Hooray for Hollywood (Studios)!

     Walt Disney World is probably my favorite place in the world, and it has been for about 10 years now, although for most of that experience, I'd only ever been to Epcot and Magic Kingdom. It wasn't until three years ago when I finally was able to go to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and finish up the park tour. Animal Kingdom is cool, and I liked it a lot, though most people have taken to calling it a half-day park. Even with the addition of the Avatar portion, it only added two more rides, and one of them doesn't have a great reputation, making the best liked ride in the park still Expedition Everest, though the two rides in Pandora certainly help raise the appeal of the park as a whole which is always good. Hollywood Studios, on the other hand, is huge for me. As someone who has always liked movies and will constantly point out references to other things, Hollywood Studios is a great time for sure, and it's gotten even better since the last time I was there.

The Greatest Hits

    Before I get to the new stuff, I have to pay respect for my favorite things that I've ridden and seen in my two times visiting the park. I remember when I was little, one of the first rides that I rode at Magic Kingdom was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland. This was a big step for me, because before this, I was really too afraid to ride anything in the park. One of the cast members working there said that it was like riding through a video game, and I was immediately curious. Once I got on, that's exactly what it was like. I wasn't scared of it anymore and just enjoyed hitting the targets and defeating the Evil Emperor Zurg. I bring that up to say that Toy Story Mania over at Hollywood Studios is like that, but gone even further on the video game ride idea. The theming of the attraction is amazing with all of the giant toys that you pass while you're in the queue, a giant viewmaster slide, board games with the names of old Pixar shorts, it's all there to really sell that the toys have set up this little attraction in Andy's room. This was a great idea, and clearly was used as inspiration in creating the eventual Toy Story Land which takes that idea and runs with it even further. 

    Before all of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge area opened, there was Star Tours, a motion simulator that had huge renovations back in 2011 coinciding with Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm. Though I never rode the original version of the ride, I know that with the renovations, they changed the ride significantly. C3PO was now the pilot, replacing RX-24, also known as Rex, and the path no longer always took riders to Endor. The ride now chooses between a bunch of different scenarios and cameos to make it so you're basically riding something new almost every time. The ride is made up of three different scenes broken up by a hologram of a character giving important information to your ship. For instance, my ship escaped from an Imperial Star Destroyer with Darth Vader on board, then we shot to hyperspeed and ended up in the space above Coruscant. From there, we got closer to the planet,  drove through the streets avoiding an assassin chasing our ship, then we shot to hyperspace again once back in space. While flying through space, we were hailed by a hologram of Yoda, telling us that we had a spy on board our ship (accompanied with a picture of one of the people on the ride vehicle) and that we needed to protect them no matter what. Yoda disappeared and we shot through hyperspace to Jakku as we fought against the First Order with Finn. The ride obviously isn't exactly canon, but it's still a fun time. Even if you don't like Star Wars, I think it's a really enjoyable attraction that most people will have fun with.

There's no business like show business!

    The shows at Hollywood Studios are great for the most part. While I wasn't a big fan of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid or the Beauty and the Beast show, I'm sure there's a lot of nostalgia and love tied into those attractions. For me, however, my high school put on a production of Beauty and the Beast which knocked the one at Hollywood Studios out of the water (shout out to my very talented friends), so it just didn't impress me that much. The Frozen Sing Along is fantastic, funny, and genuinely heartwarming. Two royal historians from the kingdom of Arendelle have come to recount the tale of the original movie and they lead the audience through a singalong of all of the music as they sum up the plot in a hilarious way. Cameos are all around as the main cast of Frozen are looking for Elsa as the storytellers are trying to buy time before people are upset that they don't get to see the Snow Queen herself. In the end, Elsa shows up and I'm not going to spoil what she sings, but I certainly never saw it coming (Let it Go. She sings Let It Go). Another great show is the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. This show really sums itself up well, it's a stunt show that demonstrates how some of the special effects were pulled off in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, while also throwing in some fun surprises and quite a big boom at the end. Speaking of ending with a bang, you need to check out Muppet Vision 3D. I love the Muppets, and this attraction taps into just about everything Muppets that you need to see. A penguin orchestra, Miss Piggy doing covers of different songs, Beaker getting stuck in something and screaming? They even have Statler and Waldorf up in the balcony to heckle the Muppets on screen. It's a great show, a lot of fun, and probably some of the best laughs that I've ever gotten in a theme park. All around, these shows are a lot of fun and well worth your time, especially if you're wanting to escape the heat for a while.

