WDW Magazine April 2016 - Disney's Hollywood Studios | Page 10

Old Hollywood makes its debut in Florida…

Much like Main Street U.S.A., DHS was designed to represent the Golden Age of
Hollywood the way we’d like to remember it. And what represents that better than a
romanticized Hollywood Boulevard? Serving as the entrance to the park; HB was built in
accompaniment with The Great Movie Ride and its façade replicating Grauman’s Chinese
Theater.
The park only had two other areas on opening day: the Backlot Annex and Lakeside Circle
(Echo Lake). The Backlot Annex consisted of street sets resembling New York (which was
later extended and named “The Streets of America,” adding elements of San Francisco) and
a number of studios and sound stages, which could only be accessed on trams during the
Studio Backlot Tour—shortly after the parks opening, New York Street, became open to
pedestrians.
The park quickly expanded, within its first years a variety of new and exciting attractions
began popping up! In 1989, the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and the
motion-simulator ride Star Tours were added. In 1990, Muppets Vision 3D and the Honey,
I Shrunk the Kids Playground opened. And in 1991, two hugely popular stage shows
debuted: Beauty and The Beast Live on Stage and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.