Studio Facts

There are alot of things guests don't know about the Studios. It's not where to find the best ice cream or the cheapest on ride photo, it's trivia about the Studios that most people don't know about. If you know of something we didn't mention, email us at trivia@studioscentral.com

General

• The entire front end of the park used to be a huge hidden Mickey before it was ruined by the aditions of Sunset Boulevard and the Socerer's hat.
• Although the main plaza Hidden Mickey is well known, he has a friend: the entrance plaza outside the ticket booths forms a big Hidden Pluto. You can see his face with eyes, nose, and mouth. This is clearly visible on the park map.
  
• There are 6 simulators at Star Tours
• Gertie the Dinosaur, on Echo Lake, pays homage to pioneering animator Winsor McCay and his revolutionary 1914 animated cartoon, Gertie the Dinosaur.
• Imagineers used the blue-prints of the original 1927 Meyer and Holler building for reference, when building the replica of Grauman's Chinese Theater. The facade is built to full scale. The 22 ft central roof section was constructed seperately and hoisted into place by crane.
• Films represented in the Great Movie Ride include Busby Berkeley's Footlight Parade, The Public Enemy, Singin' in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, Alien, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Casablanca.
• The Hollywood Brown Derby pays homage to the second Brown Derby restaurant (1929), once located at 1624 Vine Street, just south of Hollywood Boulevard.
• Disney's Hollywood Studios is close to 135 acres. It is south of Epcot Center. Construction began in 1986. By the time the new theme park opened in May 1989 (the changes in scale had delayed the scheduled October 1988 opening), total costs had accumulated to more thn $500 million.
• The names on the windows on the Streets of America are those of the Walt Disney Imagineering people who designed the park
• The voice of REX, your robot tour guide on Sta Tours, is the voice of Pee-Wee Herman(Paul Rubens).
• Studioscentral.com reader Mike Farnham sent this: "Disney maintenance is famous for being "anal" about cleaning things in the park. During filming of the Bette Midler short film, shown during the backstage tour, Disney cleaning crews came into New York street and picked up all the trash, cleaned the streets and repainted everything! Trouble is - it was SUPPOSED to look dirty and dingy! Movie makers had to re"age" the set again before filming the next day"
  

Cast Member Secrets

• In the Studios on the other side of the Brown Derby Resturant there is a Cast Member only Cafeteria. It is called "Take Five Cafe".
• In addition to the ATM's available to guests, there is another ATM machine for "Cast Members" but is not available for studio guest.
• There is also a "Company D" store,where cast members can buy clothes/goods which have some kind of CAST designation on them... like a key-ring that says 'Team Disney'.
• While the Studios may not have tunnels underneath them like the Magic Kingdom, they do have one of the most enjoyable ways for cast members to get around: bikes. Since the park is almost round, with little guest access to the edges, CMs use communal bikes to get around the parks on the outside.
• Studios Cast Member IDs double as time cards, thanks to a bar code on the back. Cast Members clock in at Wardrobe in the back of the park.
• Inside the cast services building there is a fully funtional hair salon for cast members.
  
  

Earfel Tower

• The Earffel Tower is 130 feet tall. It is not a working water tower.
• The diameter of the Earful Tower is 8 1/2 feet and translates into a hat size of 342 3/8. The reason for the hat size is because every holiday season they usually top it off with a Giant Red Stocking Cap.
• In 1995, the Earful Tower had blue goggles in honor of Orlando Magic player Horace Grant. The Magic went on to play in the NBA championships, but they lost the series.
  

Tower of Terror

• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is 199 feet tall.
• When the Tower of Terror was being built, it was struck by lightning.