FettFan
Well-Known Member
And the Honey I Shrunk the Kids bee. That was always fun to watch.
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Why does everybody seem to not like the backlot tour?
- Thread starter DisneyFreakEst1994
- Start date
And the Honey I Shrunk the Kids bee. That was always fun to watch.
Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
Like nostalgia, its not what it used to be,
FettFan
Well-Known Member
TP2000
Well-Known Member
My opinion?... The DHS "Backlot Tour" is a cheesy, corporate, fake tour through a pretend backlot that really isn't a backlot.
They added it to DHS when the park opened in 1989 because the only point of reference for a "movie studios theme park" at that time was the famous tram tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. The Universal tram tour has been operating since 1964, it takes anywhere from 60 to 75 minutes to complete, and it takes you through a real working movie studio backlot with.... wait for it.... real movies and TV shows being produced as you drive by.
The tour they have in DHS was a weak copy of the Universal Hollywood tour when it opened in 1989, and it's gone downhill from there in the last 25 years. Now it's just embarassing. It's to the point now where they only keep it around because it's a "ride" that can soak up a bunch of people for at least a short amount of time and give tourists the impression that they have done something during their half-day visit to DHS.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
I knew I wasn't the only one thinking this was an obvious copy of Universal Studios Hollywood.
pumpkin7
Well-Known Member
We'll go on it every trip, just last time I definately picked up on the whole pre recorded speech and lameness of it this time. It used to be like you were heading onto a hot set when entering Catastrophe Canyon, but now it's just like 'and this is how they do this!' instead of 'OMG WE'RE DOWN HERE DON'T TURN ON THE SPECIAL EFFECTS OH NOES!!'.
Plus I don't think they've changed the props in a millenia, and it sucks that you can't see people actually working there any more.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it and will do it next trip, but it's just got tame.
Plus I don't think they've changed the props in a millenia, and it sucks that you can't see people actually working there any more.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it and will do it next trip, but it's just got tame.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Yes. DHS was only the second movie-studios theme park ever built in this country. Universal Studios Hollywood was the model that Disney copied in the late 80's when it was time to build WDW's third theme park, and the world famous tram tour that Universal Hollywood has been operating since 1964 was the big draw and the core concept behind DHS simply because that's what had made Universal Hollywood so famous.
But the problem is that the Universal Hollywood tram tour was built upon decades and decades of experience operating a major motion picture studio, and while they added a lot of touristy stuff to the tour in the 1970's and 80's, the core concept was riding a tram around a working movie studio while the guide pointed out famous sets used in famous movies. I'm not a big Universal Studios fan, but I do make it to Universal Hollywood about once every five or seven years, and the tram tour is always fantastic. Only at Universal Hollywood will the tour guide demand that everyone on board the tram suddenly be very quiet as the tram creeps past a live set where they are filming a movie or TV show. On my last visit several years ago we were shushed several times during the 75 minute tour as we crept past outdoor scenes filming a Desperate Housewives episode where Eva Longoria turned and gave a wink and a wave to the tram, a Dr. Seuss movie with amazing sets crawling with costumed actors and an army of backstage workers, and some other action movie in a city street that I can't remember the name of now.
They never had that authenticity or reality at DHS, although they tried very hard for the first few years with breathless declarations that an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club was recently taped nearby.
Since then, they've let the DHS tour go downhill very fast, without a rehab or recent addition in over a decade. When the latest "big thrill" is the Pearl Harbor set from 12 years ago, you know you have a problem.
But even more of a problem is that DHS can't get rid of the tram tour, as rickety and gutted as its become, because DHS is still not a full-day park yet. And the tram tour is seen as one of the small handful of "big rides" in the park that has very few actual rides. Just getting in that big red tram and driving around for 15 minutes past weathered props pretending to have been used in a movie once is enough of a thrill to make it count as an "attraction", and so it soldiers on.
Interestingly, the Orlando version of Universal Studios opened a year after DHS and didn't even attempt a tram tour. Universal must have known they could never recreate their legit Hollywood tour, so they just built a theme park loosely based around movies and never even attempted a tram tour through a fake movie studio.
Luckily for Disney, a majority of the people visiting WDW have never been to Universal Studios Hollywood and been on Universal's hour+ long tram tour through the working movie studio. So DHS management gets away with it for a big chunk of the WDW visitors who have no real point of reference for how truly cheesy the thing has become.
