- Hollywood Studios -
I Love this magnificent Park. A lot of that passion is because of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Yes....I'm a Star Wars Nut. But there's so Much more to this Park than just Galaxy's Edge. Originally Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park opening on May 1st, 1989 and the third Park to be added to Walt Disney World Resort. Having like two sections to the Park in the beginning. The "front" part being made up of Attractions, Shows, and more standard theme park stuff, with a "behind the scenes tour" exhibiting how Disney-MGM made movies and television shows. Later the name of the Park was reduced to Disney-MGM Studios, but ultimately evolving into Disney's Hollywood Studios in January of 2008. Probably my second favorite Park though, and yes I said it, even with Galaxy's Edge. Because to me, when it comes to Amusement Parks, nothing tops the Magic Kingdom.
Disney's Hollywood Studios' Animation Courtyard and the replica of Grauman's Chinese Theater are considered the Parks centerpiece, and is currently home to Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. It's a Short mixed with "effects that immerse you in a dynamic cartoon-scape" (via Disney; My Disney Experience app).
Star Wars Galaxy's Edge....May the 4th, 2023
Over the years many things have been added and changed to the Park. The first expansion was Sunset Boulevard in 1994 with The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror being the main Attraction. Meanwhile other things falling off, like the fact that there is no longer any working studios there. So there's no longer a "behind the scenes tour" either. But again on the plus side, Toy Story Land was added in 2018, and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge being the latest addition to the Park in 2019.
There's a lot of new Magical and innovative technology within the Parks these days, but nothing tops Galaxy's Edge/Batuu when it comes to interacting with the Park and Play Disney games. There's a handful of games like; Flight Crews Wanted, Star Wars: Datapad, Resistance Encampment, and Star Wars: Batuu Bounty Hunters that can be played interactively within Batuu. The Batuu Bounty Hunters game requires a Magic Band+ to play and is by far the coolest of the games in my opinion. Much less the top notch Rides in Galaxy's Edge like Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
I also wanna really stress some of the Shorts and gallery type Attractions that I believe can be easily overlooked. One of my favorites is the "Walt Disney Presents". It has an awesome museum-like gallery that you can walk through with a screening at the end that covers the years of Walt's creativity. To me one of the coolest things in the museum is the animatronics display. The museum section can be browsed at any time and the screening rotates every 15 minutes, so it can easily be thrown in at almost any point of the day. Another great quick-hit and must see is the Short; Vacation Fun, which is in a traditional theater setting starring Mickey & Minnie.
