Univeral Studios Tour

Описание: The Studio Tour (also known as The Backlot Tour) is a ride attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in Universal City, California near Los Angeles.

Studio Tour is the theme park's signature attraction. It travels through a working film studio, with various film sets on the Universal Studios Lot. Guests sit on multi-car trams for the duration of the ride.

The tour lasts about 45–60 minutes and is led by a prerecorded video guide by Jimmy Fallon. It travels through the Front Lot, Backlot, and various attractions, passing sets and properties from movies along the way. The tour inspired a smaller but similar version at Universal Studios Florida, which was removed in 1995.

History

The Studio Tour attraction opened in 1915 and originally consisted of bleacher seating for an admission cost of 25 cents. In 1964, pink and white Glamor Trams were introduced, and the tram tour was the main way of seeing all the attractions at Universal. The Front Lot Commissary was the original departure point for the tram. In 1965, the Upper Lot Studio Tour Center opened. The studio tour has since evolved to incorporate advanced technology.

Film sets

Courthouse Square from the Back to the Future films (while redressed for the TV show Ghost Whisperer)
Sets from the Universal movies Psycho, Back to the Future, The Sting, The Great Outdoors, and the Paramount/DreamWorks film War of the Worlds are visited in the tour.

Until June 1, 2008, the tour also passed through a group of facades resembling city streets of New York (used in the filming of Bruce Almighty and some elements in Transformers), Bring It On: In It to Win It, and New England, as well as the Courthouse Square set famously seen in the Back to the Future trilogy. However, these sets were constructed mainly of wood and therefore were highly flammable and burned to the ground in an early morning fire.All the sets have been rebuilt and a new attraction at the Studio features King Kong: 360 3-D, which opened July 1, 2010.

The area beside the Psycho house (known as Psycho Flats) used to be the site of Falls Lake — a large water-tank and waterfall used in numerous productions. Falls Lake was moved over the summer of 2008, and the area is currently occupied by the huge outdoor airplane-crash set built for War Of The Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg and crew were on the Universal backlot for three days shooting on the massive outdoor set. A commercial Boeing 747-100SR aircraft formerly owned by All Nippon Airways was chopped into pieces and transported to Universal, where the full set has been left fully dressed as it was during filming. The only change made to the set following filming was to move the houses on the right of the tram off the road (so the tram can pass safely). As in the movie, there are no bodies in the plane wreckage, but during Halloween Horror Nights, a combination of cast members and dummies have been put in place as crash victims. This set has also been used for two music videos, The Fray's "Never Say Never" and "Fly" by Nicki Minaj.

Staged events
The Studio Tour includes some special demonstrations, as well as some small segments. For example, an encounter with King Kong (King Kong: 360 3-D), a simulated flash flood, an 8.3 earthquake, a short encounter with Jaws, and a high-speed car chase featuring the cast from the Fast & Furious movie franchise (Fast & Furious: Supercharged).

Flash flood attraction on The Studio Tour.
Flash Flood (1968)
The downhill flood effect has appeared in many films, including Big Fat Liar and Fletch Lives.

Jaws (1976)
The Jaws event opened a year after the release of Steven Spielberg's 1975 film. It is an attraction that features the moving shark anamatronic from the film and other sets.

Earthquake (1989)
The Earthquake event is an 8.3 earthquake inside a soundstage, designed to make it look like a San Francisco subway station. They have a hot set; a hot set is a stage in which various props stay in use and cannot be moved.

Jurassic Park (1996)
When the tram passes through the Isla Nublar set, guests are sprayed by animatronic Dilophosaurus. It is very similar to the end of the Jurassic Park: The Ride. Prior to the event, the tram also passes props and vehicles from the original Jurassic Park films.

Main article: King Kong: 360 3-D
Studio Tour guests wear 3-D glasses as the tram enters a sound stage dressed as a recreation of Skull Island. Two Venatosaurus creatures attack and begin to chase the tram, which disturbs King Kong, who begins to fight them. The fight continues from one side of the tram to the other, as air and water effects are blown onto guests to further the illusion. Near the end of the experience, a V-Rex gets a hold of what is supposed to be the last tram car and pulls it from the train, throwing it down a pit. Kong defeats the V-Rex and roars in triumph.

Enjoy the tour trip!