Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Bright, and Michael Eisner, the park opened on May 1, 1989, as the Disney–MGM Studios Theme Park, and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. Spanning 135 acres (55 ha), the park is themed to an idealized version of Hollywood, California, and is dedicated to the imagined worlds from film, television, music, and theater, drawing inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Disney's Hollywood Studios was initially developed as both a theme park inspired by show business and an operating production studio, with active film and television production services, an animation facility branch, and a functioning backlot. Construction on the combined park and studio began in 1987, but was accelerated when the construction of the similarly themed Universal Studios Florida began a few miles away. To increase public interest and the variety of film representation within the park, Disney entered into a licensing agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), from which the park's original name was derived. The park's production facilities were removed throughout the 2000s, and many of the park's soundstages were retrofitted for newer attractions and guest use. The park's current name took effect in 2008, with the removal of the MGM-branding throughout the park. In the 2010s, the park began to distance itself from the original studio backlot intention and entered a new direction of immersive theming and attraction development inspired by imagined worlds from Hollywood storytellers.
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Disney's Hollywood Studios was initially developed as both a theme park inspired by show business and an operating production studio, with active film and television production services, an animation facility branch, and a functioning backlot. Construction on the combined park and studio began in 1987, but was accelerated when the construction of the similarly themed Universal Studios Florida began a few miles away. To increase public interest and the variety of film representation within the park, Disney entered into a licensing agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), from which the park's original name was derived. The park's production facilities were removed throughout the 2000s, and many of the park's soundstages were retrofitted for newer attractions and guest use. The park's current name took effect in 2008, with the removal of the MGM-branding throughout the park. In the 2010s, the park began to distance itself from the original studio backlot intention and entered a new direction of immersive theming and attraction development inspired by imagined worlds from Hollywood storytellers.
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TravelTranscript
01:00We're going to be taking you for a full walking tour of Disney Hollywood Studios.
01:03Now, if you haven't watched any of my previous travel guides, I will give you a quick disclaimer.
01:08Sometimes I can be a little blunt.
01:10If there's an attraction or restaurant that I think sucks, I'm going to be very open and honest about it.
01:17I don't believe in gaslighting people.
01:20I do consider myself a Disney fan.
01:22I absolutely love the Florida parks.
01:24But I also do my best to get to the point.
01:27Now, me and this particular park go way back.
01:30I was here opening week back in 1989.
01:32This was my favorite theme park when it opened.
01:35And it stayed that way probably for about a decade.
01:39I don't think the park has evolved particularly well in the last 10 or 15 years.
01:44And I'm sure that will come up in the commentary.
01:46I absolutely loved this park when it was called Disney MGM Studios.
01:50I haven't been nearly as much of a fan of this theme park since they renamed it Disney Hollywood Studios.
01:55And I'm still salty about them removing the Great Movie Ride.
01:59So one of the things you're going to notice right now from the video is I was filming this during the Christmas season.
02:05And I'm posting it in the summer.
02:07So this particular long form video took me about six months to put together and finish up.
02:12You know, this particular channel, it's just me doing, you know, the editing as well as the filming.
02:17And sometimes my turnaround time is kind of lame.
02:20But it is what it is.
02:21On the upside, the winter season is probably the nicest time to go to a Disney park because the weather is very mild.
02:28You don't have to deal with the summer heat.
02:30Walt Disney World does pull out all the stops when it comes to celebrating the season.
02:35They've got a lot of live stage shows and live entertainment, like performers right on the street.
02:42And they go full tilt when it comes to the decorations for the season.
02:46So it's a nice park and it's a nice experience despite, you know, some of my criticisms of the park.
02:54So when you first enter the park, you're in a themed area known as Hollywood Boulevard.
02:58There's really not a lot to call home about this particular section of the park.
03:03This is basically, you know, the entrance area.
03:05You're going to find, like, the stroller rentals and the wheelchair rentals and retail shops and some quick service restaurants.
03:13But for the most part, it's just, it's like Main Street at Magic Kingdom as well.
03:16There's no major attractions in Main Street as well.
03:19It's just kind of built in the front end of the park for crowd control to disperse the crowd, come in, you know, for the park.
03:26I mean, it makes sense if you think about it.
03:28If you put a big popular ride right on the front of the park, then all the lines and crowds are just going to sit at the front of the park.
03:35And you're not going to be able to disperse the crowd and get people through the turnstiles.
03:39So some of the other amusement parks around the world have made that really bad decision of putting, like, a really popular ride right when you first come in.
03:48The Disney parks, for the most part, don't really do that.
03:51And, I mean, the closest example to where they're kind of on the borderline is Spaceship Earth being right at the front of the park.
04:00But that's an omni-mover ride that really moves crowds quickly.
04:04So I've never really seen the park clog right at the entrance gate at Epcot.
04:10So coming up on my right-hand side is the Hollywood Brown Derby Restaurant.
04:14In my opinion, this is probably the nicest restaurant in the entire park.
04:20It's not cheap, though.
