Avengers: Endgame Opening Weekend Could Pass $800 Million

Avengers: Endgame Opening Weekend Could Pass $800 Million

Avengers: Endgame was already looking to break records with its opening weekend, but now that China is joining the weekend fun, Avengers 4 could be flirting with close to $1 billion worldwide after its opening weekend. Do you think it has a shot of beating Avatar as the highest-grossing movie of all time (albeit not adjusted for inflation)? I say yes. The stakes aren't exactly Decimation-level if we're wrong, so why not guess away?

There are a lot of moving parts in play, but right now box office prognosticators are estimating Avengers: Endgame could see something in the range of $800-$850 million in its worldwide opening. (Deadline is currently going with $840M.) That opening would be from Wednesday, April 24 when China gets it, to Friday April 26 when we get it, through the end of that April 27-28 weekend.

China is the second-biggest box office market after the domestic North American (U.S./Canada) market. Avengers: Infinity War set a world record with its opening last year -- $640.4 million worldwide -- without the benefit of China being a part of that opening weekend. China didn't get the film until a couple of weeks later, when it added a $199.3 million opening to the tally. Put together, that would be around $840 million.

So that's where the current Endgame speculation number is coming from, since China will now be part of the opening weekend action instead of boosting the box office a bit later. But of course Infinity War and Endgame are two different films, beyond just their tones. Infinity War was two-and-a-half hours, but Endgame's runtime is just over three hours. That means potentially fewer runtimes in theaters each day, which would mean less money.

In that case, Avengers: Endgame wouldn't quite reach the lofty heights of $800-million-plus. And some folks have worried that, since China is getting it early, leaked copies of the movie may spread online and hurt the opening weekend. But HBO leaks didn't exactly hurt Game of Thrones last season, and who is going to watch a crappy copy of Endgame and skip the theatrical version?

Since we're all just reading tea leaves, I'm on the side of the higher numbers. Early box office estimates for Endgame's domestic opening are close to $300 million. That would top Infinity War's record $257 million last year. With the international figures looking extremely high, and everyone wanting to rush to see the movie ASAP to avoid spoilers, I do think we're looking at a record domestic and a record international opening weekend. I'll go ahead and guess $850 million combined worldwide -- with $295 million coming from the domestic box office. Quote me!

Avengers: Infinity War went on to make $2,048,359,754 worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. Avatar, which came out 10 years ago in 2009, has the worldwide record at $2,787,965,087. So that's what Endgame could potentially beat. After all, Avatar had a run time of 2 hours and 40 minutes. And Titanic passed $2 billion with a runtime of 3 hours, 14 minutes. I'm guessing Avengers: Endgame will set new records from start to finish, ending even past Avatar. What's your take?

Avengers: Endgame opens in theaters for us on April 26. Here's what we know about the movie so far. And here's what else is playing in theaters in busy 2019.

Captain Marvel End Credit Scenes: What Happens, And What They Mean

Captain Marvel End Credit Scenes: What Happens, And What They Mean

Sometimes there’s one, sometimes there’s two, sometimes there’s five, but if a new Marvel Studios film is coming, one thing is certain: there is going to be an end credit sequence. It’s been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe tradition from the very beginning, and more than 20 movies and 10 years later it remains as strong as ever. It’s one that proudly continues in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Captain Marvel, which provides both a cool peek at the future for the titular hero, and a funny final moment for audiences as they leave the theater.

So what happens, and what does it all mean? That’s what we’re here to discuss in this feature – breaking it all down and dissecting what it means. So let’s dive in, but first I’ll take care of this formality:

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains massive spoilers for Captain Marvel. If you have not yet seen the film, and don't wish to know major, important details about the ending, please bookmark this page and come back after your screening!

