Originally Posted By leobloom I vote they use that space and the American Idol attraction and build something impressive. Not gonna happen, but it'd be nice.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I know what they could do with that space. They could build a bunch of scenes and choose people from the audience to act out in long established programs via green screen (or blue, whatever). then replay it on screen with the audience actors playing the part of the stars. Sounds silly though...I mean it would take technology and actual people staffing it. It would also take a long time and heaven knows you need every available moment when covering a park the size of DHS with all its attractions and shows. Besides that the concept seems familiar to me.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: The Monster Sound Stage show that was originally in this spot was so much better than Sounds Dangerous. As soon as Sounds Dangerous opened up it was an obvious giant step backwards compared to what was there before. It was always a conundrum to this coven of witches as to how anyone could think Sounds Dangerous was better than the Monster Sound Stage. It came across as a way to cut corners and save money instead of creating something with any sort of appeal. If you're only interested in sitting in the dark and using your own imagination to fill in the blanks you can easily do that by staying at home. But paying money to do this within a theme park is insulting to guests. Disney really showed how dumb and greedy they can be with this one. We say good riddance!!!
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I didn't say that it was better than the original sound show, but that it was there for a reason and that reason was just never seen. I have been a business man for many, many years and I understand money and cost savings and that is exactly what I saw it as from the get go. That didn't mean that I didn't see any merit in it and not worth seeing. All DHS/Disney MGM has done since it's opening is cut corners and backup from it's original concept. In my mind the entire park should be closed or called something else, it doesn't have any relevance as a studio anymore.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Just thinking off the top of my head. How about replacing it with that "Cars" ride going in at DCA, that basically is a hovercraft version of bumper cars? Having a few more things geared toward kids wouldn't be necessarily a bad thing for DHS.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom << In my mind the entire park should be closed or called something else, it doesn't have any relevance as a studio anymore.>> I'm going to have to disagree. Keep it open and add to it. DHS is an incredible evening park. Talk about big lights big city. It just needs more of a lot of things. Go back to the two shows of Fantasmic a night. Bring over Aladdin from DCA. Why not put the Monster's Inc ride at DCA over to DHS. There are lots of things than can be added to make it more child friendly. Part of the reason why EPCOT and DHS do not get the attendance numbers of the MK, is because both of those parks are geared more toward the adult crowd. Nothing wrong with that... but just as I don't think Fantasyland should exclusively be for little girls looking for Princesses, I don't think the younger set should automatically be excluded from DHS. TSM has been a huge success for DHS. I would highly recommend adding more rides that would also appeal to a mixed family crowd. Rides not exclusively for kids.... but family rides that would appeal to a mixed crowd. DHS would be a perfect place to add rides/ attractions and features that would be found in a Disney villians park. Add more villians. It is really kind of exciting thinking of things that would fit well in DHS. Of all the Disney parks in WDW, this one you really can add just about anything too and it would work. Oh, and getting back to the studios part. DHS has the animation section of the park. No reason why more can't be done there. More meet and greet characters ( lots of indoor space ). One thing outside of rides and attractions is that DHS would really benefit from some means of transportation getting from the front of the park to the back. I'm not sure what that would best be; skyway, overhead trolley, Star Wars landspeeder? Really the sky is the limit here. But it would sure make that park more accessable.