We spent our last full day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios,
though we left partway through to have brunch at Epcot’s France pavilion via a
very slow boat ride that stopped three times along the way (at the Swan/Dolphin
hotels, Yacht and Beach Club Resort, and BoardWalk Resort before reaching a
special entrance to Epcot in World Showcase between France and the United
Kingdom). Many attractions at the Studios are shows, and given the way they are
timed, it is difficult to see them all without either waiting around or running
from place to place.
The Studios (which was called Disney-MGM Studios until
recently) is a slightly disorganized park that resembles the studio section of
California Adventure—in fact, the turnstiles at the entrance to the parks look
almost identical. It used to be a working studio, mainly for obscure TV movies
and shows, though the interior of Isla de Muerta from the first Pirates of the
Caribbean was shot on a soundstage here. Disney also used to have an animation
studio here that made the great films Mulan and Lilo & Stitch, as well as
the mediocre Brother Bear. The Magic of Disney Animation used to tour the
studio with views of the animators at work, but now it’s apparently just like
the version at California Adventure (minus Turtle Talk With Crush, which is at
Epcot).
The Studios has several attractions that are duplicated at
the California parks and which we did not visit, including Toy Story Mania
(though it has a niftier indoor queue), Star Tours (with an AT-AT outside and
six simulators instead of Disneyland’s four), Muppet-Vision 3D (sorry, I don’t
know how to make that star symbol without changing fonts), Disney Junior—Live
on Stage (though we haven’t seen it at California Adventure either), and Walt
Disney: One Man’s Dream. Attractions we didn’t get to were the walk-through
Legend of Jack Sparrow, The American Idol Experience, Lights Motor Action Stunt
Show (which only had two showings that day), and the Voyage of the Little
Mermaid show.
We got to the park early and joined the line to get in.
Unlike at the other parks, Disney decided to open the whole park about 20
minutes before the official opening at 9. We joined the throng, and were just
about the only ones to turn right on Sunset Boulevard as everyone else rushed
to Toy Story Midway Mania. At the end of the boulevard are four attractions:
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Fantasmic, and
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage.
We turned left to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which features a
giant electric guitar on the outside of the ride building. There was no line,
and we walked through the queue, which is the headquarters of the fictional
G-Force record label, with musical memorabilia on display. The preshow room
looks into a recording studio, where we see Aerosmith in the mixing booth.
They’re late for their concert, and as their manager rushes them along, the
band insists that we go along with them. They order stretch limos just for us.
Still indoors, we emerge into a Hollywood alley at night, complete with chain
link fence and graffiti-covered walls. This is the loading area for this indoor
roller coaster; the train “limo” is several cars long.
The trains turn and stop at the entrance to a tunnel, with a
signboard above displaying traffic information. The sounds of Aerosmith come on
the onboard speakers, the DJ counts down, and the coaster launches from 0 to 60
miles per hour in 2.8 seconds (by contrast, California Screamin’ goes from 0 to
55 MPH in 5 seconds). The coaster immediately goes straight up the back wall
and turns upside down at the top, and then loops upside down again. All this is
in the dark, by the way. The coaster then speeds past and through black-lit
icons of Los Angeles, including freeway signs, the Hollywood sign, and Randy’s
Donuts. Midway through, there is another corkscrew, for a total of three
inversions. All this is set to an Aerosmith song. At the exit, a screen shows
the aftermath of Aerosmith’s concert. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is certainly the
wildest coaster at Disney World, and also wilder then California Screamin’
(though nowhere near as long). The double inversion right after the launch is
especially spectacular.
Then it was on to the magnificent Twilight Zone Tower of
Terror, which stands several stories (figuratively) above California
Adventure’s version. There was still no wait, and the outside queue winds
through the gardens and walking paths of the hotel before entering the lobby.
The lobby and preshow in the library with Rod Serling are essentially the same
as in California. The boiler room is much smaller and only one story, with four
elevator doors compared to the three doors each on two levels in California.