AndyS2992
Well-Known Member
This is incorrect. Universal Studios Orlando did have a studio tram tour however it is now long gone and wasn't much like the Hollywood version.
'Production Studio Tour
The Production Studio Tour was an attraction that toured the studio and production facilities of Universal Studios Florida. Inspired by Universal Studios Hollywood's Studio Tour, the Production Studio Tour opened with the park on June 7, 1990. Guests would board a tram in front of soundstage 19 (which was located next to Nickelodeon Studios/Despicable Me Attraction) or in the middle of two of the soundstages in the park's production facilities. From there they would be taken on a 15-minute journey into and around various sound stages as well as being taken on a general tour around the park. Upon the completion of the tour, guests would exit into The Universal Studios Store where they could purchase a variety of merchandise. The tour was closed in 1995, yet The Universal Studios Store remains open to this day.'
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
Yes. DHS was only the second movie-studios theme park ever built in this country. Universal Studios Hollywood was the model that Disney copied in the late 80's when it was time to build WDW's third theme park, and the world famous tram tour that Universal Hollywood has been operating since 1964 was the big draw and the core concept behind DHS simply because that's what had made Universal Hollywood so famous.
But the problem is that the Universal Hollywood tram tour was built upon decades and decades of experience operating a major motion picture studio, and while they added a lot of touristy stuff to the tour in the 1970's and 80's, the core concept was riding a tram around a working movie studio while the guide pointed out famous sets used in famous movies. I'm not a big Universal Studios fan, but I do make it to Universal Hollywood about once every five or seven years, and the tram tour is always fantastic. Only at Universal Hollywood will the tour guide demand that everyone on board the tram suddenly be very quiet as the tram creeps past a live set where they are filming a movie or TV show. On my last visit several years ago we were shushed several times during the 75 minute tour as we crept past outdoor scenes filming a Desperate Housewives episode where Eva Longoria turned and gave a wink and a wave to the tram, a Dr. Seuss movie with amazing sets crawling with costumed actors and an army of backstage workers, and some other action movie in a city street that I can't remember the name of now.
They never had that authenticity or reality at DHS, although they tried very hard for the first few years with breathless declarations that an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club was recently taped nearby.
Since then, they've let the DHS tour go downhill very fast, without a rehab or recent addition in over a decade. When the latest "big thrill" is the Pearl Harbor set from 12 years ago, you know you have a problem.
But even more of a problem is that DHS can't get rid of the tram tour, as rickety and gutted as its become, because DHS is still not a full-day park yet. And the tram tour is seen as one of the small handful of "big rides" in the park that has very few actual rides. Just getting in that big red tram and driving around for 15 minutes past weathered props pretending to have been used in a movie once is enough of a thrill to make it count as an "attraction", and so it soldiers on.
Interestingly, the Orlando version of Universal Studios opened a year after DHS and didn't even attempt a tram tour. Universal must have known they could never recreate their legit Hollywood tour, so they just built a theme park loosely based around movies and never even attempted a tram tour through a fake movie studio.
Luckily for Disney, a majority of the people visiting WDW have never been to Universal Studios Hollywood and been on Universal's hour+ long tram tour through the working movie studio. So DHS management gets away with it for a big chunk of the WDW visitors who have no real point of reference for how truly cheesy the thing has become.
I don't know why Disney attempted this in Florida. Florida and California have some similarities but when it comes to film and television production, there really is a huge difference. I bet if they attempted this in CA, it would have been much more successful. What's funny is Walt Disney initially wanted to build Disneyland, or some aspect of a theme park on his studio lot in Burbank. That's ironic.
That's what happens when you try to be something you're not. Leave the actual film production and television production tours to Universal, unless you plan on doing it in CA, and SoCal at that. I was just at Universal Studios Hollywood and we too had to shush because a television show had been filming, and we had to stay quiet. Universal Studios is one hundred years old, ninety-eight years old for the CA studio, and it's become a legend. They've been giving the public tours of the studio since 1915 and it's obvious they're experts at it now. Why try to compete with that if you're not going to even do it right? I think USO did have a tour, but evidently they failed as well. At least they've got Family Feud.
