Was removing the backlot tour a mistake?

[HowAboutDisney]

I've been going to Hollywood studios since 1994
And I've seen many things change, but I think the Decision to cut the backlot tour in half for the car stunt show was a mistake, in my opinion it removed the best part of the tour and hurt the park overall.. what are your thoughts?

 

[Hakunamatata]

Doesnt matter. The whole thing is gone now.

 

[AEfx]

No because it was pretty much all a fake-out to begin with and only was created in the first place to dupe guests and fill up a large swath of park space.

 

[HowAboutDisney]

Thanks so much for the reply guys, I didn't know it was mostly a fake out.. I use to love all the house fronts covered with Christmas lights also..

 

[Kylo Ken]

I think removing the whole Streets of America was a mistake.

 

[Bluewaves]

It wasn't once the studio actually ceased working as a studio, for its short life when it was an actual functioning studio it made sense, the stunt show was dumb as well and both are relegated to the dust bin of history now, bring on Toy Story Land

 

[copcarguyp71]

Cutting it in half...mistake
Getting rid of the sad remains...not so much

Once the idea of MGM being a working set was done then so was this attraction IMO.

 

[flynnibus]

I've been going to Hollywood studios since 1994
And I've seen many things change, but I think the Decision to cut the backlot tour in half for the car stunt show was a mistake, in my opinion it removed the best part of the tour and hurt the park overall.. what are your thoughts?

It was dead man walking once the studio concept was killed. What was a mistake was running the farce for the last decade plus.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Nope, The attraction became a shell of its former self The fact is DHS stopped being a working studio years ago. Back in the 1990's, filming was happening at DHS for stuff like WCW tapings that included Monday Nitro.

The working production/filming element of the park was something Disney got a rid of around 2003.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

The sad part is that they COULD have kept it up as a decent faux backlot tour and brought in more props from current movies and TV shows. But instead, they were still referencing movies like Con-Air 15 years after it left theaters and most people's minds.

 

[Matt_Black]

Back in the 1990's, filming was happening at DHS for stuff like WCW tapings that included Monday Nitro.

If that's the best example you can come up with, then good riddance to it! "He's being hit with an international object!"

 

[disney4life2008]

Out of curiosity, what happened to the prop warehouse? And is the costume and design studio still there? That was my favorite part of the tour was to go through the Disney studio.

 

[MisterPenguin]

they were still referencing movies like Con-Air 15 years after it left theaters

Confirmed: Phase 3 is Con-Air Rollercoaster

 

[Gelatoni]

I don't think it was worth the space it took up.

 

[marni1971]

I don't think it was worth the space it took up.

Not in the sorry state it had become.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

It's Disney. You don't have to have an actual studio to give a studio tour. In fact, it's better not to.

I would never have closed the Backlot and Animation tours. It's true that the magic of movies is the product, not the process. Which has undermined DHS from the concept. But DHS is set in Hollywood, it will feel incomplete without studio areas.

 

[Retroman40]

If you never experienced the attraction in the mid 90's you really missed out. If somehow you could go back in time 20 or so years the attraction would be somewhat irrelevant. The shows from the two "big" houses on residential street (Golden Girls and Empty Nest) ended in 1992 and 1995 respectively. You have to wonder how many guests today (2016) have ever seen an episode of either. The display of the Osborne Lights on residential street was a real treat. The Delta plane was famous for "Passenger 57", a 1992 movie. The entrance to Sterling Labs was from a 1992 movie that may be better known now as Keri Russell's first big role. My favorite prop was the helicopter from "Blue Thunder" a (IMHO) underrated 1983 movie. "Catastrophe Canyon" was a great show especially if the attraction host played it up. Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor's hot rod was from a 1994 episode of "Home Improvement". Again, how many guests today even remember the show much less Tim Allen's characters rivalry with Bob Vila? Both my wife and I had the opportunity to participate in the "Harbor Attack" sequence near the start of the tour.

It should be obvious I have great memories of the attraction and could go on and on. A mistake? More just the evolution of the park. Sadly as the concept morphed from making movies to being a part of the movies this attraction was doomed. LMA was a great show but it really was more about making movies than being in the movies so it's days were numbered from the start anyway.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Not in the sorry state it had become.

I felt it was ok as long as the original full tour was being done. They could have kept that up as well. I remember a time when the recording studios were filled with space related props from that TV movie that was being filmed there. Can't remember the name of it or even who was in it, but, I think it had something to do with the Space Station. Perhaps you remember it Martin, I remember seeing it, but, not what it was connected with. By then the studios really no longer existed as a working studio or was at it's very end. They could have kept it going as a faux studio tour but if I recall that was very labor intensive and very long.

In the end I think what remained of the BLT was just a way to get to use Catastrophe Canyon. So really the only attraction lost was CC. I used to have a lot of fun with CC. After my divorce, when I went solo, I would usually, because I was by myself, be queued up first in a seating line. I would talk to the families behind me and if they had never been before, I would graciously let them get on first because the best view was from the left side of the tram. People, like myself, that had been before knew about the water thing at CC, not very many newbie's did. I was amazed at how people around me just kept quiet about it and after the CC experience would turn to me and tell me how slickly I had gotten them to take the brunt of the water damage. I wasn't doing it to be mean, but, I knew that CC was minimal water damage and the the kids would love it. They did, I was entertained and everyone seemed to have a good time or at least no one attempted to kill me after, so all was good.

 

[Goofyernmost]

If you never experienced the attraction in the mid 90's you really missed out. If somehow you could go back in time 20 or so years the attraction would be somewhat irrelevant. The shows from the two "big" houses on residential street (Golden Girls and Empty Nest) ended in 1992 and 1995 respectively. You have to wonder how many guests today (2016) have ever seen an episode of either. The display of the Osborne Lights on residential street was a real treat. The Delta plane was famous for "Passenger 57", a 1992 movie. The entrance to Sterling Labs was from a 1992 movie that may be better known now as Keri Russell's first big role. My favorite prop was the helicopter from "Blue Thunder" a (IMHO) underrated 1983 movie. "Catastrophe Canyon" was a great show especially if the attraction host played it up. Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor's hot rod was from a 1994 episode of "Home Improvement". Again, how many guests today even remember the show much less Tim Allen's characters rivalry with Bob Vila? Both my wife and I had the opportunity to participate in the "Harbor Attack" sequence near the start of the tour.

It should be obvious I have great memories of the attraction and could go on and on. A mistake? More just the evolution of the park. Sadly as the concept morphed from making movies to being a part of the movies this attraction was doomed. LMA was a great show but it really was more about making movies than being in the movies so it's days were numbered from the start anyway.

You would have to not own a TV to not be aware of Home Improvement or Golden Girls. They're on in reruns a hundred times a day. One of my favorite things at the end of the tram tour was the photo op area with the Taylor's back yard fence complete with Wilson's nose and up peaking over the top.

I would have to respectfully disagree about "Blue Thunder" being underrated. And for some reason I am drawing a blank on the "Passenger 57" Delta Plane. Refresh my memory as to it's location in DHS. I have no memory of it at all.

 

[marni1971]

I would have to respectfully disagree about "Blue Thunder" being underrated. And for some reason I am drawing a blank on the "Passenger 57" Delta Plane. Refresh my memory as to it's location in DHS. I have no memory of it at all.

There was a Blue Thunder helicopter fuselage shell at various places around the boneyard over the years.

The Passanger 57 L10-11 section ended up at the end of the wardrobe corridor, opposite the scenic shop viewing window.