Chapter 20 - Hollywood Studios - Commissary Lane posted Aug 2023

Commissary Lane was originally part of the Streets of America. (we’ll tour the former Streets of America in a later Chapter).
When the Streets of America permanently closed in April of 2016 this area became its own land inside Hollywood Studios.
The land is a small pathway that runs behind Echo Lake, connecting Hollywood Boulevard to the Muppet Courtyard. Along the pathway is The ABC Commissary quick service location, the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, the Mickey and Minnie Meet and Greet and was The Writer’s Stop.
Background

In April 2016 most of the Streets of America closed to make way for the Toy Story and Galaxy's Edge construction. As a result of this, Disney re-classified the “Muppets Courtyard” (See Chapter 17 – Muppets Courtyard) and “Commissary Lane” as separate lands.
The entirety of the Streets of America has changed since the park opened in 1989 when most of it was part of the Studio Backlot Tour. The 2016 changes are the result of the park adding Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land to the park.
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ABC Commissary
The Commissary Restaurant opened in December 1990. It was roughly patterned after a movie studio commissary; it features movie and television awards on display. The building was located on a newly created street dubbed Commissary Lane.
 
In 1996, the Walt Disney Company and ABC merged. The Restaurant was decorated with film posters, various props and photos the past and present celebrating the history of ABC and television monitors that promote the latest ABC television shows. In July 1997, it became the ABC Commissary.
The building structure concept is a classic, sleek Art Deco stylings popular in the 1930s that created a sense of the classic Hollywood where guests might expect to see a movie star nonchalantly stroll in during a break in filming.
The marquee was designed by Jim Bockstall, juts thirty-five feet into the air, and is polished stainless steel to echo the Art Deco condensed-type style.
 
Note: Jim Bockstall was a Disney Imagineer whose projects include: Lead Designer for the Muppet Studios at Disney-MGM Studios, collaborating directly with Mr. Jim Henson and his associates. Lead concept designer for Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Paris, the renovation of Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s America—the highly publicized history theme park in Virginia.
 
Found:
Inside the Commissary
Once past the faux palm-tree lined atrium entrance, there is always plenty of seating and air conditioning. The palms are ten feet tall and are meant to frame the ordering counter.
For the interior, Imagineers brought in palms and added planters with a variety of seasonal plants to establish a “garden-like” atmosphere that would seem more inviting.
The Restaurant is lined with etched glass panels featuring the logos of those divisions along the entryway and posters on the walls feature our latest movies and television shows.
Murals
Behind the Order Counter, a fifty-foot-long mural that features many of the major landmarks of the original Disney MGM Studios designed by Han Woo Lee. It was painted by Bill Anderson to look like copper bas-relief, a popular Deco design motif.
                                      Grauman’s Chinese Theater and                                                                  Keystone Shop and the Earful Tower off in the distance
                                the Disney-MGM Studios Entrance Plaza  

The giant mural is of Disney-MGM Studios before the Sorcerer's Hat even made its way to the park in 2001 (see Hollywood Studios Chapter 4 – Hollywood Blvd – Part 3)
While a lot of these structure may be gone forever, but their spirit still lives on over at the ABC Commissary.

Note: Han Woo Lee also did the artwork for the billboard advertising the Hollywood Tower Hotel. (See Hollywood Studios Chapter 8 – Sunset Boulevard – Part 1) The sign is in disrepair and often foliage obscures it. The reason for this seeming lack of attention is actually a storytelling element. It is meant to suggest that something ominous has happened to the fancy and famous hotel.
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Note: Barbara Dietzel a Disney Imagineer was the principal interior designer for the ABC Commissary.
Barbara also worked on the 50s Prime Time Café.
Her name is on one Echo Lake Apartment mailboxes that references various Imagineers who worked on the Disney-MGM Studios. Apartment 203: Dietzel/Benson (see Hollywood Studios Chapter 13 – Echo Lake – Part 1)
 

Connection:
The Commissary is a counter service restaurant that offers plenty of seating and is air-conditioned definitely a win-win on a hot day in the park! It featuring plenty of indoor seating and props from some of ABC’s most popular TV shows, this spot serves burgers, salads, couscous, seafood, and much more.
As you enter follow the Palm Tree lined walk to the mural. just below it is the menu sign and the order counter.
Current Menu

Click below to see the ABC Commissary's current menu:
And you never know what Celebrity you will meet on the Commissary Lane.
 
