Land Changelog // updated 2026.05.22

Galaxys Edge

Hollywood Studios · Walt Disney World

55 changes logged10 spots trackedsince 1990

Everything that changed here

across the land, newest first
Show routine effect churn (1) →
20211 change
  • Quality of LifeSep 23, 2021at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

    Opened a traditional standby queue for the first time, ending launch-era virtual-queue-only (boarding group) access; standby has remained the default, with the virtual queue returning only occasionally.

    virtual-queue-only (boarding groups)→standby queue
20198 changes
  • NewDec 5, 2019at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

    Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, a multi-system trackless dark ride with a walk-through queue, pre-shows, a transport-shuttle scene and trackless ride vehicles.

  • Area UpdateAug 29, 2019at The Hunchback of Notre Dame – A Musical Adventure

    Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened on the ground where the theater had stood.

  • NewAug 29, 2019at Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

    Opened with Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios; a six-guest interactive flight simulator (pilot, gunner, engineer roles) running a smuggling run for Hondo Ohnaka and R5-P8, set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

  • Area UpdateAug 29, 2019at Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show and Funhouse

    Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened on the portion of the cleared backlot that had included New York Street, where the Goosebumps venue stood.

    Wikipedia's attraction list states the New York Street venue was demolished for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge; Toy Story Land took another portion of the same cleared land, and the surviving Streets of America frontage was rethemed as Grand Avenue.
  • Area UpdateAug 29, 2019at Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure

    Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios on the former Streets of America land that had held the playground.

  • Area UpdateAug 29, 2019at Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

    Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened on the former Streets of America acreage that had held the stunt show arena, debuting with Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

    Site-level successor only: the arena was razed and an entire land was built over the footprint, so no single attraction inherited the building.
  • Area UpdateAug 29, 2019at The Spirit of Pocahontas

    Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened on the former Streets of America backlot ground, where the Premiere Theater - the show's former Backlot Theater home - had been demolished.

  • Area Update2019at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opened on the former Streets of America site, the New York Street land that had been demolished after the Turtles performed there.

    Year-only: the cited sources give 2019 without a day for the Galaxy's Edge opening.
20169 changes
  • Area UpdateApr 2, 2016at Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show and Funhouse

    Streets of America, the backlot area that had contained the New York Street venue, closed on April 2, 2016 and was demolished to clear land for Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

    The Streets of America page gives the April 2, 2016 closure and names both replacement lands.
  • RefurbishmentApr 2, 2016at Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

    The stunt show played its final performance and closed permanently after nearly eleven years, and the arena was demolished along with the majority of Streets of America.

    The April 2016 closure and demolition are corroborated by two sources; the final day is recorded as April 2 while Disney's January announcement had named April 3.
  • Area UpdateApr 2, 2016at Mulch, Sweat & Shears

    The Streets of America, the band's day-to-day performance turf for its entire run, closed permanently and was demolished for the park's Star Wars and Toy Story expansions.

    Wikipedia records the April 2, 2016 closure and credits both Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (opened 2019) and Toy Story Land (opened June 30, 2018) with the footprint; a single surviving New York block of facades was rebranded Muppets Courtyard as a placeholder until Grand Avenue was completed in September 2017. This record is filed to galaxys_edge because Galaxy's Edge took the bulk of the Streets of America ground the act played on; the one New York block that survived is today's Grand Avenue.
  • Area UpdateApr 2, 2016at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    The Streets of America area that had contained the Turtles' New York Street stage closed permanently, with only one side of one New York Street block surviving into the area later named Grand Avenue.

    Yesterland: 'Streets of America (including Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show) closed permanently on April 2, 2016, to make room for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.' Wikipedia adds that the surviving block served as Muppets Courtyard until Grand Avenue was completed in September 2017.
  • UpdateJan 15, 2016at Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure

    Disney announced that the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure would close permanently on April 2, 2016, alongside the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show and other locations around the Streets of America.

  • UpdateJan 15, 2016at Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

    Disney announced that the Hollywood Studios stunt show would retire on April 3 to clear land for the park's coming Toy Story and Star Wars lands.

