Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios (originally Disney-MGM Studios until 2008) is the third of four theme parks built at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida on May 1, 1989. Spanning 135 acres (55 ha), it is dedicated to show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood, California in the 1930s and 1940s. In 2014, the park hosted approximately 10.31 million guests, making it the fifth-most visited amusement park in the United States, and eighth-most visited in the world.

The park was formerly represented by the Sorcerer's Hat, a stylized version of the magical hat from Fantasia. It replaced the Earffel Tower as the park's icon in 2001 and served that role until its removal in January 2015.

Dedication

History

A team of Disney Imagineers led by Marty Sklar and Randy Bright had been given an assignment to create two new pavilions for Epcot's Future World section. The fruits of the brainstorming sessions were the Wonders of Life and Great Movie Ride pavilions. The latter was to look like a soundstage backdrop, with a movie theater-style entrance in the middle, and would have sat between the Land and Journey Into Imagination pavilions. When newly appointed CEO Michael Eisner saw the plans for the pavilion, he requested that, instead of placing the ride in an already existing park, it should be surrounded by a new park themed with Hollywood, entertainment, and show business.