Nintendo Ave - a new land at DHS (Up next: Sunset Blvd)

[Disney Dad 3000]

A few of the clues from our little backstory where this project was headed......
More characters, actual rides, etc. to be divulged as the project is laid out.

DHS References
- "Been here long enough to know that the citizens of this town don’t like anything messing with their perfect day.
- Runnin’ this beat for near 34…no 35 years now.
- Modified partial map of DHS

- “Sam… need you over at the hotel…..10-37….patrol 6 on site.”

- “Shame…..nice place that hotel, once the nicest in Hollywood…not that I’d ever stay…..Just sitting there……Looked like a few letters from the marquee were falling off
- There’s no secrets in the precinct and some of the boys had gotten a kick out of the oddball stories popping up about that forsaken hotel.

Mario
- "Tried the county recorder’s office….See if we could check for any new owners….Their having their own issues of their own, what with a water main break flooding out the whole place
- “Almost forgot to tell ya….the guys over at the Recorder's Office said the guys got that pipe issue under control

Luigi
- Weird name he's got........What kind of name is Lll......”
- “Hey Sam. Captain wanted me to tell you your new guy is delayed back East.
-

- Detective Sam Palmer and his new partner, fresh from the Brooklyn Detective School (maybe Sam should’ve looked at that folder first).
- And well…..You’re gonna have to talk to them yourself…..They’re all a bit spooked.”

Waluigi
This guy seemed too fitting to use as a human stand in for the character when I found the pic. Probably didn't make the faint W on his goggles easy enough to spot if you looked closely.

Donkey Kong
- Weird though….whoever it was, made a mess………room all tossed……even the door jam was busted open on all sides.
- large, shadowy figures crossing before him

Silver Screen Story (a Switch title)

I wonder.....

 

[Disney Dad 3000]

Building out Nintendo Ave (and beyond)

Anyone that knows Disney’s Hollywood Studios knows what a cluster it can become when even one attraction goes down for any extended period of time, or worse, closed for a lengthy refurbishment. Wait times skyrocket across the park and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why. Nine rides, all of which have a fairly high level of popularity for various reasons and draw crowds, short of Star Tours except during the busiest days or times (a Star Wars ride both more enjoyable and reliable in many cases than its counterparts in Galaxy’s Edge).

Maneuvering with this in mind is tricky, especially when you are talking about work within important real estate of the park and the crowds that will come for a new Nintendo Land (hopefully). The ride count is going to suffer to an extent. Like Thanos, it is inevitable, but careful planning can limit the impact of a reduced ride count for roughly 14-18 months (sooner if Bob tells the bean counters to ignore playing the accounting cycle game).

Bringing Nintendo to DHS isn’t just about bringing Nintendo to DHS. Well, who am I kidding, it mostly is. The IP game with theme parks, namely Disney and Universal, is all about what you can do with a genre, its characters and its lore that will make fans happy, and bring the guests. With Nintendo Ave we are going to see how far we can stretch that lore to be unique but also fit the constructs of the park it is going into in an entirely different way. While we’re at it, let's use this chance to shape the park, well a big chunk of it, for the future and fix some things along the way.

This is what I like to call the 12-year plan. But Dad you say, you only list 10 years, surely you can count? Of course I can, but I also know to expect delays and in the end the likelihood that Phase 3 doesn't see the light of day or is pushed out after 9 years of serious investment in the park. Weather. Staffing. The Economy. Angry protestors from Big Thunder Mountain (the creators of Iron Mountain will get that joke). Any of these could also come into play.

With all this stuff happening, construction will happen in phases, though projects and lands will overlap in the schedule to maximize every day in a “perfect” symphony making even Leopold Stokowski jealous. While Disney tends to stop after Phase 1 with its expansions, we will carry on. Even if it doesn’t come first in our presentation, don’t worry, Nintendo is Phase 1 and we'll learn soon enough what's in store. I know this reads like a redacted government document, but we can’t spill all the beans just yet.

