WDW for the Single Guy: an experiment, Part 13 (Disney’s Hollywood Studios, pt I)

[DISCLAIMER: The following was originally written by Jerry Skids back in 2009. He is a big Disney fan. He has his own WDW-themed podcast, which you can find here, or here. This is 100% Jerry’s words, completely unedited, out of respect to Jerry. If you are confused by any of the acronyms, check out the previous posts. My comments are listed in [ ] – anything in ( ) are all Jerry’s words. I have not fact-checked any of this information. Obviously some things have definitely changed since 2009, and should be used for comparative purposes only, as many attractions have come and gone since the time this was written. However, that does not invalidate his suggestions one iota. This is still useful, and I think this is so amazing, that I want to share his knowledge and wisdom. Thank you Jerry! Posted with his permission. – Editor]

WDW For The Single Guy: an experiment

Disney’s Hollywood Studios – part 1 (it’s still MGM to us)

(I will only call it MGM, sorry.)

Park hours are normally 9AM – 7:30/8PM.

Opened in 1989 and shaped to form the world’s largest hidden Mickey, this place is broken up onto themed areas which meld into each other. When you walk in, the first circle focuses on the past, present, and future of the motion picture and television industries. They recreate Hollywood’s Golden Age through the main streets of Hollywood Blvd + Sunset Blvd, as well as other more modern areas of Echo Lake. The second circle WAS a working motion-picture and TV production facility encompassing three sound stages, back lots, sets, and their animation studios. Unfortunately, as of 1998-1999, Walt Disney Productions shut down the hand drawn animation studio, leaving a pointless empty building. [Disney’s digital animation studios, however, have hit a Golden Age in the 2010’s, thanks to Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia].

The major story about this park is that it was part of a very vicious corporate rivalry. You’ll love this. Universal, Disneyland’s rival, announced they were going to build an Orlando clone of their very popular Universal Studios Hollywood Park. They hired these real estates dudes (the Bass brothers) to invest in their project. But Eisner stole the Bass Brothers from Universal and announced that Disney would be creating a movie-themed park of their own. The two companies raced to finish construction. See, Universal was trying to develop new technologies which Disney already had, so in 1989 (two years before Universal opened in Florida) the Disney MGM Studios was finally created.

Wait did I say Disney-MGM Studios?