Disney’s Hollywood Studios has had a bit of a glow-up in the past decade.
New attractions and lands have popped up in the park such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and Toy Story Land. While we’ve gotten a few new and exciting rides, some of our beloved favorites have remained like the Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Even though the park has gotten some updates, a few locations remain closed and a few even feel totally abandoned. If you take a stroll down Grand Avenue, you might find yourself face-to-face with a couple of buildings that look like they’re from a ghost town. And we want to know — what’s up with that?
In 2020, the Disney World theme parks shut down for a little while during the COVID pandemic. When they re-opened, things just weren’t the same as we all learned to navigate social distancing and mask rules.
While the parks opened, not everything within the parks returned. A few things remained closed, but as time went on almost everything slowly began re-opening. Now, four years later, Disney World is back to peak operation with no social distancing or mask rules, and things appear to be back to normal, pre-pandemic functioning.
Well, not quite. There are still two abandoned shops in Hollywood Studios that have not returned to their usual operation.
Two shops on Grand Avenue in Hollywood Studios are STILL closed. They have not re-opened as the shops they were before the pandemic. They are sitting there and appear to be fully abandoned. On a regular day in the parks, you can’t go in them, and there are no construction walls around them. They are just there, unused.
Stage 1 Company Store is the store that you used to exit the Muppet Vision 3D show through. Now, you are no longer sent through it on your way out.
The other shop that is quiet these days is It’s a Wonderful Shop. This shop was a Christmas-themed store — when it was open. Nowadays, it is usually closed and abandoned, except for special occasions. We noticed that Disney opened it to use it for meet-and-greets over the holidays! During Jollywood Nights you could find Santa in the store, and on other days around Christmas time, Duffy was there to spread holiday cheer.
While most other attractions, shops, and restaurants are open and back running again, you might still find other seemingly abandoned spots in the parks. The Voyage of the Little Mermaid show is also still vacant and not running, but Disney is in the process of creating a brand new show for the theater! So if you stumble upon that very much closed building, know that it has not been abandoned.
Hopefully, Disney will find something to do with these abandoned shops soon! We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for any updates. So be sure to keep following AllEars!
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Would you like to see these shops re-open? Let us know in the comments!
If Disney closes a shop it’s due to poor sales and interest. Many visitors have expectations that Disney parks are like their local amusement park with nothing but rides and garbage food.
Walt envisioned his parks as a destination for 2 years old up to 99 years old. t’s not a typical amusement like Universal or Six Flags, Disney is an entertainment park
I sure would like to see Hollywood Studio’s empty buildings brought back to life…I believe Disney is so immersed in expanding their presence worldwide…that Disney World/Florida has become somewhat of a step-sister in waiting…but how long can they wait ?