Disney-MGM Studios

The idea for Disney-MGM Studios was originally to be a pavilion between the Land and Imaginations pavilions. It was to look like a sound stage back drop and have a movie theater entrance in the middle. It would have housed the 'Great Movie Ride' as its main attraction. Michael Eisner, who was newly elected, saw the plans for the pavilion and decided it should be its own theme park. He saw no reason that this could be kept to just a pavilion at Epcot. This new theme park was to have a theme of show business, Hollywood and entertainment.

The original idea for the park was to have it operate as not only a theme park but a fully functional television and motion picture production studio. They realized that land in California was expensive to purchase and had plenty of land in Florida for the development. It would also give a guests a chance to see real production of shows from behind the scenes. A number of animated movies were produced at Disney-MGM Studios including Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear. A few TV shows were also created here including Seaquest DSV and Let's Make a Deal. Disney Radio also operated out of Disney-MGM Studios before moving to Dallas, Texas. Due to cost-cutting measures, most of the sound stages are empty and remain unused.

Disney and MGM/UA Entertainment signed an agreement giving Disney rights to use 250 of MGM's films at any time. Disney also got the rights to use the MGM name and the lion logo. The whole plan was announced on July 8th, 1985 in Tallahassee, Florida, with the governor, Bob Graham.

Imagineers were enjoying planning this park and were excited to re-create their favorite landmarks from their backyard of L.A. They also watched thousands of films to find the correct architecture and feel for the park. Like the Magic Kingdom, the park was planned with a spoke-and-hub formation which has been found to be the best layout. The hub of the park was a replication of Grauman's Chinese Theater but has since been replaced by a large sorcerers hat from Fantasia.

Disney-MGM Studios was originally built on a smaller size do to the huge cost from Epcot. During this time Disney was having financial problems but knew that they needed a third gate for the under developed Florida property. Because of these factors, Disney-MGM Studios was built small but with the understanding that it would be expanded when crowds are needed. Over the years the park has actually doubled in size and include some great attractions like Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller coaster and Lights, Motors, Action.

Completion of the park was delayed for over a year due to changes in the scale of the park. Imagineers continued to come up with ideas like increasing the number of sound stages to 3, adding a post-production facility, and a wardrobe department. The back lot was also expanded to include Catastrophe Canyon and the Disney Feature Animation was added. The delays also increased the cost by $500 million. Some films were actually in production before the theme park opened.

In addition to building Disney-MGM Studios, they also built the Caribbean Beach Resort and Typhoon Lagoon to fill the space between the Disney Village and the Epcot Resorts.

Opening day was the largest in Disney history with magazines from Newsweek to People having large features in their publications about the park. It actually rained opening day with large crowds and traffic backed up for miles. Many celebrities were at the park for opening day including Robin Williams, George Lucas and Bette Midler. NBC had actually put on a two hour special the night before.

"The world you have entered was created by the Walt Disney Company and is dedicated to Hollywood - not a place on a map, but a state of mind that exists wherever people dream and wonder and imagine, a place where illusion and reality are fused by technological magic. We welcome you to a Hollywood that never was - and always will be." - Michael Eisner, May 1, 1989.

The park quickly became a success and the hours were extended from 6:00 PM to midnight many nights. The park has been expanded and is currently twice its original size. The original icon of the park, the "Earffel Tower" has been replaced with the sorcerers hat from Fantasia.