Disney World Is Giving Hollywood Studios A Major Revamp, Which May Include A Name Change

Disney World parks in Orlando, Florida, are all growing rapidly, except for Hollywood Studios. It seems that park has stagnated, both in ticket sales and in new attractions, according to Motley Fool. The movie-based theme park has dropped to number four, or last place, among the Florida Disney parks, being recently surpassed by Animal Kingdom.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ competition has been growing steadily. Now, Universal Studios Orlando is rapidly approaching the day it will outgrow the iconic park. While the number of visitors to Universal has grown by 49.4 percent since 2009, the Hollywood park has only grown by 6.3 percent. Motley Fool believes this trend could be impacting Disney Stocks.

Universal Studios Orlando added a Harry Potter-themed attraction not long ago that has been drawing a lot of visitors. Meanwhile, Disney has not significantly improved their studio attractions in years. Now, the iconic theme park company has resolved to compete with Universal in Orlando rather than be overtaken by them.

Many Hollywood Studios attractions are already closed as of Saturday, April 2, to prepare for demolition, including the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure. The Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is also closed. The entire Streets of America section, including the mouse-eared water tower, will soon be history.

Disney World has decided to invest in their movie-themed park by adding Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land to replace older, dated attractions like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure. The new exhibits will be more trendy and more high tech. There will be more rides, more shows, and a lot of new shops and restaurants. Children will be more familiar with Star Wars and Toy Story than with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, which was first released in 1989.

A Disney’s Hollywood Studios one day ticket currently costs $114, so Disney World decided in order to give visitors their money’s worth, some changes needed to be made. The bad news is that it may take as long as two years for the new section to be completed. During that time, visitors will notice that a large portion of the park is closed to them, and that may be a problem for some. In two years, though, when the project is finished, it should improve ticket sales and be more enjoyable for visitors than the older attractions were.

Disney World is also considering a name change for the movie park, which has become less of a movie studio and more of an adventure park. While the new name is far from official, Behind the Thrills reports a couple of rumored possibilities. For years, there was speculation that Hollywood Studios would become Disney’s Hollywood Adventure. In a recent interview, Jim Hill, from Jim Hill Media, revealed a potential new name that no one had heard was being considered.

Disney’s Cinemagic Kingdom is allegedly under consideration as the new name. Other than the potential for confusion with Magic Kingdom, which is the major attraction in Orlando, Florida, the name is under heavy consideration, according to Hill. Where did the name come from? Currently, Disney Cinemagic is a pay movie channel in Europe.

Disney World wants their movie attraction to remain viable throughout the coming years. It may mean a bit of a temporary sacrifice for visitors over the coming year or two. Hollywood Studios’ improvements are just a small example of what Disney is doing with their theme parks worldwide.

Disney World is revamping Hollywood Studios, including the name.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]