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox There are lots of valid arguments being made in this thread, about the current state of DHS. For me, it's been a steady decline over the years, even with the new additions. I'm not a fan of stunt shows, so Indy and LMA were old hat after one or two viewings. And Sounds Dangerous was old when it first debuted, so good riddance from me. If they wanted something entertaining surrounding Drew Carrey, they should have created an audience participation version of Whose Line, with two audience member teams chosen before each show, playing the 'improv theater sports' games that the Whose Line regulars did each week. Randomized clips from the TV show could be shown before each game, to give team members an idea of what to do. Then the teams do their best to be funny (with a little professional help from Entertainment CMs, one for each team) during game play. Audience members vote via applause, and winning team members win a shirt or something to pronounce their greatness at theater sports. With the right mix of audience players and Entertainment CMs, this could have been worth more than just the air conditioning. As for the rest of the park.. I'd like to see the tram tour and CC go bye-bye. It's no longer relevant. USH is the granddaddy of all tram tours, and more entertaining, because it's a real working studio. These 'fake' tram tours are lame. CC isn't all that thrilling to begin with, not to mention a HUGE waste of energy. (If you're gonna burn lots and lots of gas, at least put something wondrous around it like Illuminations.) And truthfully, so much of movie-making has gone digital, large props and location sets aren't used as much. Even Falls Lake at USH is slated for removal. The land is too valuable to keep around for the occasional 'ocean shot' that can be done quicker and cheaper in post. Folks can get a better sense of filmmaking from the internet and the bonus material in their DVD sets. USH sells a real working studio plus film history. DHS can only compete on that level with the Golden Girls street and the Animation tour, both of which are now defunct. The time has come to take it out. And I agree with other posters about the lack of family-friendly fare at DHS. I got bored with the GMR a very long time ago; it definitely needs a refresh. And it's not very kid-friendly to begin with. Given the success of the new Muppet film, why not resurrect the Great Muppet Movie Ride and put that in? You could bring little kids on that attraction, with real-life Muppets getting up close and personal, instead of doing 3-D gags on yet another movie screen. Then you could remove the old and tired 3-D film and replace it with something else, like the previously rumored Monstropolis takeover of the Streets of America and the Honey I Grew the Liability Insurance playground. (Actually, as much as Laugh Floor makes me cringe, this is where it should reside, within Monstropolis, instead of MK. I'd rather see something else in the old Muppet Theater, but at least Laugh Floor would fit thematically, within the city limits of Monstropolis.) Just a thought or two.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 My issues for the current DHS is that it has no point of view or overall concept anymore. Whether you liked the original park or what it tried to achieve, it at least had a single point of view...making movies. When Disney mgmt decided that making anything in Fl was not a priority, the whole "working movie studio" theme became a joke. Add to that the decimation of the Animation Studio in Orlando (and Paris)and Bob Weiss who left the company (and has since returned) the Disney-MGM Studios became a piece-meal park. The placement of the Hat in from the Chinese Theater is, in my opinion, a mess. I have no problem with the hat. I just wish it was someplace else. If you think about the park, you see one that has had some of the biggest changes of things from its original concept compared to other parks, but things are added haphazardly with no real thought to continuity or reason. Here are some of my thoughts that would help: Would love to see the Catwalk Bar return. Lose the Tram Tour. Valuable real estate that so much more can be done with. I find the tour sad. Once Residential Street was taken out, the whole tour should have been taken out also. Expand the Muppet area. Expand Star Tours area. Reopen the old Hunchback theater with a show of equal quality. Hunchback was fantastic. Update and upgrade Fantasmic. It's WDW for gosh sake. Time to act like the #1 theme park destination. Update and upgrade Great Movie Ride. Lose the Little Mermaid Show. Replace Beauty and the Beast. Time to retire Indy Stunt Show and put in a vehicle driven attraction. Indy seems to have passed it's time as a franchise so as much as I like the Disneyland Indy ride, I would stay away from that and move onto another franchise. Embrace some of the architectural history that was built into the park. Does anyone remember Honey I Shrunk...? Retheme the kids play area to Pixar by extending the Pixar theme from Toy Story Mania thru past the tram tour entrance into the playground area. Retheme the fast food area to Pixar also. Most of all, the DHS needs a leader in Imagineering to take hold of it and give it a direction and overall concept. It is a beautiful park that could be so much more.
Originally Posted By standor Loved the original sound show, and expected Sounds Dangerous to be a good show too. Was shocked to see the garbage Disney came up with.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: We have to agree with you, sjhym332, duckling. You made some very good suggestions and this coven of witches is right behind you. If only you could be in charge of that park. Unfortunately we're not allowed to use our magic in this world or you'd already be in charge!!!
