.

I think most of the anti-clone arguement at the core is the fantasy that die hard fans think of the parks as not regional faces of Disney.. but different Disney parks built to entice you to visit each one. Disney really doesn't put it's focus on building 6 different MKs and hoping the audience visits each and every one. They are 'regional' versions of the concept, catered and updated to their target.

People say 'well I never want to got X, because its got all the same things as my park' - really that isn't Disney's prime concern. The point of building a park in the region was for you to visit it.. not the one 4,000 miles away. The parks don't need a globally unique experience to bring in their target demo. Example: Tower of Terror Paris.

Then there is the anti-clone because it's trying to force fit a property into some incompatible area purely because they know the ride is a success elsewhere and they just need to make it work somewhere so they can ride on it's success. So the arguement there is 'ABC doesn't fit.. they only are doing it because its a proven success'. So this is generally a theme/purist view. Example: Soarin..

Obviously for the company, neither of these is a major concern to not clone attractions as the vast majority are happy to ride Soarin, even if it doesn't quite fit in the land even with all the nature focus. Adding to that the reduced cost of cloning vs new attractions and its easy to see why Disney would do it.. even tho force fitting and the blind eye it turns to the cohesion of the product ultimately erodes the product.

The 'excitement' you mention I think is purely a fanboi phenom... a traveling guest is going to be excited about the attraction itself or not.. far more than 'if its something they've never seen before'

No new attraction is a mystery prior to visiting for fans anymore...

 

[NoChesterHester]

Why aren't we clamoring for a clone of the Rattaollie Dark Ride going into Paris rather than Cars Land? Oh, because we have seen Cars Land and want it.

If WDI can design what is supposed to be an E-Ticket experience off a rat pretending to be a chef in a French Restaurant, they can develop some original and unique concepts for the Florida parks...

 

[GLaDOS]

Why aren't we clamoring for a clone of the Rattaollie Dark Ride going into Paris rather than Cars Land? Oh, because we have seen Cars Land and want it.

If WDI can design what is supposed to be an E-Ticket experience off a rat pretending to be a chef in a French Restaurant, they can develop some original and unique concepts for the Florida parks...

Personally, I'd really like to see that added to World Showcase, but I'd totally take it as a DHS expansion.

 

[ChrisM]

I think most of the anti-clone arguement at the core is the fantasy that die hard fans think of the parks as not regional faces of Disney.. but different Disney parks built to entice you to visit each one. Disney really doesn't put it's focus on building 6 different MKs and hoping the audience visits each and every one. They are 'regional' versions of the concept, catered and updated to their target.

People say 'well I never want to got X, because its got all the same things as my park' - really that isn't Disney's prime concern. The point of building a park in the region was for you to visit it.. not the one 4,000 miles away. The parks don't need a globally unique experience to bring in their target demo. Example: Tower of Terror Paris.

Then there is the anti-clone because it's trying to force fit a property into some incompatible area purely because they know the ride is a success elsewhere and they just need to make it work somewhere so they can ride on it's success. So the arguement there is 'ABC doesn't fit.. they only are doing it because its a proven success'. So this is generally a theme/purist view. Example: Soarin..

Obviously for the company, neither of these is a major concern to not clone attractions as the vast majority are happy to ride Soarin, even if it doesn't quite fit in the land even with all the nature focus. Adding to that the reduced cost of cloning vs new attractions and its easy to see why Disney would do it.. even tho force fitting and the blind eye it turns to the cohesion of the product ultimately erodes the product.

The 'excitement' you mention I think is purely a fanboi phenom... a traveling guest is going to be excited about the attraction itself or not.. far more than 'if its something they've never seen before'

No new attraction is a mystery prior to visiting for fans anymore...

This is absolutely true. But allow me to elaborate from a consumer point of view.

At the core, I'm a casual theme park fan. I have great memories of Disney World as a child, and nostalgia draws me back there every 4-5 years, but I am not a "true" Disney fan by any means and have no particular affinity for Disney intellectual property because it is Disney. If it's something I happen to like and Disney owns it, it's nothing more then a happy coincidence and truth be told most of Disney's original IP isn't of any innate interest to me.

That said, while I've been to Disney Paris I visited only because I happened to be close by at the time. I rarely make it out to the West Coast any longer and my days of professional travel to Asia are long past. Point being, I'm never going to make a specific effort to go to Disneyland or any of the international versions regardless of what new attractions are there. I will more than likely take my children to WDW a handful of additional times over the next 10 years, so whatever investment DHS actually makes (be it a clone or not), will have no impact on the draw to Disneyland/DCA and the "uniqueness" of Carsland.

