Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Sydney Summer: Hollywood Boulevard

Part 2: Theme Park Overviews
Part 3: The Resort Outside the Parks
Part 4: Main Street and Fantasyland
Part 5: Adventureland
Part 6: Discoveryland
Part 7: New York Harbor


Today, we look at the second park of the resort: Disney's Hollywood Adventure (aka what Hollywood Studios will probably become in the coming years.) Our walk through begins as we walk through the tunnel from the main Disney District area. This will cover the small entry land of the park. 



We emerge from the large tunnel pathway into a different time and place, right in the middle of the golden age of Hollywood. The streamline modern  buildings flanking the tunnel hold the guest relations spaces. The very sleek and minimal entry turnstile ahead reveal a direct view through the park and into the first land, Hollywood Boulevard.




Just inside is the Crossroads of the World, just like in DHS. Because of the dimensions of the available land, there is not really an entry street like nearly all other parks. It is minimized and flattened into a facade on either side of a 40' wide street. This street is only about 60' long and then opens up to Hollywood Gardens, the Hub of the park. These two buildings hold all the entry retail and food of the park, so they utilize both floors for public space. The north building holds retail, a counter service location on the ground floor, and a table service location on the top floor. The south building holds retail and a bar on the top floor as well as a theater based attraction.

The architecture here is an idealized take on golden age Hollywood so is a mix of sleek mid century modern, Spanish Mission revival, and beautiful Art Deco. Like Main Street in the other park, it is meant to be highly detailed and lived in, though here the facades reflect that the public space extends to the second floor. Windows show guest movement on both floors to explain the scale of the public space.



The ground floor counter service location, Hollywood and Vine, is themed as an modern lunch counter where the guests may be able to mingle with the stars of cinema. It is an extremely large location and serves a selection of American classics. The upstairs Brown Derby is an upscale luxury dining room for the elite of Hollywood. It is also oversized because it is one of only two sit down locations in the park. It also has the best views of the night time show, so would be popular for dinner and extra price events. Each have a separate kitchen because of their scale. The Overlook Bar on the other building is a secret hangout of the Hollywood insiders, so also has a great view of Hollywood Gardens and the show.

The tree lined street of Hollywood Gardens is beyond these facades. Planters are on either side of the road but tall Hollywood palm trees are only on the outer ring to not block views. In the gardens are statues of Disney and Hollywood icons. The center of the garden is a pool in front of the Chinese Theater with a central raised stage. Stairs and ramps on the sides lead up to the stage, which is accessible to guests during the day. Recessed lighting towers are on either side, hidden below ornamental statues.Inside the Chinese Theater is Cinemagic, based on the version in Paris. However, the film is made of multiple sections that can be changed so that several versions of the show can be shown each day. Repeatability is a big goal of every attraction in this park, so this strategy is going to be used multiple times.

The other attraction of the land, in the south building, is a live production stage where guests can participate in an interactive recording of a Hollywood production. It features a few segments, including the Foley recording of radio drama, a light comedy TV show scene, and a high action Hollywood finale. Again, scenes are partially randomized through the day so guests can participate in a variety of situations.

The street through the Garden connects all of the lands. Disney Animation Studios is to the north and Marvel City and Star Wars Spaceport are to the south. Each of these three lands will get another post.

The entertainment of the land is obviously Streetmosphere characters like DHS. Likely the most successful attempt at integrating entertainment into placemaking, this is an obvious choice for the park. The land also holds the night time show based on the stage in front of the Chinese Theater. To the south of the Theater is storage and dressing rooms for the show.




3 comments :

  1. I love the ideas already and oh I think I prefer option 2

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  2. Perhaps Option 2 would be the best option.

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  3. I agree with the previous responses. Option 2

    By the way, I like how condensed spaces are able to go vertical in these designs I think the Disney Retail Section, Discoveryland, and Hollywood BLVD will have a unique dynamic because of this. There's a nightlife section in my city surrounding the convention center that behaves like this with 2 stories of bars, restaurants, and retail. I think it will work in this park very well.

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