RonAnnArbor
Well-Known Member
The DHS theme is basically "Movies and media" and not much beyond that. There are a lot of assumptions in this thread that just aren't true.
To put it simply -- DHS (at the TIme Disney MGM Studios) was a rushed project from the onset and the entire idea was to open a movie-themed park at WDW before Universal Studios opened up the road. It had nothing to do with "disney magic" or "wanting a third park", or anything else. It had to do with straight-forward go for the bucks money grabbing, and it has had that problem through the years to today...
Attractions are added because they work on the west coast (ToT) or because they are cool and cheap to import from other parks where they are already proven crowd pleasers (Lights Cameras Action stunt show), etc.
Be thankful they have what they have. Had you gone to the park when it first opened (like many of us did), you'll know there was next to NOTHING to do in the park for the first few seasons.
Disney Studios in Paris also has the same problem - and they keep throwing new attractions into a hodgepodge mix. What they do better over there, though, is the movie-related stuff with two shows directly geared toward movie magic (Cinemagique and Animagique) and one show geared directly towards special effects in movies (Armageddon, as bad as it is)...but otherwise, it is the same schizoid assembly of hodgepodge rides. It's actually worse there, since some of the E-tickets are in disneyland paris itself (Star Tours, etc). Although their most creative attraction (Crushes Coaster) would make for an excellent addition at DHS in FLorida...of course, it would need to have two tracks to handle any crowd at all, versus the one track in DHS that has 1/5 the visitors each day that DHS has and STILL has 70 minute waits.
What DHS does have, though, that most people don't even pay attention to, are VERY accurate City of LA references -- from the street names, to the store names, to design of the signs, shape of the letters on windows, etc. Of course, scenic design does bubkus for those who are just running from ride to ride.
To put it simply -- DHS (at the TIme Disney MGM Studios) was a rushed project from the onset and the entire idea was to open a movie-themed park at WDW before Universal Studios opened up the road. It had nothing to do with "disney magic" or "wanting a third park", or anything else. It had to do with straight-forward go for the bucks money grabbing, and it has had that problem through the years to today...
Attractions are added because they work on the west coast (ToT) or because they are cool and cheap to import from other parks where they are already proven crowd pleasers (Lights Cameras Action stunt show), etc.
Be thankful they have what they have. Had you gone to the park when it first opened (like many of us did), you'll know there was next to NOTHING to do in the park for the first few seasons.
Disney Studios in Paris also has the same problem - and they keep throwing new attractions into a hodgepodge mix. What they do better over there, though, is the movie-related stuff with two shows directly geared toward movie magic (Cinemagique and Animagique) and one show geared directly towards special effects in movies (Armageddon, as bad as it is)...but otherwise, it is the same schizoid assembly of hodgepodge rides. It's actually worse there, since some of the E-tickets are in disneyland paris itself (Star Tours, etc). Although their most creative attraction (Crushes Coaster) would make for an excellent addition at DHS in FLorida...of course, it would need to have two tracks to handle any crowd at all, versus the one track in DHS that has 1/5 the visitors each day that DHS has and STILL has 70 minute waits.
What DHS does have, though, that most people don't even pay attention to, are VERY accurate City of LA references -- from the street names, to the store names, to design of the signs, shape of the letters on windows, etc. Of course, scenic design does bubkus for those who are just running from ride to ride.
I am pretty sure the TOT in Orlando is the original .... might want to double check your facts on that one. California got there attraction 10 years later than us. Lights cameras action was an import.
