PHOTOS - Aerial views of Toy Story Land construction at Disney's Hollywood Studios

ToTBellHopMar 27, 2023

Thankfully, it was hideous as ToT, too. That thing was born ugly. A few years ago, Rohde just added (way too much) makeup. But, isn’t it what’s on the inside that counts. And I love Mission Breakout.

CampbellzSoupMar 27, 2023

I’m in DCA now and it’s a beautiful park…except the Avengers Campus and the retheme of Tower of Terror…absolutely awful it stands out so much and makes the park ugly and disjointed.

Poseidon QuestMar 27, 2023

I like the idea, but judging from the pics I wouldn't want them to clone it. I would like more actual theming inside.

drew81Mar 26, 2023

A combined retail and indoor meet and greet building would make too much sense.

J4546Mar 26, 2023

they will

Henry MysticMar 26, 2023

A retail location outside of just TSM would be wonderful! If they cloned Shanghai’s small-ish Al’s Toy Barn shop, the land would actually be improved by a lot. Plus, right now, there aren’t many areas to get cover from a thunderstorm and the sun in the land which is definitely needed in Orlando!

Poseidon QuestMar 26, 2023

I suppose not, but the restaurant is a step in the right direction. Hopefully in the future, they'll continue with more buildings in the area for some more retail and indoor meet and greet space. It would go a long way to allowing this land to feel less thrown together.

The MomMar 26, 2023

Could posters please stay on topic which is about one specific land, not the park as a whole? Thank you.

MisterPenguinMar 26, 2023

Did they ever complete this Toy Story Land?

Henry MysticMar 26, 2023

It seemed like after every post I made someone always felt the need to deflect from the crux of my argument through whataboutism so I kept responding, so I agree, the debate has gone on longer than necessary. I still stand by my reasoning. 😂 Though, I never said you can't prefer HWS to DCA, but that theming-wise, it is illogical regardless of whether you enjoy it more to say HWS is a prettier park than DCA given the sheer quantity of show buildings that can be seen while criticizing them and other areas at DCA. I laid-out said argument using evidence and not feelings. I actually enjoy Toy Story Land for what it is. I wish it was more exploratory-based than just a single path (that makes the land feel smaller in scope than it actually is), but I like the land. Though, while the new restaurant definitely serves a much-needed purpose, at over $45 a head and with cheap-looking theming (especially for the exterior) I can't say I'm that excited about it compared to a delicious $20 meal at DCA's Lamplight Lounge, but the food looks good! If someone's offended I mean no ill, and if the mods want to delete our lively discussion, feel free! I'm not stopping anyone. ;)

yensidtlaw1969Mar 26, 2023

Bruh, enough. Not only are you off-topic, but your dissertations aren’t convincing anybody. Preferring DHS over DCA is a valid opinion. If you don’t mind, some of us would like to discuss the latest addition to Toy Story Land, which this thread is actually about.