The elevator door opens right into the car, unlike in California where you go
through two doors.
The ride ascends without moving back and the doors open to
the corridor scene (no mirror scene). The ghosts disappear and the corridor
fades into the star field, and a window at the end of the corridor moves toward
the car before collapsing. The doors close and the elevator ascends to the
Fifth Dimension scene. This is a compelling ride element sadly missing from the
West Coast version. Several props, such as a ticking clock, eyeball, and the
ghosts from the preshow can be seen behind glass before the room darkens. The elevator
then moves out and forward into the room, past the props. This description
doesn’t get across how bizarre and almost ethereal this segment of the ride is.
The car approaches another star field and a bright line that extends upward and
downward before splitting to reveal a pair of doors. The car travels through
and pauses.
There is a moment of silence and suspense before the drops
begin. Unlike in California, where the drops are the same every time, the
faster-than-gravity drops are randomized so the sequence is different with each
ride. Every time you go to the top, the doors open to give a view of the park
outside. Once the drops are over, you see a screen with images of a spiral and
other items from the Twilight Zone TV introduction. The cars then back away
from the screen and turn to arrive at the unloading area, which is in a
different location from the loading area.
The mechanics of the ride are quite interesting. In
California, there are three shafts with two cars each; as one car loads, the
other car is going through the ride (as you can hear). In Florida, the cars
start out in four shafts named Alpha (though I know the official spelling is
Alfa), Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. Each car is actually ensconced in an outer
lift vehicle that moves up the shaft. In the Fifth Dimension scene, the cars
exit the outer lift vehicle and move forward. The cars from Alpha and Bravo go
to the Echo drop shaft, while cars from Charlie and Delta go to the Foxtrot
drop shaft. Upon entering the Fifth Dimension scene, if you look down you can
actually see the guide track in front of you and another to the right or left
(depending on what shaft you’re in); the two merge together further ahead. The
cars lock into another lift vehicle in the Echo and Foxtrot drop shafts that
performs the high-speed lifts and drops. (See towerofterror.org for more
behind-the-scenes info.)
The Florida version of the Tower of Terror has been billed
by some as the best theme park attraction on the planet, and it’s not hard to
see why. The immersive theming, otherworldly Fifth Dimension scene, and the
randomly generated thrills give it a higher re-visit value than the California
version. The drop sequence in the latter version starts suddenly and takes one
by surprise the first time, though one can expect it coming on subsequent
rides. In Disney World, one knows that the drops are coming as the ride stops
in darkness and the suspense builds…the question is just exactly when they will
start. This is the true version of the Tower of Terror (the versions at the
other Disney parks are based on the California version) and one of the best
rides I’ve been on.
Back at the central plaza of the park is The Great Movie
Ride, a 20 minute long, extremely elaborate dark ride past huge sets recreating
scenes from classic films. The ride building is in a façade of Grauman’s
Chinese Theater. The line goes through a replica of the theater’s lobby into a
large room showing trailers from various films. Then it’s into the ride
vehicles themselves, large two-car conveyances led by a live tour guide. The
train passes under a theater marquee and past scenes from Footlight Parade,
Singin’ in the Rain, and the chimney sequence from Mary Poppins. In a gangster
scene inspired by The Public Enemy, the train stops at a traffic light. A
shootout begins as a car crashes through a wall. A live gangster (a woman when
we went) kidnaps the tour guide and hijacks the train. Then there is a Western
scene with Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. The train enters the spaceship
Nostromo and passes by Sigourney Weaver. The alien attacks from the ceiling for
guests in the first car and bursts from the right for guests in the second car.
The Well of Souls from Raiders of the Lost Ark is next, as we see Indy and
Sallah struggle to lift the Ark of the Covenant among hundreds of snakes.