More research:
Mickey and Minnie Starring in Red Carpet Dreams

Tucked away on Commissary Lane is the Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Meet and greet.
  Minnie as a Hollywood star.and Mickey Mouse is dressed as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice

The theme behind Red Carpet Dreams is that Mickey and Minnie Mouse are working on their latest films and you get to join them on set! Mickey is reprising his role as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice in “The Book of Dreams”. Minnie Mouse is starring in her own film titled “Hollywood Dreams”.
 
Guests will meet both Mickey and Minnie in the Red-Carpet Dreams attraction. As guests enter the queue, they will first walk through the Minnie Mouse set, where Minnie Mouse can be found in her dressing room awaiting the day that she can dazzle the world with a showstopping dance number.
From there, a short walk down a hallway filled with movie posters featuring the iconic duo leads to Mickey Mouse dressed up as Sorcerer Mickey in a magically recreated scene of Fantasia.
Check the Hollywood Times Guide for the Meet & Greet times or click on this link:
Found:
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater
Picture
This is one of the coolest restaurants found at Walt Disney World.

Established in May 1991, the restaurant is modeled after a 1950s drive-in theater. Walt Disney Imagineering designed the booths to resemble convertibles of the period, and some servers act as carhops. While eating, guests watch a large screen displaying clips of 1950s and 1960s films as Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.
 
The Sci-Fi Dine-In restaurant opened as part of Walt Disney World’s twentieth anniversary.
The Sci-Fi Dine-In, is located on Commissary Lane adjacent to ABC Commissary.
The Sci-Fi Dine-In is modeled after a 1950s drive-in theater. The entrance is made to look like a box office, and guests can walk from there along a tall fence to the dining room, where they sit in booths made to look like convertibles from the 1940s and 1950s.
But before taking a seat, check out the sci-fi inspired memorabilia. Guests may be able to spot a handful of movie posters lining the walls as you make your way inside. The restaurant is nestled inside a building that looks like an old Hollywood soundstage. There are several little gems to be discovered before you step foot inside the theater!
 
These booths were designed by Walt Disney Imagineering. Speakers are mounted on poles next to each car. The license plates are dated from 1955, and each convertible seats four people.
Some of the servers at the Sci-Fi Dine-In act as carhops, while others improvise characters such as a police officer ostensibly in search of people who have sneaked into the theater without paying.
The dining room is dark and air-conditioned and the ceiling simulates a night sky replete with twinkling stars.
There is the facade of a snack counter at the back of the room, behind which is the kitchen. The upper walls of the dining room display a cyclorama of Southern California as seen over a fence.
 
While eating at the Sci-Fi Dine-In, guests watch film clips from 1950s and 1960s science fiction films,
B horror films, monster movies, pseudo-documentaries, bizarre newsreels, and animated cartoons, all on a loop that lasts 47 minutes.
The film clips are taken from such films as The Blob, Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, Teenagers from Outer Space, The Amazing Colossal Man, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Invasion of the Saucer Men, and Cat-Women of the Moon. The original Attack of the 50 Foot Woman trailer is also included. The clips are shown on a large projection screen.
Dining reservations are strongly recommended for the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater Restaurant.
 
At the end of your meal, your carhop will bring the check to your table. The check itself resembles a parking ticket and even has the words, “parking violation” printed across the bottom half of the paper. It’s part of the finishing experience at the Sci-Fi Diner.
 