04:22It's a, you know, it's a formal sit-down restaurant.
04:25You know, Disney has a couple tiers.
04:27I usually eat mostly at the quick-service restaurants, which are cheaper.
04:31But if you want a sit-down meal, the Hollywood Brown Derby is probably the best place to eat in Hollywood Studios.
04:38But you're looking at $40 to $50 a plate.
04:41Now, I get it.
04:42That is pretty expensive.
04:43But you are getting meals like filet mignon and lamb shank and shepherd's pie and those type of things.
04:51So if you eat these type of meals at other restaurants, they might be a little cheaper.
04:56But, you know, if you're going out to eat filet mignon, you're going to be spending $35, $40, $50, regardless of whether you're inside a theme park or outside.
05:05So if you're in the mood for filet mignon, it's the place to go in Hollywood Studios.
05:10So as you can see, I kind of walked up towards the Mann's Chinese Theater, which is in the center of the park.
05:17And that's where the Mickey's Runaway Railway ride is located.
05:21But then I decided to kind of turn around so I could walk up the area known as Sunset Boulevard.
05:27One of the main reasons why I showed you this area is this is the section of the park that I usually rope drop.
05:34When the park first opens, I go to arguably the two best rides in the entire park, which is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, as well as the Rockin' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.
05:46These are both amazing thrill rides.
05:48I absolutely loved them.
05:49I loved them when they first opened.
05:50I still think they aged incredibly well.
05:53Although Rockin' Roller Coaster is riding a little rough lately.
05:55But I still love it nonetheless.
05:58I will give you fair warning.
06:00Rockin' Roller Coaster is the most intense roller coaster in all of the four Disney theme parks, at least in my opinion.
06:07Guardians of the Galaxy is kind of up there too.
06:09It's close to the intensity level of Rockin' Roller Coaster.
06:12But I think Rockin' Roller Coaster with the inversions is probably more intense for most people.
06:20Some people just don't like going upside down.
06:22I absolutely love the theming of Rockin' Roller Coaster.
06:25You know, the city streets and billboards and everything flying by the roller coaster lit up inside a dark ride.
06:32You know, it's an indoor roller coaster.
06:34When it comes to bringing my friends who've never ridden a Walt Disney World, that's one of the attractions I make sure to take them on.
06:40Most people have never ridden a roller coaster that's indoors.
06:45They are fairly rare, but not at Disney World.
06:49Disney World loves their indoor roller coasters.
06:51You know, they've got Space Mountain, Tron, Rockin' Roller Coaster.
06:55I mean, that's just a recurring theme.
06:57A lot of smaller amusement parks can't afford to build stuff like that.
07:00You know, a lot of these Disney roller coasters had $100, $150, $200 million budgets for one ride.
07:06And a lot of amusement parks have like 10 or 20% of that to build the entire park.
07:11So it's just kind of a different type of experience.
07:14So this big building coming up on my right-hand side that looks like a hotel, that is the show building for Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
07:24And I never thought it was that particularly intense of a ride, but my cousin can't stand it.
07:31She's scared of it and will never ride it.
07:34She can't stand the drop tower ride.
07:36So it doesn't seem that bad to me.
07:39I don't know, but some people I guess have a fear of heights.
07:44And I sort of have a fear of heights, but that ride just doesn't bother me.
07:49I don't know.
07:50Some of the hyper coasters and stuff scare me a lot more than something like Tower of Terror, so I don't get it.
07:57Yeah, if you have a fear of heights or enclosed spaces, then I guess Tower of Terror isn't a great option.
08:02But I think it's a pretty tame thrill ride, personally.
08:06Now, another thing I like about the Sunset Boulevard area is it's a great place to grab a bite to eat,
08:11especially for people who like the quick service restaurants like me.
08:14They've got the Rosie's All-American Cafe, as well as Catalina Eddie's that are right here.
08:20Just keep in mind those are both outdoor restaurants, so it's not the most pleasant experience if you've got inclement weather.
08:28On the upside, because it's an outdoor restaurant, there's plenty of seating.
08:31And if you want to sit down and grab a table to eat, it is a great option here at Hollywood Studios.
08:38A lot of the indoor air-conditioned restaurants don't have nearly as many tables, and it's usually standing room only for food.
08:45I do like coming to this section of the park to both eat and ride the two E-ticket rides.
08:50So right now I'm walking around the Rockin' Roller Coaster show building, and you know, I'll be the first one to admit it.
08:55It is showing its age.
08:56I mean, it is a pretty old coaster.
08:58It was built in the 90s.
09:00I'm sure they're going to update it eventually here in Florida.
09:03They already did overseas.
09:05I believe they re-themed the Rockin' Roller Coaster over in Europe to be themed after the Marvel Universe.
09:12Although, from what I understand, it was pretty poorly received, so Rockin' Roller Coaster has kind of lived on longer than probably they originally planned on,
09:22just because the European re-theme was kind of a flop, and I guess they're trying to figure out what they're going to do with the Florida version.
