Our latest photo report brings us to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see the latest happenings at the park.
Construction
Walking over to Hollywood Studios from the Boardwalk, we see 5 cranes dominating the skyline.
Parking lot enhancements and preparations for the Disney Skyliner continue outside of the park.
Guests walk through a maze of work fences to get to the park.
The Skyliner station for the park is under construction, with land near the bus loop currently being prepared.
And We Are Rolling…
Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away has returned with the new mobile, rollaway staging.
The stage actually looks a little nicer than the one they had used before, even though that one didn’t get removed nightly.
Following the last show of the day, the process of packing up the stages begins.
The stage features two “green rooms” where the characters can emerge from during the show, hiding until it is their turn on stage.
Below, we have video of the stages rolling away at 7PM. Disney has made a little show of it, which reminds me of the Backlot Studio Tour quite a bit. An announcer says it is time for a scene change, followed by Gus the crew chief making the order for the stages to roll…
It is nice to see this process turned into a small show that fits the (current? past?) theme of the park. We’ll see if this sticks around once Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge open.
This and That
Work continues on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. There is now this set of expanded construction walls near the old Great Movie Ride exit.
There are now more work walls up by Grand Avenue, now crossing the path towards Red Carpet Dreams.
The path from Star Tours to MuppetVision 3-D no longer exists, guests now having to walk down Grand Avenue to get there.
A planter and a wall will fill in this former path.
Work continues on Echo Lake.
Scaffolding has come down on Min and Bill’s, marking that the painting is finished.
Gertie looks shiny.
The Holiday 2017 Droid Factory figure has been released.
Star Wars fans heading to Hollywood Studios for Star Wars: Galactic Nights on Dec. 16 will find some stellar new and returning food offerings intended to appeal to both foodies and Star Wars fans alike. The chefs at Hollywood Studios have crafted gourmet treats inspired by characters, locations and scenes from the beloved franchise.
There are three new dishes debuting at the event. The Shrimp and Chorizo Skewer, generously loaded with Chorizo sausage, potato hash and shrimp, is intended as a tribute to the hearty appetite of the Wookiees (and the apparent prevalence of shellfish on Kashyyyk).
Also new this year, Tatooine Bisque is a blend of rutabaga, turnips, carrots, and parsnips inspired by the sandstorms and moisture farms of Tatooine.
And if you found the garbage chute scene in Episode IV: A New Hope appetizing, you’ll want to check out the Sweet and Crunchy Popcorn, loaded with cookies, caramel, chocolate and pecans.
Returning favorites include the popular Lightsaber Churros. Blue and red sugar coat the Light Side and Dark Side options, both offered with a Lightsaber Hilt.
Or try both in the Lightsaber Churro Sundae, with pieces of both red and blue churro served on a base of vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce.
Quench your galactic thirst with the classic Jettison Juice (non-alcoholic watermelon lemonade) served with a Death Star Glow Cube. Adults can try the Skywalker Wine Flight, featuring four wine selections – Sommità, Chardonnay, Pinor Noir Rosé, and Sommità Pinot Noir – from Skywalker Vineyards in Marin County, California.
A full list of all of the food and beverage items to be offered at the event is available on the Star Wars: Galactic Nights website. And if you just can’t decide which galactic goodies you want to try, you can choose the Galactic Tasting Sampler for $30. Select five items from up to 25 food and beverage options (including alcohol). You can also use the sampler for any Disney Dining Plan Snack-eligible items through Hollywood Studios.
We of course reviewed Fairfax Fare on Sunset Boulevard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios when the menu went tex-mex almost one year ago. Well, now a new option has joined the menu, a 7(Yeah, 7)-Layer Rice Bowl.
The rice bowl replaces the Loaded Baked Potato, which has been a staple here for the last few years.
The Coco Dulce de Leche Cupcake is also here, but is available at several locations throughout the park.
7-Layer Rice Bowl – ($11.29)
The rice bowl comes in three varieties: pulled pork, grilled chicken, or vegan chili. We went with the pork and the vegan chili versions.
Without diving into them, it is really hard to tell which one is which thanks to the plethora of other ingredients in the dish. That being said, there is plenty of the main course underneath all of that in both versions. Above is the vegan chili, below is the pulled pork, neither in an actual bowl.
The menu describes the items as “Pulled Pork served over Cilantro Rice, Black Beans, Roasted Corn Medley, Pico de Gallo and Sour Cream topped with Cheddar served with warm Tortillas” and “Vegan Chili served over Cilantro Rice, Black Beans, Roasted Corn Medley, Pico de Gallo and Sour Cream topped with Cheddar served with warm Tortillas”. You can also add “guacamole” for $1.00…
Here is the “Wholly Guacamole” you get for your dollar. It is not very good.
Overall, the rice bowls are pretty good and you likely get a lot more of everything than you would with the fajita dish from here, so the question really is do you want to eat with your hands or a fork. Personally, I think you can do a lot worse with counter service at Hollywood Studios, so Fairfax is still number 1-2 on my list. These aren’t terrible, but they aren’t life changing either, but in terms of size, they are a pretty decent value comparably with other quick serve items at the Studios.
Coco Dulce de Leche Cupcake ($5.99)
The Coco cupcake is one of the better ones in recent memory, featuring a vanilla cake, colorful icing, and a center filled with sweet dulce de leche.
It’s deftly worth a try if it’s there on your next visit.
With the holiday season beginning November 9th at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, work has been completed on the new planter in Echo Lake which will be home to a brand new Christmas tree this year.
Guests will also encounter some signs pertaining to Jake as they roam around Tomorrowland. The test is occurring on most days, and Jake is being attended to by a undercover Imagineer who is watching over him.
This is good, because by the looks of the video below, Jake is going to need some protection…
The droid takes quite a beating during the short period where we watched him, getting kicked and pushed around by some children who he meets. Luckily, Jake was designed to handle such events, but one has to wonder just how much such a complicated piece of machinery can take. Well, this is why he is being tested years before his debut in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019.
Disney has stated that multiple droids and alien creatures will be roaming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge when it opens at both Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
New this week is the release of new ceramic tumblers at all Starbucks locations across Walt Disney World. Earlier this week we showed you the Magic Kingdom version, now we’re bringing you a closer look at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios version available for $21.99 at Trolley Car Café.
A closer look reveals the Hollywood Tower Hotel, Disney Animation, Fantasmic, Carthay Circle, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
In preparation for Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, almost the entirety of the old Soundstage 4 building has been demolished.
This building was home to portions of the Backlot Tour and Backstage Pass attractions when the park opened, in later years hosting the Narnia walkthrough exhibits, as well as the infamous Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow. It will now be the entrance to Toy Story Land, opening Summer 2018.
I’m still anxious to see how they will theme this area as an entrance to the Toy Story area.
A strange tall section of the soundstage is apparently staying, for what reason, we do not know. Again, we’ll have to wait and see exactly what this will be, but it still looks like a soundstage on one side.
Set to open in 2019, construction continues on Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, including the massive E-Ticket extravaganza currently only known as “Battle Escape“.
Construction of this massive ride has expanded quite a bit, now very visible from the exit of Muppet-Vision 3-D, near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.
It remains to be seen how this will be hidden from view once the project is complete, seeing as this area will not be an entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and we’re looking at the backstage part of the building from this angle.
