Hollywood Studios

[Thebolt]

I always liked the original idea of the Studios; opening up Disney's production facilities to the masses. It was a great idea... but the company didn't pull it off, at least not over the long term. There is no realistic path back to that from where Disney is these days, so they are finally reinventing the park.
Toy Story land is just filling in a big gap they had where younger guests were not well catered for. Its a shame it got hyped as the big new thing, as it is clearly just there to round out the offering.

It is not my ideal solution, but it is much better than seeing the place slowly die without this sort of investment.
Personally, I'd rather see it have turned into Lucaspark.... with all those IPs in it. Indiana Jones, Star Wars, the Goonies, Willow, Labyrinth, Howard the Duck M&G with him mouthing off about Donald Duck..

 

[Thebolt]

Goonies is Lucas?

My mistake... but it should have been

 

[Model3 McQueen]

TSL is a land meant for little, little kids. It's a land that was meant to be taken low, expectation wise.
What really hurts TSL in the long run is that it opened before Star Wars Land. They should have taken the time to spurce up the land more and opened it alongside SWL IMO.

It's a Bug's Life Land grew on me as a part of DCA and the sounds / music was nostalgic, but there's absolutely no denying that it was a low-budget state fair with laughably bad attractions (with the exception of It's Tough to be a Bug) that helped damage the reputation of DCA.

 

[Adam Snider]

I think that the theming was actually pretty amazing. You’re transported into Andy’s backyard and it really feels like it. I think the OP’s main issue is that TSL doesn’t fit into his style of attractions, which is okay since everybody has their own preferences, but HS was a park that wasn’t drawing any kids that were too small to ride ToT and RNRC, so they had to add something that appealed to little kids to keep balance within the parks. Btw, Slinky Dog was a pretty impressive “kiddy” coaster in my opinion. Much better than Barnstormer. And you may want to ride Small World again. If you think it goes faster than the 40 mph that Slinky Dog hits, then you probably haven’t ridden it recently. IMO, Swirling Saucers is a better spinning ride than the tea cups. Next time you should go, you should try the food though... it’s great!

I was just exagerating on the Small world. Yeah it launches at 40mph but then slowly rolls over a hill that feels like it won’t make it. I get it’s for the younger kids and I’m happy people enjoy it, just not for me IMO.

 

[Think Tink]

I can totally see where you are coming from. I was heartbroken with the closing of the Great Movie Ride and wasn't sure how I would feel about all the changes coming to the park. I will say though, with the addition of Star Wars GE, I think that the park will move up for me, and I am not even a huge Star Wars fan. My husband loves DHS, he said it's tied with Epcot as his favorite. While I actually loved the vibe of TSL, Alien Swirling Saucers did fall flat for me. It gave off carnival vibes, but it was still mildly enjoyable. The land as a whole though, is very cool to me!

 

[Disney.Mike]

I may be in the minority, but I like TSL. I think SDD is what the 7DMT should have been. Its a "big" enough coaster to be enjoyed by the older crowd, but still friendly to the younsters (7DMT is to small for my taste).

Hopefully after SWGE we will see them update the park interior and maybe add in 1 more land with 2-3 attractions. That will make DHS a solid park

 

[ljransom]

I'm not a child and love TSL. The theming is great and a lot of fun. Slinky is what it is, but still a good ride in my opinion. It just feels like a happy place to be in this section of the park, and it's what HS needed. There's too much complaining about new areas being added, when we should be happy that they are building new things at all after the recent years.

 

[Trackmaster]

I think that Slinky is a fine ride, and an example for other parks for how to do family style coasters right. It could be better, but it does beat the boring unthemed figure 8 coasters that are 15 feet tall that most amusement parks plop down and call "family coasters." Slinky could hit the hills faster for some actual airtime, but its a win-win, where its not too extreme for kids, but also relatively entertaining for parents with a fun line.

Now, the problem is that Slinky is so new and people are so starved for coasters and new rides at Disney that a little unassuming family coaster like that will get 2-3 hour lines, and the FP+ will be shut down before the 30 days hits. If it was at most a 20-30 minute wait (which it may be in 10-15 years when it becomes old news) I think it would be a nice little ride to enjoy.

 

[erasure fan1]

There's too much complaining about new areas being added, when we should be happy that they are building new things at all after the recent years.

Most of the angst comes from the issue that Disney world needs capacity, Especially the studios. So I get why people are complaining about these new areas. Toy story land is what it is, a small secondary land that was not supposed to be headliner. So with what they built and what is coming, the land doesn't meet expectations. And this is a problem all over the parks. New fantasyland, under built, Avatar, under built... I also think Disney should be held to a higher standard. We shouldn’t be OK with them building things just because, hey, it's better than nothing.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Most of the angst comes from the issue that Disney world needs capacity, Especially the studios. So I get why people are complaining about these new areas. Toy story land is what it is, a small secondary land that was not supposed to be headliner. So with what they built and what is coming, the land doesn't meet expectations. And this is a problem all over the parks. New fantasyland, under built, Avatar, under built... I also think Disney should be held to a higher standard. We shouldn’t be OK with them building things just because, hey, it's better than nothing.

