Fixing Disney's Hollywood Studios

Fixing Disney

Disney's Hollywood Studios has seen more changes in recent years than almost any other Disney Park in history. There is almost nothing that remains from opening day, with two massive expansions replacing massive swaths of the original park with Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

But even after these massive changes to the theme park, it still could use more investment to make it a more well-rounded park.

As part of our ongoing armchair Imagineering series Fixing Disney, we are imagining ways of improving Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. We are assuming that all currently announced expansions are going to be happening, notably Woody's Roundup Rodeo BBQ. We are also assuming that eventually things changed by the pandemic, such as the lack of Fantasmic, will be mostly been reverted back to its prepandemic state.

The biggest ongoing problem at Disney's Hollywood Studios is that almost every attraction in a major E-Ticket experience, making for some of the longest waits in any Disney Park on nearly every ride. The park could desperately use some lower-tier rides or flat rides.

Personally, I think one of the best places to add one could be in the Municiberg area. Assuming it keeps its current Incredibles themeing then Disney could potentially revisit an abandoned concept from Pixar Pier.

Early concept art for Pixar Pier featured the land getting an Incredibles themed Dumbo spinner based on the evil robots from the first film. This could easily be worked into the area. Especially, right behind the Incredibles gate is a small unused piece of land between this land and Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. This seems destined to be unused forever, but a small spinner like this could potentially make good use of this small area, based on Incredibles or some other film.

By far the land that needs the most work is Animation Courtyard, the name of which barely fits the land anymore.

It features the outdated Star Wars Launch Bay (now closed) and Voyage of The Little Mermaid (now closed), a show that was intended to be temporary and while impressive has overstayed its welcome, and the Disney Junior Dance Party, which has gone downhill in quality in recent years since the removal of the puppets.

The entire land needs a massive overhaul, and if they were to level it, and maybe connect it to the Rock N Roller Coaster area of Sunset Boulevard in a massive new area it could bring several new rides to the park as well as fixing two of the dead ends in the park and improving traffic flow.

This land could really be anything, from Indiana Jones, to the long-rumored Monsters Inc Land, to an Incredibles Land, to something that hasn't even been released yet. Especially if they were to retheme Rock N Roller Coaster to fit the new area, something rumored to be happening before the pandemic, this would be a great change for the park.

Finally, the Grand Avenue area could use a little bit of help. It serves as an awkward transition between Echo Lake and Galaxy's Edge. Maybe if someday Star Tours gets replaced, this could be incorporated into the land to better the transition and make Grand Avenue a more complete land.

The park has a few areas that could be expanded, and using even one of them would fix the crowding and long lines that are a consistent problem for the park, and help the park feel more like a fully rounded Disney Park. While the most recent expansions have helped, it still suffers from being the smallest park at Walt Disney World with several of the most popular rides. It needs more physical space as well as attractions of all kinds to make it the great park it could be.