World of Dreams Photo of the Week Celebrates Hollywood Studios' 24th Birthday

This week sees another special Photo of the Week, as we celebrate 24 years of the magnificent Disney's Hollywood Studios Theme Park. Ever since its openingon May 1st 1989, the Studios has proved to be an abundantly popular park, and is arguably the most dynamic Disney Park in existence. This is further shown by the countless intriguing rumours which surround it, ranging from a Star Wars Land to a Monsters Inc RollerCoaster, and covering just about every other possibility in between! This park is also a great example of just how long 24 years can be! Since its opening, DHS has grown extraordinarily, adding popular attractions including the Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania alongside many others. It has also seen entire new lands, most notably Sunset Boulevard, of which the Tower of Terror looms over.

As I'm sure you know, I'm a big fan of the Studios! Whilst I've never had the fortune to have travelled to Hollywood itself, the park is so impeccably themed that it feels to me like I AM in Hollywood- if that makes sense! The Imagineers say that with the park they hope to achieve a sense of familiarisation in the minds of guests, regardless of whether they've actually visited Hollywood themselves, and I feel that they've definitely achieved this, and in spectacular fashion too! The atmosphere is impossible to put into words, as is the feeling of stepping onto the movies that you simply don't get with similarly themed parks from different companies. To hear more of my opinions on this wonderful park, check out my segment on Show 29 of the We're Going To Walt Disney World Podcast

My photo of the Studios shows a close up shot of the park's stunning icon- the Sorcerer's Hat. Built in 2001 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, the hat is a replica of the one worn by Mickey Mouse in Fantasia, except the park version is 122 feet tall! Although it hasn't been too popular in the Disney Community, I do think the hat's a great concept, just maybe lacking a little in execution. Besides this, however, I have no real problems with it at all- I actually quite like it. It's a great thing to photograph, especially since you can walk all round it, and I really enjoyed experimenting with different angles on my last trip. Unfortunately it was quite overcast and cloudy when I took this image, so I have fiddled with the contrast and saturation in order to improve its appearance.

Thanks for reading, and have a magical day!

Happy Birthday, Disney's Hollywood Studios!