Henry MysticMar 26, 2023

Swap around a few of these (it's not an exact science), but I'm trying to describe my thought-process. Even if you move around some I don't think HWS could top DCA in terms of aesthetics/good theming. Awful Areas areas that have no place in a modern theme park... DCA [*]The eastern end of Hollywoodland disaster [*]The northern end of Pixar Pier (or Paradise Park, whatever it is officially) that stretches from Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind to just before Mermaid [SIZE=2](most obnoxiously around Goofy's Sky School) [/LIST] HWS [*]The hub disaster [*]Animation Courtyard disaster [*]Mickey Avenue disaster [*]Pixar Place [*]Commissary Lane the way it ruins the sightline of the Chinese Theater once you get in the hub is criminal [*]Lightning Mcqueen's Racing Academy area was built well after the studios purpose died [*]Backlot Express [*]Star Tours exposed show building the AT-AT is cool, but putting it in front of a box is not, and it's randomly placed [/LIST] Okay Areas DCA [*]Avengers Campus it should have been more but what we have isn't awful, it's just okay [*]West side of Hollywoodland [/LIST] HWS [*]Toy Story Land I don't hate it like some people but it's definitely weaker than Avengers Campus and awful versus Pixar Pier. [*]Echo Lake around Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular [/LIST] Good Areas DCA [*]Paradise Park (area around Mermaid, the area to the left of it is really bad). [*]Walkway from the end of Buena Vista Street to Paradise Park [SIZE=2](that passes by Avengers Campus and Cars Land) [*]Pixar Pier's southern end from its entrance to just past Toy Story Midway Mania though the Pixar Pal-A-Round area isn't bad; it's not as good). Personally I'd consider the southern area great, but for the sake of trying to be more objective I put it under good. [/LIST] HWS [*]Grand Avenue [*]Echo Lake not including from Indy to Star Tours which is way weaker, though I think Echo Lake as a whole is overrated, and I would take Pixar Pier infinitely over it. [/LIST] Great Areas DCA [*]Cars Land [*]Grizzly Peak [*]Buena Vista Street [*]Pacific Wharf [/LIST] HWS [*]Galaxy's Edge Cars Land is slightly smaller, though not by much, but I think its leagues better designed than SWGE. Remember, this list is only factoring in aesthetics, not rides. [*]Hollywood Boulevard [*]Sunset Boulevard [/LIST] You see, my problem with HWS is that it feels like it's half the park that is not visually pleasing (because it is) that looks cheap and many of the those weak areas are centrally located. DCA and HWS are also about the same size in terms of guest facing acreage, so it isn't due to size either. DCA, whether you want to believe it or not, has more pretty places in the park and the 2 areas that are really bad are at the ends of the park, tucked away from the main walkways. My point is, with all of this, isn't that DCA is perfect, but WDW fans have some weird obsession with claiming supremacy when one of their parks is plagued with ugly areas versus other Disney parks. You see it all the time with Universal as well. Just aesthetically DCA wins, but HWS is pretty much equal when it comes to its ride line-up (besides the massive queues they get), so it's not that the park is awful, but that visually it has a ways to improve. Someone could like Six Flags more than Tokyo DisneySea. That's their opinion and they can enjoy whatever they want I have zero problem with that and would not judge, but aesthetically, if they think Six Flags looks better, I'm sorry, opinions can be bad, and I would judge them for that. If someone thinks Magic Kingdom has a better ride line-up than Disneyland Park that's just an insanely awful opinion as well, but I'm sure you could find someone that thinks that (even though DL has double the rides with many that are better than its counterpart). The gap isn't as huge between DCA and HWS, so I am not saying people that think HWS are crazy, but it is there in terms of aesthetics, and as soon as you try to call out that HWS is literally littered with guest-visible cheap (yes, objectively cheap to produce, that's why it was replicated to WDS and DCA which were cheap disasters of parks on opening day) show buildings destroying immersion throughout the park, man, all logic is thrown out the window on this forum. And no, just because it is supposed to be themed to something does not mean that theme is good. Like I've said before, Chester & Hester's road-side carnival tourist trap is a bad theme and it's irrelevant how well it nails the idea of it. The same applies to HWS' garbage areas, as they were cheap when the park was built as MGM Studios, but today, they completely lack the context it used to have to justify it in today's HWS, which it did because it was like visiting a working film studio. The only park that can get away with that today is Universal Studios Hollywood, but it somehow manages to have less of that exposed show building bleeding into the non-studio areas of the park than HWS, so why does HWS get a pass? 100% of it should be rethemed at HWS if you have a problem with the one area at DCA that has that the same cheap theme: Hollywoodland. Again, this ranking is nowhere near an exact science, so don't take this as me saying it's a fact and deflect the conversation at hand, but take this as just as more of an idea of the sheer quantity of ugly areas at HWS that as the sum of its faults makes me laugh when people say DCA is uglier than HWS. It's just detached from reality. I think if you put these Awful Areas category in a vacuum, the quantity of ugly/cheaply themed areas at HWS outnumbers DCA by significant margin. Would you have Commissary Lane up high? I just don't get your thought process so long as you're not applying the same metrics to one park as the other. If you are then you're biased in favor of HWS over DCA, thus my nostalgia blinding people comment. [*]Map of [URL='https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/toy-story-land-expansion-announced-for-disneys-hollywood-studios.903114/post-10559574']very bad areas[/URL] that have no place in a modern theme park. [*]Hollywood Studios' [URL='https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/toy-story-land-expansion-announced-for-disneys-hollywood-studios.903114/post-10560854']ugly areas.[/URL] [*]A [URL='https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/toy-story-land-expansion-announced-for-disneys-hollywood-studios.903114/post-10560887']photo comparison[/URL] of what are some of the ugliest areas in Disney theme parks including DCA's Hollywoodland. [*]More [URL='https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/toy-story-land-expansion-announced-for-disneys-hollywood-studios.903114/post-10560912']photos.[/URL] [/LIST]

eggMar 25, 2023

I’d say they’re exactly the same.

J4546Mar 25, 2023

I dont get the hate for the Pixar pier other than theming. I agree that I liked it better as paradise pier and with no incredibles theming on the coaster, but the area itself I think is pretty great. Theres 10 rides and a great (imo) nighttime show. I love the victorian era midway ambience and games, multiple good places to eat both sit down and quick serve as well as multiple shops. Some nice views walking around the water as well, seeing the coaster launch and whatnot Incredicoaster Ferris Wheel TSMM Little Mermaid Goofy Sky School Emotional Whirlwind Merry go Round Zeppelins Jellyfish Swings