Current Backlot Tour

[FettFan]

So whats left?

The "Captain Duck" show is still there in spirit, only now it's "Harbor Attack". In the olden, golden days, this was the beginning of the walking portion of the studio tour, just before you moved into the soundstages.

After Harbor Attack, you load into the trams. You drive in a circle around two of the prop planes from Pearl Harbor and go into Creative Costuming. Only now, instead of making costumes for movies, you can watch the folks making and repairing costumes for WDW cast members.

After costuming, you go past a 10' or so topiary shaped like the Earful Tower, then pass Lights Motors Action, where if you are lucky one of the performers will wave out of the window at you. Then you pass Disney's personal jet and go into Catastrophe Canyon.

Outside of the Canyon, you make a beeline back to the Harbor Attack area where you are unloaded at the AFI Showcase.
The entire thing takes about 20-25 minutes.

It's only worth doing if you are jonesing for nostalgia....chiefly Catastrophe Canyon, however the queue building before you load into the trams does contain a few notable inhabitants: Tick-Tock from Return to Oz, Johnny-5 from Short Circuit, and the buggy that Bob Hoskins rode during the Benny the Cab sequence from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. (which should totally be dubbed "The Mario Kart")

I'm of the opinion that they should just close it down for good and turn the building into a Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers....especially since from the outside, it already looks like a Raising Cane's.

Leave all the props there, just add some booths and tables and serve that awesome chicken with the garlic sauce.

 

[Tom]

The "Captain Duck" show is still there in spirit, only now it's "Harbor Attack". In the olden, golden days, this was the beginning of the walking portion of the studio tour, just before you moved into the soundstages.

After Harbor Attack, you load into the trams. You drive in a circle around two of the prop planes from Pearl Harbor and go into Creative Costuming. Only now, instead of making costumes for movies, you can watch the folks making and repairing costumes for WDW cast members.

After costuming, you go past a 10' or so topiary shaped like the Earful Tower, then pass Lights Motors Action, where if you are lucky one of the performers will wave out of the window at you. Then you pass Disney's personal jet and go into Catastrophe Canyon.

Outside of the Canyon, you make a beeline back to the Harbor Attack area where you are unloaded at the AFI Showcase.
The entire thing takes about 20-25 minutes.

It's only worth doing if you are jonesing for nostalgia....chiefly Catastrophe Canyon, however the queue building before you load into the trams does contain a few notable inhabitants: Tick-Tock from Return to Oz, Johnny-5 from Short Circuit, and the buggy that Bob Hoskins rode during the Benny the Cab sequence from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. (which should totally be dubbed "The Mario Kart")

I'm of the opinion that they should just close it down for good and turn the building into a Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers....especially since from the outside, it already looks like a Raising Cane's.

Leave all the props there, just add some booths and tables and serve that awesome chicken with the garlic sauce.

Johnny 5 is in the prop warehouse???? How have I never seen him???

 

[FettFan]

Johnny 5 is in the prop warehouse???? How have I never seen him???

I'm not sure if he's still there, but when he was, he looked like random equipment. Arms were folded in and his head tilted back and kind of staring at the ceiling. If it weren't for me spotting the treads first, I would have missed him.

Edit- according to these guys it was the gold version from the end of Short Circuit 2 and as of 2007 he's been removed, whereabouts unknown. I have a pic of him and Tik-Tok on the shelf together somewhere in a shoebox I'll have to find and scan it.

Tik-Tok of Oz has also been removed, though he's fared somewhat better...refurbished and now at the Disney Archives and appears at D23 events on occasion.

 

[jurezgez]

There is a pre taped audio that plays so gone are the jokes and the fun.

 

[Csmith041177]

I have to admit, I have never done this tour. However, my wife are going to try it just to say we have on our next trip this Fall.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

At this point, Disney isn't doing much of anything with the Backlot Tour. The same displays from the past several years are still there and nothing new has been added in the Boneyard. I'd only recommend going if you haven't done it in the past 10 years or so, otherwise there is absolutely nothing new there.

 

[disney4life2008]

I have to admit, I have never done this tour. However, my wife are going to try it just to say we have on our next trip this Fall.

Go but do not have high hopes. Its one of those attractions where you go expecting a real backlot tour and get off feeling like you have wasted 40 minutes. It is really unfortunate. But I always go to it and the lines are usually relatively long. I am still sick they tore down the golden girls house - that would be more a of pull today than lights camera action show - i absolutely hate that show in that hot sun.

