Old USF thoughts....

[chris mcfly]

I was reading some of the other posts on here by DocBosch and kellymonoghan and It just really got me thinking. Wow- What a difference in the USF of 1991 and the USF of today. A totally different atmosphere.

A couple days ago, I was looking through an old promotional brochure of USF from 1991. It is amazing how much more of a "studio" theme there was back then. This WAS AN ACTUAL MOVIE STUDIO. Its so funny to open up this brochure and see a page with the word "Stars!" in big gold letters with photos of every movie star imaginable (all taken on grand opening day, of course). The idea that these STARS were constantly roaming the studio is a little bit of an exaggeration, but you FELT like they were. In the Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular page, it refers to the actors as "Hollywood's best stuntmen" and a photo of the boathouse exploding is captioned by the phrase "Only we could pull of a stunt like this!". Elsewhere it states "Roam our backlots and watch as our Cinemagicians (TM) make movie magic happen!".

I loved the look of the old tickets-uhm, excuse me, "STUDIO PASSES". On the front of them, it told you what areas you had access to (commisary, front lot, etc). All hoopla, of course, but still- it made you feel as if you were paying admission to roam around an actual working movie studio. I can remember coming down here on vacation from New England when i was younger, and leaving USF feeling like I had just taken a step into Hollywood. I wanted to work in the business.

Do people still feel like this today? Do I just not feel that way anymore becuase I am there all the time now? Or has this park totally lost its studio feel?

I gotta give it to 'em... In the early 90s, Universal had such grand visions- Orlando would soon be the Hollywood of the east. With things being so cheap, everyone everywhere would want to come to USF to film their movies. Looking at old internal company documents, all house phones were called "studio phones". On the phones, it said "Dial 0 for a studio operator"... "Contact studio security in case of an emergency" Anyway- you get the idea.

I can remember driving into the parking lot off of Turkey Lake and seeing Laurel and Hardy in the hot Florida sun standing by the little pink and green neon Universal Studios sign, waving to cars as they pass by. Or entering through the Kirkman entrance, by the Huge gold UNIVERSAL STUDIOS letters, making me feel as if I am in for something really special.

Little details that are no longer there. Like the payphones in the front of the park has a silver plate above them that said "E.T. Phone Home Center". Or me, looking at the Administration building at the front entrance and wondering what big studio execs are in there.

Alright, so I was 13 years younger, a little stupider, and not knowledgeable about how theme parks are, well... just that-- themed.

Does anyone have any old scanned photos of USF during its first years or know where I can find them? The Parking lot? the Psycho house? the Feivel Theatere? Ghostbusters show? Studio Stars Restaurant? Anything?

Do you feel that USF is better the way it is now? (i.e. listening to J-Lo's hits from 3 years ago while walking through New York and having attractions that have little or no educational value). Have DVDs ruined the studio theme park? Do people even care about how movies are made anymore? 10 Years ago, nobody knew what a green screen was. Now kids can use their macintosh to do whatever movie effect they dream. It is a good thing that everything is business and marketing based?

 

[kellymonaghan]

Profound thoughts, my friend. And proof that not every McFly is a slacker.

One contributing factor, I think, is that when USF opened it was envisioned as a real studio that would attract serious film production to Orlando. That seemed to be happening for awhile but it slacked off. E! was supposed to have a studio in CutyWalk, but that never happened. Even Nick has shifted most of its production to L.A. Maybe that has something to do with the changes you note.

(I'm not super knowledgeable about the ups and downs of film production in Central Florida. Maybe someone else can add more.)

Another thing is that theme parks are designed by people who's job is to create magic. Theme parks are run by people who's job is to create money. The two don't always go hand in hand. If something is not showing a good enough ROI (return on investment) it's gotta go.

Another factor that I think contributed to the demise of the more "educational" aspects was that the park began attracting significant numbers of foreign guests with limited English skills. Since the "edutainment" was heavily language dependent, they couldn't really enjoy these attractions. Of course, they were also heavily dependent on performers and, therefore, relatively more expensive.

