RUMOR: Backlot Tour closing for Pixar Place expansion

[Retired and Happy (Ken) 101]

Our kids will be distressed.  BLT and the GMR are the two things they ask for at HS.  Next thing we'll hear they are closing the Hunchback.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Here's a little more fuel for the HS rumor fire.  WDWMagic is reporting that permits have been filed for work on Soundstage 1, which is between TSM and the Backlot Tour...

 

 

Located between Toy Story Mania and the Studio Backlot Tour, the soundstage has recently been used as gift shop during Star Wars Weekends, a base for MyMagic+ testing, and most recently as the home to Wondering Oaken's during Frozen Summer Fun.

 

Simply titled, 'Project 3 - DHS Soundstage 1 Renovation,' the permits do not give away any details, other than the expiration date of 9/30/2016, and Whiting Turner being involved in the project. That particular contractor has been involved with Disney attractions in the past, and a long expiration date for the permit suggests something on a large scale.

 

Adding further weight to a coming addition is the appearance of several key executives and Imagineers at the park today. WDI's Tom Fitzgerald, Tom Staggs, George Kalogridis, and Meg Crofton were apparently seen in the area of Soundstage 1.

 

Recent speculation has suggested one possible use of Soundstage 1 may be for an expansion of Toy Story Mania to provide additional capacity. Previous rumors for Soundstage 1 have centered around a Monsters Inc themed roller coaster attraction, expanding the Pixar Place mini-land.

 

The upcoming closure of the Studios Backlot Tour this weekend would appear to also be a significant step in this project, given its close proximity to Soundstage 1.

 

Disney has not yet commented on any expansion, or given any indication of what will replace the Studios Backlot Tour.

 

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/disneys-hollywood-studios/news/25sep2014-permits-filed-for-work-in-soundstage-1-at-disney%27s-hollywood-studios.htm

[DaveInTN 3,247]

My vote is for the Monsters Inc coaster. 

 

But I realize that ain't happening. 

 

Meg was obviously there for a carrot cake cookie.  And some Starbucks. 

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

This from the Orlando Sentinel this morning. September 26, 2014

 

Disney’s Studio Backlot Tour turning out the lights Saturday

   By Dewayne Bevil | Staff Writer

 

      A long-running attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is fading to black. The Studio Backlot Tour, a significant part of the theme park’s opening-day lineup in 1989, is taking its last visitors on Saturday.

 

   The Backlot Tour was designed to show behind-the-scenes action of a working studio that pulled double duty as a theme park.

 

   “That was the core attraction of the park,” said Robert Niles, editor of the Theme Park Insider website.

 

   In the beginning, the tour took hours to complete and included walk-through segments where visitors peeked into TV productions     underway. Trams took guests of the park — then called Disney-MGM Studios

 

   — down the faux New York street and through a residential area that included a facade of “The Golden Girls” house.

 

   Over the years, the park’s emphasis morphed to entertainment and attractions based on films. New offerings, such as the Toy Story Mania ride and the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, ate away at tour space.

 

   Today’s abbreviated tour clocks in at about 30 minutes, including a demonstration in a gigantic water tank and trams that roll past movie props and into Catastrophe Canyon, a supposed film set where floodwaters gush and    an oil tanker explodes about every five minutes through the magic of moviemaking.

 

   “The whole romance of seeing where movies are made really began to die as people got the ability to make    movies themselves,” Niles said. “The only movie production that’s happening in there are people holding up their iPhones and uploading to YouTube.”

 

   Brian Clouse of Auburn-dale made his final trip through the Backlot Tour this week.

 

   “It’s bittersweet that it’s leaving. It’s the last remnant of the studio, per se, so that’s sad,” he said. “There’s so little ofitleft.…It’salmostlike,‘Are we losing anything at all?’ Basically, it’s Catastrophe Canyon and nothing else.”

 

   Disney World has not announced its plans for the bulk of the Studio Backlot Tour space. On Monday, Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and a snow-play area, parts of the park’s “Frozen”- related activities, will move into a building at the end of the tour. That area had housed an American Film Institute exhibit and retail    outlet.

 

   “We know our guests are eager to hear details about our new experiences, and we look forward to sharing more with them at a later date,”    Walt Disney World spokesman Bryan Malenius said Thursday.

 

   The Backlot Tour is the second Hollywood Studios attraction to close within a month. American Idol Experience, a singing competition, ended its run Aug. 30.

 

   “So much changes all the time” at Disney World, said David Heck, who lives in Reading, Pa., and visits Florida every few years. “I wonder when is it going to stop, when are they going to say ‘Hey, this is it. This is as far as it’s going to go’?”

 

   Kerri Jungeberg, on a two-week family vacation, said the Backlot Tour was fun.   

 

   “I like it is because it’s different,” she said. “It’s not just roller coaster after roller coaster after roller coaster. It’s like real experiences.”

 

   Jungeberg, who lives in St. Louis, was surprised the tour is ending.

 

   “I’m glad we came today because we’re going to come next week and it won’t be here,” she said.  [email protected]   or 407-420-5477

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Just road this one last time.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Was planning on a ride today too, then the B-I-L called

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

 

 

Nice pic!

 

I actually got picked two trips in a row to be on the boat.  It was fun, the second time me and my sister really played it up good, but the sad part was it was just us so we didn't have anyone to video it or even take our picture.

 

Oh well I have the memories!

 

WBI

[LONE-STAR 370]

Kind of sad thinking about all the times riding it as a kid. I always liked riding it but Disney really let it go. Atleast we did it on our last trip.