Current Backlot Tour

Kristamouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I just realized that my DH and I haven't been on the Backlot tour in 12 years. Then we were asked to be a part of the show and enjoyed our time. Not sure why we haven't done it since and remembered hearing that much was cut out and perhaps changed.
So whats left?
 

Marc Gil

Well-Known Member
It's pretty much the same, except they completely removed the Residential Street to make way for Light, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
The Backlot Tour was doomed from Year 2 of operation, when they started closing parts off for new construction.

Here's the 1989 map:
backstage.gif


And here it is in 1992:
app


As you can see, New York Street has been converted to pedestrian traffic, now hosts the Disney-MGM Commissary (later the ABC Studios Commissary) and Sci-Fi Dine In, and is no longer part of the tram tour. "Here Come The Muppets" is playing over in the Animation Courtyard, only to be replaced with Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
 

dave&di

Well-Known Member
As everyone has said, there's not much to the tour now, the only reason I do it is for Catasphophe Canyon. I've seen footage of the tour from years ago, plus my OH did it before we met and it looked good.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
We took the tour last Tuesday after skipping it for many years. It begins with the water battle scene, though the CM who described what was going on (both to the volunteers and the the audience) was so hard to understand that if you had never taken the tour before you would have NO IDEA what was occurring.

Then we walked through the prop warehouse, which is always fun, and boarded the tram. As others mentioned, the audio is now a recording. We got to see cars practicing for the LMA show in addition to the costuming department, set design area and boneyard vehicle area. Catastrophe Canyon was a real letdown. The track did not bend or shake (the tram remained stationary) and the water feature only worked on half the attraction. We waited hopefully for the flood of water to come at us (we were on the back half of the tram) and it never did.

The tour ends at the AFI building with props from various films on their "100 Greatest Films of all Time" list.
 

KCheatle

Well-Known Member
I used to love this ride as a kid. There was a show called Adventures in Wonderland that I love watching back in the early 90s, and the house that is shown in the beggining of each episode was on the backlot tour. I absolutely loved seeing it! It was really a perfect ride for this park; showing the behind-the-scenes details of movie- and TV show-making. It is very disappointing that they let such a perfectly themed and unique ride get trampled on :(
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
I really hope that HS will stay with the theme of being a working studio. I don't want WDW to be a collection of parks with big coasters. I want a unique experience in each of the four parks. That is what makes WDW different from other destinations.

My dream for the backlot tour would be to expand it into a full Hollywood experience - one that follows a theme of what it takes to produce a movie - either animated or with live actors (or both!). The tram would include stops at key "attractions" where guests would depart the tram for an experience/show, then re-board the tram for the next experience. And, some experiences could be on the tram itself, similar to what exists today (e.g. Catastrophe Canyon). The tour could start with a stop for how movie ideas are born, and then progress through casting/costumes, special effects, actual filming experiences, editing and sound effects, etc.

Examples of stops/attractions would include audience participation opportunities, walk-through experiences (costuming, etc.), experiences on the tram, a "filming experience" (where you get to see how a spot in a movie is made), a working show (Indy, Lights/Cars/Action, or similar), etc. Oh, and think of how the tour might have an early stop for casting, where the audience actually auditions for various roles that would take place along the tour at different stops.

One example of a new special effects attraction could be something Star Wars related. It would be an experience/show, and not a ride. Something like either the ET Adventure or Star Trek Adventure that Universal used to have. The audience needs to be immersed in both the story and also in how the movie is made, with opportunities for volunteers to participate. That could replace the Pearl Harbor Green Screen show in the current tour.

And, if there was a way to let guests enter and exit the tour at any point, that would be even more awesome. Yes, that would be a lot of work/coordination, but what a way to present a studio! That would be a fully immersive backlot tour.

HS would still have "stand-alone" attractions not on the tour, such as TT, RnRC, TSMM, Fantasmic, etc. I'd like to see a new attraction that let's guests have an opportunity to be hands on for a filming sequence. Let someone run a camera, another the switcher, someone be a director, others be cast, etc. Simple, short roles, but it would give the guest the experience.

Well... that is my dream for the backlot tour :inlove:
Love this idea. Too bad it'll never happen :(
 

DaveN1996

Active Member
I'll never forget seeing the ship from Flight of the Navigator and the diner from Rocketeer on the old tour... And I always found it neat watching the video of the lotto ticket commercial with Bette Middler I think it was and then seeing the whole set from it
 

cw1982

Well-Known Member
I'll never forget seeing the ship from Flight of the Navigator and the diner from Rocketeer on the old tour... And I always found it neat watching the video of the lotto ticket commercial with Bette Middler I think it was and then seeing the whole set from it

FWIW, the ship from Flight of the Navigator is still there. May (or may not) be in the same spot as the old tour, but I saw it last week.
 

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