Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios overview

As the name implies, Disney's Hollywood Studios is a tribute to the glitz, glamour, and history of Hollywood, and the film and television industries. Hollywood Studios features a variety of thrill rides and live entertainment that will entertain both kids and adults.

The good news is that Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios is the smallest of the parks at Disney World. The bad news is that its layout means it is not as intuitive and Street signs will help you navigate Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park easy to navigate as the other theme parks. Rather than utilizing the spoke and hub design of parks such as Magic Kingdom and Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios uses a series of "Boulevards" to connect the different areas of the park.

While the abundance of street signs will certainly prevent you from getting lost in the park, you'll want to make sure you have a map handy to help you get around the park in the most efficient manner.

Below are the main areas of Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

Disney Hollywood Studios main areas

Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Boulevard at Disney's Hollywood Studios is the equivalent of Main Street at Disney's Magic Kingdom. Stores and shops line the street located at the entrance to the park, and you'll occasionally find actors performing short skits to entertain the crowd. The Hollywood Studios parade runs along this route which is also home to The Great Movie Ride.

Echo Lake

Although Echo Lake lacks a particular theme, it IS home to a couple of Hollywood Studios prime attractions: Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Star Tours. Indiana Jones is an exciting stunt show re-enacting scenes from the movie series. Star Tours is a Star Wars motion simulator that lets you enter the Star Wars universe by re-enacting scene from George Lucas' epic franchise.

Streets of America

Streets of America provides examples of various Hollywood sets. Backdrop paintings and street scenes are used to re-create places like New York City and San Francisco. Streets of America is also home to Hollywood Studios attractions such as the Muppet Vision 3-D movie, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, and the highly entertaining Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.

Mickey Avenue

Mickey Avenue lacks the style of some of the other streets at Disney's Hollywood Studios, but it does offer a few attractions such as the Studio Backlot tour which provides insight into how action scenes from blockbuster films are created, and Toy Story Mania, a 3-D shootout similar to the Buzz Lightyear attraction at Magic Kingdom.

Animation Courtyard

Sandwiched between Mickey Avenue and Echo Lake is Disney's Animation Courtyard. Animation Courtyard at Disney's Hollywood Studios is home to attractions such at Voyage of the Little Mermaid, a live show in a unique indoor theater, and The Magic of Disney Animation which explains the animation process and lets visitors take a short drawing lesson to learn to draw one of their favorite Disney characters.

Sunset Boulevard

To the right of Hollywood Boulevard at Disney's Hollywood Studios, you'll find one of the most exciting areas of the park- Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Boulevard is home to the two most exciting thrill-rides at Hollywood Studios, and perhaps all of Walt Disney World. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is an exciting ride featuring the ageless rock band Aerosmith. Don't miss the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, a haunting ride featuring random sudden drops. You'll also find the Beauty and the Beast stage show, and have a great view of the Fantasmic fireworks show when you visit Sunset Boulevard.