Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
They lost a lot along the way, but I still like Catastrophe Canyon.
Remember when you had a live tour guide?
Remember when you had a live tour guide?
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Why no love for the Backlot Tour?
- Thread starter mharrington
- Start date
MUTZIE77
Well-Known Member
I liked the BLT on my first trip when instead of going left after the Harbor show, you went right and there was a longer walking tour. If I remember correctly, you would walk through the jim henson muppet workshop and you walked on the catwalk through a sound stage and could see the set from Home Improvement. There were also and lot of cooler props in the boneyard back then as well, like the dip machine from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, now the coolest thing in the boneyard is Walt's plane. These are only a few things that I can remember from around 2001, but since Lights Motors Action, the only attraction is Catastrophe Canyon and the prop room.
Isn't that the cast member parking?
Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
No thats the top lot in the main car park.
AswaySuller
Well-Known Member
.
Or you'd go through soundstages. One I remember was a courtroom. Now, they may have used it once for a commercial or something, but it was there for years and they'd tell you, "We're filming an exciting new TV show! Look for it on TV!" and mysteriously they couldn't tell you anything about it whatsoever if you asked because it didn't exist.
.
Not that I'm sticking up for the studios BUT.... this is almost always common practice.
I recently visited Universal Hollywood where they were filming a huge production that they "Couldn't tell us about".... turns out after some digging it was Pirates 4.... and also the same when I visited Warner Bros studios in Burbank.... They were filming "The Hangover 2" but couldn't tell us anything about it.... it is kinda obvious when you see Bradley Cooper et-all in costume exiting a sound stage. Just because you never caught it on prime-time T.V doesn't necessarily mean it was a fabrication.
The BLT is Awful however and needs to go.... including/especially Catastrophe canyon.... guests now demand more and aren't that gulible!
I have been disappointed in the studios lack of filming/production happening.... however this goes for Universal Studios as well as DHS/MGM. I believe they started off with good intentions, however Florida turning into an eastern Hollywood never happened and I believe both parks need to accept this and move on. I and people will always love those parks regardless of anything being filmed there.... but I really do wish they'd do something exciting with what is IMO a total waste of a LOT of space in a park that they could really utilise.
RonAnnArbor
Well-Known Member
My first thought is: while there isn't a lot of love for BLT, they have at least done a nice job of adding things to the Disney Studios Paris version: a ride through a Reign of Fire set with fire and smoke, catastrophe canyon, and a lot of Dinotopia sets and props. OF course, in Europe, the "tram ride" itself is considered an attraction, just like people "ride" the train and the paddlewheel just as "a ride", not as transportation. They also use tv monitors to have guest hosts narrating and showing you things on large flatscreen tv's mounted at the front of each tram.
My second thought is: while the BLT isn't horrible, there really isn't any re-ride value. You ride it once, and that is enough. It used to be one of the main attractions when the park first opened, but that was before they added "real" attractions/rides....remember, DHS was designed as direct competition to UniStu up the road knowing they were going to recreate their west coast tram ride...the DHS (at the time D-MGM) tram ride was a direct rip-off of the UniStu version, but they really never had much of anything to show you because it was rushed into existence and never really thought out. It never really "showed" you anything. It's why they added catastrophe canyon. The scenes that were being filmed WERE fake as one previous poster suggested and then others argued was untrue - all you had to do was ride the tram twice in a row to see that...and any true filming of scenes was never shown to the tram riders.
My third thought is: I wouldn't worry too much about the BLT. It's slated to go in the near future as they develop the park further. It's their largest chunk of currently "unused" land in the park, and it's already been slated for development.
My second thought is: while the BLT isn't horrible, there really isn't any re-ride value. You ride it once, and that is enough. It used to be one of the main attractions when the park first opened, but that was before they added "real" attractions/rides....remember, DHS was designed as direct competition to UniStu up the road knowing they were going to recreate their west coast tram ride...the DHS (at the time D-MGM) tram ride was a direct rip-off of the UniStu version, but they really never had much of anything to show you because it was rushed into existence and never really thought out. It never really "showed" you anything. It's why they added catastrophe canyon. The scenes that were being filmed WERE fake as one previous poster suggested and then others argued was untrue - all you had to do was ride the tram twice in a row to see that...and any true filming of scenes was never shown to the tram riders.
My third thought is: I wouldn't worry too much about the BLT. It's slated to go in the near future as they develop the park further. It's their largest chunk of currently "unused" land in the park, and it's already been slated for development.
C&D
Well-Known Member
Been on the BLT tour many times, still like it; sometimes skip it but still a must do if the timing is right. I still enjoy CC and get a kick out of watching the seamstresses and workshop people doing their jobs. The ride is relaxing (sure they could add more) but I wouldn't call it bad. JMO, of course.
How do you know?
RedFoxRunner
Member
True, MGM Studios was not a full time movie studio and most of it was put on. I do remember going through the backlot when Mickey Mouse Club had been filming and in the mid 90s they were filming "From Earth to the Moon" an HBO mini-series with Tom Hanks which DID air. By no means was this a regular standard for MGM but it was used on occasion.
