Disney Rediscovered: The Catwalk Bar - Disney MGM Studios

On May 1, 1989 Walt Disney World resort opened their third theme park themed around a working movie studio that shared a rare behind the scenes glimpse of movie magic. In the 26 years since the park has gone through a major identity crisis and is on the verge of losing the “Studios” name once and for all. One of the more mysterious areas within the park during its early “MGM” years is the now infamous Catwalk Bar.

During it’s time the bar was often a hot spot for animators in the nearby Feature Animation Building as they would frequent the bar after work. Can you imagine sharing a drink with working WDAS animators! Enough of nerding out. Back to the bar. The bar was also a hot spot for guests, especially of the male demographic, because of it’s large television which was frequently used to broadcast live sports games.

As you can see on the map below the Catwalk Bar (#13) was part of the Soundstage Restaurant. Located in the rafters above the restaurant was the location of the bar. The theming behind which is where all of the old props and lighting is stored between shoots. The bar was one of the only locations at the time to have craft beer and Guinness on draft. A Coors at the time would only cost you $3.25 compared to around $7.00 today! If you were looking for a snack “Peel your own Shrimp” would set you back $7.25 and “Pumpernickel snacks covered with Parmesan cheese” costing $2.25. That’s less than a Mickey Premium Ice-Cream bar today!

You could enter The Catwalk Bar from one of two entrances. The first of which we will look at was considered the main entrances and still exists today! This entrance was located to the right of The Brown Derby entrance and also could be accessed from the lobby of he Derby itself. It had a very discrete sign located above two french doors that led to the inside.

The sign, as you can see below, takes the shape of a soundstage with lights coming down just behind the “Catwalk” lettering. The lettering on the sign is the same you can see on the neon light inside the bar itself and keeps the theme for the bar.

Once inside the main entrance you enter to the left hand side of The Brown Derby lobby. On the wall directly in front of you (to the left of the host and hostess table) was the silver plaque you see below. At the very bottom of the plaque you see the sign locating the entrance to The Catwalk Bar as well as directing you to The Brown Derby and Soundstage Restaurant.

From this entrance you could either use the stairs or the elevator to get upstairs.

On the way up you would wind past a couple of windows which would give you this unique perspective on the park from above.

Once you round the corner you encounter a sitting area outside of the elevator with restrooms in the vicinity as well.

The second entrance to the bar was through the Soundstage Restaurant itself (Where Disney Junior is located now). This was located directly to the right of the entrance to the restaurant and up the stairs upon entering. At the time the restaurant was still themed to the wrap party of “Big Business” then switched to “Beauty and the Beast” and finally “Aladdin” before closing in the late 90′s.

On the right hand side of the staircase you could see the sign below labeled “Cocktail Lounge Upstairs”.

Once back behind the set you could see that the entire thing is just one giant facade. These shots are from the top of the stair case on the bar level looking down.

The next shots are very pixelated due to the quality of the video which it was captured from but offers a unique “walk through” perspective of the bar.

This first shot shows a reverse shot coming up from the stairs and entering the bar.

This picture shows us looking back down to the main dining area for the Soundstage Restaurant. You can see one of the entrances to the right of the camera below.

The next shots show us a panorama of the bar from the opposite end. First looking over a now packed dining area.

We then continue to pan over to the bar itself. Notice how the seating area pokes out over the restaurant in two different places.

From here we now see a shot of the bar itself. The first picture comes form one of the videos i was able to find. Its very low light but gives you a grew feel for the atmosphere of the bar.

The picture below gives us a better perspective of how the bar looked and I believe could have been a publicity shot due to the high level of lighting. As you can see the chairs seemed to have been pulled right of the set of “Big Business” and look fairly comfortable. The bar spanned the entire width of the soundstage but was not very wide. It is interesting to see all of the different lights and props in this shot. The stair case is located on the right hand side of the photo just behind the wall.

The picture below is from the early 90′s and is looking up at the bar. This gives us a great look at the neon sign as well as the retheming of the area to Beauty and the Beast. It appears that the bar itself was not effected by the retiming as all of the props remain on the wall to the right. One interesting thing I would like to point out in this photograph is the “Studio Catering Co.” sign between the bar and the food windows.

After Bear in the Big Blue House replaced the Soundstage Restaurant in 1998 The Catwalk Bar continued to operate after the final daily performance of the stage show. By now the entrance from the soundstage was taken out and the only remaining way up was through The Brown Derby. The Catwalk Bar closed its doors following the 1998 Holiday season for good and became a thing of Disney legend. The closing of The Catwalk Bar signified a shift in the Studios target market towards a younger audience. The map below (Holiday 1998) shows the final time The Catwalk Bar would appear leaving the Tune-In Lounge as the go to bar in the park.

December 1998

I leave you with a picture of Michael Jackson and Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone) during a visit to the studios 1992. In the background you can see the sign and entrance to the bar.

Thank you as always for following along and i hope you enjoyed this in depth look into The Catwalk Bar. If you had any personal experience please feel free to share as I would love to hear and learn more about this wonder!