Over the weekend, I got to travel to Disney's Hollywood Studios (Which I call MGM or The Studios). The last time I visited the park was in 2015, close to a decade ago. During the interval we lost The Great Movie Ride to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. The entirety of the Streets of America (including Lights! Motors! Action!: Extreme Stunt Show, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, and The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights) was demolished for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land. Just recently, it was announced we would be losing Muppet*Vision 3-D and Muppet's Courtyard to a new Monster's Inc. land, Monster's Inc. hanging door coaster, and a Monster's Inc. themed show. Forcibly evicted out of their theater, The Muppets will settle down on Sunset Blvd where they will replace Aerosmith on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Yes, a lot has changed at the park. It still feels the same in many ways, but it also feels different too.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge / Batuu - Walking around the park, it's hard to deny the absence of the Streets of America is felt. It feels like something is missing. Putting that aside, the new land is phenomenal! It doesn't scream Star Wars, but if you allow yourself enough time in the area it becomes easy to believe you're on another planet. There is some nice foliage and greenery near the front of the land, but overall Galaxy's Edge/Batuu resembles more of a bustling or busy town / marketplace. It felt Middle-Eastern or Arabic (not a complaint, just an observation). At first, I was afraid that this would be another Pandora / Avatar Land. The queue for the star attraction and anchor of the land (Rise of the Resistance) wanders through a decent amount of Batuu much like the queue for Flight of Passage. Pandora and Batuu are both structured similarly, in that they have one main headlining attraction and another smaller, less thrilling attraction. Both are based on "popular" franchises, and are set in areas heretofore unseen in their respective films. Whereas Pandora feels small, tight, and cramped; Galaxy's Edge feels larger and more sprawling. I'd say I personally prefer Galaxy's Edge / Batuu over Pandora / Avatar Land.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance - This was a big one. This ride had been highly hyped before opening as having some of the most advanced ride tech ever seen. Scott Trowbridge, mastermind behind The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man over at Islands of Adventure and Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Florida, was the creative lead for the ride. Much like Flight of Passage, the queue for Rise of the Resistance is part of the story, experience, and ride. It all feels like one enormous story, more-so than other rides of its ilk. The plot is that we have stumbled upon the secret Resistance base on Batuu, which is currently in the middle of a panicked evacuation effort. The First Order has tapped into the Resistance's communication frequencies and pinpointed the location of the base. We are to evacuate in a specialty craft, but before we can punch it to lightspeed, we find ourselves caught in a Star Destroyer's tractor beam. We're Hauled on board and held prisoner. When all hope seems lost, The Resistance shows up to our rescue with a daring rescue / escape plan. There are some incredible effects in both the queue and during the ride itself. The Rey Hologram in the first pre-show room, the entire second pre-show / light motion simulator room, The enormous AT-ATs, Kylo Ren's lightsaber stabbing down through your elevator, the 2nd Kylo Ren AA (which has a notoriously terrible track record, actually worked for me!), and the last motion-simulator room are all impressive and will likely continue to wow many years later (so long as they are kept in proper working condition, of course. For example: The Star Destroyer canons have been non-functional for a long, long time now.). Rise absolutely raises the bar on a what a theme park ride is capable of : The queue has it's own mini-motion simulator ride that comes with a nifty magic trick, the ride itself is massive (in as much as it feels like the ride building or ride path take up a very large area), and it pulls a reverse Skull Island: Reign of Kong (Kong essentially starts outdoors and ends indoors, Rise starts indoors and ends outside). Rise of the Resistance wasn't disappointing. It impressed in all the ways it needed too...Unfortunately, it didn't click with me on a personal or emotional level. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is very fun and boasts some truly incredible tech and tricks, but I wouldn't say it's the top attraction in Orlando or even just at Walt Disney World.
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run - Who hasn't dreamed of getting to fly in the Millennium Falcon and getting to scream PUNCH IT!!! as you jump to lightspeed. Well, now you have that chance. I didn't get the "full" experience as Bro and I chose Single Riders (It was late, Stand-By was 25 minutes, and we had Fantasmic to catch), so we missed out on the first part of the queue and that top-tier AA. The bare basic plot (what little of it I could suss out) is that we have been "employed" to pilot the Millennium Falcon on a smuggling run. I felt like the Millennium Falcon portion of the queue didn't feel authentic. The Falcon is not a large craft, but the Falcon portions of the queue felt too big. The ride proper is incredibly chaotic. It's a bit like Mission: Space in that your "cockpit" rotates or swings out of the loading station, but it doesn't spin and is not a centrifuge. Each cockpit hold six crew members: two pilots, two gunners, and two engineers. The Pilots will be primarily focused on the screen, while the gunners and engineers will have to continually shift their attention from the screen to flashing buttons in the interior on the cockpit. Unlike Mission: Space, every button you push, your reaction time, and every yank on the wheel affects the ride, what occurs on screen, and your overall score. For example: If the pilots do a terrible job and keep crashing the poor Falcon, the Engineers will have a much more active role as each bump and dent incurs a button prompt for the Engineers to press. It's a very involved ride that requires you to have whip-fast reflexes and to be on high alert. The whole thing reminded me of a better version of something you'd find at DisneyQuest. It's basically Video Game: The Ride. The best thing about Smuggler's Run is that it requires genuine teamwork in order to fly a successful mission. You'll have to work together as a team with people you only just met seconds to minutes ago. If you ask me, that's pretty cool.