I do remember when we first went there in the early 90s how "grand" it seemed to see the props, wardrobe, sets (from actual shows), etc. Now the props are from movies from 20 years ago which is still neat, but it should be a self guided walking tour in a building - I think there would be alot more value in that. On a hot summer day, have the movie sets/props set around where you can view it at your own pace and to get a break from the outdoors (similar to the previous movie tours ie: Prince Caspian, 101 Dalmations, etc). I remember this lay out was used when they had "The Lottery" (with Bette Midler) showing how movie effects were created. It was simple, but I liked it and it was informative for the average person who didn't know alot about movie making.
The other alternative would be to have a mock movie set where it takes audience participation in a series of film sequences. Kind of like Indiana Jones but it would involve outdoor scenes, indoor scenes, etc that would be a guided walking tour with the end result being the "Final production." (Think a mix of Monster Sound Stage, the movie back lot tours, and Superstar Television but modernized). I wouldn't try to sell the new tour as an actual Hollywood film being produced but just say it's to show guests how a film is made. I would incorporate a little bit of what they do at the new Earthquake ride at Universal Studios but more involved. I think it would free up room at the "Backlot" for an enjoyable ride but still maintain the element of "Hollywood/Movie Making." It would also create entertainment for a family demographic and provide a way to get out of the summer heat!
I do remember when we first went there in the early 90s how "grand" it seemed to see the props, wardrobe, sets (from actual shows), etc. Now the props are from movies from 20 years ago which is still neat, but it should be a self guided walking tour in a building - I think there would be alot more value in that. On a hot summer day, have the movie sets/props set around where you can view it at your own pace and to get a break from the outdoors (similar to the previous movie tours ie: Prince Caspian, 101 Dalmations, etc). I remember this lay out was used when they had "The Lottery" (with Bette Midler) showing how movie effects were created. It was simple, but I liked it and it was informative for the average person who didn't know alot about movie making.
The other alternative would be to have a mock movie set where it takes audience participation in a series of film sequences. Kind of like Indiana Jones but it would involve outdoor scenes, indoor scenes, etc that would be a guided walking tour with the end result being the "Final production." (Think a mix of Monster Sound Stage, the movie back lot tours, and Superstar Television but modernized). I wouldn't try to sell the new tour as an actual Hollywood film being produced but just say it's to show guests how a film is made. I would incorporate a little bit of what they do at the new Earthquake ride at Universal Studios but more involved. I think it would free up room at the "Backlot" for an enjoyable ride but still maintain the element of "Hollywood/Movie Making." It would also create entertainment for a family demographic and provide a way to get out of the summer heat!
Very true.
Sad since original backlot tour was worth it
The greatest insult to a loyal Disneyphile is when Disney goes out of it's way to tell them "We're not even going to make an effort; just give us your money". The 2011 Backlot Tour is a perfect example of this. And that is why people criticize it. They aren't criticizing what was once there. They aren't criticize the concept of a backlot tour or a "working" studio. They are criticizing management letting the whole thing fall apart and not caring even a little bit.
WDW2010
Member
Last year on my first trip to WDW backlot tour was closed for refurb. Luckily this year it was not and I did go on it. Personally, I enjoyed myself I didn't know what to expect but I liked it and so did my girlfriend and her grandparents. The canyon was pretty cool since I was not expecting to tilt back and fourth and 2398239823 gallons of water to come crashing down on me and have my girlfriend grab me for dear life because I was taking pictures a little outside of the seating 
WDW2010
Member
I'm upset after reading these posts on how good it WAS, which makes me wish I seen the old backlot tour back in the day. What was so different? Sorry if its somewhere in this thread I skipped around a few posts
ElvisMickey
Well-Known Member
The Backlot Tour is a depressing reminder of what it used to be. In my opinion, the best part of it now is getting to walk through the props warehouse. Love seing the old World Of Motion props...which is depressing too. Lol...
Chrononymous
Well-Known Member
I think of the backlot the same way I think of the Imagination Pavillion.
Used to be wonderful...now if they bulldozed it, I probably wouldn't even notice.
Used to be wonderful...now if they bulldozed it, I probably wouldn't even notice.
I would notice.
Since1976
Well-Known Member
I was so looking forward to riding the BLT again when I rode it more than a decade after its "heyday" in the early 90s. I was so disappointed to find that nearly everything I loved about it -- the walking tour, the effects demonstrations -- was gone. Residential street was still open, but even with that I thought "Why do they keep this sham of an attraction open?"
It is my secret hope that the backlot will one day be razed to make way for an expanded Star Wars land, or -- if Uni decides to close down their own themed land -- a Marvel land with an emphasis on the movie versions of their superheroes.
My prediction: once new Fantasyland is up and running, we'll get news of something exciting to be built in place of BLT.
It is my secret hope that the backlot will one day be razed to make way for an expanded Star Wars land, or -- if Uni decides to close down their own themed land -- a Marvel land with an emphasis on the movie versions of their superheroes.
My prediction: once new Fantasyland is up and running, we'll get news of something exciting to be built in place of BLT.
The original tour was 90 minutes to 2 hours long and very interesting.What was so different? Sorry if its somewhere in this thread I skipped around a few posts