    You can't talk about shows in Hollywood Studios without bringing up Fantasmic, one of two different Night-time Extravaganzas at this park, and the far more theatrical of the two. Mickey is dreaming an incredible dream like he does every night, full of wonder, magic, and princesses and monkeys riding around on floats. Yes, I said monkeys. It turns almost Elephants on Parade-esque for a bit, but then Maleficent sneaks into his dream and pulls out all the stops to turn it into a nightmare. She enlists the help of all the Disney villains to take over his dream and destroy the magic in his mind. It's only by Mickey remembering that it's his dream and utilizing many of the different skills that he's accrued over the years (including shooting fireworks from his fingers) that he's able to expel the villains and take control back. Once he does, he summons his old steamboat from the old cartoon Steamboat Willie with a bunch of different Disney characters riding on it, and they all party. I know describing it doesn't do the show justice, but please, do me a favor and check it out if you're in the park. It's a really cool show, and though I also love the Star Wars fireworks that take place around the same time, Fantasmic should be seen at least once.

The park is always changing, time to check out some new stuff!

    Hollywood Studios has been expanding like wildfire in the past few years. They got rid of the Streets of America area of the park (themed after New York City and San Francisco, though honestly, I'm not really sure what was housed in that area) to build Toy Story Land and Star Wars Galaxy's Edge (also known as Black Spire Outpost on the planet of Batuu). I haven't been to the Star Wars area yet, but everything that I've seen about it looks amazing, including the Rise of the Resistance ride which just opened last December. It's an incredible trackless ride with some really impressive looking animatronic elements and apparently utilizes four different ride systems. Toy Story Land looks like you've been shrunk down to the size of one of Andy's toys and you're walking around his backyard. The pathway is covered with giant footprints, selling the illusion that Andy has been walking around this area while playing with his toys. The toy aesthetic goes for the entire area, the little counter service snack stand looks like a box of Animal Crackers, and there is a roller coaster where you ride on Slinky's back around a track. It's a small area compared to the rest of the park, but considering that there are three rides in this little area; Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers (skip it), and Slinky Dog Dash, the space is used very well. 

    On top of these two new lands, they also opened the new ride, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which replaced The Great Movie Ride. The theming for the queue and the overall setup for the ride is great. You've been invited to the Chinese Theater in Hollywood Studios to attend the premiere of the newest Mickey Mouse cartoon, and you begin watching it, then suddenly Goofy crashes his train into the screen and breaks the barrier between the cartoon and the real world. From there, Goofy asks your group if you'd like to ride in his train around the cartoon world, and you're off to the races. It's another trackless ride, meaning that all of the train cars will be separating and potentially taking different routes during the course of the ride. Goofy's train quickly goes off the rails, both literally and figuratively, and it's up to Mickey and Minnie to save your train cars from active volcanoes, a tornado, and a river, just to name a few obstacles. The world of the new Mickey Mouse cartoon looks incredible, with a lot of the landscapes moving around like you would see in an actual cartoon, and it really lends to the idea of the ride as a whole. I really can't wait to ride it, but unfortunately, the ride opened about two or three weeks before quarantine started, so I haven't had a chance yet. Let's just say I'm very excited for that day.

    Hollywood Studios is a great park, and one that I really love, even though I haven't been there when it's not under construction. I'm hoping that now that Runaway Railway is open, the Imagineers can relax a bit, though they still have a lot of work to do in Epcot to prepare for their big anniversary coming up. Thanks so much for reading this post, and I hope I've been able to adequately convey some of my favorite things from Hollywood Studios. Let me know in the comments what your favorite thing to do in the park is, or if you think I should check something out that I didn't mention! Have a great day, and I will talk to you next Friday!