I can see why Easterners would like the old DHS tram. Probably have never seen a big time studio before. I already know, as a Californian who has seen legendary studios like Paramount, the real Disney Studios, Universal, etc., I have no doubt in my mind I wouldn't at all be impressed with the so-called ''studio" at DHS.
FettFan
Well-Known Member
It wasn't supposed to be. The original plan was to be a bona fide dark ride.
From Jim Hill -
Jim Hill Media said:If all had gone according to plan, by the time the Summer of 1991 rolled around, WDW visitors would have left the Backstage Shuttle Station ...
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved... and eventually found themselves rolling through a South Seas-themed section of Disney-MGM. Where then shuttle driver was to have then talked about all of the great adventure films that have been produced in Hollywood over the past 70 years.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reservedThis Backstage Shuttle was then supposed to have circled around that faux volcanic peak before it then drove into this massive soundstage where scenes for Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" were being shot .
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reservedOnce inside, your Backstage Shuttle driver was supposed to have made a joke to the effect of "I thought that this was supposed to have been a hot set." Why this gag was supposed to be funny was that - as your Shuttle drove onto this soundstage - WDW visitors were supposed to be hit with this blast of intense cold air as their Shuttle rolled past these massive faux ice crystals.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reservedMind you, as the Backstage Shuttle rounded the next corner, the temperature of this soundstage would then begin to rise rapidly as this Shuttle full of Guests entered a lava-filled environment ...
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved... before then rolling the tottering columns which is all that now remains of the Lost City of Atlantis.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reservedYour Backstage Shuttle driver was to have then made a joke about this set being so hot that " ... I'm getting worried that the tires on our shuttle are going to melt." But then - suddenly - your driver has a far bigger problem to deal as, rising up out of a nearby lava pool, is this massive creature ...
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved... a magma worm. Which now begins to snap and snarl at all six cars on this Backstage Shuttle.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reservedYour Backstage Shuttle narrowly escapes its far-too-close encounter with this huge horrific creature before this Shuttle exits the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" soundstage and then continues its trip around the Disney-MGM Studios backlot.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reservedThat sounds like a cool addition to Disney-MGM Studio's Backstage Studio Tour, doesn't it? So why didn't the Imagineers actually build the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" soundstage? Because - as WDW officials began to survey Guests who visited this theme park during its first summer of operation - they began to hear one consistent refrain from these people. Which was that this theme park didn't have nearly enough rides.
Which is why - as 1989 gave way to 1990 - the Imagineers abandoned their original plans for Disney-MGM's Backstage Studio Tour and opted instead to take the money that had been set aside for the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" soundstage and plowed that into a whole new "land" for that studio theme park, Sunset Boulevard
Journey to the Center of the Earth eventually did get built....he's at Tokyo DisneySea.
Interesting note: In the WDW Backlot Tour model, the Magma Worm resembled the chestburster from Alien. The finished product looks more like the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien (which, incidentally, replaced the Alien because it was deemed too scary for the Magic Kingdom)
Oh and they also have a Nautilus sub right outside the queue.
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
It doesn't really matter what it was supposed to be, the end product was a supposed "studio". I still consider it a copy because reading the details of the dark ride, it's basically what USH does to this day on their tours. Basically putting you in the movie/show. And the proposed ride is located on some sort of backlot.
kucarachi
Active Member
Because in nearly 20 years nothing has changed...being that its a real movie experience they are trying to give you thats unacceptable. Universal's Hollywood Studio's tour is uncomparable since it really is an active movie lot. But the Disney one is just a junkyard of old movie vehicles that look like they ran out of gas and are randomly laid out with little or no story as to what they are if you didn't know. I remember the old version at least having real props, live sets, and just overall was almost the centerpiece of the park...well at least before TOT & ARRC made the park worth seeing more than once in a trip. It's very un-Disney like that they let it get this bad...actually the great movie ride is more of a real set than anything on the backlot tour
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Fascinating! I never knew that; my first visit to Universal Orlando was around '97 or so. It must have been even more uninspiring than the DHS version. It sounds like it was the DHS version but without Catastrophe Canyon... zzzzzz.
