A golden age

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Matt Hochberg

As I sat on my Southwest flight down to Orlando for my trip to Walt Disney World, I did my super Walt Disney World nerd “thing” by looking over my touring plans and general plan of attack for my trip.  I was looking over the attractions at the Studios and did some thinking (a dangerous pastime…) and I came to a conclusion that the Studios is in the middle of its biggest time of growth in about 10 years.

Until this point, the golden age for the Studios in my opinion were the four years between 1994 and 1998 when, among other changes, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, Fantasmic! and Tower of Terror opened at the Studios.  This marked the beginning of the transition of emphasis at the Studios from showcasing purely the magic of movie production to entertaining guests with amazing attractions.  Since Tower of Terror opened, the Studios stagnated in terms of attractions opening and rested on the laurels of the mid-90’s.  And to many, the Studios has needed more.

So my revelation follows this line of thinking.  The beginning of this new golden age was in May of 2005 when Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show opened as part of the 50^th Anniversary Celebration at Walt Disney World.  This was followed by the announcement of Toy Story Mania construction beginning with an opening in 2008, Jedi Training Academy becoming a permanent attraction, Mickey Avenue being re-themed in some sort of a Pixar theme, and we’re on the cusp of hearing some rumors of another E-ticket attraction coming to Mickey Avenue/Pixar Place as well as the Block Party parade confirmed to come to the Studios next year.  And the big news is the renaming of the Disney-MGM Studios to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Besides that, we’re starting to see special after hour events coming to the Studios.  In July, the Tower of Terror celebrated its 13^th anniversary with inviting Annual Pass Holders for an after-hours party and in October, Disney is conducting a 13k road race culminating with a party at Tower of Terror.  Furthermore, the annual special events of Star Wars Weekends, Super Soap Weekend and ESPN the Weekend have all gotten bigger in scope over the last few years (especially in 2006).

Given that list of attractions that have opened, will open or are rumored to open between 2005 and 2008, that is a lot of growth for a park that has not changed much since the Sorcerer’s Hat was added in 2001.  These changes signify that Imagineering has given the Studios some much-needed attention and once again has pushed to make the park more than a ¾ day park.  With rising ticket prices twice a year now a days, less discounts coming to Annual Pass Holders and tightening of the Dining Plan to make it less of a great deal, adding more attractions and upping its other offerings in a few different ways, we’re really seeing our money that we’ve invested in the parks coming back to us.

You may have noticed the title of this week’s column there is a question mark, yet it seems like I’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid and everything is perfect.  Well, not quite.  I realize all the changes I’ve outlined are terrific ones.  Lights, Motors, Action has had a luke warm response from guests at best, the jury is still out if Toy Story Mania will be any good, fans out in Disneyland have had mixed reviews of their Block Party parade, the rumored E-ticket attraction is just that – rumored, the special events at Tower of Terror have been centered around the 13^th anniversary of Tower so there is no guarantee that any of these events will return next year, Super Soap and Star Wars Weekends appeal mostly to the very enthusiastic guests mostly, I openly complained about ESPN the Weekend this year and Jedi Training Academy is only for the young kids and dilutes the uniqueness of Star Wars Weekends.  So did I totally ruin my first few paragraphs with that one paragraph?

Let’s be honest.  Disney actually putting a lot of money towards these changes is good because the stagnant years of the first half of this decade really hurt the Studios to the point where Animal Kingdom is poised to overtake the Studios this year in annual attendance.  So clearly, these changes are good because it’s something different.  Furthermore, even the ho-hum Lights, Motors, Action replaced an even worse (and totally outdated and irrelevant) Residential Street.  And as much as I loved Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Toy Story Mania sounds really, really interesting and it could be one of those rare attractions the whole family can enjoy (See Soarin’). 

I believe many of us could rattle off dozens of changes we wish were occurring whether it be updating Star Tours, doing more with the Muppets brand or bringing back real animation production to the Studios, but the fact remains that Disney is actively trying to make the Studios better and they’re they aren’t just raking in the money with record attendance years but trying to ensure guests keep coming back because the park keeps changing.  I’m not ready to don 2005-2008 the new golden age for the Studios, but I do think the Studios execs have the right idea with many of these changes.  Now if they would only put something in the ABC Theater…