As Hollywood Studios celebrates its 27th anniversary today, 1st May, here are 10 things you may not have known about the park and its current, and former, attractions;
- Hollywood Studios, formerly MGM Studios, takes up 135 acres of land, making it the second smallest park on WDW property - the only park which is smaller is the Magic Kingdom!
- The Earfell Tower, until recently when it was demolished, was the icon of the park. It was not a working water tower, and is 8.5 feet in diameter. The Mickey ears hat which sat atop the icon would be a hat size 342 3/8!!
- There are 54 potential experiences aboard the Star Tours attraction. It would take over 4 hours of continuous riding to see them all...
- The Tower of Terror drop sequences are run by two motors. The motors are 12 feet tall, 35 feet long and weigh 132,000 pounds! Wow!
- The Tower of Terror show building stands a huge 199 feet tall. If Disney had built it just 1 foot higher, the FAA would have required a flashing red beacon to be put on top of the building to warn low-flying planes.
- The Fantasmic! show uses 3 giant water screens for the show projections. These screens use 2400 gallons of water per minute, and are 50 feet tall by 100 feet wide! The lagoon which hosts the Fantasmic! show is a mere 1.5ft deep though!
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster uses 900 speakers onboard the ride to enhance the rider experience. The background music outside the ride is on a 60 hour loop, to ensure the same song is never repeated throughout the day.
- The Sorcerer's Hat was added to the park on 5th December 2001 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, and stood 122 feet tall. That is a hat size of 605 7/8. 13,493 bolts and 26,986 washers were used in the construction of the Sorcerer's Hat.
- The Great Movie Ride was originally planned as an additional pavilion for Future World at Epcot. However, following the announcement for Universal Studios Florida, which would be built just up the street, Michael Eisner, Disney CEO at the time, expanded the idea into a complete new theme park, MGM Studios.
- The giant boulder in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show weighs a staggering 440 pounds! The show's sets, which move throughout the performance weigh about 100 tons all together!
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