Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure was an elaborate outdoor playground at Disney-MGM Studios, later renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Inspired by Disney’s 1989 live-action comedy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, the attraction invited guests to imagine that they had been miniaturized to the size of an insect and dropped into a suburban backyard. Rather than relying on a ride system or scheduled performance, it used oversized props, climbing structures, slides, tunnels, water effects, and carefully scaled scenery to create an immersive play environment.
The playground was located just off New York Street, which later became part of the Streets of America area. Once inside, children could explore a landscape dominated by 30-foot-tall blades of grass. The backyard was filled with objects that appeared ordinary in the film but became enormous after the guests’ implied transformation. Visitors could scale anthills, crawl through a discarded LEGO brick, navigate a rope-covered spider web, climb aboard large chattering ants, and slide down a structure designed to resemble a Kodak film canister. A giant dog nose periodically released mist, while an oversized leaking Super Soaker offered another welcome opportunity to cool off during a hot Florida afternoon.
The attraction opened on December 17, 1990, approximately a year and a half after the film arrived in theaters. Its “movie set” framing fit naturally within the original concept of Disney-MGM Studios, where guests were encouraged to feel as though they were exploring the working environments behind familiar productions. The playground also arrived during a period when Disney was developing Honey, I Shrunk the Kids into a broader franchise. The property later inspired sequels, a television series, and EPCOT’s Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which opened in 1994.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure remained open for more than 25 years, long after the franchise had faded from the center of popular culture. It closed permanently on April 2, 2016, alongside other Streets of America offerings as Disney prepared the area for major redevelopment. The former playground was demolished to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Today, the attraction is remembered with particular affection by families who visited Hollywood Studios during the 1990s and 2000s. It was not a technological showpiece, but it gave children something increasingly rare at Walt Disney World: a richly themed environment where they could explore freely, invent their own adventures, and temporarily experience the park from an ant-sized perspective.
