Today Hollywood Studios is celebrating its 30th year anniversary, in celebration here are 30 things you may not know about this park.
The park opened May 1st 1989 under the name Disney-MGM studios.
The idea for the park was originally meant to be a land added onto Epcot but was later decided to make it into a separate park.
The iconic symbol of the park was the Earful Tower, a water tower that stood 163 feet tall.
In September 2001 the giant Sorcerers Hat took over as the new park icon but was removed in February 2015.
The Sorcerers hat was originally going to be twice as tall and have 2 Ferris wheels for the ears.
At 135 acres this park is the just barely bigger than the Magic Kingdom.
Construction of the park began in 1987 but was completed early to compete with the new Universal Studios park, which opened the following year.
This park is themed around movies, music, television and theater. The main inspiration was the golden age of Hollywood.
When the park opened it also functioned as a production studio with an animation facility branch, tv and film productions services including the backlot but all that has since been removed.
January 7th 2008 the park was officially renamed Hollywood Studios.
Attractions on opening day are all but gone this included The backlot tour, The Great Movie ride, The Magic of Disney Animation Tour, Superstar television and the Monster sound show.
The original home to the Great Movie ride was a replica of Grauman’s Chinese theater in California and built to exact scale. A new Mickey and Minnie themed ride is set to open in 2020.
One of the most recognized rides from this park is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. This ride originally opened July 22nd 1994.
The Tower is the 2nd tallest ride at Disney World with Expedition Everest coming in at 1st by only half a foot taller. It can also be seen behind the Morocco pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase so it was designed to blend in.
The Tower has cables that pull the ride vehicle up as well as pull it down to make it faster than an actually free fall. In 2004 the ride converted to the pattern of drops/lifts to be randomized by the computer so you won’t get the same ride twice.
The Indiana Jones stunt spectacular show officially opened in August of the opening year. It was originally set to debut on opening day but was delayed and instead guest were treated to dress rehearsals of the show until it was ready.
The giant boulder in the show weighs over 400 lbs.
Star Tours opened in December 1989, the ride shut down in 2010 for a refurbishment and reopened as Star Tours- The adventure continues.
The Star Tours has 54 potential ride experiences that are created by combining different scenes.
Just outside the Star Tours attraction kids aged 4-12 can participate in Jedi training where they can battle against Darth Vader, Kylo Ren or the Seventh Sister.
The Rock n Roller coaster starting Aerosmith opened July 29th 1999 and is the 2nd fastest ride at Disney world just behind Test Track.
There is over 2 days worth of recorded music that plays outside of Rock n Roller coaster so guest won’t hear the same song twice in one day. Also each of the limos play a different Aerosmith song.
The Great Movie ride (now closed) and the Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom shared a prop. The front half of a plane was used in the Casablanca scene while its back half can still be found as part of the wreckage in the jungle.
If you look at the 2nd floor window above the Hollywood and Vine restaurant you can see the office window for Private Investigator Eddie Valiant which is the character in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
As you walk down the main streets you might notice some the Citizens of Hollywood, originally known as Streetmosphere, these characters dressed like the old days of Hollywood interact with guest and put on shows throughout the day.
Gertie the dinosaur that sits in Echo lake was named after the first animated cartoon.
The parks evening show Fantasmic! debuted October 15th 1998 and uses water screens to project parts of Disney films. The screens pump 2,400 gallons of water into the air every minute!
The lagoon around the Fantasmic stage is only 18 inches deep.
On June 30th 2018 the new Toy Story Land officially opened adding 2 new rides and soon a new table service restaurant
Star Wars Galaxys Edge, the most anticipated new land is set to open August 29th 2019. The new land will bring 2 new rides along with new dining experiences.
