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    (6/17/13) Cars Land and Star Wars Land Updates... Click Here
    (6/10/13) Starting on June 14th the new Monsters University Homecoming celebration show will begin nightly at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Think of this as Walt Disney World’s first attempt to create a nightly musical party atmosphere (MORE...)
    (5/22/13) I’ve got some semi-good news this week for everyone who was disappointed in the concept of a Walt Disney World version of Cars Land without the Radiator Springs Racers. (MORE...)
    (5/20/13) The date seems so very far away... but according to a new rumor sent in, 2018 may be the date that a Walt Disney World version of Cars Land could open (MORE...)

Ride Rehabs - The following information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
Nothing is known at this point in time...

General Park News - (6/10/13) Starting on June 14th the new Monsters University Homecoming celebration will begin nightly at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Think of this as Walt Disney World’s first attempt to create a nightly musical party atmosphere attraction similar to the former ElecTRONica and current Mad T Party events held in Disney California Adventure. The Monsters University Homecoming party event will kick off at 6pm with various DJs playing music and keeping the party going through to 10pm nightly. Mike Wazowski and Sulley will join in on the fun along with the M.U. Cheerleaders and performances by “Scare Supply”.
    (5/20/13) Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios kicked off this weekend
and a collection of fun pictures from the opening weekend of the event have already been posted to MouseSteps.
    Of course it wouldn’t be Star Wars Weekends without a brand new Hyperspace Hoopla – Dance Off with the Star Wars Stars show, which I’ve also embedded below. Kick back and enjoy the fun as always. I wont spoil the surprises, but as always, be sure to watch it to the very end.

    (5/13/13) I’ll keep this listed officially as a “Wild Rumor” for now… but according to a source the Beauty and The Beast show may soon come to an end at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. This part makes sense on all fronts, as not only is the show older than dirt, but the characters from the film have all pretty much moved into The Magic Kingdom now with the addition of the Be Our Guest restaurant, Gaston’s Tavern and the Enchanted Tales with Belle walkthrough adventure.
    So it’s safe to say that the show really isn’t “needed” on the Sunset Strip location anymore. This is where the rumor takes a turn for the wild however. You could think that Disney would simply replace this with a new live show of some kind and reuse the existing show venue. (There were once rumors of a show themed to Tangled for example.)  However our source tells us that the theater building / structure itself  may have some issues that need addressing, and rather than repair or even rebuild what is needed, they could very well opt to use the site as the location for a new dark ride attraction of some kind.
    The location is an interesting one because just behind the theater is a large open section of land that Disney has not been able to use for the theme park. The site behind Beauty and the Beast was originally earmarked to become the home to Copperfield Magic Underground, a restaurant concept that would have allowed guests to visit from inside the park as well as those outside. Apparently Copperfield’s side of the investment failed to materialize and the project never went any further than site clearing and a brief appearance by a promotional billboard outside the park entrance before the idea was quickly scrapped and brushed under the rug.
    Anyway… take a quick look at the site of the Beauty and the Beast show next to the Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror… and then see the huge empty lot behind behind it. That is a seriously big piece of property that Disney could use for a major new attraction or mini-land if they wanted to.  In fact, about the only way Disney would ever be able to use this property for the park is to remove the show theater and redevelop the entire site once and for all. So if the show is ready to be retired… now would be the time to make this happen.  Stay tuned!
    (4/19/13) One of the drivers at Disney’s Lights Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is going to the extreme this year and will be competing in the X-Games Foz do Iguacu event in Brazil to compete in the RallyCross event. Of course all the drifting and jumping action at the RallyCross is nothing new for him, just like a day at work… minus the explosions, so we wish Eduardo Marques, Jr. a speedy victory!

    (3/25/13) The Orlando Sentinel has now confirmed Screamscape’s rumors that the Countdown to Fun parade and Disney Channel Rocks street show will both have their last performances on April 6th.
    (3/22/13) I’m not quite sure what is going on, but I’ve heard a few whispers coming in from the rumor mill claiming that there could be some kind of change coming to the road you use to enter the Studios in the near future. Of course, unlike the rest of the parks, Disney’s Hollywood Studios actually has two entrance roads to their parking lot… the larger main road that exits right off World Drive for those coming to Disney World from the south or Tampa side of I-4, and then there is the smaller but more commonly used entrance located across Buena Vista Drive from Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, which also serves as the only exit from the parking lot as well. I’m not sure which one may go under the knife, but if is the larger entrance, that could make for some interesting growth opportunities for the park.  If anyone else knows more, please do let me know.

2013 - New Disney Junior Show - (2/18/13) MouseStep has posted some great pictures of the new Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins segments added to the revamped Disney Junior show at the Studios.
    (12/20/12) The Disney Junior show at the Hollywood Studios park will be closing sometime in January for an update. When it reopens in February, Screamscape sources tell us that Handy Manny and the Little Einsteins characters will be removed in favor of adding two new popular Disney character properties: Doc McStuffins and Sophia the First. Look for these new characters to be featured in the new show alongside Jake & The Neverland Pirates and Mickey Mouse Club characters.