Captain Marvel Meets The Avengers

Most Marvel Studios end credits scenes are original creations that were imagined either before or during production of a given film, but there are others that are a bit different. Specifically, rather than being original pieces, they are instead actually clips from upcoming releases. This was first done when the first “trailer” for The Avengers was attached to the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, but other examples can be found in movies like Ant-Man (which teased Captain America: Civil War) and Doctor Strange (which teased Thor: Ragnarok). Now Captain Marvel can be added to that particular list, as what we see as the mid-credits sequence appears to be an edited bit from Joe and Anthony Russo’s upcoming Avengers: Endgame.

Taking us back to the present following the movie’s 1990s-set adventure, the sequence begins with a close-up on Nick Fury’s special pager that we first got to see in the post-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War. However, instead of displaying the Captain Marvel logo it instead suddenly shuts off.

This is brought to the attention of Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) as they are in Avengers headquarters watching screens tabulating the deaths caused by The Decimation – discussing the utter nightmare of it all. It’s Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) who first notices that the device has gone dark, and along with James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) they try and figure out what’s going on.

It’s noted that pager has been set up with an external power source to run indefinitely, so it’s not a battery issue, and it’s unclear why exactly it would just stop functioning. All the same, they are desperate to know what it is going on with it, and who Fury was trying to contact with its signal. As Black Widow turns to leave, she suddenly finds herself face-to-face with Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), who has returned to Earth following her cosmic adventures. She doesn’t appear to be too happy, though, and has only one question for the group: “Where’s Fury?”

At the end of Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers makes the decision to go out into the furthest reaches of space and help the Skrulls establish a new society, but beyond that we don’t really know much about where she has been for the majority of the last 25 years. That being said, she surely saw the effects of The Decimation regardless of where she was in the universe at the time of Thanos’ snap, and getting the page from Nick Fury as half the people around her disappeared likely wasn’t viewed as a coincidence. It’s probably fair to assume that the special pager turned off as soon as she returned to Earth, and given that she is possibly totally unaware of the existence of the Avengers, it’s not exactly surprising that the first person she looks for is the man who called her back to the planet.

How Carol Danvers will interact with the remaining heroes in Avengers: Endgame is one of the most anticipated aspects of the upcoming blockbuster, and this mid-credits sequence gives us a nice taste. Obviously there is still basically everything left to explore – from everybody explaining who they are and what the hell happened, to how they plan to work together and fix everything – but for now at least we have an idea of the introduction’s context.

Goose Returns The Tesseract

The Tesseract has taken a long, strange journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We got our first look at it all the way back in the post-credits scene of Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, and since then played huge roles in three different features: Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, and Avengers: Infinity War. And it’s legacy is yet another thing expanded upon in Captain Marvel.

We’ve known that the Tesseract spent decades in the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D., but what nobody knew before Captain Marvel is that it had some wild adventures between being plucked from the ocean by Howard Stark to being presented to Dr. Erik Selvig by Nick Fury. Specifically, it was used by Dr. Wendy Lawson a.k.a. Mar-Vell (Annette Bening) during research on a light speed engine, and then spent a long time being stored in her satellite laboratory. Thanks to the efforts of Carol Danvers, Nick Fury, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) it gets recovered… but then it spent some time in the mouth of a Flerken, which is what brings us to the end credits scene.

During the events of Captain Marvel we see the Flerken named Goose use its tentacles to “swallow” the Tesseract for safe keeping, but the powerful object doesn’t show up again before the end of the main movie. Instead, that bit is saved for the post-credits bit, where Goose is shown hopping up on Nick Fury’s desk. At first it starts making the familiar sound of a cat preparing to cough up a hairball, but rather than a bunch of fur and saliva pouring out of its mouth, it instead expels the Space Stone.

Rather than being a big tease for developing events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is more of a one-off goof similar to the drumming giant ant at the end of Ant-Man And The Wasp, or the random rampaging monster in the final seconds of Thor: The Dark World. For what it is, though, it’s great. We probably could have assumed that this was how Nick Fury got the Tesseract back for S.H.I.E.L.D., but it’s much better that we actually got to see it happen.