    Single-source beat. The announced retirement date was April 3, but the final performance is recorded as April 2. The Star Wars land was not named Galaxy's Edge until 2017.
  • Refurbishment2016at Premiere Theater

    The Premiere Theater was demolished in 2016 as the Streets of America, which closed permanently on April 2, 2016, was cleared for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

    Held at year precision on purpose. WDWMagic reported the theater walled off in January 2016 with demolition underway by March 25, 2016, but that report returns HTTP 403 to our fetcher and could not be opened to confirm, so no month is asserted. The April 2, 2016 permanent closure of the Streets of America and its clearing for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge are corroborated by Yesterland and Wikipedia.
20154 changes
  • RefurbishmentOct 10, 2015at Mulch, Sweat & Shears

    Mulch, Sweat & Shears played its final performance, a nearly hour-long 4:30 p.m. set at Center Stage in front of the Chinese Theater, two days after the act's eleventh anniversary and ending an 11-year residency.

    Inside the Magic covered the farewell in an October 12, 2015 article, placing the last show at 4:30 p.m. on center stage in front of the Chinese Theater, running 'for nearly a full hour', and calling it an '11-year residency'. Attractions Magazine had reported the October 10 end date and the October 8 anniversary; Daily Pixie Dust gives the same closing date. The act's day-to-day home was the Streets of America; the farewell was staged at the park's Center Stage.
  • UpdateSep 11, 2015at Mulch, Sweat & Shears

    Attractions Magazine and TouringPlans reported the same day that Disney was ending the band's run, with the final performance set for October 10, 2015.

    Disney gave no public rationale; Attractions Magazine wrote that it had reached out to Disney for comment and had not heard back. DisneyLists followed on September 12, 2015 and speculated - explicitly as its own assumption, not a Disney statement - that the closure was tied to construction starting on the Star Wars and Toy Story expansions in early 2016.
  • UpdateAug 15, 2015at Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure

    Disney announced a Star Wars-themed land for Disney's Hollywood Studios at the D23 Expo; the land was ultimately built over most of the Streets of America area where the playground stood.

  • ChangedJun 17, 2015at Premiere Theater

    The Frozen Sing-Along left the Premiere Theater for the Hyperion Theater in Echo Lake, and no resident show followed it into the venue.

    Premiere Theater→Hyperion Theater (Echo Lake)
    Wikipedia's attractions list gives the Premiere Theater run as July 5, 2014 - June 16, 2015; the show's own Wikipedia article dates the move to the Hyperion Theater to June 17, 2015, and D23 gives June 2015. The Frozen Sing-Along is still running at the Hyperion Theater and is not itself defunct - only this venue is.
20141 change
  • ChangedJul 5, 2014at Premiere Theater

    For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration opened in the Premiere Theater as part of the Frozen Summer Fun LIVE! event.

20112 changes
  • Changed2011at Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

    Lightning McQueen from Cars replaced Herbie in the show's intermission segment.

    Herbie→Lightning McQueen
    The source dates the character swap to 2011 without a month.
  • Changed2011at Mulch, Sweat & Shears

    The band also headlined the Rockin' Fourth of July Celebration, an Independence Day fireworks show set up much like the New Year's Eve one.

    Single-source for the billing and internally inconsistent: Wikipedia's attractions list dates the Rockin' Fourth of July Celebration 2011-2017 while crediting Mulch, Sweat and Shears, though the band left the park in 2015. This beat therefore claims only the 2011 start of the band's involvement; nothing after 2015 is corroborated. TouringPlans separately noted that on holidays the band 'could be found performing on the main stage.'
20082 changes
  • ChangedJan 2008at Premiere Theater

    The venue was in use as the Premiere Theater for seasonal special events, including Star Wars Weekends presentations, from January 2008 until July 2014.

    resident-show house→seasonal special-event venue
    Wikipedia's attractions list gives the special-events span as January 2008 - July 5, 2014. The rename from Backlot Theater is not pinned to 2008; the same list dates the Backlot Theater name to 1993-2002. No source we could open covers what, if anything, used the theater between September 2002 and January 2008, so no tenancy is asserted for those years. An earlier draft claimed the building was enclosed in 2008, which no openable source supports, so that claim was dropped.
  • Changed2008at Mulch, Sweat & Shears

    The band was cast as the star of Rock the Night Fireworks, the park's New Year's Eve display, with the pyrotechnics set to its live performance.