2015/2016 - Star Wars Land - Rumor - (6/17/13) Continuing our story about the big makeover planned for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Star Wars Land is rumored to have been given a final green light along with other park renovations as part of a 5 year land to upgrade the entire park experience. Previously I had mentioned that the Star Wars Land was looking to expand into the back area of the park as well as take over the Backlot Express restaurant site that sits between Star Tours and the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. The latest rumors now indicate that there is a possibility of Star Wars Land also expanding in the other direction to take over the site currently occupied by the Pizza Planet and MuppetVision 4D theater. Between the Cars Land project and Star Wars Land, we’re talking about a possible complete rebuild of everything in the park between the Star Tours building all the way down to Catastrophe Canyon. I don’t know if New York Street would be saved or not, as there is also a push to do something different with the old and tired Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playland area as well, which is sitting right at the doorstep to the entrance/exit of the Backlot Tour.
    According to our insiders, Star Wars Land may very well be announced at the D23 Expo held in California in August and could have the first phase ready to open by either mid 2015 or early 2016, which matches up quite well with the 2015 release date Disney has given for the new Star Wars: Episode 7.
    (3/22/13) It seems there may be a bit of truth to the mini Star Wars Land rumor for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. According to one insider, the various maintenance CMs who take care of the the parade floats have been told their positions are coming to an end to make way for a new Star Wars related project. Given the possible size of project area in question, this has also led several people to wonder if Disney may also try to repurpose the Sounds Dangerous theater across the pathway from Star Tours as well. More as we find out...
    (3/18/13) For months we’ve heard rumors that Disneyland Paris was looking into building a mini Star Wars Land project as a spin-off of their Star Tours ride (still running Version 1 by the way…) inside Discoveryland. I had also heard some early rumors claiming that a similar plan may have been talked about for Hong Kong Disneyland as well, though now it seems that they will move ahead with a Marvel themed land instead.
    With Disney’s Hollywood Studios being the center of the Star Wars Fan Universe for about a month each and every year during the annual Star Wars Weekends events, it would only make sense if Disney were to try and expand their Star Wars themed offerings, wouldn’t you think?  The problem as always been space… as the Studios park was not really designed with huge expansion capability in mind, beyond Sunset Blvd, and really was pigeonholed into a corner by nature of its location between World Drive and Buena Vista Drive. The oddly placed parking toll road to the south and a really strange parking lot layout intended to serve both a portion of the Cast Members and Guests as well was just the icing on the cake.
    Without expansion being options being mostly off the table, the only way to expand the Star Wars offerings of the Studios would really seem to be to start making some dramatic changes inside the park’s boundaries. MuppetVision and the themed New York streets are located just behind Star Tours and to the right side of Star Tours, while to the left side is the large Backlot Express restaurant and then the Indiana Jones Show area. So it is pretty landlocked unless Disney is willing to star removing something to make room.
    In today’s news entry up above regarding the closure of the park’s big parade, there is also a rumor that the Parade Float building may also be removed to make room for a new future project. The parade building in question is located, I believe, essentially right behind the Backlot Express restaurant. This is only an ‘IF’ right now, but IF they were to remove the Backlot Express and clear out the property all the way from there back to the Parade Float building, that would open up a fairly large space where they could possibly build a new Star Wars themed mini-land that could include the often rumored Star Wars Cantina restaurant project proposed for Paris.
    There are no rock solid rumors on this yet, but with the Walt Disney World parks blocked from ever putting the Marvel characters to use, it would only make sense that the Studios try to take as much advantage of the Star Wars franchise as they can. And who knows… if they really have some big ideas for a major new attraction as well, there is always a ton of extra space they could work with if they closed down the Indiana Jones stunt show as well.