What did you think about these two Captain Marvel end credit scenes? How do you think they stack up in comparison to other recent tags? What do you expect from Carol Danvers’ first meeting with the Avengers in Endgame? Do you think we’ll ever see Goose again? Tell us your answers to those questions, as well as any other appropriate thoughts, feelings, or opinions you may have in the comments section below!

X-Men: Days Of Future Past Almost Featured Cable

X-Men: Days Of Future Past Almost Featured Cable

2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past was an especially interesting entry in the X-Men film series, as not only did it continue the storyline that began with X-Men: First Class by jumping to 1973, it also reunited with many of the original X-Men cast members as they struggled for survival in a dystopian 2023. This group of heroic mutants was accompanied by some new faces, and originally Nathan Summers, better known as Cable, was supposed to be one of those faces.

Given how Cable is best known for growing up in a future, apocalyptic timeline and time traveling to the present day Marvel universe, it would have been fitting to have him involved in X-Men: Days of Future Past, even if unlike his comic book counterpart, he wasn’t the one traveling backwards in time. As for why he didn’t appear in the fifth main X-Men installment, it turns out that Cable’s co-creator, Rob Liefeld, pushed for him being taken out, providing the following explanation for why:

He was originally in Days of Future Past in the Bishop role and he got killed. And then there was a note that came back that said he's kind of too big of a character to do this with, and poor Bishop got slaughtered instead. But I swear to you... So, summer 2012, I was like, you can't, you can't have Cable. Like, as much as I want to see him, fans will freaking go nuts if they see him and you kill him immediately. He's too big.

Considering Cable’s decades of popularity, I can’t say I blame Rob Liefeld for wanting the character to sit out X-Men: Days of Future Past. Sure, audiences finally would have been introduced to him on the big screen, but their time with him would have been short, as Cable would have been among the mutants killed by the Sentinels in that dystopian future, like Sunspot, Blink and Warpath. There wouldn’t have been any time to properly develop the character, and someone like that needs a bigger platform to shine on.

Instead, as Rob Liefeld told ScreenRant and as audiences saw in the final version of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Cable was replaced by Bishop, another mutant with a history of time travel. On the one hand, Cable is arguably more popular than Bishop, so it makes sense that the latter would take priority over the former. On the other hand, Bishop also has his fair share of fans and his own interesting story that stretches across several time periods, and Days of Future Past did not delve into that at all since he was such a minor character.

So the tradeoff might not have appealed to all X-Men fans, but had Cable stayed in X-Men: Days of Future Past, like Bishop, he would have been killed off, with no time dedicated to fleshing out his backstory. Ultimately, this replacement was probably the right call, but hopefully if/when the X-Men are incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there will be an opportunity to spotlight Bishop in a fitting way.

Fortunately for Cable fans, they only had to wait four more years after X-Men: Days of Future Past to see him finally make his live action debut. After being teased at the end of Deadpool, Cable, played by Josh Brolin, finally joined the fray in Deadpool 2. Like his comic book counterpart, he hailed from an apocalyptic future, but his reason for going back in time in this movie was to kill Russell Collins, a.k.a. Firefist, the mutant who murdered his wife and daughter, as a child.

Cable didn’t succeed in carrying out his assassination, but the adolescent Russell decided to step off the villainous path he’s heading down, thus saving Cable’s wife and daughter in the future. Sadly, the cybernetic mutant was unable to return to his family, but he’s now working to improve the present so they have a better future awaiting them.

Although Disney, which recently finalized the Fox merger, plans on keeping the Deadpool franchise going, it remains to be seen if Cable will return in either X-Force or Deadpool 3, let alone if Josh Brolin will reprise him or if someone else will take over the role. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates either way. In the meantime, feel free to keep up to date with what’s heading to theaters later this year in our 2019 release schedule.

