Happy 30th Anniversary, Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

On May 1, 1989, Walt Disney World®’s third theme park opened, and for the past 30 years, guests have been enjoying being a part of and celebrating the movies! Originally named Disney-MGM Studios, the park was originally conceived as a pavilion in Epcot® called Great Moments in Movies.  However, CEO Michael Eisner soon realized that they were on to a great concept, and decided to grow the concept and create a fourth gate that would be both a theme park and a working studio. It also helped that Universal had announced that they were building a theme park in Orlando, and Disney wanted to compete. And the new Disney-MGM opened a year before Universal Studios!

On opening day, The Great Movie Ride®, Studios Backlot Tour, Magic of Disney Animation, Superstar TV Tour, and Monster Sound were the only attractions, but by the end of the year the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Star Tours® opened, and the Streetmosphere actors began entertaining guests. Over the next few years the Streets of America (1990), Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1990), MuppetVision 3D (1991), the Beauty & the Beast Show (1991), and Voyage of the Little Mermaid (1992) were opened. Then in 1994 Hollywood Blvd opened with The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ™and the Beauty and the Beast show moved to the newly opened Theater of the Stars, later to be joined by Fantasmic! (1998) and Rock n’ Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith(1999). As the century turned, several new shows and attractions were added to the park – Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, One Man’s Dream, Playhouse Disney, and the new icon the Sorcerers Hat in 2001, Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show in 2005, and the High School Musical stage show in 2006.

Until it closed in 2004, Disney-MGM Studios was also a working studio with Ernest Saves Christmas, The New Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear all being produced in part or in full on-site.

In 2007, Disney announced that Disney-MGM Studios would be rebranded as Disney’s Hollywood Studios®, and on January 8, 2008, it opened under the new name. That same year the former Stage 1 soundstage became home to Toy Story Midway Mania®, and the surrounding area reimagined as Pixar Place. The Pixar Block Party Bash parade began and American Idol opened that same year. And in 2011, Star Tours was reimagined as Star Tours®: the Adventure Continues.

In the 2010’s Disney began phasing out the park’s “studio-like” attractions that headlined the park during its early years of operation. American Idol, Backlot Tour, and Jack Sparrow closed in 2014, the Sorcerer’s Hat was removed and the Osborne Festival of Dancing Lights and Star Wars Weekends ended in 2015, the Streets of America and the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show closed in 2016, and in 2017 The Great Movie Ride® closed.

While these attractions and special events are missed, these closures made room for a park renaissance – and in 2018 the new Toy Story Land opened to rave reviews. In 2019 the Lightening McQueen Racing Academy opened, and, of course, later this year Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge will open!! Next year the Mouse that started it all will finally get his own attraction in Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and someday there will be a whole hotel dedicated to living out your Star Wars dreams. To celebrate all of these changes, a new Disney’s Hollywood Studios® logo was revealed today – and in it, we can see what the future holds.

Today is a day to celebrate the past 30 years and to happily look forward to all that this park will offer in the coming decades. Happy anniversary!!

Photo Credit: Allegra Lingo, Key to the World Travel®