It’s a warm July morning at Hollywood Studios. Let’s see what’s going on inside and outside the park!

Merchandise

Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found in The Dark Room today, right there on the corner as you enter the park. I love this Baymax phone case! We saw it first at Disneyland, and I’m glad it’s made it to the East coast.

New today was this Lion King folding phone case. You can see even more pictures of it here.

Today was also the release day for this limited run Little Mermaid magic band. Very cute!

Around the Park

I feel like I’ve been talking about this stupid sign for the better part of a year. It’s the “Fantasmic!” billboard. It’s supposed to light up and advertise the show. It hasn’t been working reliably for months. For a while now it had been covered up with a vinyl tarp displaying the Fantasmic! signage. They finally took the tarp off, but alas, the sign is still dark.

One of the weird things about mornings in this park is how unevenly the crowd is dispersed. Obviously, places like Toy Story Land will be swamped. This is the queue for Rock N’ Rollercoaster about a half hour after opening.

…and here is the courtyard for the Lightning McQueen Racing Academy, literally 10 feet away. It takes several hours for the park’s crowds to spread out.

Here’s a fun bit of news: they turned the water hose effect on the Dockside Diner on! It’s been off since…well, none of us could remember when the last time we saw it on. It’s nice to see these little details return.

The water hose effect on the Dockside Diner at Hollywood Studios is turned on. We can’t remember the last time we saw this working. pic.twitter.com/xbw69fEQTN

— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) July 8, 2019

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In case you weren’t aware, the “March of the First Order” is no more. The screens in the center of the park now only shows times for the stage show.

Honestly, I’m not going to miss the march. It always seemed to get in the way of an already congested street.

No visible progress over across from Star Tours. I’m hoping these walls come down soon because I’m really curious what it is.

The future home of the re-imagined Oasis Canteen (now just a bar) should start showing some vertical progress here soon. We’ll keep an eye on it.

The walls over by the former Great Movie Ride are still up (and probably will be for a while). They’re impacting the handicap ramp to the “lower lot”, a.k.a. the path to Toy Story Land.

There’s lots of signage to let guests know about the change.

Signs don’t always work though, so they have cast members stationed here as well to direct guests through to the right.

Once you’re down that direction, check out the Super Shindig if you haven’t. It’s a fun dance party.

When it started earlier this year, it was continuous. Now they have pre-determined showtimes.

Good news! They fixed this penny press. Muppet fans can rejoice.

Outside the Park

The last bit of concrete work at the redesigned park entrance is under way.

They rearranged some of these construction fences to allow for the work.

They’re making great progress on the last chunk of the security check building!

Sadly it looks like the Sorcerer Mickey planter didn’t survive, at least in its original form. Hopefully he makes a come back.

That’s all for today. We’ll keep you updated as these projects get closer to their conclusion!