Originally Posted By CDF2 I thought the original Chevy Chase version of the show was great - audience members would use the Foley stuff to try and fill in the sound effects during the film and the between the participants and the final film results it was pretty funny. They could have easily had a couple of films to rotate through the show so it would remain fresher than to just see the same film each time. Oh well, just another clever and interesting idea gone bad due to either management indifference or desire to change for the sake of change.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<I thought the original Chevy Chase version of the show was great - audience members would use the Foley stuff to try and fill in the sound effects during the film and the between the participants and the final film results it was pretty funny.>> It really was very funny. And you could hear yourself in the final soundtrack to the film. <<They could have easily had a couple of films to rotate through the show so it would remain fresher than to just see the same film each time.>> I thought they did rotate shows. I saw an episode of Giligan's Island, but didn't they also do a scene from I love Lucy? <<Oh well, just another clever and interesting idea gone bad due to either management indifference or desire to change for the sake of change.>> I think its depmise is when they thought it could stand alone, and got watered down to the point where there really wasn't much left. I never experienced SD. Doesn't sound like I missed much. Fortunately, I did get to experience Monster Sound Stage which was an incredible and memorable experience.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost KT, I think you are confusing memories. Gilligan's Island and Lucy were featured in Superstar Television, right next door. I don't remember seeing anything change in the Monster Sound Show.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom When MGM first opened and you took the behind the scenes tour, the behind the scenes tour took several hours and was broken up into several sections. In the sound stage area hosted by Chevy Chase, you did the background sound. Then they would take you into a huge studio where members of the group reenacted an episode ( in my groups case Giligan's Island ). Then they would move the group on to the outside shot where again a few members of the group stood over a water tank of the Millow from Giligan's Island and not the conning of a submarine like today. At the end of the tour they put the footage from the water tank, sound stage and episode of Giligan's Island together. They basically show the group how a production is all put together. Which was very informative, made sense for a live Studio and was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it was three hours long which was extremely long for many people. Eventionally MGM Studios broke the entire behind the scenes area in to seperate stand alone shows. Which in my opinion didn't work nearly as well.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Actually, you are confusing several attractions. The Gilligan's Island sequence was part of Superstar Television, where American Idol is now. The S.S. Mishap was part of the walking tour and was the boat where a guest stood in the boathouse and the water was dropped on them and the footage was interspliced with exisiting footage. The next part of that show was the bombing effects from a war movie. You then moved to Special Effects workshop then the blue screen sequence with Honey I Shrunk the Kids bee flight. They were all a part of the walking tour that went over the soundstage, Bette Midler lottery short, foley stage, post production then the preview theater. Chevy Chase and Martin Short were part of a separate attraction called Monster Sound Show which is where Sounds Dangerous used to reside.
Originally Posted By LadyandtheTramp Speaking of going downhill at the Studios, we noticed yesterday that they removed the artwork section (between the exit of the Imagineer-talks to Mushu and the hallway containing the ink and paint people) and have essentially just stuck two large posters inside. This was disappointing, as it was generally fun to see all of the artwork surrounding the latest animated film on display. Now all you have left are some meet and greets, and an eight year old room of Snow White posters.
Originally Posted By CoolDisneyFan I kind of hate to even bring this up, BUT... If we are talking about adding to DHS, I have never understood why the whole Avatar thing was not part of plans for DHS instead of AK. Avatar fits in the world of movies, but not in a park featuring animals and US continents.
Originally Posted By CoolDisneyFan Oops, can you not edit messages? I meant continents of the earth, not US.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>Oops, can you not edit messages? I meant continents of the earth, not US.<<< That's OK...it's just a matter of time! ;-)
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 Maybe forty years ago. Today? With the state of the US economy and its standing internationally? Smart money is on a joint Chinese/Indian World government within fifty years. How long before Calcutta Disneyland is announced? ; )