2018 - Cars Land - Rumor - (6/17/13) The rest of the world’s media just exploded with a big breaking story over the past weekend about a possible major California Adventure style overhaul of the Hollywood Studios park that would see Cars Land and a mini Star Wars Land added over the next 5 years. Of course, this should come to as no surprise to loyal Screamscape readers as we’ve been telling you about both of these pending project rumors in detail for the past 3 months. So what changed this week?
    According to many of the new articles, they say that the project has been given the Green Light, though as I mentioned previously, this seemed to clearly be the case as soon the President of the Disneyland Resort, George Kalogridis, who oversaw the 5 year overhaul of the California Adventure park was suddenly transferred/promoted to now oversee all of Walt Disney World. That’s when the all the big rumors for the Hollywood Studios theme park really began to gain traction.
    According to many of the latest rumors, as predicted, the remainder segment of the Backlot Tour will be closed down to make room for Cars Land. This will include the Catastrophe Canyon attraction and according to some of the latest rumors, may actually see the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show closed down entirely s well. Previous rumors suggested that a new Cars 2 themed auto spy themed stunt show could be placed into the existing venue. Now apparently a member of the LMA crew let it leak that about one year from now they will be performing their final shows before the venue is shut down.
    As of right now the chatter about it including a new version of the iconic Radiator Springs Racers attraction is also most likely. As mentioned before, don’t look for Cars Land to be complete until about 2018 however. As for the other big component of the Studio’s makeover… make the jump to learn more about the proposed Star Wars Land.
    (5/22/13) I’ve got some semi-good news this week for everyone who was disappointed in the concept of a Walt Disney World version of Cars Land without the Radiator Springs Racers. In typical Disney fashion, they come up with more than one plan for any given project… and while there are proposed versions of Cars Land without the iconic ride… there are also versions being pitched that will include a Radiator Springs Racers ride… though with a slightly different layout.
    If the Dark Ride version is approved, I’m told that the basic plan for the attraction would be to recreate most of the dark ride segments of the existing Radiator Springs Racers ride anyway... but feature some kind of new indoor finale.
    (5/20/13) The date seems so very far away... but according to a new rumor sent in, 2018 may be the date that a Walt Disney World version of Cars Land could open, with an expected construction timetable of about 24 months expected. Ever since Cars Land was announced for Disney’s California Adventure, people have talked about the possibility of bringing it to the Studios at WDW, and from the sound of things, Disney was listening enough to see if it would actually work as a replacement for the aged remains of the Backlot Studio Tour site.
    BUT... and you knew there was going to be one of these... from what I’m hearing, if Cars Land is approved for Walt Disney World, this will not be a carbon copy of the one built in California. You’ll still get to wander the streets of Radiator Springs, eat in Flo’s V-8 Cafe and even try out Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree... BUT...
    There will be no Radiator Springs Racers.
    I’ll let that concept sink in for a second.  The iconic ride that all of Cars Land was built around will not be cloned in Florida and as disappointing as this seems on the surface, this could be a very good thing as the concept has two strikes against it from the start.
    After all... Walt Disney World has already had the same Radiator Springs Racers ride system running since the late ‘90s as Test Track at Epcot. (Strike 1!) 
    Disney has also just finished pumping several million into that same Test Track attraction at Epcot to reinvent it as an all new version of Test Track less than a year ago. (Strike 2!)
    So as much as most Walt Disney World fans want to experience the Radiator Springs Racers, there is too much of a fear that the end result will simply me a “Meh!” from guests as they cross the finish line, as Test Track is not only the same ride system... but one that also goes much faster through it’s high speed finale.
    So what to do? Well, if the rumored project gets the green light and gets built, apparently we can expect to see an all new Cars themed dark ride experience built just for Walt Disney World instead. Given the location, I do have to wonder if they might try to include some of the old Catastrophe Canyon set as part of this new attraction as well. Oh, and you may have noticed that I left Luigi’s Flying Tires off the list as well. As many can attest, the attraction has not lived up to expectations and we should also expect to see another flat ride or two themed to the Cars universe built instead. One possibility is said to be a ride based on the WDI pattent for a “Twister Ride System” discovered earlier this month. (Click here) A version of this conceptin Cars Land, but themed to the new “Planes” film characters (Coming in August 2013) may fit the bill nicely.
    A lot can happen between now and 2018... but there are enough rumors going around now claiming that the Studios may have been targeted for a major 5-year overhaul masterplan, much like California Adventure was, and this does fit within the timeframe as a nice finale for the project... much like it was for DCA. Stay tuned...
    (3/25/13) Could the rumored Star Wars Land be just one part of a larger project to overhaul Disney’s Hollywood Studios?  Much like the now completed plans to overhaul Disney’s California Adventure park, there are a few early rumors claiming that the Studios may also be given a smaller budget version of the same concept in order to freshen up the entire experience. I know there have been voices calling out for the demise and redevelopment of the old Backlot Tour which has long since outlived any real purpose, so it would be fantastic if this rumor were true. No one is entirely sure what the future may hold… only that changes are coming, and that we can almost guarantee that the giant sorcerer’s hat plopped down in front of the Great Movie Ride will be demolished once and for all.
    (6/25/12) With the work on Fantasyland well under way by this point, and Avatar at Animal Kingdom still looking to be a few years out, this has led to a few thoughts and speculations about a possible series of major new projects rumored to be under development for the Studios. There are still the old rumors floating around, like the Monsters Inc. themed door coaster ride, a revamp of the Great Movie Ride or even a possible new generation MuppetVision concept. But then there are also a few other new rumors banging through the pipes… like a possible small upgrade to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster that could see Aerosmith dropped, or how about replacing Fantasmic! with a copy of World of Color… or the big one that I think everyone really wants… killing off the useless Backlot Tram Tour and redeveloping that whole property as a WDW version of Cars Land, complete with a new Cars 2 themed version of Lights, Motor, Action full of spy action, fast chases and big explosions.
    Cars Land sure would be an awesome gift to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to celebrate it’s 25th Anniversary in 2014, wouldn’t it?  Just saying… but whatever Disney has planned to celebrate the 25th, they’ll probably need to start on it before the end of this year.