09:29A couple years ago, Disney did purchase the 20th Century Fox movie library, so they've got a lot of movie franchises they could probably press into service to re-theme this coaster.
09:39Who knows? Maybe in the future we'll get a Die Hard, or an Aliens, or an Independence Day coaster. You never know.
09:47One of the things that you'll notice about Hollywood Studios from this video is it's kind of a jumbled mess when it comes to the layout.
09:54They had built a couple of these additions at all different times.
09:58You know, Sunset Boulevard wasn't open with the original park, and there's a lot of weird dead ends.
10:04You notice how I've already doubled back twice in order to show you the whole park.
10:10It's not as intuitive, the layout.
10:15When they were building Epcot and Magic Kingdom, they thought a lot better about how the pathways and the lands were interconnected.
10:24You know, in their defense, Disney MGM Studios was a rush job.
10:28They originally planned to make this movie pavilion just in Epcot, and when Michael Eisner caught wind that Universal Studios was going to build a theme park here in Orlando,
10:42MGM Studios was just kind of rushed out and built as quickly as possible to beat Universal, and they did.
10:49They outran and completed their park about a year in advance.
10:55Universal Studios opened in 1990.
10:58But, you know, you can see that rush job in the layout of this park because it's not the smartest theme park when it comes to how it's situated with the attractions.
11:10I'm telling you, though, I do get very nostalgic for Disney MGM Studios.
11:13I remember coming to the parks in 1988, a year before it was built.
11:19In Magic Kingdom, they had a little preview center for Disney MGM Studios, and, you know, I'm a huge movie person.
11:25I absolutely love movies.
11:26I've got thousands of Blu-rays and DVDs just because I'm a huge, huge movie guy, and that preview center was just so cool.
11:33I remember seeing they had, like, a little model layout of some of the attractions for Disney MGM Studios,
11:38and it's in the little building once you pass through underneath the train station on the right-hand side of Main Street.
11:47It's that little building that they use for, like, meet and greets now.
11:50That's where the Disney MGM Studios preview center was, and I still have fond memories of that.
11:56And just, like, you know, they always tease things ahead of time.
12:00When they were redoing Epcot, they had the Epcot preview center of the new re-envisioned Epcot, too.
12:06So that's a Disney staple.
12:08So coming up on my right-hand side is the iconic Disney Hollywood Studios facade, you know, the archway.
12:15In the old days, when the park first opened, they had what was known as the Animation Courtyard,
12:21and all the hand-drawn animation for a lot of the big 90s Disney movies was actually made here.
12:28You know, films like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid and those type of things.
12:33And it was great because they had a little glass hallway where you could actually walk by and see the animators working in real time on the different feature films for Disney.
12:43And when they closed down the hand-drawn animation studios just to be cheap, you know, they lost one of the coolest features of this particular park.
12:53And, you know, all the production that they did in the early 90s here was amazing.
12:58You know, they filmed a bunch of TV shows here as well.
13:01I remember Mortal Kombat.
13:04They used to film a bunch of game shows here like The Price is Right.
13:08I think they also filmed the Sheena TV show, the syndicated one, as well as portions of the Superboy TV show that was in syndication.
13:17So there was a bunch of stuff that was filming out here, and it was kind of a huge loss.
13:21They really don't do that anymore, and they tore down that section of this park, too.
13:25They used to have a huge back lot with production offices, and all that stuff's gone now.
13:30I remember vividly, too, you would occasionally see the celebrities kind of hanging out inside the theme park.
13:36Back when they were filming the Thunder in Paradise TV show here, I remember there were a couple times where Hulk Hogan was actually walking through the park and, you know, shaking hands.
13:47And I think I have an autograph of his when I bumped into him here.
13:53So I just double-backed again from the replica of the Man's Chinese Theater.
13:57That's a replica of a famous building out in Hollywood with a lot of movie history.
14:03That's another one of my criticisms of the park.
14:07When they built Disney-MGM Studios in 1989, that building housed the Great Movie Ride,
14:13which was this incredible movie ride that completely was tied to the theme of this park.
14:19We went through the entire history of movie making and, you know, had a bunch of great show scenes.
14:26And what was interesting about that one, it was a big omni-mover ride, but it had multiple live actors in the ride system.
14:35So they would actually have interactions.
14:37You'd have a tour guide who would interact with, like, a cowboy and all kinds of stuff.
14:41And there were shootouts and all kinds of goofy antics.
14:45But it was a great ride. It really was.
14:47That was a huge loss.
14:49They replaced it with the Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which is just this generic dark ride.
14:55And I realize, you know, it's great that they finally built a dark ride for Mickey Mouse.
15:01But Mickey Mouse has its own land in Magic Kingdom.
15:04That's where that ride belonged.
15:06You know, they built Mickey's birthday land, and then they put the Mickey ride over here at MGM Studios, and it makes absolutely zero sense.
15:14You know, the problem with being a Disney fan is the utter disappointment with the current management because they are the most clueless in that run company I've ever seen.