 

[disney4life2008]

In the future, I will skip it...DHS is becoming a half a day park.

LOL I have arrived by 10am and out by 2. There is not enough for me to do to stay there an entire day. To AK credit - while it lacks in attractions I can stay an entire day walking the trails and eating unique foods. HS on the other hand I am out by 2pm and usually return for Fantasmic that evening

 

[RedtoGray]

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

Didn't they have a part of the tour where you could ride the Bee in Honey, I shrunk the Kids? I always wanted to do that when I was a kid.

 

[Tuvalu]

Didn't they have a part of the tour where you could ride the Bee in Honey, I shrunk the Kids? I always wanted to do that when I was a kid.

Yes, that was in the walking part of the tour. It took place where the Legend of Jack Sparrow is now. Both my boys got picked to ride the bee at the same time. We have it on video and it is priceless.

 

[draybook]

Yours truly as the captain!!

 

[75disney]

In years past, I have been captain of the tug boat and one of the kids on the bee. Last time I was there, they didn't pick guests to do the water scene. We saw an abbreviated explanation in which they only demonstrated the water effects. It was really crowded that day and on the chilly side, so I don't know if those factors had anything to do with the omission. Having experienced the attraction when the park first opened and doing it through the years, the current version is very sad and needs to be replaced.

 

[Horizons1]

It is a joke today.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We did it in May (first time since 2005), after an unplanned second day in Hollywood Studios left us with very little in the park that we hadn't already done.

It was okay - but ONLY because everyone in my party had either never done it before, or had already heard about how little of the original was left, so our expectations were lowered accordingly. I enjoyed Catastrophe Canyon and walking through the AFI Showcase, and the Harbor Attack segment was unintentionally hilarious thanks to one of the volunteers, but other than that, I was utterly bored.

As long as you go into it knowing what to expect, don't have to wait more than 5 minutes, and aren't sacrificing "better things to do" to go on the Backlot Tour, it's not bad.

 

[FettFan]

Didn't they have a part of the tour where you could ride the Bee in Honey, I shrunk the Kids? I always wanted to do that when I was a kid.

And your performance was critiqued by Siskel and Ebert.

 

[Goofyernmost]

In the future, I will skip it...DHS is becoming a half a day park.

Isn't the backlot tour closed right now, or was that postponed for a while. If they have closed it for "Refub", don't be even a little surprised if no one ever sees it again. There is no longer a reason for it being there and they might just need the area for a new attraction. Hee Hee!

 

[KLinder7]

Johnny 5 is in the prop warehouse???? How have I never seen him???

He was not there in April. Love Johnny 5 and no way could I have missed.

 

[Communicore]

The "Captain Duck" show is still there in spirit, only now it's "Harbor Attack". In the olden, golden days, this was the beginning of the walking portion of the studio tour, just before you moved into the soundstages.

After Harbor Attack, you load into the trams. You drive in a circle around two of the prop planes from Pearl Harbor and go into Creative Costuming. Only now, instead of making costumes for movies, you can watch the folks making and repairing costumes for WDW cast members.

After costuming, you go past a 10' or so topiary shaped like the Earful Tower, then pass Lights Motors Action, where if you are lucky one of the performers will wave out of the window at you. Then you pass Disney's personal jet and go into Catastrophe Canyon.

Outside of the Canyon, you make a beeline back to the Harbor Attack area where you are unloaded at the AFI Showcase.
The entire thing takes about 20-25 minutes.

It's only worth doing if you are jonesing for nostalgia....chiefly Catastrophe Canyon, however the queue building before you load into the trams does contain a few notable inhabitants: Tick-Tock from Return to Oz, Johnny-5 from Short Circuit, and the buggy that Bob Hoskins rode during the Benny the Cab sequence from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. (which should totally be dubbed "The Mario Kart")

I'm of the opinion that they should just close it down for good and turn the building into a Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers....especially since from the outside, it already looks like a Raising Cane's.

Leave all the props there, just add some booths and tables and serve that awesome chicken with the garlic sauce.

Oh boy I love this joint!

 

[Tuvalu]

Isn't the backlot tour closed right now, or was that postponed

It is open, did it last Tuesday.

 

[Goofyernmost]

It is open, did it last Tuesday.

Well, enjoy it, I have a strong feeling that it isn't long for the 'Disney' World. Just a hunch... no insider information there at all.