Sauce:
The Writer's Shop
The Writer’s Stop was a cozy nook where guests can browse through books or relax on a comfortable couch with a cup of coffee and a fresh pastry.
It was also a great place to spend time while waiting for a reservation call for the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant next door. There’s was a secret door inside connecting the two.
The interior of the Writer’s Stop looked like a neighborhood bookshop. But if guests looked at the ceiling, they would have seen studio lighting that you might find on a television soundstage. It’s almost as if this space was once themed as a bookstore set for a TV sit-com.
It also had a fine selection of pastries.
The Writer’s Stop was on the corner where Commissary Lane met Streets of America. It was theoretically part of Street of America (more on that in another Chapter). But because of its connection (by the secret door) to the Sci-Fi restaurant, we decided to include it in the on the Commissary Lane.
It was an actual bookstore
The titles here weren’t just Disney publications. Guests could find bestsellers, movie books, and biographies of Walt Disney. Authors even had book signings.
History

The Writer’s Stop operated at Disney-MGM Studios from January 1999 until April 2016 
 
The shop space was built as part of the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant, which opened in April 1991.
The store on the side of Stage 14 started as an attached waiting area for the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. Two years later, when it became clear that guests needed more to do, the space became The Costume Shop.  It was originally the Costume Shop, but was sometimes labeled as the Villains Shop on park maps.


Costume Shop, The

Costume Shop, The Boutique on New York Street at Disney-MGM Studios; opened in April 1991 and closed in 1996 to become Buy the Book. The shop sold costumes, masks, and gifts themed to the Disney Villains. Park guests could go between the shop and the restaurant using an internal door. The Costume Shop lasted until 1996 when it became Buy The Book.
The Costuming Shop closed and a new marquee appeared beneath the sign, removable letters promising “Future Home of Ellen’s ‘Buy the Book’.”
 
Source:
Ellen’s Buy the Book
In October 1996, the space reopened as a book and coffee shop called Ellen’s Buy the Book—named after the bookstore on the ABC television series Ellen (originally These Friends of Mine), starring Ellen DeGeneres. The sitcom starred Ellen as the owner of a Los Angeles bookstore also called “Buy the Book.”
 
The grand opening was attended by Joely Fisher.  It opened October 1996 and became The Writer's Stop in January of 1999.  
 

Note: Joely Fisher she played Bambi in the Blossom episode "Tough Love", Brenda Bradford and RoboBrenda in Inspector Gadget, Nina Fletcher in Desperate Housewives, Paige Clark in the ABC TV show, Ellen, Denise in Station 19, and Meg Robinson in the Wizards of Waverly Place episode "Alex the Puppetmaster".
 

Research:
Disney’s Buy the Book

The Ellen show ended its television run on July 1998. And Ellen’s Buy the Book became Disney’s Buy the Book.
The final name was: Writer’s Stop
As already noted, Writer’s Stop officially opened in January 1999.
The BaseLine Tap House

Writer’s Stop closed permanently April 2016. Most of the former Streets of America area was demolished to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the remaining parts were re-themed as Grand Avenue, representing downtown Los Angeles.

Although the former Writer’s Stop building stayed put.
 It was clad in brick veneer, topped by an old-fashioned cornice, and given an outdoor patio and became the BaseLine Tap House, a corner bar serving California craft beers and wines, along with small plates. It opened September 29, 2017. (See Hollywood Studios Chapter 19 – Grand Avenue)






Connections:
Commissary Lane is an interesting place. It's one of the smallest areas or lands in all of Walt Disney World. It doesn't seem to have much to offer, so guests either skip it by going around it or rush through it. But take a moment next time you visit there. There is quite a bit to take in on Commissary Lane. History through the Murals in the Commissary and Poster of the latest Shows on ABC TV. The Sci Fi Dine In with it's Drive in Movie style dining. And of course an almost hidden Meet & Greet Minne and Mickey. So didn't miss it, it may prove more interesting and fun then you expected.

    We would definitely like to hear from you.
    Let us know what your thoughts, suggestions, ideas, and absolutely, if we've missed anything.
Afterword:
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While doing so, we've done an extensive research of the internet and literary sources for background information on each area and attraction. The information is available, but most bits and pieces are scattered all over. WDWMousing doesn't intend to rewrite the stories, legends or data, but to try and collect it into one location with reference and links to the original articles and authors. And giving rightful credit. We've stumbled through quite a bit of mis-information, most of which came to life by fans because the origins were lost, forgotten or no one seems to remember. Over the past 25 years we've also lost most of the great Imagineers that helped develop, design and build the original concepts of Walt Disney World. So we believe it's extremely important to make sure that their efforts, intentions, details and creativity in making this Happiest Place on Earth isn't lost.
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