(Year 1 demo work highlighted in yellow)

Year 1
Lightning McQueen Racing Academy - demolition and clearing
Backstage adjacent to RNRC - demolition and clearing
Begin construction of brand-new Inspiration Campus and bridge with cast parking

Year 2
Construction of Dining and Retail within Nintendo Ave

Year 3
XXXX closed
Star Wars Launch Bay and backstage Animation Buildings - demolition and clearing
Jedi Training is reopened, Meet & Greet spaces and opportunities are created in SWGE to replace Launch Bay

Years 1-3
Nintendo Ave Attraction #1/Nintendo Ave Attraction #2/Nintendo Ave Attraction #3 construction

Year 4
Open Nintendo Ave Attraction #1/Nintendo Ave Attraction #2/Nintendo Ave Attraction #3
Close xxxxxxxx
Feature attraction xxxxx for xxxxx begins construction

Year 5
Open Nintendo Attraction #4 (Nintendo Ave is complete)
Disney Jr and Voyage of the Little Mermaid Temporarily closed - exterior renovations

Year 6
Disney Jr and Voyage of the Little Mermaid Reopen
Theater of the Stars - demolition and clearing
Sunset Blvd Attraction #1 construction begins

Year 7
Xxx xxxx Official Grand Opening with Attraction #1

Year 8
New xxxxx xxxxxx opens

Year 9
Xxxxx xxxxx Attraction #1 opens

Year 10 (probably 12)
Xxxx xxxx opens along with xxx xxx xxx​

 

[cdunlap]

Year 7
Xxx xxxx Official Grand Opening with Attraction #1

Year 8
New xxxxx xxxxxx opens

Year 9
Xxxxx xxxxx Attraction #1 opens

Year 10 (probably 12)
Xxxx xxxx opens along with xxx xxx xxx

Man, I love the X series of attractions!

 

[Disney Dad 3000]

Man, I love the X series of attractions!

Lot of X-Men stuff on the way in Phase 4.

 

[Miru]

Man, I love the X series of attractions!

Does that mean we have Capcom on board anyway now?

 

[Disney Dad 3000]

Inspiration Campus

As seen with our Building out post, the expansion of Disney’s Hollywood Studios with Nintendo Ave will have a ripple effect across the park, most immediately to its northern half. Whether it’s Nintendo in this blue-sky project, or some other long-range planning 20 years from now that eventually grows the park, choices will be made. One of the more unique ones with our project, something we are calling Inspiration Campus at the moment (hate the name and liable to change that name multiple times), comes to life.

(Highlighted - Demo backstage commences once construction complete, Shaded - vital park infrastructure left intact)

We’ve already seen day 1 demolition taking place in the immediate vicinity of Sunset Boulevard and there will be more to follow in Year 3 of this project, but not before we also complete construction on this new facility across World Drive from DHS proper.

With roughly 58+ acres of land immediately available and suitable acres with which to build upon (highlighted in orange), the campus provides ample space for much of the park’s lost infrastructure and current facilities in use, including but not limited to park upper management, training, holiday decorations, etc. that is lost with the backstage demo. Other activities that may require more immediate access to the park like groundskeeping and custodial will retain backstage locations within the park.

As with park projects, this campus will have phases of its own with all manner of additions and possibilities. Immediately, the vital needs of DHS will be met as noted above with additional staff dining options to complement those existing within park operations, in addition to permanent offices and design space for any WDI staff based in Florida. While not meant to house all of WDI, with the Lake Nona fiasco, the campus provides a great base of operations for permanent Imagineering staff and any on site from Glendale. With the loss of the parking deck behind Toy Story Land, the site will also provide parking for any and all DHS staff as needed, and if the park is ever ready to expand on its southern border behind the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular into cast parking, ample parking is available to accommodate the lost spaces.

As far-fetched as it may sound, this site was actually designated as a possible site for guest parking decades earlier, and of course would not be the first time something was transported over World Drive (see SWGE/TSL construction). A bridge will connect the campus with backstage of DHS terminating at the current parking deck. To passersby on World Drive, the external portions of the bridge will feature a more unique architectural style compared to the bridges at Osceola and Buena Vista with possibilities of various seasonal lighting packages. The top surface will be wide enough for two lanes of traffic to shuttle staff back and forth, and provide access for delivery and construction vehicles, as well as be accompanied by walking/bike lanes for anyone choosing those methods for traversing.

