Spotlights return to Disney's Hollywood Studios

monothingie

Proxy War 2024: Never Forget
Premium Member
Hold on one second....

Looking at the pictures, it appears there are only 3 pairs of spotlights.

So it took them “years” to get six lights working?

I though the horrors of Epcot were bad, but wow has the bar been lowered on meaningful accomplishments at WDI.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
But the part I am really excited about is the triumphant return of electric hand dryers to our restrooms as we welcome guests to make sure they properly wash their hands. This is a culmination of years of work by our teams to bring basic sanitary options to this men's room. I love when our teams are able use their unique skills to enhance the stories within our parks and this definitely showcases our Imagineers ingenuity.

Air hand dryers aren't sanitary...

 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Great to see the lights back, but my goodness, those posts.

"This is a culmination of years of work by our teams to bring “premiere night, every night” energy to this iconic golden age of Hollywood architecture. I love when our teams are able use their unique skills to enhance the stories within our parks and this definitely showcases what our Imagineers ingenuity."

Like the EPCOT fountain, this is a case of putting things back to how they were on day 1. It is hardly pushing the envelope.

This, 150%.

Glad to see others noticing this.

-
 

JeffH

Active Member
Yes, it was ironic as they claimed more sanitary than wiping at first, but when a study to the contrary came out that's when they suddenly became affordable and started popping up everywhere (to my dismay). The only thing they are good for is to dry your back off on a hot sweaty day (the blower model, not the hands-in model which is only good for drying your crotch if you are able to step into them). The problem is that they do not blow hot enough to kill any germs so any germs leftover after washing stay on your hands while wiping removes a majority of leftover germs with the water.
 

dc4

Member
That is a ridiculously over the top statement about re-installing some lights. I do worry that the over-excited way Disney is describing these minor, minor updates is almost a way of saying ‘don’t get excited about anything big happening any time soon’. Like the new lights on Spaceship Earth, ok its a nice touch, but it’s not something to get THAT excited about, or that is really going to attract people to visit the parks.
 

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
I mean I wanted this to happen in early 2015 when the view of the Chinese Theatre was restored, as I'm sure most everyone here did too. Glad they're back finally!

But boy... do I miss Great Movie Ride. I get that it was showing its age, and almost 90 year old films like Public Enemy and Footlight Parade are forgotten today when 80's movies are considered classics. I say it just needed an overhaul, keeping the same premise, but the whole idea of a slow moving animatronic based attraction is a foreign concept to today's imagineers except for Bob Weiss, of course, who was a creative lead for MGM. Still MMRR is solid, just wish it was built elsewhere in the park. The sides of the theatre look bare without signs there, in my opinion. You could still keep the middle attraction sign and just put generic Chinese theatre marquees featuring Perfect Picnic on them, but what do I know? The all powerful Zachary "Instagram" Ridley and Robert Chapstick definitely know what's best...
All of this!

The theatre showing the Return of the Floodlights is terrific news. Will look great.

But somewhere there is a Disney heaven where in the past few years the view down Hollywood blvd was restored with the removal of the hat, where the GMR was polished up (as it to a large extent did), where the theatre got restored such as the turrets, and the floodligths returned to add glamour and show again, over a centerpiece attraction, one that is the culmination of the entire park.
 

Squishy

Well-Known Member
Hold on one second....

Looking at the pictures, it appears there are only 3 pairs of spotlights.

So it took them “years” to get six lights working?

I though the horrors of Epcot were bad, but wow has the bar been lowered on meaningful accomplishments at WDI.
You can see six in the other photo
9llDu51.png
 

gerarar

Premium Member
Next up....restore the Osborne Lights during the holiday season! I’m sure there’s plenty of IP Disney can “integrate” with it....lights, music, etc. ;)
 

WillWrambles

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Hold on one second....

Looking at the pictures, it appears there are only 3 pairs of spotlights.

So it took them “years” to get six lights working?

I though the horrors of Epcot were bad, but wow has the bar been lowered on meaningful accomplishments at WDI.
Somewhat inaccurate. The old spotlights were removed entirely around 2010. This wasn’t a simple fix, but an installation of new spotlight structures.
 

monothingie

Proxy War 2024: Never Forget
Premium Member
Somewhat inaccurate. The old spotlights were removed entirely around 2010. This wasn’t a simple fix, but an installation of new spotlight structures.
Back when the people in charge cared about things, when something was failing, people formulated a plan to fix and replace so that there would be minimal impact to guests. It wasn’t simply shut off for 10 years.
 

The Rocketeer

Well-Known Member
All of this!

The theatre showing the Return of the Floodlights is terrific news. Will look great.

But somewhere there is a Disney heaven where in the past few years the view down Hollywood blvd was restored with the removal of the hat, where the GMR was polished up (as it to a large extent did), where the theatre got restored such as the turrets, and the floodligths returned to add glamour and show again, over a centerpiece attraction, one that is the culmination of the entire park.
We were so close to perfection...

Speaking of the turrets, they still haven't installed the ones that were on the back end of the theatre, have they?

For reference.
 
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jt04

Well-Known Member
That is a ridiculously over the top statement about re-installing some lights. I do worry that the over-excited way Disney is describing these minor, minor updates is almost a way of saying ‘don’t get excited about anything big happening any time soon’. Like the new lights on Spaceship Earth, ok its a nice touch, but it’s not something to get THAT excited about, or that is really going to attract people to visit the parks.

I have to disagree in that they are using new technology. Agree they should never have taken away the old lighting without a replacement but there seems to be a renewed focus on these sorts of critical details.

And Imagineering nailed this. Simply stunning. How many hidden details have been lost to time that old school Imagineering installed? Love the emphasis on lighting that we are seeing that are restoring the lustre to the parks and even improving on it as seen here.

To think some people were worried about the BAH going away.

PS- yes this was worth logging in for. ⏰

👍 Imagineering
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Did they really install new spotlights... or are they just turning on the spotlights used during the projection/pyro shows that were already installed?
 

mikeymouse

Well-Known Member
This is very exciting! One thing I remember as a kid was all the "Hollywood-looking" spotlights visible from all the area tourist attractions. I believe Old Town also had spots.
 

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