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
They really did film shows there in the beginning. You can see around 25:38 of this video the different things they filmed.Yes. DHS was only the second movie-studios theme park ever built in this country. Universal Studios Hollywood was the model that Disney copied in the late 80's when it was time to build WDW's third theme park, and the world famous tram tour that Universal Hollywood has been operating since 1964 was the big draw and the core concept behind DHS simply because that's what had made Universal Hollywood so famous.
But the problem is that the Universal Hollywood tram tour was built upon decades and decades of experience operating a major motion picture studio, and while they added a lot of touristy stuff to the tour in the 1970's and 80's, the core concept was riding a tram around a working movie studio while the guide pointed out famous sets used in famous movies. I'm not a big Universal Studios fan, but I do make it to Universal Hollywood about once every five or seven years, and the tram tour is always fantastic. Only at Universal Hollywood will the tour guide demand that everyone on board the tram suddenly be very quiet as the tram creeps past a live set where they are filming a movie or TV show. On my last visit several years ago we were shushed several times during the 75 minute tour as we crept past outdoor scenes filming a Desperate Housewives episode where Eva Longoria turned and gave a wink and a wave to the tram, a Dr. Seuss movie with amazing sets crawling with costumed actors and an army of backstage workers, and some other action movie in a city street that I can't remember the name of now.
They never had that authenticity or reality at DHS, although they tried very hard for the first few years with breathless declarations that an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club was recently taped nearby.
Since then, they've let the DHS tour go downhill very fast, without a rehab or recent addition in over a decade. When the latest "big thrill" is the Pearl Harbor set from 12 years ago, you know you have a problem.
But even more of a problem is that DHS can't get rid of the tram tour, as rickety and gutted as its become, because DHS is still not a full-day park yet. And the tram tour is seen as one of the small handful of "big rides" in the park that has very few actual rides. Just getting in that big red tram and driving around for 15 minutes past weathered props pretending to have been used in a movie once is enough of a thrill to make it count as an "attraction", and so it soldiers on.
Interestingly, the Orlando version of Universal Studios opened a year after DHS and didn't even attempt a tram tour. Universal must have known they could never recreate their legit Hollywood tour, so they just built a theme park loosely based around movies and never even attempted a tram tour through a fake movie studio.
Luckily for Disney, a majority of the people visiting WDW have never been to Universal Studios Hollywood and been on Universal's hour+ long tram tour through the working movie studio. So DHS management gets away with it for a big chunk of the WDW visitors who have no real point of reference for how truly cheesy the thing has become.
It was. You boarded under what is now HRRRs mid course, drove around between some of the stages in a tram similar to DHS and USH, then drove slowly around the theme park listening to a spiel, and dodging walking guests.
Orlandos tour was always pretty much what it is. The JTTCOTE section was a blue sky addition, everything else was blue sky planning for alternate park plans.
The only major change was Cat Canyon got a fuel tanker instead of a tanker train.
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
This is incorrect. Universal Studios Orlando did have a studio tram tour however it is now long gone and wasn't much like the Hollywood version.
'Production Studio Tour
The Production Studio Tour was an attraction that toured the studio and production facilities of Universal Studios Florida.Inspired by Universal Studios Hollywood's Studio Tour, the Production Studio Tour opened with the park on June 7, 1990. Guests would board a tram in front of soundstage 19 (which was located next to Nickelodeon Studios/Despicable Me Attraction) or in the middle of two of the soundstages in the park's production facilities. From there they would be taken on a 15-minute journey into and around various sound stages as well as being taken on a general tour around the park. Upon the completion of the tour, guests would exit into The Universal Studios Store where they could purchase a variety of merchandise. The tour was closed in 1995, yet The Universal Studios Store remains open to this day.'
The USF Backlot tour was fairly short and could not compete with the tour @ MGM in the beginning. MGM tour was 1/2 a day and had the animation studios, films, sound stages, production stages, costuming, backlot residences, studio production simulation with the boat from 20K, Catstrophy Canyon, cityscape and there is plenty more that I did not mention. There may not have been a lot of production in Florida, but it was very cool and you really learned a lot and saw many sides of the movie industry. It however was so long that it became mundane for return guests to MGM Studios and was underutilized and now reduced to the action portions which can be more repeatable for most guests.
At this point the Backlot Tour needs to be retired. For what it offers, it takes up a lot of space and is a costly attraction to maintain for the limited amount of guests it sees daily.