What Will Happen To Disney's X-Men Franchise After Dark Phoenix

What Will Happen To Disney's X-Men Franchise After Dark Phoenix

With Disney's acquisition of Fox officially completed in late March, X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be the first official X-Men film to premiere under the Marvel and Disney umbrella. From there, fans have been given a bit of information on what's next for the X-Men, but only in the form of release dates for films. As many may know, however, dates can always change and movies can be cancelled, so what will happen to the X-Men following Dark Phoenix?

We do have some answers, and some healthy speculation that explores how Disney and Marvel may incorporate the Mutants into its Phase 4 plans. We also have a history of the franchise from the time it left Marvel to its return, which provides context and explains why the answers behind the future of the X-Men franchise aren't easy to assume.

The X-Men Franchise Under Fox

The year was 1993, and Marvel was far from the financial powerhouse it is today. As a way to stay afloat and get some cash, the comic company sold the movie rights of its heroes to film studios, such as Spider-Man to Sony, and of course, the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchise to 20th Century Fox. The decision was based, in part, due to the studio's success with X-Men: The Animated Series, which premiered in 1992.

The first Fox X-Men movie wouldn't hit theaters until 2000, and would prove to be a massive hit, making $296 million at the box office on a $75 million budget. There would be two financially successful direct sequels, both of which would more heavily revolve around the star of its spinoff films Hugh Jackman. Folks loved Wolverine, and still do to the point fans hoped he'd reprise his role when the Disney and Fox deal went through.

Wolverine would continue to be the Marvel franchise's sole spinoff character until 2011, when X-Men: First Class introduced another commercially successful spinoff to the mix. In 2014, Deadpool was introduced, and fundamentally changed Hollywood's perception on the commercial viability of R-rated features for superheroes.

While Fox's X-Men movies were commercially successful, there was little consistency in the acclaim between X-Men films. Additionally, the franchise's timeline was a bit of a mess, despite the best efforts by X-Men: Days of Future Past to marry the worlds of the original cast and the First Class cast. It apparently wasn't a big deal for Fox for it all to make sense at the time, although it is a factor that may come into play later.

The X-Men Franchise Under Disney

While Fox was making oodles of X-Men movies off of Marvel's characters, the original company had finally found some ground in the film world via Iron Man. Marvel's success caught the attention of Hollywood, including Disney, who successfully acquired Marvel Studios a little over a year after Iron Man's release date. With the massive purchasing power of Disney behind it, Marvel was in a great position to purchase back the rights for some of its characters.

Disney got to work and successfully navigated deals with Sony to get Marvel Studios involved in Spider-Man, and also has a right of first refusal with Universal should the studio ever want to collaborate on another Hulk film. To say Disney was explicitly interested in purchasing Fox for the X-Men isn't entirely true, as the Avatar franchise and television franchises (including sports) under the umbrella will give plenty of value as well.

There was a slight competition between Disney and Comcast for Fox, but the House of Mouse won out in the end and got the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchise back for Marvel. The two movies Fox had in-development, X-Men: Dark Phoenix and New Mutants, had both been postponed prior to the acquisition.

Now, Dark Phoenix is slated to be released on June 9, but New Mutants has been pushed back to a release in April of 2020. Additionally, Fox's long in-development spinoff that highlights the mutant Gambit has officially been shelved. The movie had yet to get some serious traction for quite some time, and had various issues since the idea was first proposed over a decade ago. In short, Disney's decision to effectively kill the movie isn't all that surprising.

The Future Of X-Men

After X-Men: Dark Phoenix premieres, there's a question of what will happen to the rest of the Marvel franchise. There's been curiosity as to whether Marvel Studios will incorporate the existing cast into the MCU, and some or all of the heroes will make an appearance in Phase Four. It's certainly a possibility, although some skeptics believe that Marvel might opt for a full-scale reboot due to the inconsistent timeline of the franchise potentially tainting its carefully crafted universe.

The release of Avengers: Endgame and recent revelations from Spider-Man: Far From Home somewhat deepen the mystery, as there's a potential way for the X-Men franchise to exist within the MCU in the form of a separate multiverse. This would mean that the X-Men are in a parallel universe from the rest of the MCU, which would prevent any of its events or confusing timelines from invading on the rest of the MCU.

