Who remembers these Universal things?

[WebmasterBarry]

The following things are no longer at Universal, but who remembers them?

USF:
AT&T at the Movies
Psycho House
The old Hard Rock Cafe
The parking lot and trams
Extra Crispy (guys who played grills like drums)
The Swamp Thing set
Herc and Xena show
Ghostbusters
The old Jaws
Dynamite Stuntacular

IOA:
Bandits Out of Time street show
Confscio's character lunch
The tank by the Hulk Coaster
The old Eighth Voyage of Sinbad show
The old Posideon's Fury show
Jet ski show in the lagoon
Island Skipper Tours
Spice Island Sausages

Anything else?

[apanopio]

I remember some kind of Miami Vice show and a Star Trek audience participation show. That may have been Hollywood though.

[CoasterFEV]

Don't forget:

USF:
The old backlot tram tour at Universal Studios Florida
Murder She Wrote (before Herc & Xena)
Rocky & Bullwinkle Show

Also:

IOA:
Ja-Roo
Pandemonium (sp?) Cartoon Circus (who COULD forget?)
The "old" drop on Ripsaw Falls
When the regular queue at Spiderman went through the Dark Rm
When anyone could ride Pteranadon Flyers
The original version of Triceratops Encounter
The original (and MUCH more dizzying) Cat in the Hat?

also (p.s.) if you watch carefully, the Tank has returned to Hulk - it's sits out back near the last inversion and Storm Force.

[WebmasterBarry]

Now I remember Ja-Roo! I remember them standing around while one of them did a trick.

How about the steel drum band at Jurassic Park?

[MrNonacho]

Universal Backlot Tour? I honestly can't remember this one.. What exactly did the tour involve?

[WebmasterBarry]

The tour was a tram tour that went around and around USF. It showed clips of movies. I have a USF souvenir video and I saw a glimpse of the tour.

[CoasterFEV]

Yep! I remember the steel drum band (used to perform in front of Jurassic Outfitters).

Also, let's not forget:

- Fast Track
- Universal Express (the ORIGINAL Universal Express, the one with the cards handed out at the turnstiles - valid open to 11am)
- 7am daily openings
- River Adventure WITHOUT the padded lap bars

[deena]

I definitely remember Psycho House, AT&T at the Movies Ghostbusters, Dynamite Stuntacular, backlot tram tour, and Murder She Wrote.

[chris mcfly]

What about...

1) The attraction that blue-screened you into a little universal promo video (before it was the IOA preview center) (before it was KONG distribution)

2) When Monica Lewinsky came out at the Bill + Teds show with a big white stain on her dress (which was promptly removed)

3) When the earthquake pre-shows had about an extra 5 minutes of interaction with C. Heston that was just toooo long.

4) When the place was going to be called "Universal City Florida"

5) When, by far, the best experience in the park was when the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man got destoyed and the audience got blasted with fog (a-la t23d)

6) When you actually beleived the Production Buildings at the entrance to USF were ACTUALLY where the producers and directors were.

7) When the USF Studio Guide had a page of pictures of about 50 celebrities that you thought you might get to see if you kept your eyes open.

8) When Tickets were called "Studio Passes", and the passes listed which areas you had access to as a studio guest (commisaries, front lot, etc)

9) The old Nametags with the globe on them. Or the really old name tags with the Marquee on them. Or the REALLY old nametags with the pink marquee on them. Or the original IOA logo nametags with the kooky first logo.

10) Or the second IOA logo with the centered and symmetric font.

11) Or when there was going to be a golf course on property by now, and expanded soundtage facilities.

12) Or when CityWalk was called E-Zone. And there was going to be the USA's largest SEGA arcade there. And Tower Records. And the E! studio.

[Notatourist]

Originally posted by chris mcfly
What about...

1) The attraction that blue-screened you into a little universal promo video (before it was the IOA preview center) (before it was KONG distribution)

You mean when it was called the Screen Test Home Video Adventure-with a Star Trek Adventure, Hosted By Gene Roddenberry, and a Your Day at Universal?

2) When Monica Lewinsky came out at the Bill + Teds show with a big white stain on her dress (which was promptly removed)
It just kept getting larger.

3) When the earthquake pre-shows had about an extra 5 minutes of interaction with C. Heston that was just toooo long.
Yep.

