HS never to be the same?

[Tank Man]

There is some kind of symmetry (or maybe poetry, I can't quite decide) in the park born out of competition from Universal Studios Florida transforming to compete with Universal Fantastic Worlds.

Yeah,
Also the new park is called Epic Universe (just announced)

 

[wdwfan4ver]

The park was never the same for many years, but Disney had no choice to move from the studio concept. Toy Storyland and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge were needed for DHS bad. Eisner's 1980's vision of the park didn't go like it planned.

I first went to WDW in 1991. The Backlot Tour was past its prime in the 2000s. The park really needed new life bad. It was easy to tell in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Disney neglecting some parts of the park did not help matters. There is so many times you can do Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, the Little Mermaid stage show and the Indiana Jones stunt show. Those 3 shows needed to gone a while a go.

I think TDO banked to much on American Ideal Experience, Toy Story Midway Mania to bring new life in the park in the late 2000s and early 2010s. TDO thought updating Star Tours to Star Tours: The adventure continues was to bring more crowds, but it didn't.

TDO did not do Pixar Place proper. I read about the rumors about the Monster's Inc. Door County that was planned for a Pixar Place attraction, but TDO did not want it. That coaster could have brought the park a little bit more life. One of the reasons for Toy Story Midway Mania lines was due to the small amount of rides the park had besides having poor capacity originally along with parts of the park having aging shows.

 

[bUU]

I think eventually when they get 4-5 rides for StarWarsLand that it will break off from DHS and you will have DHS and StarWarsLand facing each other like DL and California Adventure.

There's no real advantage to that. DL and DCA didn't break off from each other, and when DCA was built it was very deliberately built with its entry across a shopping district from DL. For your idea to be a parallel to that, it would be necessary to move the entry of DHS and this new, separate Star Wars Land you envision to where Backlot Express is. Besides not making sense (especially after putting the gondola station where it is), there simply isn't enough room.

Now, much like Epcot, it will be a hodge podge of various elements with no actual unifying qualities to make it a whole.

You are assuming that a park needs to have a single unifying theme to "make it a whole". There's no reason to believe that and all indications are that the experts at Disney, Universal, and everywhere else, have discovered that there is nothing to that idea.

Muppet Plaza: I don't care if it's called Grand Ave whatever it's called They need to figure something else to do with them similar to how they utilzed the Sesame Street area at Sea World.

It may be years before that area thins out sufficiently to have the room available to do something like that, but it is a good idea for when that thinning out does happen.

TSL..It's okay I guess.....but, what I am really dissapointed is there is no Tributes to The Earful Tower or anything from the BLT..

If you roll back just ten years, all you'd see online would be strongly-worded derision aimed at the The Earful Tower (typically alongside demands that the Chinese Theater be made the symbol of the park, despite it being well-known that there were contractual limitations regarding that). It seems things, like people, tend to be far more fondly remembered after they're gone than while they were with us.

 

[starri42]

It seems things, like people, tend to be far more fondly remembered after they're gone than while they were with us.

Heck, Superstar Limo nostalgia is now a thing.

 

[wdisney9000]

You are assuming that a park needs to have a single unifying theme to "make it a whole". There's no reason to believe that and all indications are that the experts at Disney, Universal, and everywhere else, have discovered that there is nothing to that idea.

Isnt the idea of having a complete theme what makes MK so amazing? All the individual and unique areas come together to form an entire Kingdom of magical lands. Why did Walt care if people see "a cowboy sauntering through Tomorrowland"? Why do the Imagineers and even the executives constantly remind us how they are "telling a story" through the parks and attractions? And lets not forget their favorite word, "immersive". One can not be very immersed if there is a lack of being completely surrounded by elements that support the larger concept/idea.

 

[Jon81uk]

Yup, I couldn't agree more. I never understood the reasoning that the studio theme had to go away because it's no longer a working studio.

Partly because DVD extras already offered a lot of the behind the scenes information. Also when the building sets were no longer used for actual filming it became quite pointless to keep the tram tour going.

 

[erasure fan1]

Partly because DVD extras already offered a lot of the behind the scenes information. Also when the building sets were no longer used for actual filming it became quite pointless to keep the tram tour going.

I get why the "working" studio went away. But lets say they took live animals out of the animal kingdom. That wouldn't negate or invalidate the theme. The salute to classic Hollywood, studio vibe, and live the movies worked well as a theme. I just don't see whatever theme they do now, not ending up as just a hodgepodge of stuff.

 

[Jon81uk]

I get why the "working" studio went away. But lets say they took live animals out of the animal kingdom. That wouldn't negate or invalidate the theme. The salute to classic Hollywood, studio vibe, and live the movies worked well as a theme. I just don't see whatever theme they do now, not ending up as just a hodgepodge of stuff.

Star Wars is a live the movies experience, as will be Mickey's railway. The "how movies are made" stuff has gone away because you could find that out in places and/or guests are more interested in experiences rather than learning how its done.

 

[erasure fan1]

Star Wars is a live the movies experience, as will be Mickey's railway. The "how movies are made" stuff has gone away because you could find that out in places and/or guests are more interested in experiences rather than learning how its done.

I'm not talking about the how it's made stuff as the only ride like that was backlot. Everything else was a show. But the park being themed to a Hollywood studio is a good theme. Especially that golden age of Hollywood theme that is so romanticized.

 

[Jon81uk]

I'm not talking about the how it's made stuff as the only ride like that was backlot. Everything else was a show. But the park being themed to a Hollywood studio is a good theme. Especially that golden age of Hollywood theme that is so romanticized.

But the only part(s) set in the golden age are the shops and the Tower of Terror. Most of the rest of the park was only movie studio themed in that they were big warehouse buildings with studio numbers on them.