Theme parks also "listen" to to their customers and try to provide them with what they want. This inevitably tends to smooth things out to the least common denominator. That's one reason why they no longer serve alligator nuggets at Burger Digs and why the Mythos menu is not as exciting as it was when IOA first opened.

Finally, Chris, m'lad, I think you're just getting older. It's part of human nature that things we "discovered" when we were a certain age or when they were new always seem better through the lens of memory. Even when things get better (and we can all point to things at USF/IOA that are BIG improvements over 1991) we still somehow prefer the "simpler" things that went before.

Still, I agree with you. There's a great deal I miss. Especially the stunt show, which I rerally think set USF apart from other nearby parks. There was some talk on the boards recently about how IOA/USF should have a parade. Who needed a parade when there was the Dynamite Stuntacular?

 

[pheneix]

Wow... I thought I was the only one who felt this way.

>>>Have DVDs ruined the studio theme park?<<<

I have to say, they probably have. The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition DVD has absolutely everything you could ever want to know about the making of the film, and it goes into much better detail than a 20-minute show at the Studios ever could. That being said, Universal still has a lot of ways of keeping the Studio theme is to really emphasize the "Ride the Movies" part of the park, and to also really encourage film and TV production at the resort so that they can be integrated into the theme park experience for the guests. Just because the old "This is how we do it" shows are a thing of the past doesn't mean that we still can't see REAL movie making in action at the park, and it doesn't take away from the fact that being caught up in a shark attack is still very damn cool ten years later.

I really would like to see Universal bring back the "studio" feel back to the park, even if the educational aspect of it is probably better left in the past (that doesn't mean they should forego educating guests, it just means going out of your way to tell the audience the obvious is pretty useless now. A good example of this is the Horror Make-up Show, which has a ton of educational value by teaching the audience things that aren't so obvious.).

Of course, I would be THRILLED if they would use background music that actually corresponds with the area you are in. The entrance plaza and Hollywood Blvd. both feel "real" because the music reinforces the environment.

One more thing:

Who in the hell is the brainiac that decided to can the MIB background loop in favor of freaking rap tunes?

 

[pheneix]

>>>(I'm not super knowledgeable about the ups and downs of film production in Central Florida. Maybe someone else can add more.)<<<

You basically had it right. Although it is substantially cheaper for companies to film at USF than in California, most companies find it easier to keep everything within close reach in Hollywood. Disney faced the same problems with MGM down the street, although Universal Studios really took a hit from the lack of production due to the fact that their facilities are around 3 times larger than Disney's.

The same thing happened to Wilmington up here in North Carolina. Lions Gate Films and a handful of other arthouse studios called Wilmington home for much of the 90's, and then pulled their stakes and left because they were tired of being seperated from the "action" on the other side of the continent.

 

[USO2003]

I have pictures and videos of Universal from 1990 - 2003 I can scan them.

 

[BarryHom]

I can't recall the store name, but the store in the vicinity of the First Union (now Wachovia?) bank has an aerial photo of USF when it first opened.

 

[Meagansmom]

I think I might have some pictures. I would think I would have some of the "Psycho house". I can remember being there when they were taping "Psycho 3". I can remember it sitting by the exit - entrance to the old Hard Rock Cafe. We walked by and watched for awhile, took some pictures and went to eat. As we came back from HRC, they were yelling at people to be quiet they were taping. I got pictures of everyone, tried to get autographs. I am going to have to dig out some of the pictures. Thank you for bringing up these memories!!! Great thread.

I wish they still had some of the old shows. Miss them alot!!!

 

[ChrisFL]

Originally posted by pheneix
Who in the hell is the brainiac that decided to can the MIB background loop in favor of freaking rap tunes?

Hmm, is it the same rap music as in the MIB soundtrack? If so then it would fit, if not then, no, that definitely doesn't fit

 

[BarryHom]

The MIB music is usually MC Hammer.

 

[pheneix]

>>>Hmm, is it the same rap music as in the MIB soundtrack?<<<

Definitely no.

 

[USO2003]

Originally posted by Meagansmom
I can remember being there when they were taping "Psycho 3".

It was actually Psycho IV: The Beginning with Henry Thomas from E.T. playing young Norman Bates.

I was there when it was taping as well. I have video from one of the days taping.