May 1 – Official park activities & meet-ups at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on its actual 35th anniversary (Theme park admission and reservation required):
7:00am – Don’t miss the Virtual Queue opportunity for official Disney’s Hollywood Studios anniversary merchandise!
11:00am – Don’t miss a special official anniversary celebration at the Theater of the Stars on Sunset Boulevard!
12:00pm – Materials distributed for “Sid Cahuenga’s One-Of-A-Kind Scavenger Hunt” interactive game at Baseline Taphouse
12:00pm-2:00pm – Group meet & greet at Baseline Tap House
4:00pm – Materials will be collected for interactive game to the left of the entrance for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. We will then go as a group to see the 4:30pm performance of Indiana Jones, followed by a group photo at the MuppetVision fountain, group show at Muppet-Vision 3-D, and group ride on Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
7:15pm – Group dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby (Separate ticket required, WIGS member exclusive)
May 2 – Grand Re-Opening of WDWNT Celebration with special episode of WDW News Tonight
7:00pm – WIGS Ultra member mixer, first opportunity to see NEW WDWNT Celebration museum and more
8:00pm – Doors open to all ticketed guests
9:00pm – Special episode of WDW News Tonight celebrating 35 years of Disney’s Hollywood Studios
May 3 – WIGS Exclusive Presentations and Meet & Greet/Signing Event
3:00pm – WIGS Member exclusive: interview and Q&A with former Walt Disney Imagineering President Bob Weis (Tickets and WIGS membership required)
7:30pm – Signing and meet & greet event begins at WDWNT Celebration at 1136 Celebration Blvd. (Tickets required)
May 4-5 – Presentations & Panels at WDWNT Celebration with Special Guests (Tickets Required)
SATURDAY, MAY 4
9:00am – Lights, Camera, Welcome!
with Tom Corless
9:15am – From Future World to Studio Tour to Theme Park
Discover the true story of the development of the Disney-MGM Studios from the project’s leaders, Bob Weis & Randy Printz
10:30am – Building a Blockbuster: Creating the Disney-MGM Studios
Bob Weis, Randy Printz, Craig Russell, Eric Jacobson, Laine Dunham White, Chris Brown, Paul Osterhaut, Ryan Harmon, Brock Thoman, Mike West, & Phil Bloom
HOST: Tom Corless
12:00pm – Creating Films for a Film Park
with Valerie Johnson-Redrow
HOST: Ryan Harmon
1:00pm – 2:00pm LUNCH
2:00pm – May the 4th Be With You! “Star Tours” A Long Time Ago & Today
with Paul Osterhout, Chris Brown, Frank Weigand, & Brock Thoman (Star Tours) Eric Jacobson, Kathy Rogers (The Adventures Continue)
HOST: Tom Corless
3:00pm – The Hollywood That Never Was: Unbuilt Attractions at the Studios
A celebration of rides and shows that never made it off the storyboards and into production, including Hotel Mel with Mel Brooks, Dick Tracy’s Crime-Stoppers, Mystery Writer Theater, The Great Muppet Movie Ride, and more! Featuring stories from Bob Weis, Randy Printz, Laine Dunham White, Eric Robison, Kathy Rogers, Philip Vaughan, Chris Brown, & Eric Jacobson.
HOST: Ryan Harmon
4:00pm – In Memoriam
Remembering those who helped build Walt Disney World’s third gate who could not be with us, with Bob Weis, Randy Printz, & more
HOSTS: Ryan Harmon & Cindy Cote
4:30pm – Creating Streetmosphere: The Citizens of Hollywood
Remembering the characters and comedy that brought Hollywood and Sunset to life at the Disney-MGM Studios with C. McNair Wilson & Friends
5:30pm – See You at the Movies!
End of day
SUNDAY, MAY 5
9:00am – Back to the Backlot
Take a trip back to the Disney-MGM Studios Backlot to visit the Studio Tour, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”: Movie Set Adventure, and more from the working-studio portion of the park with Richard Vaughn, Chris Brown, Frank Weigand, Philip Vaughan, Ron Carman, Eric Jacobson, Sandy Russell, and Phil Bloom
HOST: Ryan Harmon
10:00am – The Great Movie Reunion: Closeup on the Walt Disney World Classic
with Eric Jacobson, Kathy Rogers, Chris Brown, Paul Osterhout, Brock Thoman, Ron Carman, Craig Russell, Phil Bloom, and Valerie Johnson-Redrow
HOST: Tom Corless
11:30am – Dinner is the Show: Immersive Dining at The Studios
Wet your appetite with a feast of information about 50s Prime Time, Sci-Fi Dine-In, The Hollywood Brown Derby, Mama Melrose’s, and Soundstage Restaurant with Eric Jacobson, Mike West, Philip Vaughan, and Paul Osterhaut
HOST: Cindy Cote
12:30pm – 1:30pm LUNCH
1:30pm – Indiana Jones and the World’s Longest-Running Theme Park Stunt Show
with Philip Vaughan, Mike West, Ron Carman, Frank Weigand and Chris Brown
HOST: Ryan Harmon
2:30pm – Foolishness We’d Like to See: Jim Henson’s MuppetVision 3-D
with Kathy Rogers, Paul Osterhout, Eric Jacobson, and Chris Brown
HOST: Tom Corless
3:30pm – Starring You! Remembering Superstar Television & Monster Sound Show
with Kathy Rogers, Mike West, Paul Osterhout, Valerie Johnson-Redrow, and Ron Carman
HOST: Ryan Harmon
4:30pm – 30 Years of Terror: Tales from The Twilight Zone
While Stage 89 will focus on the Disney-MGM Studios in its earliest years, our journey will take a side trip into the 5th Dimension to explore the roots, creation, and evolution of one of Disney’s greatest theme park attractions of all-time! Waiting for you are stories you won’t find in any guide book from Eric Jacobson, Laine Dunham White, Chris Brown, Sandy Russell, Eric Robison, Mike West, Mark Silverman, and Frank Weigand.
HOST: Tom Corless
5:30pm – It’s a Wrap!
End of day