Today In Disney History ~ April 29th
Disney’s Hollywood Studios, originally Disney-MGM 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 Parks and Resorts division. Based on an idea by Marty Sklar, Randy Bright, and Michael Eisner, the park opened on May 1, 1989, and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. Spanning 135 acres (55 ha), the park is dedicated to the facets of show business, including film, television, music, and theatre, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood, California in the 1930s and 1940s.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios initially opened as both a theme park and an operating production studio, with active film and television production services, an animation facility branch, and a functioning backlot. To increase public interest and the variety of film representation within the park, Disney entered into a licensing agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, wherein the park’s original name was derived. The park’s current name took effect in 2008, with the removal of the MGM-branding throughout the park. The park’s icon was originally the Earffel Tower from the park’s opening until 2001 when the Sorcerer’s Hat—a stylized version of the magical hat from Fantasia—was erected in the park’s central hub. It then served as the park’s icon until its removal in January 2015. The tower was subsequently removed in April 2016. Currently, the park remains without an official designated icon, although both the Great Movie Ride and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror are represented as such in marketing materials.
In 2015, the park hosted approximately 10.8 million guests, ranking it the fifth most-visited theme park in North America and the eighth most-visited theme park in the world.
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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