The History of Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park (later renamed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios) opened on May 1, 1989 in Florida and was designed to let guests experience the excitement of Hollywood. The concept dates back to Walt Disney himself, whose idea of making backlot tours of his studio publicly accessible ultimately evolved into Disneyland. The concept surfaced again during the planning phase for EPCOT, when Disney Entertainment director Bob Jani suggested creating an “Experimental Prototype Community of the Arts” in association with EPCOT, but it didn’t go anywhere. Then in the mid-1980s, a Hollywood-themed “Entertainment Pavilion” was proposed. This concept grew into its own park at Walt Disney World Resort that would include a full-scale movie and television production complex. The project was officially announced by the then-CEO of Disney, Michael D. Eisner, and then-President Frank G. Wells in July 1985. Four years later, Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park opened with a star-studded Grand Opening Spectacular weekend starting on April 28th, which included a live taping of The All New Mickey Mouse Club for The Disney Channel and many big-name celebrity attendees, including Audrey Hepburn, Kevin Costner, Betty White, Annette Funicello, and George Lucas; the park officially opened to the public on May 1, 1989. The park entrance opened into the Hollywood Boulevard section and was broadly divided into two halves — a theme park area, which featured rides and attractions like the park’s famous replica of the Chinese Theatre, and the Backstage Studio Tour, a guided experience showcasing how movies and TV shows get made. Additionally, The Magic of Disney Animation offered a behind-the-scenes look at Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, a functioning animation studio that later produced Mulan (1998), Lilo & Stitch (2002), and Brother Bear (2003). A Sunset Boulevard section was later added to the theme park area in the summer of 1994, expanding the focus to include a more recent Hollywood epoch. The first on-site filming took place in February 1998 for the TV movie, Splash, Too. The park also became famous for its exciting attractions like The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. In 2008, Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park was renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Recent additions to the park include immersive experiences like Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Today, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is still a massively popular theme park that attracts millions of visitors each year.