The Perplexing Future of Hollywood Studios

Since the beginning, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has struggled with its identity and daily operations.

The former Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park started with its two founding companies suing one another.

That happened before the park ever opened to the public, with MGM Studios turning acrimonious almost immediately after signing the deal.

Not coincidentally, Hollywood Studios floundered for decades before only recently finding its niche.

However, the solution has triggered its own set of problems, as you’re about to learn.

Yes, the park is ready to expand, but some fans really don’t want that.

So, let’s discuss the perplexing future of Hollywood Studios.

The Solution That Caused Problems

Many years ago, recently installed Disney CEO Bob Iger surveyed the theme park landscape and quickly identified two flaws.

Disney California Adventure (DCA) and Hollywood Studios weren’t performing at anywhere near the levels of other Disney parks.

Even worse. Both parks faced a stigma that they were inferior, a harsh but sadly accurate statement.

In 2012, DCA added Radiator Springs aka Cars Land to address its concerns.

A few years later, Hollywood Studios gained the same treatment, with Disney investing billions of dollars to reinvent the park.

The results were glowingly successful. Anyone who remembers the before times at Hollywood Studios recognizes the change.

Once upon a time, the only attraction at the park that required a significant wait was Toy Story Mania!.

Even Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith declined in popularity through no fault of their own.

Lines naturally decrease when fewer tourists enter the park in the first place.

So, Disney built not one but two entirely new themed lands, both of which were sure to be popular based on their brands alone.

I mean, who wouldn’t visit Toy Story Land or Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? Those are winning concepts based on beloved franchises.

Disney even put its thumb on the scale by introducing the first-ever attraction based on Mickey Mouse.

By now, fans somewhat take for granted the presence of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway in its central park location.

Others remember the sad lines for The Great Movie Ride, a marvelous attraction that also suffered from the park’s lack of appeal.

In 2018 and 2019, the arrival of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge seemingly changed everything.

Alas, the solution created a new problem…

The Current Load Balance Issue

For those of you old enough to remember Hollywood Studios before 2018, park behavior worked quite differently.

At the start of the day, guests would either head straight north to The Great Movie Ride, or they’d turn right toward Sunset Boulevard.

The cul-de-sac at the end of this path features Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

For many years, those three spots and Toy Story Mania! highlighted a park visit.

Yes, guests also enjoy Star Tours – The Adventures Continue and many shows.

Still, any heat map of park foot traffic would underscore how much more often guests walked the Sunset Boulevard and Chinese Theatre paths.

The arrivals of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge haven’t just disrupted that behavior. They’ve obliterated it.

Now, guests spend much of their park visits in these areas, limiting the interactions in other spots.

Park officials view this behavior as a massive win, as attendance has soared.

Similarly, guest satisfaction has increased dramatically. I mean, who doesn’t love Galaxy’s Edge? It’s a masterpiece.

The “problem,” as it were, is that Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge are too good, too popular.

They’re pulling a disproportionate number of guests in that direction, which is a behavior we’ve tracked at other parks.

The most extreme example is Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

That themed land is easily the park’s biggest draw, which leads to a similar discrepancy in crowd distribution.

The popularity gap explains why DinoLand USA will soon become the Tropical Americas.

Disney needs something on the other side to balance the load. Otherwise, guests will head straight to Pandora.

Park officials prefer consumers to branch out rather than congregate in one spot.

The success of Hollywood Studios’ revamp has caused the same issue.

The Future Solution That Causes Stress

When I suggested in Disney Rumors articles that expansion was coming to Hollywood Studios, this was an underlying reason.

While you and I think about the new attractions and experiences, Disney officials contemplate the best ways to distribute crowds.

With so many guests flocking to Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge, it’s common sense to add something elsewhere.

This new experience, which we now know will be Monstropolis, should balance the park.

Tourist behavior is predictable, with guests inevitably flocking to the hot new thing.

Once that happens, the older thing(s) lose at least a fractional amount of popularity.

Therefore, positioning a Monsters, Inc.-themed land somewhere else at Hollywood Studios should minimize the current problem.

That’s the plan, but the proposed ideas have proven problematic.

As you may have heard, Disney officials have toyed with the idea of replacing Muppets Courtyard with Monstropolis.

While some insiders have refuted this notion, stories like this one aren’t helping to quiet the whispers.

As I discussed last week, there’s usually an opportunity cost when Disney builds anything at a current theme park.

For instance, I’m excited about the Island Tower coming to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, my favorite Disney hotel.

However, I lament the loss of Luau Cove and the Spirit of Aloha dinner show more than I could explain in words.

I have fond memories from a place that no longer exists, which is always challenging to process.

At Hollywood Studios, Jim Henson worked so hard on Muppet*Vision 3D, some family members claim it killed him.

Should Disney sacrifice that ride to build Monstropolis, it would shatter the hearts of Muppets fans.

After putting plenty of thought into it, I would advise Disney not to do that for other reasons, though. Here’s why.

Solving the Problem the Right Way

Where is Muppets Courtyard in Hollywood Studios? The answer is that it’s a short walk from Galaxy’s Edge.

So, Disney isn’t solving the overriding problem by adding Monstropolis here.

Yes, the re-theme brings more people to a currently unpopular part of the park, but they’re still heading the same way.

Disney needs to divert traffic elsewhere, which is why I’d encourage Disney to choose one of the other two plots instead.

For a while now, I’ve indicated that Disney might repurpose Animation Courtyard or build on a plot near Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Take a moment to consider the park layout, and you’ll understand why I view those options as superior.

Animation Courtyard sits near Runaway Railway and isn’t currently popular.

So, that’s a spot near the center of the park where guests should be going but mostly aren’t.

Even when they do visit, the overwhelming majority don’t spend much time here.

Thus, Disney could breathe new life into this space by adding Monstropolis here.

Then, we have the space north of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. That’s unused land that’s mostly ready for development.

If Disney built Monstropolis here, it would open an entirely new area for guests.

In the process, crowd distribution would work better, and Hollywood Studios could host more guests comfortably.

Free Advice from an Uninformed Stranger

Again, that’s the point of expansion. Disney wants to pack as many people as possible without the guests feeling overcrowded.

Building something beyond Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster makes perfect sense to me, although it would probably take the longest and cost the most.

Animation Courtyard is probably the middle-ground solution, but it still solves the problem better than Muppets Courtyard.

If Disney does choose to tear down Muppets Courtyard, this choice magnifies an existing issue rather than fixing it.

That’s why I strongly encourage Disney to take more time and possibly spend more money on one of the other two ideas.

Both of them make Hollywood Studios’ future brighter by solving a current problem.

The Muppets Courtyard idea does the opposite. So, please don’t pick that one, Disney!

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