    Single-source. Wikipedia's attractions list dates Rock the Night Fireworks 2008-15 and states it 'starred the park's in-house band Mulch, Sweat and Shears, and the fireworks were set to the band's live music performance.' The source does not say when the band joined the show, so the date given is the show's launch year.
20051 change
  • NewMay 5, 2005at Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

    Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show opened at the Disney-MGM Studios as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth, an American version of the stunt show created for Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris, sponsored by Koch Industries through its Brawny brand.

20041 change
  • NewOct 8, 2004at Mulch, Sweat & Shears

    Mulch, Sweat & Shears debuted at the park, then still named the Disney-MGM Studios, as a rock-and-roll cover band cast as a crew of landscapers who drove out onto the Streets of America in a work truck and performed several times daily.

    Daily Pixie Dust gives the debut as October 8, 2004 and the venue as the Streets of America, performed 'several times daily'. Attractions Magazine and TouringPlans, reporting independently on September 11, 2015, both placed the act's eleventh anniversary at the park on October 8, 2015, which corroborates that day. Wikipedia's attractions list was re-checked for this pass and does NOT carry a 2004-15 run entry for the act, so it is not cited here. The park was renamed Disney's Hollywood Studios effective January 7, 2008, so the act debuted under the Disney-MGM Studios name. Away from Disney property the musicians performed as Los Lawn Boys.
20031 change
  • Area Update2003at Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

    Construction of the Disney-MGM Studios stunt show arena began in the summer of 2003 on the backlot's Residential Street, which was demolished, shortening the route of the Studio Backlot Tour.

    Residential Street backlot→stunt show arena
    Sources give 'summer of 2003' for the construction start, so only year-level precision is supported.
20024 changes
  • ChangedSep 28, 2002at Premiere Theater

    The Hunchback of Notre Dame - A Musical Adventure gave its final performance, leaving the theater without a resident show.

    resident show→no resident show
  • Area Update2002at The Hunchback of Notre Dame – A Musical Adventure

    After the show departed, the Backlot Theater was renovated and renamed the Premiere Theater, which held no resident production and was used for special events.

    Wikipedia lists the venue as "Formerly known as Backlot Theater (1993-2002)" and is the only source for its later special-event use, which it dates from January 2008; that start date rests on that single listing. Wikipedia's listing also puts the theater's last resident show as the Frozen Sing-Along, which relocated to the Hyperion Theater at Echo Lake in mid-2015.
  • Area Update2002at The Spirit of Pocahontas

    The Backlot Theater name was retired in 2002 and the venue was renovated into the Premiere Theater.

    Wikipedia lists the venue as "Formerly known as Backlot Theater (1993-2002)" and spells the new name both "Premiere Theater" and "Premier Theater"; the exact day of the renovation is not documented, so the date is held at year precision.
20011 change
19982 changes
  • RefurbishmentNov 1, 1998at Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show and Funhouse

    The show and funhouse closed permanently on November 1, 1998, after two Halloween seasons.

    All four sources give November 1, 1998. Sources describe a seasonal Halloween offering rather than a continuous run, so no total run length is asserted here.
  • Changed1998at Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show and Funhouse

    For its second Halloween season the funhouse was reworked from a traditional house of mirrors into a more difficult maze that added characters from the stage show.

    house of mirrors→harder maze with show characters
    Both sources describe the rework; themepark.plus dates it to the second Halloween season, and no source supports a finer date than the year.
19972 changes
  • NewOct 8, 1997at Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show and Funhouse

    Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show and Funhouse opened on New York Street in the Streets of America backlot area of Disney-MGM Studios.

    Wikipedia's park attraction list, Laughing Place's Extinct Attractions column and Walt Dated World all give October 8, 1997.
  • NewOct 8, 1997at Goosebumps HorrorLand Fright Show and Funhouse

    The offering combined a live stage show in which Amaz-O the Magician's act was sabotaged by Slappy the Dummy and other R.L. Stine villains with a walk-through funhouse and character meet-and-greets, sited in the area of the former Loony Bin shop.

    Walt Dated World places the attraction in the area of the former Loony Bin store and cites a maze plus character meet-and-greets; Laughing Place and themepark.plus supply the Amaz-O and Slappy stage-show detail.
19965 changes
  • NewJun 21, 1996at The Hunchback of Notre Dame – A Musical Adventure

    The Hunchback of Notre Dame - A Musical Adventure opened at the Backlot Theater at Disney-MGM Studios, a 30-minute live stage adaptation of the animated film that reached U.S. theaters the same day.

