Hollywood Studios is celebrating its' 35th Birthday this week. The park officially opened for the first time on May 1st, 1989. Wow how time flies! Hollwood Studios has truly transformed as a park throughout the past 35 years. It still continues to grow with the times while also maintaining the Golden Hollywood feel to it, particularly in the main entry way, Hollywood Boulevard, and the landmark Grauman's Chinese Theater (modeled after the real theater in Los Angeles) which has marked the center of the park since opening day. Hollywood Boulevard has stayed the same as the entryway to the park, with lots of old-timey looking shops and streetscape facades, serving the same purpose as Main Street in Magic Kingdom.
Back in the day, Hollywood Studios used to be my favorite park in all of Disney World. I loved the old-timey, eerie feel of walking down Sunset Boulevard. It was like going back in time. Tower of Terror was my favorite ride, and the back corner of the park was the best when you could run back and forth between Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster. As a kid I could do that all day. However, the park has transformed through the years (rightfully so) and it is not the same as it was in the earlier days of its existence. Now it feels like a mishmash of different Disney movies, the largest emphasis being on Star Wars with the inclusion of Galaxy's Edge in 2019.
When this park first opened, it was named MGM Studios. Imagineers were originally brainstorming ideas for adding a new "movies" themed pavilion to Epcot, with the Great Movie Ride being the main attraction. This idea stuck and inspired Imagineers to create an entirely new park based on the movie business and behind the scenes action. Michael Eisner (some say the true creator of the Disney World we know and love today) was CEO of Disney at the time that MGM Studios was created. It was Disney's first attempt to expand beyond the original concept of Magic Kingdom and Epcot that was imagined by Walt Disney. Hollywood Studios was able to open very quickly due to Disney created governing body Reedy Creek waiving a lot of requirements that a non-Disney municipality would have required.
When MGM Studios first opened, it was focused on showing the behind the scenes of the movie business. In fact, the park was right next door to an operating movie production facility. This studio would go on to make Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear right there next to MGM. At first, the only attractions to experience at MGM were the backlot tour (showing how movies/televisions shows were filmed at the facility), as well as the Great Movie Ride in the Grauman's Chinese Theater. In these early days, celebrity spotting's occurred often, and many celebrities left their handprints in the cement in front of Grauman's theater. The original handprints can still be seen today, like a mini version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California. The original icon of MGM Studios was called the Earffel Tower, which was a fake water tower topped with Mickey Ears.
As the park grew in popularity, MGM saw its first real expansion with the inclusion of Sunset Boulevard and the Tower of Terror. Tower of Terror opened in 1994. This was the start of the park as we know it nowadays, with the creation of a truly iconic ride that Disney fans will forever correlate with Hollywood Studios. It is a fan favorite ride, and I do not think imagineers will ever remove it, mostly because of how well it fits in with the theming of the original park. It has an old-timey golden Hollywood feel to it and was an attraction that was modeled after the park rather than just inserted into a park. It is also one of the only true Hollywood attractions left in Hollywood Studios so I feel it should be treated as an untouchable historic landmark. We all know the outcome for the Tower of Terror in Disney's California Adventure (it was turned into Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission Breakout).
As we hit the 2000s, Disney started phasing out the "behind the scenes" feel of MGM. In 1999, the Rockin Rollercoaster was put in. This seemingly had nothing to do with the movie business and instead was a thrill ride focused on being fun. Not long after, the working studio next door closed shop and no longer produced animated movies. This area became home to Toy Story Mania (a very popular ride, and a little prequel for the Toy Story Land that was to come in 2018). The Earffel Tower icon was removed, and the new icon of MGM became the Sorcerer's Hat as of 2001. The giant hat from Fantasia is most likely the icon that most Disney adults remember for Hollywood Studios, as it was quite upsetting when that too was eventually removed from the park.
Progress continued within Hollywood Studios with the closure of most, if not all, studio like attractions. The Backlot Tour ride was boarded up, as was the Great Movie Ride within Grauman's Theater. The Backlot themed streets were also removed- it no longer felt like you were walking through movie sets while within the park. In 2008, the park was renamed Hollywood Studios. However, a lot of older folks still refer to the park as MGM. In 2015, the Sorcerer's Hat was removed from the center hub in front of Grauman's Theater, and the official icon of the park changed to the Tower of Terror. This icon has remained through today.
Finally, in 2016, the remainder of the backlots were closed to make room for major additions to Hollywood Studios. First, Toy Story Land opened in 2018, based off the extremely popular Toy Story movies. Then, in 2019, Galaxy's Edge opened. This would bring an all-new fan base to the park, one that had not been targeted until now. It is nice that these new areas are additions to the existing park, and nothing really had to be taken away to make room for them. However, the addition of these two new areas really changes the overall vibe and ambiance of the park. For anyone who hasn't visited Hollywood Studios since before 2015, they are in store for a shock and completely different experience than they may remember. To top it all off, in 2020, the Great Movie Ride within Grauman's Theater was officially replaced with Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.
When I am asked my opinion of Hollywood Studios, it is a difficult one to give. It is absolutely a different answer than I would have given 15 years ago, and it is a complicated answer. If you are looking for thrill rides and a more Universal-esque experience, Hollywood Studios is the park for you. You won't see a lot of traditional Disney references, and it does feel like a large emphasis of the park is now focused on Star Wars. While you don't have to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate the amazing theming of Galaxy's Edge, a lot of the nuances and references in the rides are lost on me since I am not a Star Wars fan in any capacity. I do enjoy the addition of Toy Story land, but it is small when compared to the giant expansion that is Galaxy's Edge. I truly hope Disney never removes the old-timey feel of Sunset Boulevard, Tower of Terror, and the Grauman's Theater. That maintains the original essence of the park, and will hopefully be a reminder to generations to come as to how this far this park has come.