Your Impression of Walt Disney Studios Park

dagobert · May 16, 2011, 10:51:02 AM

In my opinion it is good that they changed the name from Disney MGM Studios Europe to Walt Disney Studios Park. I also like the name Disney's Hollywood Studios better than Disney MGM Studios.

Did TWDC really plan to build a real studio with a park in Paris? I know that WDFA France should have moved to the park, but that never happened and then the animastion studio in France was closed. Is DHS still used for movie productions?

ed-uk · May 16, 2011, 11:21:47 AM

Disney used to record TV shows at Disney MGM in Florida and they had an animation department there I believe, but they closed the animation department and I'm not sure if they still record TV shows now it's DHS. I think originally there was going to be an animation department at DIsney MGM Europe? In the end WDS just got the television building/tour.

davewasbaloo · May 16, 2011, 11:33:05 AM

Correct. MGM in Florida (and Universal Studios in Florida) were designed to be real TV & Film studios with theme park attachements. Neither worked - the local skills were not good enough compared to California or other international locals, the theme park ops (noise) interfered with movie making, and it was not cheap enough. Some things were shot at MGM such as the Mickey Mouse Club with Brittany Spears, Justine Timberlake et al; Star Search, and a few other things, but not great. The animation studios did well though, working on Mulan, Brother Bear, and many others.

In Paris, the plan was to duplicate, but they learned some hard lessons in Florida, and by the time WDSP opened, they had killed off feature animation pretty much (though in the early 90's they were worried if animation Paris would move as they had a great facility not far from the Champs Elyesee). So what opened was a Disney Channel studio, and that was it.

But when it comes to real Movie magic, no one will ever beat Universal Studios in California (though the Warner Bros. walking tour is great too).

ed-uk · May 16, 2011, 11:36:12 AM

Was the "Golden Girls" and "Home Improvements" recorded at Disney MGM Florida? I think Universal Studios in Holywood was the original Studios Tour.

davewasbaloo · May 16, 2011, 11:41:19 AM

Golden Girls were mainly filmed in California and then the set was moved (like Dinotopia in WDSP), though techincally they did a couple in Florida so they were not lying, similar for Home Improvements (again, most were filmed in California).

davewasbaloo · May 16, 2011, 11:43:40 AM

Oh, yep, Universal Studios in California was the original tour, over 100 years old - used to provide a box lunch while people watched the silent movies being filmed. Though the concept of the trams, shows and attractions as a part of the experience was really of the late 60's-early 70's. I remember when the Jaws part of the tour and the Bionic Man stunt show were a really big deal!

ed-uk · May 16, 2011, 11:51:53 AM

It's good to know that WDS isn't hugely different from Disney MGM Europe and the original masterplan.

davewasbaloo · May 16, 2011, 11:55:28 AM

Yep, there was once a thought that there would be a Great Movie Ride and a Sci Fi Dine in, sorry, I should have said these were also missing. But they were both taken off plan very quickly anyway as by 1993, they already had concerns about attendance droping in the Great Movie ride in Florida.

ed-uk · May 16, 2011, 11:58:58 AM

I would have liked the Great Movie ride, that was one of my favourites.

dagobert · May 16, 2011, 12:06:26 PM

Quote from: "ed-uk"I would have liked the Great Movie ride, that was one of my favourites.

Totally agree. The Great Movie Ride is wonderful and I would like to see it in Paris, too. The Chinese Theatre could be placed behind the lake of an extended Hollywood Blvd. I think they should use the Omnimover system instead of the ride system in Florida. I'm not sure if Disney owns the rights to use the MGM movies in the attraction in Europe as well. But Disney has produced so many great movies under the Touchstone, Miramax and Disney labels that there shouldn't be a problem to find some good movies for the ride.

davewasbaloo · May 16, 2011, 12:10:10 PM

Me too, though we got Cinemagique as a replacement, and I think that is awesome too. They were worried about language issues on the Gt Movie Ride (though I suppose headphones could have solved that problem).

dagobert · May 16, 2011, 12:15:19 PM

Quote from: "davewasbaloo"Me too, though we got Cinemagique as a replacement, and I think that is awesome too. They were worried about language issues on the Gt Movie Ride (though I suppose headphones could have solved that problem).

I didn't know that Cinemagique is a replacement for GMR. Cinemagique is indeed awesome. One of our favorites. Headphones would solve the problem, Disney did the same with AODA.

davewasbaloo · May 16, 2011, 12:21:34 PM

Ya, but if AODA failed, it was a lot cheaper and easier to rip out or retool than an AA laden attraction. remember, when DLP was in planning stages, we did not have many mega coasters like we have now. At the time, the Auctioneer in the PotC was the same cost as the whole Vekoma Corckscrew coaster many European parks were installing.

dagobert · May 16, 2011, 12:39:19 PM

Of course it is cheaper to change an attraction that doesn't use AAs, but I think GMR would be popular in Paris, too. At the moment the is no AA in Paris. I don't consider the gulls in Crush's Coaster AAs. Will Ratatouille feature AAs, or just projections.

davewasbaloo · May 16, 2011, 12:45:19 PM

Well, I have not seen much of the detail, but my understanding is things our size might be AA, the larger things film. Though there is one set of plans that may make it 100% film based (and seeing Toy Story Midway Mania, that would not surprise me - both Lego and Disney have a precident of mainly film on a ride attraction, and with the popularity of Spiderman and Harry Potter in IOA, it would not surprise me to see a mix).