Indiana Jones still does the how this is made schtick and the car stunt show did too.

 

[wdisney9000]

But the only part(s) set in the golden age are the shops and the Tower of Terror. Most of the rest of the park was only movie studio themed in that they were big warehouse buildings with studio numbers on them.

Indiana Jones still does the how this is made schtick and the car stunt show did too.

Did you ever experience Monster Soundshow or Superstar Television? You can't honestly tell me that Lightning McQueens Racing Academy is anywhere near as good as either of those shows.

 

[bUU]

Isnt the idea of having a complete theme what makes MK so amazing? All the individual and unique areas come together to form an entire Kingdom of magical lands. Why did Walt care if people see "a cowboy sauntering through Tomorrowland"?

You seem not to realize that you just contradicted yourself and proved my point.

 

[wdisney9000]

You seem not to realize that you just contradicted yourself and proved my point.

How so? The land of Tomorrow is one of many "lands" that support a larger theme of an entire kingdom. If you are inferring that a theme of "tomorrow" is not "magical", I would have to disagree.

 

[Christian Fronckowiak]

I still say the erosion of the "Hollywood" theme left after this project was scrapped. Had it happened, the working studio/Old Hollywood theme would have been blended with IP rather than replaced by it (ie. Streets of America--> Galaxy's Edge, etc.)

 

[Heppenheimer]

I still say the erosion of the "Hollywood" theme left after this project was scrapped. Had it happened, the working studio/Old Hollywood theme would have been blended with IP rather than replaced by it (ie. Streets of America--> Galaxy's Edge, etc.)

It looks like they were banking on Dick Tracy being much more popular than it was and Roger Rabbit's popularity lasting much longer than it did (although perhaps Roger Rabbit would be more popular today if the Disney-Amblin dispute hadn't effectively killed the character).

EDIT: I guess I'll have to refer to him as "Plainclothes Detective Tracy"...

 

[SirWillow]

I sympathize with the OP. In fact the behind the scenes/ classic Hollywood/ making movies theme had a huge influence on my son and is one of the reasons he graduated as a film maker and is producing videos today. We loved that feel of the park and being part of making movies, even if it wasn't a working studio anymore.

But it was also very apparent that they had basically decided to neglect the park and do anything to modernize or keep up the theme. The shows are very outdated. The backlot tour should have been updated instead of essentially allowed to rot away and close piece by piece. The Streets of America were basically left alone to sit and offer nothing to visitors except at Christmas. and the idea that it was a place you could experience the magic of making movies was allowed to be ignored or disappear, piece by piece.

Sadly, even worse in my opinion, is while I like the new additions in Toy Story Land and Star Wars, they really don't fit into any sort of overall cohesive theme for the park. Whereas Animal Kingdom focuses on animals and wildlife around the world (and in others in some cases), Magic Kingdom's overall theme is "fantasy" and Epcot was a perennial World's Fair, Studios is now a hodgepodge of things that aren't related to each other and it's hard to see how they fit together anymore.

While we'll enjoy individual attractions and areas at the park, all of us miss the Studios of old, and which that Disney had cared enough to keep it updated and done new things with it instead of ignoring the park. As someone pointed out with the quote from Eisner, what he said at the park dedication doesn't really make much sense anymore.

 

[Christian Fronckowiak]

I'm not an executive but I never understood why Eisner couldn't mandate the making of movies at Disney-MGM, whether they even be Disney Channel Premiere or DisneyToon Studios-caliber.

 

[Heppenheimer]

I'm not an executive but I never understood why Eisner couldn't mandate the making of movies at Disney-MGM, whether they even be Disney Channel Premiere or DisneyToon Studios-caliber.

It seemed very few production company's wanted to film under the "fish in an aquarium" model that the park offered. Even Eisner wasn't powerful enough to force that.

Ironically, though, at least a few of Disney's feature animation films were partially made in Florida. I remember seeing work on one in 1989 (don't remember which) and Mulan in 1996.

 

[Heppenheimer]

I sympathize with the OP. In fact the behind the scenes/ classic Hollywood/ making movies theme had a huge influence on my son and is one of the reasons he graduated as a film maker and is producing videos today. We loved that feel of the park and being part of making movies, even if it wasn't a working studio anymore.

But it was also very apparent that they had basically decided to neglect the park and do anything to modernize or keep up the theme. The shows are very outdated. The backlot tour should have been updated instead of essentially allowed to rot away and close piece by piece. The Streets of America were basically left alone to sit and offer nothing to visitors except at Christmas. and the idea that it was a place you could experience the magic of making movies was allowed to be ignored or disappear, piece by piece.

Sadly, even worse in my opinion, is while I like the new additions in Toy Story Land and Star Wars, they really don't fit into any sort of overall cohesive theme for the park. Whereas Animal Kingdom focuses on animals and wildlife around the world (and in others in some cases), Magic Kingdom's overall theme is "fantasy" and Epcot was a perennial World's Fair, Studios is now a hodgepodge of things that aren't related to each other and it's hard to see how they fit together anymore.

While we'll enjoy individual attractions and areas at the park, all of us miss the Studios of old, and which that Disney had cared enough to keep it updated and done new things with it instead of ignoring the park. As someone pointed out with the quote from Eisner, what he said at the park dedication doesn't really make much sense anymore.

My memory of this might not be correct, but even in 1989, the Streets of America were little more than a set to demonstrate the use of forced perspective. And to show off that large Dip machine prop from Roger Rabbit. I don't think there was anything else to do or see.

 

[starri42]

EDIT: I guess I'll have to refer to him as "Plainclothes Detective Tracy"...

Richard Tracy, maybe?

Magic Kingdom's overall theme is "fantasy"

Would you say Liberty Square slots into that theme, though? I mean, I guess you could, but that's really stretching the definition of "fantasy."