Although, I do understand that thinking, we do not know what is under built or what is over built. None of us are theme park designers, understand anything about flow and human movement. Yes, we can anticipate that for a while it will be quite awful. Do we hear any complaints about Frozen anymore? How about even jumping down the road a few miles to Universal and they memories of Harry Potter opening day crowds. See that happening anymore? You don't build and spent gigantic sums of money to anticipate a huge opening crowd that will diminish over time. Flash back to rides like Horizons, Imagination that had gigantic queue setups only to end up with walk on crowds after the novelty wore off. Armchair theme park designers have the same credibility as armchair quarterbacks. We incorrectly second guess the experts and think that the solutions are simply throwing more money at it. Life never works like that.

 

[erasure fan1]

Although, I do understand that thinking, we do not know what is under built or what is over built. None of us are theme park designers, understand anything about flow and human movement.

In the studios case, it's under built, the park needs attractions. That is not a guess. I agree that you can never really know what the masses will do or like. But star wars is about as sure a bet as you can get and toy story land just isn't going to cut it. Once the galaxys edge novelty wears off, you are still left with a park that needs more attractions.

 

[Goofyernmost]

In the studios case, it's under built, the park needs attractions. That is not a guess. I agree that you can never really know what the masses will do or like. But star wars is about as sure a bet as you can get and toy story land just isn't going to cut it. Once the galaxys edge novelty wears off, you are still left with a park that needs more attractions.

I don't think that I will still be alive when the novelty wears off for either land. And that area of the park has added 4 attractions to an area that had two. One boring useless backlot tour and a automobile stunt show. That along with the new MM ride and ToT and RnRC will have added more alleged E tickets in one small area then most of the others have. Surely more then DAK and even Epcot has. They have left room to add on if needed, but, seriously, it is now, or will be shortly, as relevant as any of the other three. However, over building can be as catastrophic as under building over the long haul. I don't know about you, but, I want to see WDW as vibrant as possible, not for me, but, for my grandchildren and their children. I'm not a player anymore, but, after going there for almost 36 years now, at least once every year, (last year was the first one I missed) there are still things that I haven't experienced and probably won't get the chance too.

I, like everyone else, am still upset about that 10 years stretch where they did nothing at all. It appears now that they might have learned a lesson from that for the future. The future that I probably will miss. The point is, enjoy that they finally pulled their collective heads out of their butts and are doing something now. And if you are young enough make sure that, in the future, they continue to upgrade and expand. Instead, everyone feels it necessary to be contemptuous about the stuff that they are now doing. Judgmental without seeing, and critical without understanding the reasons for what they did or didn't do. And I don't care who you are, or who you know, unless you were sitting in that board room when decisions were made... you don't have any viable knowledge of exactly what happened. You only have filtered down information that might be as biased as it is incorrect. All we can do is experience what we have and what we are getting and draw our own conclusions as to its entertainment value.

 

[TwilightZone]

Although, I do understand that thinking, we do not know what is under built or what is over built. None of us are theme park designers, understand anything about flow and human movement. Yes, we can anticipate that for a while it will be quite awful. Do we hear any complaints about Frozen anymore? How about even jumping down the road a few miles to Universal and they memories of Harry Potter opening day crowds. See that happening anymore? You don't build and spent gigantic sums of money to anticipate a huge opening crowd that will diminish over time. Flash back to rides like Horizons, Imagination that had gigantic queue setups only to end up with walk on crowds after the novelty wore off. Armchair theme park designers have the same credibility as armchair quarterbacks. We incorrectly second guess the experts and think that the solutions are simply throwing more money at it. Life never works like that.

I'm not sure if the downfall of popularity of imagination and horizons was a case of novelty. Sure, Horizons was doomed to become unpopular after a certain time period, but with other non IP rides that are still popular, I think the problem with Imagination and other rides weren't the contents, but what was around them. Educational exhibits. No one goes to a theme park to be educated.

 

[Tim Lohr]

Toy Story Land is like 1 notch up from Story Book Circus, not bad but a fun time and pretty at night... the "theme-wise" though, The Hollywood Studios is slowly being turned into something like a sequel of The Magic Kingdom, is basically going to be several large themed lands that are all independent from one another

 

[Trackmaster]

Although, I do understand that thinking, we do not know what is under built or what is over built. None of us are theme park designers, understand anything about flow and human movement. Yes, we can anticipate that for a while it will be quite awful. Do we hear any complaints about Frozen anymore? How about even jumping down the road a few miles to Universal and they memories of Harry Potter opening day crowds. See that happening anymore? You don't build and spent gigantic sums of money to anticipate a huge opening crowd that will diminish over time. Flash back to rides like Horizons, Imagination that had gigantic queue setups only to end up with walk on crowds after the novelty wore off. Armchair theme park designers have the same credibility as armchair quarterbacks. We incorrectly second guess the experts and think that the solutions are simply throwing more money at it. Life never works like that.