Blue Milk - Disney's answer to Butterbeer is a non-contender...but I did like it. The consistency is odd...it's like a mixture of slushie and milkshake. The flavor itself is very sweet and fruity, tastes similar to Fruit Loops. It's somewhat refreshing, but works better if you're looking for something sweet and not something that will help re-hydrate or refresh.
Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway - Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: This does not even come close to the insane heights of The Great Movie Ride. That's a pretty Herculean task, though. Let's try to be a little more fair, shall we? On it's own, as it's own weird (and I DO mean weird) thing I think Mickey and Minnie's is low-key the perfect ride to represent Mickey and his personality. The story is that we are visiting the Mann's Chinese Theater for the premiere of the newest Mickey Mouse short: Perfect Picnic. As we are watching, something goes wrong and we find ourselves beckoned into Mickey's cartoon world. Once seated in Goofy's locomotive, it isn't long before Mickey and Minnie accidentally cause our train to derail. Now, Mickey and Minnie must race against time to save us. The exterior of The Mann's Chinese Theater remains the same, but has been lightly plussed with the addition of a showy premiere marquee that boasts the title of the ride. It's eye-catching, and looks like The Mann's is hosting a real premiere. Much of the queue remains the same. The posters for different films have been replaced with posters for Micky Mouse shorts. The glass display cases have been removed and a permanent partition or semi-wall has been erected. The movie theater / "pre-show" room has been ruthlessly redesigned. The room has essentially been cut into thirds. The back wall area is a wrap-around queue, the middle and front area to your right has been turned into two very tiny rooms/theaters complete with automatic doors for each, a hidden loading area, and the queue for it. The middle and front area to your left is a waiting area for the two new theaters. Once you enter the load room, it truly feels like you have stepped foot into a living, breathing cartoon. Much like Rise of the Resistance, this runaway train utilizes trackless technology to full, turbulent, dizzying effect. The ride is never uncomfortable or nauseating, but it can get rough and a bit wild. The 2.5-D effects are very cool but don't really call attention to themselves except during the mind-blowing grand finale. I'd say the highlights are the pre-show cartoon, the loading room, the first room and tunnel, The city street scene, the dance studio, and the grand finale. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway most reminded me of Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin (especially during it's later half). While Mickey and Minnie's can't even come close to matching the bar set by The Great Movie Ride, it's still a ton of wild, goofy mayhem while you're on board.
Muppet*Vision 3-D - The very last project Jim Henson worked on before his untimely passing at the too-young age of fifty-four. It's a culturally important attraction. How is it looking today? You can tell the cast and fans are all feeling the pain. The entrance room of the queue has little Muppet plushies positioned about and the lines for the show were lengthy throughout the day. The new projection effects for the Waldo explosion are fine. I can't remember if there was a water effect when Fozzie squirts the audience, but it's definitely gone now. The curtain in front of the movie screen seems to be permanently parted. That's about it as far as missing / broken effects. The show is still just as funny and contagiously chaotic as it was the day it opened. It really has aged very little (not counting the MGM Studios street and the VERY 90s clothing the street extras wear in the last scene). Disney has promised they're looking into ways to preserve the movie and other aspects of the attraction, though I'm betting they just drop the queue video and main show on Disney + and call it a day.
Pizzerizzo - I've heard A LOT about this little quick-serve pizzeria (mainly from a certain Orlando parks scooper). The theming is light, subtle, clever, and funny. The quality of the pizza was not bad. I ate in the banquet room, and absolutely LOVED IT!!!! I can see why some chose to attach themselves to this little eatery, as it had a surprising amount of personality and made for a fairly chill place to escape the streets and enjoy a bite.
50's Prime Time Cafe - I hadn't eaten here in MORE than a decade. It's MUCH better than I remember it being. Every room is set up like a room in a 50's style home, and most tables are facing or near an old-fashioned static-y black-and-white tv set. The tv loop mostly consists of clips from 50's tv shows involving food or eating. The waitresses are all dressed like 50's cafe waitresses, and most prefer to be called Mom. They are still very dry and sarcastic, the classic house rules still apply (no elbows on tables, make sure you eat every last bite), and the staff aren't afraid to chastise, tease, and mess with patrons. It's a very fun environment, but the interiors started to feel a little too dark by the time we left (We got in around 5:30 pm , and left at 7:30 pm). I had the Blue Plate Special, which was a seared pork chop with Colcannon mashed potatoes (with pieces of potato skin mixed in) and onion gravy. It took longer to prepare the dish, but the wait was actually worth it. The meal was freaking delicious! I don't think I'd make a visit to 50's Prime Time Cafe a must every time I'm at the Studios, but every once-in-a-blue-moon, it would hit the spot.
