More closures confirmed for Disney's Hollywood Studios

R

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
Closing the park during refurb? Seriously? 90% of it is still great, and the stuff that's being replaced will not be sorely missed. In the meantime, CMs would get dumped, and rust would build on perfectly good headlining attractions.

Plus, without the current cashflow, the refurb would likely take years longer and/or would be undoable.

Look, nobody's pointing guns at guest's heads to force them into ponying up the money to come in. Lot's of people still want to come. I just spent 10 days at WDW, and we spent parts of 3 days there on our park hoppers. We had a great time, and Star Tours, R&R, ToT, Midway Mania, Prime Time Cafe and Fantasmic made it onto our top ten lists. (All 5 of us did a top ten list after the trip, meaning 50 things were mentioned. Of the 50 things, 9 were from Studios, and the cover of our memory book is of the Star Wars fireworks over the Boardwalk.)

I wasn't around when Walt was running Disneyland, but I have never heard of him closing down the place when work was being done. Yet I'm quite sure that areas were walled off during maintenance, additions and refurbs. I would assume that Walt would have cried if guests showed up at a locked front gate ala the Griswolds at Wallyworld. NO! Walt definitely would've kept it open so guests could see it all as is, walls and all. It's insane to close it right now, especially after the tremendous buzz of interest with the new Star Wars movie.

Right now, Midway has a 95 minute wait, ToT and Star Tours I are at 20, and R&R is at 40. I also assume that thousands will be at Fantasmic, and a very healthy crowd will thrill at the John Williams accompanied fireworks tonight. These guests want to be there, and are willing to pay. Are you so much wiser than them? Do you think that you or some other Disney purist should dictate to them that they should cancel their hopes just because, "Gee, it isn't as perfect and utterly amazing as it should be"?
 
raven

raven

Well-Known Member
RH Kelly said:
A look at the park map would explain why a Frozen show fits, but the ride wouldnt...

It is more of a MK thing.
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We can all agree that MK doesn't need an added boost in attendance. Indy seems to be taking up a lot of space and is 25 years old now. Kinda looking like prime real estate to me! ;)
 
Chris82

Chris82

Well-Known Member
Ralphlaw said:
Right now, Midway has a 95 minute wait, ToT and Star Tours I are at 20, and R&R is at 40. I also assume that thousands will be at Fantasmic, and a very healthy crowd will thrill at the John Williams accompanied fireworks tonight. These guests want to be there, and are willing to pay. Are you so much wiser than them? Do you think that you or some other Disney purist should dictate to them that they should cancel their hopes just because, "Gee, it isn't as perfect and utterly amazing as it should be"?
Click to expand...

It's definitely a weird phenomenon - I don't really miss anything that's closed in particular, but I do kind of miss the illusion that there was more to the park than Tower of Terror and Toy Story Midway Mania, even if we pretty much only did Tower of Terror and Toy Story Midway Mania every time we visited the park.

A lot of Disney, I think, is managing and maintaining illusions that people value - the illusion that I can relive happier memories from my childhood, the illusion that World Showcase is substantially connecting us to real peoples and real places, the illusion that Hollywood Studios is a park that can sit alongside the others in terms of scope and size, etc etc. We know better, of course, but we like to be fooled. I do. Maelstrom might not have been a super authentic Norwegian experience, but if you squint hard enough... oh well.

Maybe that's why some folks are reacting so negatively to the closure of attractions that weren't all that important to them? We liked to believe we were paying for a "full" theme park, whether we took advantage of it or not.
 
Andrew C

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
raven said:
...even though DHS has a Frozen Sing-a-Long show and had a Frozen celebration for 2 summers in a row...
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yes...still seems like an MK attraction that would fit better in Fantasyland. Now, of course DHS is in need of more attractions than MK. But that doesn't change my opinion on where a Frozen attraction fits thematically.
 
raven

raven

Well-Known Member
Andrew C said:
yes...still seems like an MK attraction that would fit better in Fantasyland. Now, of course DHS is in need of more attractions than MK. But that doesn't change my opinion on where a Frozen attraction fits thematically.
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I can agree with that but wouldn't want to be near MK if they ever put it there due to what it would do to crowd levels. But between Epcot & DHS I'd rather it go to DHS for a few of reasons:

• Movie franchise
• The massive following Frozen has would boost attendance at DHS
• No room to expand in Norway if they want to add even more to Frozen
• Epcot doesn't lend itself much to kid-friendly party atmosphere (F&G & F&W festivals, alcohol, etc).
 
R

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
Chris82 said:
It's definitely a weird phenomenon - I don't really miss anything that's closed in particular, but I do kind of miss the illusion that there was more to the park than Tower of Terror and Toy Story Midway Mania, even if we pretty much only did Tower of Terror and Toy Story Midway Mania every time we visited the park.

A lot of Disney, I think, is managing and maintaining illusions that people value - the illusion that I can relive happier memories from my childhood, the illusion that World Showcase is substantially connecting us to real peoples and real places, the illusion that Hollywood Studios is a park that can sit alongside the others in terms of scope and size, etc etc. We know better, of course, but we like to be fooled. I do. Maelstrom might not have been a super authentic Norwegian experience, but if you squint hard enough... oh well.

Maybe that's why some folks are reacting so negatively to the closure of attractions that weren't all that important to them? We liked to believe we were paying for a "full" theme park, whether we took advantage of it or not.
Click to expand...

I fully agree that the illusion of something beyond the tree line is part of the magic. The Great Wall is just behind the China Pavilion. And for a while, that illusion will be missing at Studios. Oh well, long term it's worth it. If you've ever had a major remodeling project in your home, you'll know there is definite inconvenience and pain. Doubling up the bedrooms. Standing in line for the bathrooms. Doing dishes in the bathtub. The fridge in the middle of the living room. Sawdust. Noise. Yup, this is the Disney equivalent.
 
Chris82

Chris82

Well-Known Member
Ralphlaw said:
I fully agree that the illusion of something beyond the tree line is part of the magic. The Great Wall is just behind the China Pavilion. And for a while, that illusion will be missing at Studios. Oh well, long term it's worth it. If you've ever had a major remodeling project in your home, you'll know there is definite inconvenience and pain. Doubling up the bedrooms. Standing in line for the bathrooms. Doing dishes in the bathtub. The fridge in the middle of the living room. Sawdust. Noise. Yup, this is the Disney equivalent.
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Oh, I agree entirely. I do think closures will start to seem more like simple remodeling pain to folks once we get more details and specifics on the upcoming lands than we got at D23. Nothing like a park map with a big "COMING SOON" over a silhouette to get you excited...
 
Phineas

Phineas

Well-Known Member
dstrawn9889 said:
well they cant LOWER the price, then more people would come...
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I was just discussing this with my mother-can you imagine the poor, uninformed soul that decided while in Orlando on business to give one of the parks a visit, and went to HS based on 20 year-old memories, and then paid $100 to essentially see everything in ~4 hours? (at least one of which naturally spent waiting for Midway Mania)

A bit of schadenfreude, but I'd be so amused...
 
Rutt

Rutt

Well-Known Member
Phineas said:
I was just discussing this with my mother-can you imagine the poor, uninformed soul that decided while in Orlando on business to give one of the parks a visit, and went to HS based on 20 year-old memories, and then paid $100 to essentially see everything in ~4 hours? (at least one of which naturally spent waiting for Midway Mania)

A bit of schadenfreude, but I'd be so amused...
Click to expand...
If you go anywhere at all expecting it to be remotely similar to what it was 20 years ago you are probably getting what you deserve. That being said, I can't think of many who would do such a thing.
 

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