15:21I mean, they've lost, I think, something like $25 billion with a B on Disney Plus because they have no idea what they're doing.
15:28They're trying to be Netflix, and they're not doing a very good job, and they're neglecting the theme parks because they're so focused on trying to be Netflix, and they suck at both.
15:37So on my right-hand side, I just walked past the Little Mermaid Theater.
15:40That is for a live musical stage show that closed down, I believe, during COVID-19, and that theater was standing but not operating for like five, six years, something like that.
15:52It's been crazy how long it's been shut down.
15:55Disney did announce that they're going to reopen that stage show at the end of May 2025, so by the time I post this video, it should be up and running again.
16:06I'm not a huge, you know, musical fan.
16:09I do sometimes go and watch the shows when it's really hot outside and I need some air conditioning, like, but, you know, the Little Mermaid and the Lion King over at Animal Kingdom and those type of shows, yeah, obviously I'm not a huge fan of that.
16:25I think that's more of an estrogen thing.
16:28I don't really particularly like musicals, but, I mean, they're okay.
16:32And like I said, if you're here to appease your family and grab some air conditioning, that's probably why I'd recommend some of the stage shows.
16:40I've never really seen one in a very long time where I was actually impressed with the actual music, although I guess I am a closet fan of the Les Miserables musical, but that's about it.
16:53So right now I've kind of ducked into this cool little walkthrough exhibit called Walt Disney, One Man's Dream.
17:00And this is always a fun little attraction and I think it's overlooked a lot.
17:04It's just more or less a static museum with a short movie at the end where you go in the theater and, you know, obviously watch the history of Walt Disney's career.
17:15And I always loved this attraction.
17:18It's been here a fair amount of time.
17:20I mean, I do like how much information and exhibits they have in here about the creation of the Florida theme parks.
17:30They've got like schematics and background.
17:33I'm planning like the Florida project.
17:35And it's just a fascinating look.
17:38Walt Disney World is something like 40 square miles of Florida.
17:40It's bigger than most cities when it comes to just the sheer scale of it.
17:48And it's just fascinating seeing how that whole process evolved and how many years.
17:55I mean, they've been working on this since the 1960s.
17:57And it's an ever-evolving process with the theme parks.
18:00They're always adding more stuff to it.
18:02And I know they're tearing apart Magic Kingdom right now to make another expansion with Villain's Land and reinventing Frontierland and those type of things.
18:12And it's a mixed bag.
18:13I don't think they're doing a great job at it.
18:16Universal has kind of took most of the talent over to work on Epic Universe.
18:22And I don't want to disparage the people that still work for Disney.
18:26But I think the brightest minds ended up over at Universal just seeing how well-executed recent attractions are at Universal.
18:34They've come a long way.
18:36You know, back in the 90s when Universal first opened, I don't think their attractions were up to the same level as Disney.
18:43But if you've been around Epic Universe nowadays, they have definitely closed the gap.
18:48Especially when it comes to dark rides and thrill rides.
18:51I think Universal is out ahead.
18:52You know, their roller coasters are superior to anything that Disney's got.
18:56So right now I'm walking past the Star Wars Launch Bay attraction.
19:00This is mostly a meet and greet where you can meet some of the characters like Darth Vader and BB-8 and those type of things.
19:07There's also a decent amount of costumes and models and concept artwork that are on display.
19:14And if you want to see Star Wars movie props, it's not a bad attraction to visit.
19:18I do get a little cynical when it comes to Disney and Star Wars because it seems like when they run out of ideas, they just add something with Star Wars.
19:25That's pretty much been the case with Disney Plus as well as this particular theme park.
19:30If they added one more Star Wars attraction over by the parking lot, they would literally have a Star Wars attraction at all four points north-south-east-west of Disney Hollywood Studios.
19:43They literally have Star Tours, I guess, on the east side of the park.
19:47Or Galaxy's Edge is on the south side and the west side of the park.
19:52They've got this launch bay.
19:53So like I said, if they just added one more Star Wars attraction on the north, they'd have all four corners of Hollywood Studios dedicated to Star Wars.
20:02So come on, guys.
20:03Let's build a TIE Fighter roller coaster or another Star Wars restaurant like right there by the admission turnstiles.
20:10That'd be perfect.
20:11I'd love it.
20:12It would be such a way to cash in like you haven't already.
20:16Okay.
20:17Now I'm going to talk a little bit more about the food options here.
20:20One of the other themed restaurants that I really like here at Hollywood Studios is the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant.
20:26So that particular restaurant is kind of themed after a drive-in movie theater where you basically sit in booths that look a lot like vintage cars.
20:35And it's a fun place to eat.
20:38Again, it's not the most affordable place to grab a burger and fries.
20:43The prices are a little expensive.
20:44But it's considered one of the sit-down restaurants again.
20:47So they're more expensive than eating at one of the quick service restaurants like the ABC Commissary, for example.
20:54But if you want the experience, it's probably worth it at least once in your life.