If I happen to be near Anaheim and am otherwise not fully scheduled, I'm sure I will check out Disneyland. But nothing is ever going to compel me to make the effort to plan a trip just to go there.

 

[RandySavage]

I haven't seen it mentioned: RSR, particularly the enormous mountain range, was designed specifically to give a berm-less park a southern berm to block visual intrusions (especially the power line towers). I don't think the rear of DHS has these types of sightline issues and thus wouldn't necessitate (other than it looking very impressive) the expense of building a similarly sized mountain-range. One reason to possibly be hopefull RSR remains unique to DCA.

 

[flynnibus]

I haven't seen it mentioned: RSR, particularly the enormous mountain range, was designed specifically to give a berm-less park a southern berm to block visual intrusions (especially the power line towers). I don't think the rear of DHS has these types of sightline issues and thus wouldn't necessitate (other than it looking very impressive) the expense of building a similarly sized mountain-range. One reason to possibly be hopefull RSR remains unique to DCA.

That's its primary purpose - but also without them RSR's outdoor section would be a shadow of itself and far less interesting. The close quarters and running through the canyons and immersion the range gives you is essential to the RSR outdoor portion.

And let's be real.. any representation of radiator springs, no matter how good (inside RSR, AoA elements, etc) all feel 'meh' compared to having the full sized representation in Carsland.

 

[ChrisM]

I haven't seen it mentioned: RSR, particularly the enormous mountain range, was designed specifically to give a berm-less park a southern berm to block visual intrusions (especially the power line towers). I don't think the rear of DHS has these types of sightline issues and thus wouldn't necessitate (other than it looking very impressive) the expense of building a similarly sized mountain-range. One reason to possibly be hopefull RSR remains unique to DCA.

Did I read somewhere that the rockwork was particularly expensive and took quite a long time to construct due to earthquake codes that had to be followed in California?

If true one could assume the costs and timeframe could be compressed in Florida.

 

[flynnibus]

Did I read somewhere that the rockwork was particularly expensive and took quite a long time to construct due to earthquake codes that had to be followed in California?

If true one could assume the costs and timeframe could be compressed in Florida.

But instead of earthquakes - you have wind loads in FL. I think this angle is a non-issue. The thing was so expensive because it's almost 6 acres, is over 10 stories tall, and half of it's surface is covered by hand crafted detailed work.

 

[Ignohippo]

I always thought it'd be nice to have a store within DHS that sold nothing but Hollywood/film related things. No Disney plushes, no pin trading, no Vinylmation, just movie related stuff. DVD/Blue Ray, movie posters, prop replicas, movie star photo/autographs, biographies and maybe one of a kind, authentic movie paraphernalia (scripts, props, clothing, etc).

DHS is somewhere I expect to find this kind of stuff. If I go to DHS and I get all inspired to bring some Hollywood home with me, I'd like to have that available. The possibilities are quite endless.

I know there was a shop near the entrance that sold posters, but is it still there? I bought a small 8x10 still from Dragonslayer, years ago (1996).

I'll take that one step further. I think it'd be great if there was someplace at DHS that was like the IFC prop room on steroids – a walkthrough of sets and artifacts from the movies. Think of The Great Movie Ride, but as a walkthrough of the real sets from the movies.

They could also create a space that could have traveling exhibits. During SWW, it would be used as Darth's Mall. During the rest of the year, it would have exhibits for a particular movie or series (imagine an incredible Muppets exhibit or a James Bond exhibit with the cars and props from the movies, etc.) rotating every six months or so. Kinda like what they do with the soundstage that had Narnia and will have Pirates, but much, much bigger and better.

 

[Ignohippo]

Did I read somewhere that the rockwork was particularly expensive and took quite a long time to construct due to earthquake codes that had to be followed in California?

If true one could assume the costs and timeframe could be compressed in Florida.

Meh. Cars should definitely have a presence at DHS, but CarsLand deserves to be exclusive to California. As many things as there are that need to be added to DHS, I'd hate to see them spend so much on one property.

 

[Beholder]

If Pixar is the thematic driver in any upcoming new DHS attraction, I'd like to see The Incredibles. It's a great story with good characters (IMO), and seeing that Disney may be looking to bring Marvel into some of it's other parks, it'd make sense for WDW to have a super-hero attraction without the legal worries from UNI. If cloning is inevitable, then it's seems like it'd be fairly simple to put an Incredibles overlay to nearly any Marvel based attraction. If Disney likes the "variation on a theme" throughout it's parks, then I like The Incredibles for a new attraction idea.

If animation in general is the driving element, then I've always like Aladdin as an attraction idea. Great movie, memorable songs, and one of the most iconic characters from that era. Flying carpets (not a spinner), exotic city scapes, great villain, and The Genie. Nice potential.