A temple with a large jewel dominates the next room. The
gangster leaves the train and approaches the jewel, but the temple guardian,
his back towards us, warns the gangster that the jewel is sacred. The gangster
ignores the guardian and grabs the jewel. There is a puff of smoke, to conceal
the gangster going down a hidden lift to be replaced by skeletal remains (sorry
to ruin the illusion). The guardian is, predictably, the original tour guide,
who takes charge of the train again. It passes through a mummy chamber and
Tarzan swinging by on a vine to the Casablanca farewell scene at the airport
between Bogart and Bergman. Next is a projection of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice
segment from Fantasia.
The final scene is from The Wizard of Oz. Munchkins welcome
Dorothy before the Wicked Witch of the West rises out of the ground to harass
us. We then pass by Dorothy and friends to a theater showing a montage of
films, including Snow White, The Godfather, Star Wars, Terminator, Taxi Driver,
North by Northwest, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 2001: A Space Odyssey,
Forrest Gump, and Citizen Kane. The trains then return to the loading station.
This is an entertaining ride with intricate sets featuring films that people my
age and younger may not be aware of (I’ve seen most of the films featured
except for Footlight Parade, The Public Enemy, and the Johnny Weissmuller
Tarzan).
Our sojourn to Epcot took a while—again, it takes a
painfully long time to commute from park to park. When we returned, we decided
to see Indiana Jones—Epic Stunt Spectacular. I’m a big fan of the Indy movies,
especially the odd numbered ones, so this show was the first priority for me
among those offered at the Studios. The preshow involves selection of stunt
volunteers from the audience. With one exception, they act more as extras in
crowd scenes, though the casting director has them do things like scream and
stand on one foot. The actual 30-minute show begins with Indy making his way
through a recreation of the idol temple from the beginning of Raiders of the
Lost Ark. He dodges spikes that pop up from the ground, climbs out of a
collapsing floor, and runs away from the infamous giant boulder. At this point,
he disappears, and the “director” calls “Cut” and asks if Indy is okay. We’re
introduced to the crew and stunt team as Indy emerges and the temple set is
moved away to reveal a Cairo marketplace set. After an interlude with the
audience volunteers, there is another stunt sequence, with Indy and Marion
evading swordsmen as they fight their way up and across the building rooftops.
Gunfire and falls from great heights abound.
After another clever interlude involving Marion and one of
the audience members demonstrating fighting techniques, there is the final set
piece. An actual plane appears from backstage, and Indy and Marion fight around
it as “Nazis” shoot machine guns and fuel-laden trucks drive by. The scene and
the show end with a fiery finale and explosions (though the airplane itself
does not explode; if you have several shows every day of the year, you don’t
want to be buying a new plane for each one). The Indy show is action-packed
with a few genuine surprises, though there are less behind-the-scenes
explanations that I’d expected. But I’d definitely see it again.
Back on Sunset Boulevard is the Beauty and the Beast show
that, like Indy, takes place in a covered amphitheater. At half an hour, it glosses
over some aspects of the story. Lefou and Maurice are entirely absent. After a
mash-up of the songs “Belle” and “Gaston,” the narrator intones, “After a
series of events, Belle found herself at a mysterious castle.” And after Gaston
stabs the Beast, he walks offstage, never to be seen again. Someone not
familiar with the movie may wonder how it got nominated for Best Picture Oscar
(I certainly think it deserved the nomination). It should be noted that unlike
in the Broadway show, the enchanted objects are in costumes that cover their
whole bodies and thus their characters’ voices are prerecorded. But it’s still
a pleasant enough show and can’t be accused of dragging like Finding Nemo: The
Musical (it has the opposite problem). But again, it’s nowhere close to
Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.