The good news, is that if Phase Four includes the multiverse, it's already been heavily implied that characters can travel between them. This, of course, means the X-Men could theoretically one day fight alongside (or against) the Avengers, and that War Machine could appear alongside Deadpool like Don Cheadle has been hoping for. Provided this is what Marvel has planned, it's the perfect situation where Disney can have the cake, and eat it too.

Again, though, nothing is certain and Disney and Marvel could also just keep the X-Men separate from the rest of the MCU, or do a reboot of the franchise entirely sometime after X-Men: Dark Phoenix or New Mutants. It could also establish an entirely new set of Mutants exclusive to the MCU, considering Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver were technically mutants. These days, nothing seems entirely off the table with Disney and Marvel.

As mentioned, Marvel and Disney are set to release X-Men: Dark Phoenix in theaters Friday, June 7. CinemaBlend will report on the X-Men's future with Marvel as more updates become available, so continue to read our content for the latest and greatest news in movies, television, and pop culture.

Mary Poppins Returns Has A Weird, Special Connection To The Original Through A Deleted Song

Mary Poppins Returns Has A Weird, Special Connection To The Original Through A Deleted Song

Rob Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns is very much a love-letter to its 1964 predecessor, weaving a wonderful new story with the wonderful familiar world and characters. There are many fun and smart connections made between the two features, both stylistically and narratively, and even though they are made decades apart they still feel of a piece. Obviously 99% of that is extremely purposeful and intentional, but the sequel also has a fantastic accidental link to the first movie as well – specifically through a musical sequence that both films attempted, but ultimately decided not to use.

Last week I had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Rob Marshall to discuss his work on Mary Poppins Returns for the film’s home video press day, and during the interview talked about one song that was developed for the feature but not used: “The Anthropomorphic Zoo.” As the director explained, it was initially going to be a part of the extended journey taken by Mary (Emily Blunt), Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), Anabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh), and Georgie (Joel Dawson), but was cut back when the sequence became too long:

There is a song that we had originally called "The Anthropomorphic Zoo," which was part of the animation sequence, but the animation sequence was way too long… It's about a zoo where people are in the cages, and the animals are walking around with Victorian garb on and pointing at the people in the cages. And it's very funny, and it comes from the books. Well, we tried it, we wrote the song, and it's there on the DVD to see with little bits some wonderful storyboarding and so forth, but we decided not to do it.

Obviously this kind of thing happens all the time, as every movie in history has at least one potentially great cut sequence that just didn’t work as part of the finished product. What makes this case special, however, is that apparently an almost identical decision was made in the making of the original Mary Poppins.

As Rob Marshall explained, the inspiration behind “The Anthropomorphic Zoo” came directly from the beloved book series by P.L. Travers on which Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns are both based, and fate would have it that it wasn’t the first time that the sequence was considered for live-action adaptation. After deciding not to include the number, the filmmaker made a surprising discovery, learning that the original basically made the exact same call back in the early 1960s:

After we decide not to do it I went to the archives here at Disney, and I saw that they had tried to do the same thing in the '64 version. There was a song called "The Chimpanzoo" that the Sherman brothers wrote, and they didn't use it either. So that was the craziest thing ever. Isn't that crazy?

It’s a fantastic little coincidence – but what makes it a little extra fun is that it’s not exactly a “lost” Mary Poppins song anymore. Even though the production didn’t actually fully develop the sequence, there will be a special feature on the Digital, Blu-ray and DVD copies of Mary Poppins Returns that will give audiences a chance to listen to the track and imagine what could have been.

You can watch my full interview with Rob Marshall, including his great bit of trivia about “The Anthropomorphic Zoo” by clicking play on the video below.

Following its massively successful box office run over the past few months, Mary Poppins Returns is heading to home video very soon. The hit musical will be available for digital download starting on March 12th, and those of you who collect physical copies will be able to find 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD editions in stores on March 19th.