21:01I love eating at the Mexico Pavilion over in Epcot, too, and mostly for the ambiance.
21:07I'm not a real big fan of Mexican food personally.
21:10But sometimes I can justify it to myself to eat at the more expensive restaurants to just get that more immersive experience when I'm out dining.
21:21Now, if I had a big family with like three or four kids, I think I'd be living at like the Backlot Express, you know, and the other cheap quick service restaurants exclusively.
21:30So right now I'm walking through one of the newer sections of the park.
21:33This was a relatively recent addition known as Toy Story Land.
21:37And I'll be honest with you, I have mixed feelings about this particular area.
21:43This particular land replaced the old studio Backlot Tour, which was a nice immersive Backlot Tour where they had facades and special effects demonstrations and all kinds of stuff.
21:54And it was a very immersive section of the park.
21:58And it really did gobble a lot of crowds.
22:01The whole tour lasted, you know, like 45 minutes with the tram and the walking portions.
22:07So it was just a very, very in-depth look at the movie-making process.
22:12And it just felt like it was the essence of this particular theme park.
22:17They replaced that studio Backlot Tour with two new lands.
22:21It was Toy Story Land, which I'm walking around now, as well as Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.
22:26And the vibe I always get walking around Toy Story Land is this is cheap and they probably ran out of money trying to build this section of the park because all the money went into the Star Wars immersion.
22:41I mean, that's my major gripe with Toy Story Land is it feels like I'm in a Six Flags park now, really, really cheaply executed theming.
22:48And, I mean, the rides are barely themed.
22:52Slinky Dog Dash has about the theming of, like, Carowinds or Cedar Point.
22:57It's just, it's almost non-existent.
22:59It looks like just a standard off-the-shelf roller coaster.
23:02And Toy Story Mania is just one row after another of just flat-screen TVs on the wall with zapper guns.
23:11I mean, everything over here just is such a disappointment for a Disney park.
23:16I just, I don't know why it feels that way.
23:20This area of the park reminds me a lot of Dinoland over at Animal Kingdom, which was another one where they just kind of realized they didn't have enough rides at the theme park.
23:29And they slapped something together really, really cheaply and bought a couple carnival rides and slapped it down at the last minute as an afterthought.
23:37And Toy Story Land just has that same cheap vibe, and it's unfortunate, I do think.
23:43And the other problem, too, is when they took out the Studio Backlog Tour, which gobbled, you know, thousands of people per hour,
23:52and they replaced that high-capacity attraction with these really slow-loading, low-capacity attractions.
23:59You know, the alien swirling saucer might be able to handle, like, 500 people an hour if it's lucky.
24:07And the Slinky Dog Dash on a busy day is, like, two to four-hour wait because, you know, the trains don't hold hardly anybody compared to the old Backlog Tour.
24:17So, I mean, that's why MGM Studios was way better than Hollywood Studios is the rides don't handle enough people based on the amount of crowd they get.
24:28MGM Studios didn't have that problem, but Hollywood Studios certainly does.
24:34Despite the lack of theming, Slinky Dog Dash is a great roller coaster.
24:38If you are looking for something that's tamer than the Rockin' Roller Coaster, it's appropriate for all the family, it is a good option.
24:47My advice for Slinky Dog Dash is, if you're planning to ride it, either get a lightning lane or rope drop that first thing in the morning
24:53because the crowd sizes on that roller coaster are ridiculous and it is not uncommon to see the standby line anywhere from two to four hours on the busy days.
25:05So, right now, I'm crossing over to the section of the park known as Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.
25:09And this is just a much better executed section of the park.
25:13This one I really don't have any gripes with, at least when it comes to the theming and the sight lines and the set design.
25:19Disney actually spent a billion dollars building this section of the park.
25:23You can see it and feel it just in pretty much every direction you look.
25:29It just has a much more polished look than Toy Story Land, at least in my eyes.
25:35It took a work crew of 5,500 construction workers to actually put this thing together.
25:41You know, it was a lot of work. You could see it.
25:43Now, when they built Galaxy's Edge, there were two rides added to the park.
25:47They had Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, which is a dark ride, and they also have Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run, which is a simulator ride.
25:57Now, if you've seen any of my previous videos, you know I'm a big fan of the Rise of the Resistance ride.
26:02It is one of the best dark rides ever constructed.
26:06Some of the animatronics on there are mind-blowing.
26:10And the lightsaber effect, where Kylo Ren is cutting through the floor, is incredible.
26:17I knew it was a trackless ride, but even I was surprised that they added a little drop in one portion of the ride.
26:24So, a lot of innovative, groundbreaking things that they did in that ride.
26:29And, you know, it's a really long, dark ride.
26:32I mean, I think the ride duration is over 10 minutes, so it's pretty incredible what they ended up pulling off.
26:38I am nothing short of just amazed.
26:42And it's one of the rare times where modern Disney has actually impressed me and surprised me.
26:47Because most of the time they add things, and I'm usually disappointed with them.
26:50And now, I guess I'll talk about Smuggler's Run, which is the biggest waste of money in space I've ever seen.