Dinner was at the ‘50s Prime Time Café, which, shockingly,
had no line (Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano was not accepting walk-ins, and
rides like Toy Story Mania and Tower of Terror had lines of over an hour at
that point). The setting is a 1950s home dining room, with TVs showing vintage
clips of period sitcoms and commercials (as a result, I think I have the theme
to “I Married Joan” permanently stuck in my head). The waitress, or “Aunt” as
she insisted on being called, informed us of the rules: No elbows on the table
and finish your vegetables. Oh, and you have to pile up your plates when you’re
done eating. It’s fun if you’re in the right mood, but I can see how it could
be exasperating if you’re tired and just want to eat. I had the sampler, which
included some of the featured homey fare: fried chicken, pot roast, and
meatloaf. Surprisingly, the meat loaf was the best, though the fried chicken
wasn’t bad. I’ve definitely had better pot roast, including at the Plaza Inn at
Disneyland. It’s a fine restaurant for comfort food, though the atmosphere and
theme are bigger draws than the actual fare.
Our wait for the Studio Backlot Tour was probably the
longest we waited for a non-show attraction at Disney World not counting
breakdowns, though at about 15 minutes, it was still quite tolerable. There are
several lines, and a mass number of guests are let in every 15-20 minutes. We
had in fact waited for this before Indy, but we were cut off right before we
got into the next area, and would have missed the show had we waited another 15-20
minutes in addition to the 30-minute tour itself.
The monitors in the queue area show a rather dated and brief
behind-the-scenes look at Pearl Harbor, a film that proves that Ben Affleck is
really suited for directing and not acting.
Michael Bay drones in a monotone voice about the wonderful special
effects he used in the film without really giving any specifics. And given that
the film is Pearl Harbor, nobody would be interested in the specifics anyway.
We were let in to the next area just in front of the cut-off
this time. In this next segment, we watch as technicians show off a special
effects tank. A small wheelhouse is drenched with water, and flames and mortars
go off in the surrounding water. The tour then moves through a prop warehouse
to the boarding area for the tram.
The tram drives through the rather empty backlot area. There
are barely any sets, though you do get a good look at the Earful Tower, the
studio’s requisite water tower. The tram passes through the costume and
manufacturing buildings, where you can see personnel working on various
costumes and props. Or, if you go fairly late in the day like we did, you can
see empty rooms. The tram then goes through a small boneyard, with vehicles
like the motorcycle from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Walt Disney’s
private jet. You can also see some of the prep areas for the Lights Motors
Action Stunt Show as well as a portion of the stage itself.
The tour climaxes with Catastrophe Canyon. On the left side
of the tram, you can see a canyon, pipes, and a fuel truck. Shaker tables under
the tram simulate an earthquake. The fuel truck explodes, and flames and
fireballs erupt from various pipes and tanks. A huge flash flood deluges the
canyon, and more water flows down from above the tram. After, the tram drives
by the backside of the canyon to reveal the mechanisms and support structure of
the set. The tram goes past the boneyard and stunt show area again before
returning to the loading station. The exit is a walkthrough of a museum that,
at the time, featured posters and props from some of AFI’s 100 greatest films
of all time. As there isn’t much production going on at the studio, the only
interesting part is Catastrophe Canyon. The tour at Universal Studios Hollywood
is much more entertaining and informative, though none of its ride-like
elements are quite as spectacular as Catastrophe Canyon.
We didn’t get to do as much at the Studios as Epcot or
Animal Kingdom, yet at the same time, I don’t feel like we missed that much.
Just the Lights Motors Action Stunt Show and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The
shows were entertaining and though there were only a few rides, most of them
were top notch (like at Animal Kingdom). The Tower of Terror was a special
favorite of mine, and it’s too bad that we only got around to riding it once.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a nice park, and while it doesn’t have the
variety of Epcot or the novelty of Animal Kingdom, it still has many attractions
that are among the best that Disney, or anyone, has done.
Note: We did see Fantasmic at the end of our day at the Studios,
but I have a lot to write on that, and so I am including it in the next (and
final) post.
Next: Fantasmic and Conclusion
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