Why King Kong Has No Chance Against Godzilla, According To O’Shea Jackson Jr.

Why King Kong Has No Chance Against Godzilla, According To O’Shea Jackson Jr.

Are you team King Kong or Team Godzilla? While we’re a year away from Godzilla Vs. Kong, it’s a debate that’s already been pretty prevalent in pop culture, and that’s unlikely to slow down in the coming months.

In fact, if you were to ask Godzilla: King of the Monsters actor O’Shea Jackson which side of the debate he’s on, he’d likely tell you he’s Team Godzilla all the way. Don’t take it from me, though, take a look at what he had to say in a recent interview with CinemaBlend…

According to the actor, the biggest con to Kong is that he’s just a big gorilla and there’s nothing special about that. In fact, the big monkey trope came up outside of Kong: Skull Island fairly recently with Dwayne Johnson’s Rampage. In short, we’ve seen big gorillas take on big foes before.

Per O’Shea Jackson Jr., fans need to rally behind characters like the radioactive Godzilla, powerful creatures with prowess outside of the norm. King Kong might be smart and he might have an opposable thumb, but that’s nothing compared to radioactive breath. Or as Jackson Jr. put it:

Look, man I’m tired of this gorilla bro. Gorillas are mad normal. You made it bigger! I don’t care, like, that’s so weak… King Kong has been overrated since I was a kid. Sorry.

Thomas Middleditch also attempted to interject that King Kong is “the underdog” of the fight, but O’Shea Jackson Jr. was not having any of it in his interview with CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb.

Look, although it’s clear O’Shea Jackson Jr. has strong opinions, here, it’s not like the debate about King Kong and Godzilla is super cut and dried. Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Mike Dougherty has already been very clear that it will be a real “underdog fight,” also noting,

We’re looking at an almost David vs. Goliath situation. Because everyone, the moment you say Godzilla’s going to fight Kong, your first reaction is Kong doesn’t stand a chance. Godzilla’s got his radioactive breath, et cetera, et cetera. But then if you really take the time to look at Kong as a character, it’s like, okay, in Skull Island he was an adolescent, so he was still growing. So who knows how big he is since the 1970s when they first met him?

Oppositely, it also seems as if Godzilla has grown a ton ahead of Godzilla: King of the Monsters as well.

I’m pretty sure an underdog fight featuring two cinematic creatures that audiences have rallied around for decades is going to get butts into the seats, regardless of whether radioactive breath holds up against a being that can lob tree trunks.

Related: Is King Kong vs. Godzilla Really A Fair Fight?

Still, we’ll find out who the ultimate winner is when Godzilla Vs. Kong officially hits theaters on May 22, 2020.

In the meantime, this weekend is Godzilla’s chance to shine. You can catch the big, scaly creature in action opposite O’Shea Jackson Jr. in Godzilla: King of the Monsters starting this weekend, and see what else is coming up with our full movie premiere schedule.

What To Do In Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios If You're Skipping Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

What To Do In Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios If You're Skipping Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

Starting on August 29th, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is set to make a major shift, going from what has been the most overlooked park at Walt Disney World to quite possibly the most popular, all thanks to the new land Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

There’s no question that the crowds at Galaxy’s Edge are going to be extreme. However, if you’re going to be visiting Walt Disney World and you’re not a serious Star Wars fan, or just want to avoid the sure-to-be massive crowds, there may actually be no better time to hit Disney’s Hollywood Studios. With the crowds so focused on Galaxy’s Edge it’s possible that lines for everything else could be quite short, making the rest of the park a lot of fun. Hopefully.

Here’s everything you won’t want to miss at Disney’s Hollywood Studios outside of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Toy Story Land

Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been undergoing a lot of changes over the last few years as the park continues to try and find its voice. This is why, prior to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the previous major addition to Walt Disney World was also at DHS, Toy Story Land.