26:58That ride is kind of like a derivative attraction of one of the worst received rides over at Epcot,
27:06which is it's using very similar ride technology in a mission space, only they found a way to make it even more boring.
27:12And in Smuggler's Run, you've got to push a button and slide a lever and pretend like you're interacting with the ride,
27:19even though the ride is basically a canned film for the most part.
27:23And it's basically the same type of experience you get in the light bulb aisle at Home Depot,
27:28where if you really want to flip switches and have lights come up,
27:32you can save the $175 worth of admission and just flip the light bulbs on at Home Depot.
27:37And pretty much, that's the same experience at Smuggler's Run.
27:40I mean, I'm just being subjective here.
27:42I do think Smuggler's Run is the worst ride in all of Hollywood Studios.
27:47I don't think there's anything worse out there.
27:50The ride just reminds me of, like, I'm a burnout school teacher,
27:54and I remember when they tried to mainstream the special needs kids into my classrooms,
27:57and they just put, like, Fisher-Price toys and puzzles in our classrooms to just keep them busy.
28:03I mean, that's the whole point of the ride is pushing buttons to make people feel like they're busy or interacting with it,
28:10and it's just dumb.
28:12I do think the older Traction Star Tours is the superior ride.
28:18I mean, they're both basically simulator rides, but the Star Tours ride vehicles are less cramped,
28:23and I think the movies are just better produced than what you get in Smuggler's Run.
28:28Galaxy's Edge has some pretty decent restaurant options,
28:31and this is one of the places I do seem to eat a lot when I'm in Hollywood Studios.
28:36Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo is kind of where I usually go
28:40because, you know, it's a quick-service restaurant, and the food is pretty reasonable.
28:45If you are looking to get a more immersive experience with Star Wars,
28:49they have Oga's Cantina, and, you know, that'll be a little expensive.
28:54I mean, dinners, you know, you're looking at $35, $40 a plate,
28:58sometimes $50 depending on what you order,
29:01but, you know, there's just some decent options.
29:03I mean, you're going to spend about the same as the Brown Derby.
29:07Now, one of the things that I really haven't talked too much about is alcohol.
29:10And you can get alcohol here at Hollywood Studios,
29:15and most people do it at Oga's Cantina.
29:18They've got all kinds of vodkas and different types of alcohol beverages,
29:23beers, that type of stuff.
29:25Now, I can't really comment on the beer and alcoholic beverages they serve there
29:30because I don't really drink alcohol, especially when I'm at a theme park.
29:34But people really get loaded at Oga's Cantina.
29:37You'll notice that there are a couple people who are staggering,
29:39who are walking past me.
29:41People really do get pretty drunk here at the park.
29:45And if that's your thing, if you want to get drunk with the family,
29:48then I guess, by all means, Oga's Cantina is the place to go.
29:51So, as for Docking Bay 7, that's the place to go for fried chicken and pork ribs
29:58and different types of sliced beef and those type of things.
30:01So, you know, they do have a Star Wars theme.
30:05For example, you're not going to be ordering fried chicken.
30:08You're going to be actually ordering the Andorian fried chicken tip.
30:12Or you're not going to order just a chicken salad.
30:16It's a roasted Andorian chicken salad.
30:18It's just a chicken salad.
30:20You know, they put the Star Wars spin on it,
30:22but you're still getting it on, like, plastic dishes and stuff.
30:24So, I mean, it's fun.
30:26You know, the prices are reasonable.
30:28If you want to get a little Star Wars immersion,
30:32you know, you're only going to spend $15, $16, $17 a plate.
30:36So, the prices are, you know, reasonable by theme park standards.
30:41Obviously, it's more than you would spend outside of a theme park.
30:44But the food is pretty good.
30:48I mean, the quality is there.
30:49The portion sizes are a little small,
30:51but that's kind of a knock on all the Disney parks.
30:54But fair warning,
30:55I would say Docking Bay 7 has kind of a mixed reputation.
30:58I know if you go to the Disney food blog and read their food review,
31:02and they're a little more in-depth when it comes to talking about food than I am.
31:08They weren't particularly happy with the experience.
31:11So, take it with a grain of salt.
31:13I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to food,
31:15and I don't really have a very specific palate of what I'm looking for in a meal.
31:20When I'm hungry, I look to sustain my life.
31:23And if I successfully did that for the meal,
31:26and it didn't cost me too much, I'm usually happy.
31:29I don't really worry about much of the ambiance in the restaurant and those type of things.
31:33So, I'm not, I guess, as discerning as the Disney food blog.
31:38One of the things I'm going to mention before I forget,
31:41I just walked past the Rise of the Resistance show building,
31:44and you'll notice that there was nobody waiting in line for what's arguably the most popular ride in the park.
31:50And that's because Star Wars Riders of the Resistance breaks down all the damn time.
31:54So, if you see that building with a bunch of cast members in the brown uniforms just standing around,
32:01that's because it's not working.
32:02That ride system is infamous for its complexity.