    D23's entry records the venue as the "Backstage Theater"; every other source calls it the Backlot Theater.
  • UpdateJun 21, 1996at The Hunchback of Notre Dame – A Musical Adventure

    The production took over the Backlot Theater stage that The Spirit of Pocahontas had vacated on February 24, 1996, staged with live actors, puppetry and a center runway that let the cast move out into the audience.

  • ChangedJun 21, 1996at Premiere Theater

    The Hunchback of Notre Dame - A Musical Adventure premiered at the Backlot Theater, filling the house that The Spirit of Pocahontas had vacated in February 1996.

  • ChangedJun 21, 1996at The Spirit of Pocahontas

    The Hunchback of Notre Dame - A Musical Adventure took over the same Backlot Theater stage, opening on June 21, 1996 and running until September 28, 2002.

  • RefurbishmentFeb 24, 1996at The Spirit of Pocahontas

    The Spirit of Pocahontas played its final performance at the Backlot Theater after a run of roughly eight months.

19955 changes
  • ChangedJun 23, 1995at Premiere Theater

    The Spirit of Pocahontas opened at the Backlot Theater, where it ran until February 24, 1996.

    Single source: Wikipedia's attractions list gives both the June 23, 1995 opening and the February 24, 1996 close. No second source was opened, so confidence is held at medium.
  • NewJun 23, 1995at The Spirit of Pocahontas

    The Spirit of Pocahontas opened as a live stage show at the Backlot Theater at the Disney-MGM Studios, the same day the animated film Pocahontas went into wide release.

  • Area UpdateJun 23, 1995at The Spirit of Pocahontas

    The production was staged in a Virginia forest setting with rocky outcroppings and a 28-foot-tall Grandmother Willow puppet, framed as a Powhatan ceremonial powwow narrated by a storyteller called Werowance.

    Staging details as described by Walt Dated World's archive page for the show, which also notes the stage version left out Governor Ratcliffe, Meeko, Percy and Flit.
  • RefurbishmentMay 31, 1995at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gave their final New York Street performances at Disney-MGM Studios and the show closed permanently.

    Wikipedia and LaughingPlace both end the run on May 31, 1995, matching the Sentinel's 'today and Wednesday' notice; D23's Ask the Archives instead lists the Turtles at the park from 1990 to 1996, which likely reflects lingering character appearances rather than the New York Street show.
  • UpdateMay 30, 1995at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    The Orlando Sentinel reported that the Turtles' contract at Disney-MGM Studios was up that week after five years as the heroes-in-a-half-shell craze cooled, with a live stage show based on Pocahontas set to replace them in the coming weeks.

    Published Tuesday, May 30, 1995; the article told readers that 'today and Wednesday are your last chances' to see them.
19931 change
  • New1993at Premiere Theater

    The Backlot Theater opened on New York Street at Disney-MGM Studios as a temporary house for Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage while the original Theater of the Stars was removed for the construction of Sunset Boulevard.

    Sources disagree on the month: Wikipedia's Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage article says the Theater of the Stars was moved in September 1993 and the show went to the New York Street venue then, while The Mickey Wiki gives May 28, 1993 - held at year precision. Wikipedia's attractions list dates the temporary theater 1993-1994 and the Backlot Theater name to 1993-2002.
19903 changes
  • NewDec 17, 1990at Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure

    Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure opened at Disney-MGM Studios as a walk-through playground of oversized backyard props themed to the 1989 film.

    Props included 30-foot blades of grass, an oversized anthill, giant insects and a spider web, a discarded LEGO brick and a leaking garden hose.
  • NewJul 1, 1990at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began performing on the New York Street backlot at Disney-MGM Studios, arriving aboard their Turtle Party Wagon for a roughly four-minute martial-arts routine repeated throughout the day.

    Wikipedia's attraction table, LaughingPlace and WaltDatedWorld independently give July 1, 1990; D23's Ask the Archives adds that the Turtles were never a Disney franchise and appeared on New York Street under licence.
  • NewJul 1, 1990at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    April O'Neil appeared alongside the four Turtles on the New York Street stage and sang the cartoon's theme song, and the characters posed for photos and signed autographs after each routine.

    Dated to the opening rather than filed as a later change, because the sources describe April O'Neil as part of the show across its 1990-1995 run.

That's every change on the record in Galaxys Edge since 1990.

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