The longest wait times in the park can be found at the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster right now, but that’s sure to change once Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run becomes an option. The Alien Swirling Saucers attraction is also a lot of fun and with it's minor (32") height requirement, it's one of the most exciting rides that even small children can take part in. Add in the recently-announced table service restaurant that will be added, and the great Toy Story Mania attraction, and there will be lots to do in Andy's backyard when you visit.

E-Ticket Attractions

If a roller coaster a little more hardcore than Slinky Dog Dash is more your speed, then you can’t miss out on the Aerosmith Rock N’ Roller Coaster. The only Walt Disney World roller coaster to include inversions, this coaster blasts off at full speed while also blasting some of Aerosmith’s greatest hits in your ears the whole time. The word on the street is the coaster might be getting rethemed soon, so you’ll want to check this out while you still can.

Since the Tower of Terror at Disneyland Resort was converted into Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout, the only place left to experience the original attraction in North America is at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The good news is, the Walt Disney World version of the ride is the better version anyway. It’s longer and has more to show you than simply high speed drops. Don’t miss this one.

Food

You’ve got to eat, and there are no shortage of great places at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to do that. One place you’ll want to be sure to check out is the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. The tables are designed to resemble classic cars and they’re all placed in front of screen showing old black and white science fiction movies. The food is your standard dinner fair, but the ambiance of the whole thing cannot be beat.

If you’re looking for a bit of a nicer sit down experience, The Hollywood Brown Derby is a recreation of the classic Hollywood location as it would have appeared during the Golden Age of Tinseltown. If you want to sit back, relax and simply enjoy some of the best food at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, this is the place. Remember that reservations for restaurants can be made at Walt Disney World six months in advance, and if you want to be sure to get key lunch on dinner times, you'll need to book early.

Nighttime Entertainment

My favorite experiences at the Disney Parks are the nighttime shows. Fantasmic offers classic Disney nighttime entertainment, and while the version of the show at Disneyland is vastly superior to the Walt Disney World version (fight me) you still don’t want to miss the show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It's full of all your favorite Disney characters and a lot of great music.

The Wonderful World of Animation is the newest show to appear at Disney's Hollywood Studios and it combines fireworks and lights with a visual presentation projected on the front of the Chinese Theater, and considering that the spot will very soon be the home to the new attraction Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, it’s fitting the show pays tribute to the history of Disney animation.

Lighning McQueen’s Racing Academy

The newest show at Disney’s Hollywood Studio is Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. The show combines a wraparound screen with one of the most impressive animatronics that Disney Imagineering has created. This version of Lightning McQueen can talk to the audience, and looks like his animated counterpart brought to life. Other favorite Cars characters like Mater and Cruz Ramierez appear onscreen.

Star Wars Outside Of Galaxy's Edge

Maybe the crowds and the lines are enough to keep you away from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but you still really like Star Wars. The good news is that Star Tours: The Adventure Continues isn’t actually located inside Galaxy’s Edge, and all the Star Wars fans will be elsewhere. The ride's randomization means that you won’t get the same ride twice, so this one is worth checking out multiple times to experience all there is to see and feel, if you have the time.

In addition to Star Tours, You can also visit the Star Wars Launch Bay, which will give you the opportunity for Meet and Greets with the likes of Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. Since Galaxy's Edge will be trying to recreate the feeling of being on an alien planet, these sorts of more "theme park" focused attractions won't exist there. For younger guests, they can also get a fun Star Wars experience with Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple which lets small children becomes young Jedi.

Disney Junior Dance Party

If you have little ones with you at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the number of rides they’ll be able to experience is somewhat limited. However, one attraction designed specifically for them is the Disney Junior Dance Party. They’ll be able to jump around with all of their favorite Disney Junior characters and also expend some energy to make things easier for mom and dad.

While Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is sure to be a hit, there's so much more to experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Even if you decide you want to skip the new land, you don't want to skip the park.

Images courtesy WDWNews.com/Disney