32:07And if a single sensor gets tripped, it automatically shuts down and they completely evacuate the ride.
32:13I've been on it when they've evacuated it.
32:16So, my advice to you is temper your expectations when you come to Hollywood Studios,
32:21because that ride breaks down like clockwork at least twice a day.
32:25A lot of times there'll be like a three, four hour wait because of the breakdowns.
32:30Every time I go to Hollywood Studios, I realize in the back of my mind that I got maybe a 50-50 chance of getting on that ride.
32:37Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster are usually a lot more reliable.
32:42You can almost set your clock to being able to get on those rides pretty much any day you go.
32:48But Rise of the Resistance just is one of those things where, you know, it's a nice bonus to the day.
32:55But if that's your sole reason for coming to the park, you might be going home empty-handed
33:00simply because it's such a temperamental ride.
33:03So, I just passed the Muppet Vision 3D building.
33:07And that is a great attraction that is probably closed forever by the time I post this video.
33:14The one thing that I can say about Disney is they never cease to amaze me in six-flagging their parks.
33:20They're yanking out a pretty amazing Disney 3D show and just kind of put in an inverted roller coaster
33:29similar to, you know, like I said, an off-the-shelf coaster from like Six Flags or Cedar Point.
33:36And, you know, I realize Muppet Vision is a little dated, but some people like dated.
33:43You know, I go to Disneyland all the time and my favorite attractions are like the 1955 originals.
33:48You know, the whole reason I enjoy Disney is to get that nostalgic blast from the past.
33:56And the people who run the Florida parks just don't seem to get that.
34:00You know, I would love to share, like, Tom Sawyer's Island or the Liberty Bell or Horizons with my future grandkids.
34:09And I'll never be able to do that because they're too busy tearing them out of the park.
34:12You know, they get 43 square miles of land.
34:15You'd think they'd be able to just add something and not have to destroy all this historic stuff.
34:20So this section of Hollywood Studios is known as Grand Avenue.
34:23And it's a pretty small section of the park.
34:27They really only have the one attraction with Muppet Vision 3D.
34:30Now, when I'm trying to carve up for walking around here, a lot of times I will stop at Pizza Rizzo
34:35because you can get a pretty decent sized pizza pie for not a lot of money.
34:41Their meatball sub is decent, but I do think the pizza is better.
34:45The one consistent thing about the Disney parks is that you basically get the same pizza at all four parks.
34:51So you're either going to love it or hate it.
34:53I'm fine with it.
34:54You know, whether I eat it here at Pizza Rizzo or over at Animal Kingdom or at Epcot, it doesn't matter.
35:00I mean, I do like their little personal pan pizzas.
35:04And, you know, I usually get the pepperoni and, you know, it's what you would expect from a pepperoni pizza.
35:10So as I continue to walk now, I'm heading towards the area of the park known as Commissary Lane as well as Echo Lake.
35:17Now, this section of the park does have some decent restaurants, but my focus is some of the classic Disney-MGM attractions.
35:25Most notably, the Indiana Jones Stunt Show Spectacular as well as Star Tours.
35:32Now, even though Star Tours isn't technically an opening day attraction, I kind of consider it to be.
35:39You know, the original Disney-MGM park opened up in May 1989 and Star Tours opened in December 1989.
35:46So there was like a seven-month gap between the opening of the park and the opening of Star Tours.
35:53But that's close enough for me.
35:55What's neat about Star Tours 2 is, you know, I didn't ride it a lot when I was growing up.
36:02But they've done a lot of updates since the first time I rode it.
36:06Because the 1989 version and the currently updated version, I think they redid the whole attraction around 2011.
36:14They made some significant improvements.
36:17I know the projection screens inside the ride vehicles are much clearer and they're like in high definition now.
36:24And, you know, they used to be pretty grainy and old looking in the 89 version.
36:29The other nice part about Star Tours is you kind of get a different experience each time.
36:33The ride vehicles show multiple different films.
36:36So if you ride Star Tours back-to-back, odds are you're going to get a different film each time and a different experience.
36:44I believe they have three or four different films.
36:48Although, don't quote me on that.
36:51And to reiterate my earlier point about Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run over in Galaxy's Edge.
36:56Star Tours and Millennium Falcon are kind of the same type of simulator ride.
37:02You know, you don't press buttons on a dashboard in Star Tours.
37:06But the ride vehicles are just bigger and the screens are much larger.
37:10And it's just a better experience.
37:12I mean, if you're going to go on a Star Wars simulator when you're at Hollywood Studios,
37:17I'd recommend just skipping Smuggler's Run and going straight to Star Tours because it's just a better attraction.
37:22The other attraction that I highly recommend if you've never been to Hollywood Studios is the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.
37:29This is a live stunt show and it's 25 minutes long and they do quite a few impressive stunts, like on stage.
37:37They have live performers and, you know, they perform some pretty decent stunts.
37:42There's some solid pyrotechnics in the show.