With the remaining wealth of acreage, park areas, running/biking trails, picnic spots, green space, etc. will be set aside for all Walt Disney World cast member personal use. The size of the parcel leaves numerous possibilities for expansion of the campus to relocate any other internal operations around the resort and/or expansion of benefits for cast members, housing, etc.

Up Next…
Sunset Boulevard​

 

[Disney Dad 3000]

Sunset Boulevard

And so our adventure begins (belatedly)….

Guests enjoying the leisurely walk down Hollywood Boulevard won’t notice any immediate changes as they near its intersection with Sunset, unless they happen to look down and spot the rather conspicuous shiny metal rails that appear and beckon further inspection. Instrumental background audio sets the mood while making a right onto the open thoroughfare designed path. The grand signs of Legends of Hollywood and Beverly Sunset Boutique, just waiting to glow with the approaching night sky, welcome passersby as their first experience along the grand boulevard. In the distance, an iconic hotel awaits.

What’s this? The Citizens of Hollywood? That’s right, the motley crew that has livened up Hollywood Studios streets for years appears, with frivolity sure to follow. One of the newer rotating cast, Detective Sam Palmer, tries to play it straight, but it’s entirely impossible with this group. Maybe he was better off with a Plumber/Detective for a partner?

Popping into the Beverly Sunset, guests notice that the recent change to all Pixar merchandise has seen its demise with the store's contents being relocated to an alternate location in additional park updates. In its place, the shop’s interior maintains more of a period presence and now is home to a mixture of music and film offerings. A record booth off to one side provides a chance to survey some tunes. Items on sale range from the 40’s to present day, with the present-day items easily blended into the setting. Of particular note are spoof posters of several high-profile films from the 40’s including Casamousa, Citizen Duck and The Maltese Parrot that advertise popular films of the day.

Across the way, Legends of Hollywood remains largely unchanged, inside and…. *Ding Ding*. What’s this? Approaching from the end of Sunset, shining brightly in the afternoon sun, comes one of the park’s newest additions, the Red Car Trolley. Modeled after Disney California Adventure’s attraction of the same name, Hollywood Studios version maintains the orange accents found on the streetcars found in the area. A part of early park concepts, and obviously found in the myriad of themed elements at this end of the boulevard within Hollywood Studios, it makes too much sense.

While Sunset Blvd did not have its own end to end streetcar line, portions of the boulevard did have rail lines as part of the greater Pacific Electric Railway. Ideally, the streetcar would also traverse Hollywood Blvd but keeping the sight and path lines open towards the Chinese theater help traffic flow in and out of the park. The Trolley Car Cafe makes for an apt terminus of one end of the streetcar’s journey through the park and only enhances the photo opportunities along Sunset. Guests boarding at the Trolley Car Cafe will ride the length of Sunset where the line makes a left onto Nintendo Blvd in front of the Hollywood Hotel and continues on a bit further into the park’s expansion that includes both Nintendo Blvd and an area to be revealed in a future update. It can continue on to its backstage storage barn beyond what is currently the intersection W Showbiz Blvd and Theatre of the Stars Drive after operating hours are completed.

With Legends of Hollywood in the rearview mirror, guests will notice one of the first structural changes on Sunset, but first, a bite to eat. The meal offerings here stay as is, with Anaheim Produce, Rosie’s All-American Cafe, Catalina Eddie’s and Fairfax Fare still in operation. The outdoor dining and shaded options provide ample opportunity to rest, recharge and soak in a bit of the Sunset Boulevard vibes. People watching and the now established Red Car line provide plenty of opportunity to do just that.

Across Sunset, the shop and structure that held the shop Once Upon a Time is no more. In its place, a structure modeled after NBC Radio West’ building that was located at 6285 Sunset Boulevard. The structure was one of the icons that would become the famed “Radio Row” along Sunset that included recording offices for NBC, ABC, CBS and more. More than just a period themed structure, it is also home to Sunset Blvd’s newest attraction……​