4) When the place was going to be called "Universal City Florida"

5) When, by far, the best experience in the park was when the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man got destoyed and the audience got blasted with fog (a-la t23d)
This would be the Ghostbuster attraction

6) When you actually beleived the Production Buildings at the entrance to USF were ACTUALLY where the producers and directors were.
Well, they still are there.
No really, they are still there.

7) When the USF Studio Guide had a page of pictures of about 50 celebrities that you thought you might get to see if you kept your eyes open.

8) When Tickets were called "Studio Passes", and the passes listed which areas you had access to as a studio guest (commisaries, front lot, etc)
And they were blue!


9) The old Nametags with the globe on them. Or the really old name tags with the Marquee on them. Or the REALLY old nametags with the pink marquee on them. Or the original IOA logo nametags with the kooky first logo.
Is this the slanted logo or the straight one? The straight one was first (no tag) then the slanted wacky logo.

10) Or the second IOA logo with the centered and symmetric font.
See the above.

11) Or when there was going to be a golf course on property by now, and expanded soundtage facilities.

12) Or when CityWalk was called E-Zone. And there was going to be the USA's largest SEGA arcade there. And Tower Records. And the E! studio.

[Notatourist]

Originally posted by MrNonacho
Universal Backlot Tour? I honestly can't remember this one.. What exactly did the tour involve?


This was a fifteen minute tour that took you by tram around the soundstage area, by the Swamp thing set, and through the backlot street sets giving you information about the studios, how we used them, etc.

The way original version of this was a tour of the frontlot-who remembers this?

[pathubia]

Wow, I had forgotton all about ghostbusters, i loved that, and we did go on the tram tour. That was in July of 1994.

Patty

[Robinrs]

I'll never forget the Herc and Xena show. My son named my cat after her! (And then was shocked that there was actually a show about it!)

I remember all the stuff from the IOA list Barry gave, especially the Island Skipper tours and the :sniff: Confisco Character lunch! It had become a tradition with us! :(

[johare]

I moved down here in 1990 and had a celebrity annual pass for the first couple years so I remember nearly everything on Barry's list. Wasn't there more than one version of the Ghostbusters show or was there something else there in between Ghostbusters and Twister? I also remember a different 'globe' out in front of the Universal Studios entrance. btw: Do they still do the second part of the Hitchcock show where they re-enact the shower scene?

[Notatourist]

Yes, there were two versions of Ghostbusters-

one with the hostess, the other with Louis Tully-

As for the Globe, you mean the metal one...Not the spiffy blue one that is there now.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I remember those videos! Just got the tape out, I think the name of the store is Screen Test Home Video Adventure, we did ours in Oct 93. We chose the Star Trek episode but I also remember there being a Laruel and Hardy episode. It is one of my most embarassing moments, the employee behind the counter popped the tape in and let everyone in the store see our really bad acting skills. :o :o Universal should bring back unique things like
that. My acting skills are much improved, ;)

[RUN]

I never had a chance to go on the Ghostbuster's ride. What was it like?

[chris mcfly]

Originally posted by IOArules
I never had a chance to go on the Ghostbuster's ride. What was it like?

It was a show. The GBs would run around a building rooftop and shoot ghosts created with the "pepper's ghost" trick, like the Haunted Mansion. It climaxed with a huge inflatable marshmallow man.

[Mouser]

I remember all the Universal Stuff, and some of the IOA stuff...been going there a long time as you can tell....:)

[UKPhil]

What about the Hollywood Hi-Tones (a capella singing group who appeared outside Mels Diner at Universal Studios). They were great!

Or are they still around and just weren't appearing on our last trip?

[Notatourist]

Sadly, the Hi Tones are gone-

There is a girl group out there now.

[millerglass]

I just happened to be in Florida on business one of the 1st weeks it was opened back in the 80's.

As soon as we walked in, they gave us all a complimentary ticket to come back again good forever.

Earthquake was only in the first section. The tram was not working. And the first section (in the thearter) was a pretty long show compared to now.

Jaws actually worked and worked well. I later heard that they redid it because it never worked.

On ET, our car got stuck just as it entered the disembark area. They had to call maintenance to find out why our car did not go the last 10 feet. It was kind of funny listening to them guess. "I think if I press this switch it'll move". They were right, and it did.

King Kong was not operating.

It's come a long way. Boy am I glad it has. I'll be there in November.

Eric

[UKDEB]

Well, the only things I don't remember from Barry's list are:

Extra Crispy
The old Jaws - can someone tell me what's different. I'm sure I must have done it.
Spice Island Sausages - ?!