37:45And it's just one of those old school Disney-MGM attractions that you've got to experience at least once in your life.
37:52The stunts that they highlight are all from the first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark,
37:56and they did have some really amazing practical stunts in that one.
38:01I'd also consider this one an opening day attraction, even though the stunt show only opened in August 1989
38:06and the park again opened in May 89.
38:10So there was a little gap between this one and the opening for the park.
38:16But let's face it, they were slapping this park together as quickly as they could to, you know, catch or beat Universal.
38:23And things opened as they were available.
38:26The stunts they do on the Indiana Jones show are pretty intense.
38:28And back in 2009, a 30-year-old stunt performer actually died doing some of the stunts.
38:36He apparently did a tumbling stunt for the show and hit his head.
38:42And it ultimately led to him passing away shortly thereafter.
38:46So right now I'm kind of strolling up into the vicinity of where the ABC Commissary is.
38:51This is another quick service restaurant.
38:54Because they're the cheapest restaurants in the park, they're always my favorites.
38:57This is a great place to get, like, shrimp tacos or a chicken club sandwich.
39:03Or if you're into salads, they get a pretty good Mediterranean salad.
39:06A lot of my friends kind of rave about the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
39:11And I've never had it. I'm going to have to try it out the next time I go.
39:15Hopefully it's as good as people have told me it is.
39:17So the section of the park where you see the green dinosaur kind of sticking his head out of the top of the lake is Echo Lake.
39:24There are some restaurants located around here.
39:27The most, I guess, famous one is the Dockside Diner, which is, you know, located on that fake ship that's on the lake.
39:37I typically avoid that restaurant because they only have outdoor seating.
39:41And because of the water, I guess, there's a lot of birds that try to steal your food or french fries or whatever you're trying to eat.
39:47And I've never had a pleasant experience trying to eat out there.
39:51You know, I realize I have to deal with that sometimes when I'm going for fish and chips at Epcot, too.
39:56But, you know, the fish is really, really good at Epcot.
40:02So I will deal with the inconvenience of outdoor dining.
40:06But out here, the menu at Dockside is okay, but it's nothing to call home about.
40:11I'd rather eat at the commissary or the back lot express just because it's roughly the same type of food.
40:19But you don't have to deal with, you know, the animals on the outdoor dining.
40:23Now that I'm kind of meandering back and heading towards the front of the park, another restaurant that I probably should mention is the Hollywood and Vine.
40:29Most of the quick service restaurants are pretty rigid in what you can order.
40:35You know, it's like a sandwich and french fries or a sandwich and, you know, salad.
40:42They don't have a lot of options.
40:44The Hollywood and Vine is kind of set up a little bit more like a cafeteria where they have the glass window and you can kind of pick what items you want for your meal.
40:53And it's a little more flexible, yet it's still not a sit-down restaurant, so the prices are still reasonable.
41:00I do like to go to the Hollywood and Vine when I'm trying to carb up because you can get a lot of bread and meats and, you know, load up on the proteins to do your 15 to 20 miles of walking around each park.
41:14Because I do walk a lot and my average per day when I'm going to the Disney parks is, I think I average about 15 to 16 miles of walking.
41:24I guess this is a good opportunity to mention that if you're not comfortable with doing like 5, 10, 15 miles of walking in the day, you might consider renting one of those electric scooters at the front of the park.
41:34I come from, you know, I ran cross-country in high school and intramurals in college, so I do have a lot of experience running 5K marathons.
41:45So, you know, the 10, 15 miles of walking per day doesn't really faze me at all.
41:50But if that's something you're not capable of, then you should definitely consider maybe getting that electric scooter because this is a wonderful park.
41:58I think everyone should experience a Disney park at least once in their life, even if it's later in your life.
42:04So I'd recommend making whatever accommodations to make it a pleasant and comfortable experience.
42:10As you can see, I dipped into one of the gift shops.
42:12I always love checking out the new merch and, you know, seeing if there's a t-shirt that I want to pick up.
42:18This front section of the park, known as Hollywood Boulevard, is just an endless collection of connected gift shops.
42:24If it's really hot outside, which is fairly common in Florida, sometimes it is kind of nice just to dip into the gift shops to get a little air conditioning.
42:34And, you know, if you're feeling a little overwhelmed by the heat, that's kind of like the Disney trap is to get you into the gift shops so you can, you know, make an impulse purchase.
42:44But it does come in handy.
42:46And as long as you have some restraint when it comes to buying things, you should be fine.
42:50I know my parents used to dread, you know, taking me to Epcot Center because they had this store over in England called the Toy Soldier.
42:59And that place back in the day used to carry a bunch of matchbox cars and diecast cars and like 124th and 164th scale.
43:06So, like clockwork, I would find a way to kind of, you know, beg and plead my way around World Showcase until I ended up taking home one of those brand new matchbox cars.
43:17And, well, it looks like I'm back at the front of the park.
43:20And that will complete the full walking tour of Disney's Hollywood Studios.
43:24And, well, it looks like I'm back at the front of the park.
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