Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Bright, and Michael Eisner, the park opened on May 1, 1989, as the Disney–MGM Studios Theme Park, and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. Spanning 135 acres (55 ha), the park is themed to an idealized version of Hollywood, California, and is dedicated to the imagined worlds from film, television, music, and theatre, drawing inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and other aspects of the entertainment industry. Universal Studios Florida was the first of three theme parks to open at Universal Orlando Resort, joined later by Universal Islands of Adventure in 1999, and Universal Volcano Bay in 2017. In 2019, it ranked eleventh in the world – sixth in North America – for overall attendance among amusement parks with approximately 10.9 million visitors. A fourth park, Universal Epic Universe, is expected in 2025.
Liberty Square is one of six "themed lands" and is exclusive to the Magic Kingdom, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Themed after colonial America, Liberty Square contains replicas of both the Liberty Bell and Liberty Tree. One of the most popular attractions in the Magic Kingdom, the Haunted Mansion, is located in this land. Presiding over the square is the Hall of Presidents, an American history show featuring an audio-animatronic figure of every President of the United States. Liberty Square has a long waterfront on the Rivers of America and the Liberty Belle steam paddleboat departs from a landing here.
The Sorcerer's Hat was a structure and the thematic icon of Disney's Hollywood Studios, the third of four theme parks built at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, from 2001 to 2015. The structure was inspired by The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment in Walt Disney's 1940 animated film, Fantasia. Mickey Mouse's gloved hand and ears underneath the hat are visible emerging from the ground. With its opening on September 28, 2001, it replaced the Earffel Tower as the park's icon in marketing material. It was used as a venue for pin trading and sales, and also served as a backdrop to many special events and shows. High School Musical Live culminated several dances from several Disney Channel shows that performed several times daily in front of the hat. Disney characters made meet-and-greet appearances around the hat throughout the day.
The Studio Backlot Tour was an attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was a combination of a walking and tram tour of the backlot area of the park.
The Earffel Tower is a faux water tower located at Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris in Seine-et-Marne, and formerly at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Adorned with a set of Mickey Mouse ears, it is inspired by the real water tower located at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. A pun on the Eiffel Tower, it is based on water towers commonly found on Hollywood studio backlots of the first half of the 1900s, which were originally a safety measure to douse fires on highly flammable wooden film sets. However, the Earffel Tower has never contained water.
Star Wars Weekends was a festival held annually at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort. Included with park admission, the event typically occurred on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for four consecutive weekends in May and June and featured appearances by cast and crew members from Disney's Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. Many original Disney characters also appeared dressed as Star Wars characters, such as Jedi Mickey, Minnie as Leia, Donald as a stormtrooper, Goofy as Darth Vader and R2-MK. The festival began in 1997 and had been held in 2000, 2001, and annually from 2003 until 2015. In November 2015, Disney discontinued the event due to construction of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and the larger daily presence Star Wars will have in the park onwards.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a themed area spanning three theme parks—Universal Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida and the upcoming Universal Epic Universe—at the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. The area is themed to the Harry Potter media franchise, adapting elements from the film series and novels by J. K. Rowling, in partnership with Warner Bros. Entertainment under an exclusive license agreement. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was well received and significantly boosted attendance at the resort.
This article details the appearance of Harry Potter theming in amusement parks. In the late 1990s, Universal Destinations & Experiences began discussing the possibility of purchasing the license for Harry Potter to create and theme amusement park rides. As Time Warner owns the license, a small walkthrough attraction was constructed at Warner Bros. Movie World called the Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience in 2001. This attraction was removed two years later. In 2010, Universal Islands of Adventure park opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Similar attractions have also opened in Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Beijing.
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is an animated simulator ride attraction located at Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Japan, and Universal Studios Beijing, as well as upcoming to Universal Studios Singapore. The attraction is based on Universal Pictures and Illumination's animated film Despicable Me (2010) and its franchise. While it is an opening day attraction in Beijing, it replaced Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast in Florida, T2-3D: Battle Across Time in Hollywood, Back to the Future: The Ride in Japan and Madagascar: A Crate Adventure in Singapore.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a chain of themed areas at Universal Destinations & Experiences based on the Harry Potter media franchise, adapting elements from the Warner Bros.' film series and original novels by J. K. Rowling. The areas were designed by Universal Creative from an exclusive license with Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is an indoor steel roller coaster designed by Universal Creative and built by Intamin at Universal Studios Florida, a theme park located within the Universal Orlando Resort. Similar to dark rides, the roller coaster utilizes special effects in a controlled-lighting environment and also employs motion-based 3-D projection of both animation and live-action sequences to enhance the experience. The ride is themed to Gringotts Wizarding Bank, as depicted in the Harry Potter films, and became the flagship attraction for the expanded Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley when it opened on July 8, 2014.
Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin was a motion-based, trackless dark ride at SeaWorld Orlando. There is a penguinarium that served as the ride's post-show.
Mako is a steel roller coaster located at SeaWorld Orlando in Orlando, Florida, United States. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the hypercoaster model opened to the public on June 10, 2016. Mako is named after the mako shark and is located in the Sea of Mystery section of the park. It reaches a height of 200 feet (61 m), a maximum speed of 73 mph (117 km/h), and features a track length of 4,760 feet (1,450 m).
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is a themed area inspired by the Star Wars franchise in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It encompasses 14 acres (5.7 ha) at each park, and is set in the village of Black Spire Outpost, on the remote frontier planet of Batuu, featuring attractions, shops, restaurants and entertainment.
Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular was a nighttime show at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. The show is based on the Star Wars film series and features fireworks, projection mapping, fire, lasers, fog effects, and searchlights. During the show, Star Wars imagery is projected onto the park's Chinese Theater facade and surrounding buildings around the park's hub on Hollywood Boulevard. The show had its celebrity-filled World Premiere on Friday, June 17, 2016, replacing the park's similarly-themed display, Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular.
The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic was a short lived nighttime show at Disney's Animal Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort. The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic was located in the park's Discovery River. The show was limited-time engagement and filled the space of the delayed Rivers of Light night-time show, presumably until Rivers of Light was ready. The show featured music from the film, adding an Indian influence. The show opened on May 28, 2016, with a soft opening the night before.
The Muppets Present ... Great Moments in American History was a live show located in the Liberty Square area at the Magic Kingdom, performed daily and featured the Muppets presenting abridged accounts of notable milestones from the Colonial era of American history and its majority unfolded from the second-story windows of the Heritage House, adjacent to the Hall of Presidents attraction. The show premiered on October 2, 2016 and went on a brief hiatus on October 5, 2019, before temporarily returning three months later for a brief holiday run from December 23 to 31, 2019 before closing on February 17, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic closure. This was the last Muppets production to feature Steve Whitmire before his dismissal from the role of Kermit and other characters sometime in the same month of October 2016.
FastPass+ available again
Wheelchair accessible