Fantasmic! - Illuminations USED to be the best fireworks show at WDW, and IT STILL WOULD BE...if it hadn't been demolished. So, I guess we'll just have to settle for Fantasmic!. There has been more additions over my ten year absence than I had at first realized. There is a new Moana portion, a Frozen portion, and an Aladdin portion. The Pocahontas scene (created to promote the release of Pocahantas at the time) has been truncated and shortened, meaning the entire battle scene is gone. The "pre-show" (Disney pop stars singing updated versions of Disney songs. It's basically just listening to Radio Disney, but I dig it. It's always been chill.) , prologue / first scene, and later half of the show is where Fantasmic! is at it's best. Unfortunately, the first half of the show relies very heavily on water screens to the detriment of the show overall (at least, in my opinion). The Moana scene was the best addition, as the performer playing Moana gets to wade into ankle high water and splash around. Adding Elsa and Frozen was a no-brainer, seeing as it's the closest to a new classic that Disney has come to crafting in the modern day. What's baffling is to feature Show Yourself, an unpopular song from Frozen 2 ( itself a film most feel mid about), as Elsa's big solo moment. The lights and package that go with the song is very cool...but the song still sucks. The choice would be excusable if this had been added in an effort to promote Frozen 2, but that film came out 2019 and the new scenes were added Nov. 2022. Why not just choose Let It Go, a song that has been replayed ad infinitum but is attached to the better of the two films and itself is a better representation of the Elsa character than Show Yourself is. It's just a very odd, baffling, frustrating decision. The biggest downfall of the show, though, was that the Maleficent dragon was down for the night, meaning we got saddled with the B mode from Disneyland: Maleficent rises up high on a raised platform, while swinging her staff around and firing off firework pot shots at Mickey. IT'S FREAKING LAME and just about cripples the entire show. So, yeah...I didn't love my experience with Fantasmic!. Even as a kid, I always wanted to love the show more than I actually did. As of right now, Fantasmic! is the premiere fireworks show at WDW by default.There really isn't any other fireworks show at WDW that is on the level of Fantasmic, in as much as it involves so many different formats: Water screens, fire works, live performers, stunts, and a "story". It's always been very ambitious, and back in the 90s, it definitely had that wow factor. Now, twenty-seven years later, some wows remain but many have lost their potency long ago. I suppose Fantasmic! as is will have to do for now, but with other theme parks eagerly upping their game, Fantasmic! all but demands a major technological upgrade sooner rather than later (the story is fine, but some of the effects need to be updated).
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - While some attractions need updates, upgrades and re-imaginings, others continue to stand the test of time. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is still one of the very few PERFECT attractions out there (and I'm talking about not just in Disney, not just in Orlando, but in the entire world). With the direction the current heads of Disney are taking things, it's very likely only a matter of time until Tower gets a complete re-theme or overhaul. It's a tragedy, seeing as the ride still holds up exceptionally well. The theming throughout the queue, from the entrance to the gardens to the lobby to the libraries to the boiler room, is still immaculate. The tension, unease, suspense, and dread still builds as you make your way through the queue and then through the ride/hotel. I didn't notice any new additions or anything missing during my stay at the Hollywood Tower. She still holds the same power to terrify, thrill, and surprise two plus decades later. Let's just hope we don't lose her in the near future.
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith - This ride has always had long lines, and it remains that way the year it is to be re-themed. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster was the last coaster I rode in my journey to conquer my fear of coasters. By the time I had finally built up the courage to ride it (back in 2010/early 2011) I had already conquered The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Dragon's Challenge / Dueling Dragons, and Hollywood Rip Ride Rock It! Needless to say, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster pales in comparison to the previously mentioned coasters. I've always enjoyed my rides on Rock'n', but I've never been in love with the coaster. It's always been more fun than thrilling (with the exception of that launch), and the theming inside the track is vibrant black light psychedelia. The interior queue is still a fun walk-through, the pre-show remains as entertaining as ever, and that loading room is still all kinds of cool. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster was never really aiming to be one of the greats, it's intent was always to be a stepping stone between coasters like Space Mountain and more intense thrills like The Incredible Hulk Coaster. I'd say it continues to fulfill that purpose quite well. With The Electric Mayhem and The Muppets moving in, a new younger set of thrill seekers might be about to discover the exciting world of "Big Boy coasters" for themselves. I'm not exactly optimistic about the change, but I'm also not upset about it. As long as the loading area theming remains intact, I'll be ok.
