Disney News on Parade: Studios Update

The holidays were underway this week at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and the big pieces of holiday entertainment, Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! along with Sunset Seasons Greetings were not even happening yet. Let’s take a look:

This week they have been busy filming for a slate of upcoming Disney holiday specials. Below we have the group Pentatonix performing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” on Hollywood Boulevard.

The newly remodeled Mickey’s of Hollywood is decked out for the holidays.

But honestly, the newly remodeled look lends itself for this time of year.

This placement of the Christmas tree is the middle of Echo Lake is so much better than the decades long placement in the front of the park. Do you remember when it was placed in front of the Chinese Theater?

Gertie does a great job getting into the holidays. Such a nice touch.

I miss the holiday treats at Beverly Sunset, but I do love a peppermint chocolate cake pop from Trolley Car Cafe.

The Sunset Seasons Greetings is not yet completely set up on Sunset Boulevard. Still it looks festive.

Also festive is the Hollywood & Vine, Minnie’s Seasonal Dine. It’s just still the wrong season, as it has its Halloween decor still up along with Disney characters dressed up for trick or treat.

The old Path of the Jedi theater (which I thought was a good movie) is being remodeled into the new Mickey Shorts theater. I would be thrilled just to have something here. And something that ran the length of the day, rather than a few hours or times of the season.

This restroom addition to Grand Avenue seems to take quite a while for a restroom remodel/addition. Still not open. I thought it would be open when Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge premiered.

Moving down Grand Avenue we see some simple but festive lights down the street. It’s welcoming, but it’s not the Osborne Family lights.

Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge does not offer a holiday layover, but it in no way needs it. It’s unbelievably beautiful at night as is.

I would welcome a larger menu here at Ronto Roasters, but I love to sit out on the patio in the evening and take in the whole ambience.

This modest tree en route to Toy Story Land is decked out with lanterns. It’s here year long, and I love the look. It even has a sense of the holidays attached to it.

Toy Story Land also seems like its decked out for the holidays year around. The oversized Christmas lights make the land look continually festive.

But there are other holiday touches this time of year. These remind me of the Alien Mochi treats found in Tomorrowland at Tokyo Disneyland. I know. It’s a random thought.

Love me a holiday Hamm cookie!

Check out the antlers on Rex!

Even Woody has wrangled up some holiday ornaments.

Walt Disney Presents offers an extended look at Frozen 2 prior to its preview. The lengthy scene pretty much sets up the movie.

Inside there are always a revolving showcase of maquettes, props and costumes. Obviously, that would include a presentation from Frozen 2.

Less clear is this display for Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s interesting, but kind of random.

Exiting the theater we end with the infamous studio arch, which is undergoing a facelift. Going back in time it looked like this originally:

Then when it moved away from MGM, it looked like this:

The new look is currently this:

I like the fact that the emphasis is on Hollywood not Studios. But it’s supposed to have characters and look like this:

It’s a clean look without the characters. But a theme park named after Hollywood isn’t supposed to have a “clean look”. It’s supposed to have a “snazzy” look. We’ll have to see where it goes from here.

That does it for today. Did you know that there are only two books written about Disney’s Hollywood Studios? One was a little Imagineering booklet. The other is Disney’s Hollywood Studios: From Show Biz to Your Biz. It showcases many of the highlights of the Studio, both current and old. Take a look to know more.