I think that you're putting way too much faith in the ability of people who are just employees at a company. A difference between an armchair quarterback and an armchair park designers is that one guy makes $20M a year and is a 1 in a billion talent and the other is a cog who probably makes $45K a year. There's no major for Theme Park Designer, its just a job that some people have. Some are good at their job, and some are bad at their job. Disney is trying to sell tickets and more fervently they're trying to fill hotel rooms. Don't overestimate the talent in their rooms or their commitment to making the best rides and attractions in the world.

So yes, its fair to call out parks when their rides or themed sections aren't up to snuff when you're paying $10,000 for a week for your family's main vacation for the year. This is a park that hires Vekoma to build most of its coasters instead of RMC, Intamin, or B&M (although they did get Intamin to do Slinky Dog which was a step in the right direction) afterall. They also fail to see that roller coasters tend to be the hottest ticket in the parks with the longest lines and most sought after FP+'s.

So there's a lot of room for better Imagineers and more forward thinking executives to come in and make positive improvements.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think that you're putting way too much faith in the ability of people who are just employees at a company. A difference between an armchair quarterback and an armchair park designers is that one guy makes $20M a year and is a 1 in a billion talent and the other is a cog who probably makes $45K a year. There's no major for Theme Park Designer, its just a job that some people have. Some are good at their job, and some are bad at their job. Disney is trying to sell tickets and more fervently they're trying to fill hotel rooms. Don't overestimate the talent in their rooms or their commitment to making the best rides and attractions in the world.

So yes, its fair to call out parks when their rides or themed sections aren't up to snuff when you're paying $10,000 for a week for your family's main vacation for the year. This is a park that hires Vekoma to build most of its coasters instead of RMC, Intamin, or B&M (although they did get Intamin to do Slinky Dog which was a step in the right direction) afterall. They also fail to see that roller coasters tend to be the hottest ticket in the parks with the longest lines and most sought after FP+'s.

So there's a lot of room for better Imagineers and more forward thinking executives to come in and make positive improvements.

That would be true if theme parks, specifically Disney, have been operating for 65 years. It doesn't matter if there is a college course for theme park design, there is a company that has been doing it for over 6 decades. Not everything can be taught in a classroom. Of course, they will make mistakes, but, they will make fewer mistakes then those "cogs" that are doing what I call... WAGs. ** They have only thoughts about how things should happen. If I had to put my money on which of the two would be likely to do something correctly, I will take that person that just happens to do it as a job.

As far as, calling them out for something that an individual conceives as "up to snuff" isn't legitimate. All that does is say that it doesn't live up to their individual desires, not what constitutes quality or not. You are stuck on Coasters, sorry, I am not. So which one of us is right. Which thing made Disney famous to begin with. It wasn't coasters. Matterhorn was the first, but, they were already packed full before that ever showed up.

So you can inform Disney that you don't personally like what they offer or how they do it, but, you cannot call the shots of how the park is run and what is included as if it applies to everyone.

Spoiler: **

Wild A$$ Guess's

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

Theming can of course be debated for TSL, but it’s also contributing to the chaotic park layout. The Hollywood Studios layout has always been confusing and disjointed (dead end on Sunset Blvd., lack of places on “right” side of park, weird transition/entryway to Mickey Ave., etc.), but TSL makes it worse.

At least Mickey Ave used to wrap around toward SoA, but now where the Pixar sign used to be, it just dead ends at the TSL entrance. One assumes that Star Wars land will connect to these parts of the park but who knows. DHS always been a debacle to me.

 

[Adam Snider]

Theming can of course be debated for TSL, but it’s also contributing to the chaotic park layout. The Hollywood Studios layout has always been confusing and disjointed (dead end on Sunset Blvd., lack of places on “right” side of park, weird transition/entryway to Mickey Ave., etc.), but TSL makes it worse.

At least Mickey Ave used to wrap around toward SoA, but now where the Pixar sign used to be, it just dead ends at the TSL entrance. One assumes that Star Wars land will connect to these parts of the park but who knows. DHS always been a debacle to me.

This is what I meant. It makes it feel like even more of a mess than before!

 

[JillC LI]

We all LOVED TSL in December (ages 58, 50, 19, and 17). Slinky Dog was the perfect amount of thrill for me (and was still enough for the rest of the family who actually does enjoy thrills), and we all enjoy TSM. We felt that Alien SS was not for us, but that's ok. The theming was great in that whole area of the Park. And the S'mores french toast at Woody's Lunchbox for breakfast was to die for. I guess we were looking for things to love about it, not things to complain about though.