We've been twice since IoA and CityWalk have opened and we always stand there and say 'Remember when this was the parking lot?' and try to work out where everything was. When we went in '98 I0A and CW were under construction and the multi-storey parking lot and moving walkways were in-situ.

[WebmasterBarry]

Spice Island Wings and Fries used to sell sausage sandwiches. Extra Crispy used to pop up around Mardi Gras, but I haven't seen them in years.

[Melanie1001]

I remember all these things :)

I've always felt very privileged to have been able to ride the original Jaws twice! My own personal opinion will always be that the original was better too.
I even saw 2 different incarnations of the Ghostbusters show...it was a fun show actually, but Twister is better.

I got to see Swamp Thing in all his makeup once while down there, and that was very cool for me cause I loved that show.

Now here's the thing--I remember before Herc and Xena--The Murder She Wrote show....very similar type but still fun too. "The Black Pearl! <faints>"

The Dynamite Stunt Spectacular rocked, I even loved watching them practice on the lake. That boathouse explosion at the end was very cool.

I have some great shots of the Bates Motel and the Psycho House, pictures of the old Hard Rock Cafe...

Only thing I don't remember is Extra Crispy...dang didn't realize I'd been going there so long!

[Nan]

I believe Chris Kirkpatrick, currently a member of 'NSYNC, was once a member of the Do-Wop group that sang in front of Mel's.

Nan

[apanopio]

Joey Fatone of NSYNC fame played the wolfman on the Beetle Juice Revue.

[Notatourist]

Yes, Chris was a hollywood hi Tone, and Joey was Wolfie-

[WebmasterBarry]

I remember someone was selling a tape of them during their Universal years on eBay.

Has Notatourist been going to Universal since she was knee-high to a grasshopper? :)

[Melanie1001]

about the same time I was...We were there sometime in late summer, how about you?

[Notatourist]

Barry, let's just put it this way...


Yes.

[JessicaR]

Add to the IOA list...I remember and MISS the adventure guy :( He was a highlight of our December trip and greatly missed last month. Also had a meal at Confisco's where they were offering express passes if you had a meal there...I wish they would just bring the characters back. The food was great but we sure did miss the characters.
I remember the GB show! I miss that too. Great thread, Barry. Thanks for the memories.

[Robin1116]

We (DM and myself) went to Universal Studios Flordia about four days after it first opened... we got free tickets to come back (good for one year) due to the fact that none of the rides werre working right and everything kept breaking down....

Does anyone remember I Love Lucy Tribute (is this still there?)

I do miss the Hitchcock Display..... the great gift shop where you could pick up Bates Motel items!!!! I also lost our camera here....

:(

[Notatourist]

Miss?

Hitchcock is still there.

[WebmasterBarry]

Hitchcock is still there, but the Psycho soundstage show has changed.

[Melanie1001]

I prefer the lack of audience participation in the stage set, anyone else feel that way?
I also wish they'd do away with it in the Earthquake stage set...

but maybe thats just me :jester:

[Meagansmom]

I too remember most of things people are posting. We were also there when it first opened. We also received free tickets. I do remember that one day, when it first opened, there was a live taping of (I believe) Pyscho 2. We did get to meet Anthony Perkins and watch while they were taping. We just happened to catch this walking over to the old Hard Rock Cafe. We go every year or at least every other year and it sure is fun to see the changes. And try to remember what was there before.

[Notatourist]

Ah the days when they shot Psycho on the backlot...sigh...

The Good Old Days....

[WebmasterBarry]

Originally posted by Notatourist
Barry, let's just put it this way...


Yes.

I think you ought to get a job at Universal. I think you ought to try out for Princess Amora in the Sinbad show. :)

[Notatourist]

Barry, you promised not to tell!

[WebmasterBarry]

You're Princess Amora? How do you keep your legs in such great shape? :)

[seacook]

The USF globe at the corner of Kirtland & Major Blvd, and the :20 minute walk into the park on the sidewalk along Major Blvd because we thought it would be easier from the Days Inn than driving to the parking lot & taking the tram. (wrong!) On the walk back, take a short-cut through the old Hard Rock Cafe. Hints and construction of something new & wonderful (IOA to be), and HRH location was just a bunch of trees! :D

[Notatourist]

Days Inn! That's a haul!

ah, the old days....when you could ride the movies..:)