One of Walt Disney World's most historical attractions was the Tram Tour at the Studios park, one of only two "ride" attractions when Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989. Over the years, it went through many formats and name changes before eventually becoming the Backlot Tram Tour. I got to ride it in 2014, its final year of operation. At the time, the ride's closure had not yet been announced, but I was somewhat aware that it was on borrowed time. When Hollywood Studios had opened that day, my Dad and I ran to Toy Story Mania, only to find it closed. At the end of our day at the park, I had the option to either ride that attraction or the Tram Tour. I never rode Midway Mania in 2014, but I definitely made the right choice... I can even recall the family in front of us talking about how Midway Mania was their favorite, and I was second-guessing my decision. :-o
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| Not my photo - but licensed for reuse! |
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The tour started out with a brief walking tour that used to be longer: there was a water effects pool where volunteers were called upon to show how water effects are juxtaposed in films, then you walked through a prop building. I remember being confused by this bit: what were these things for, and where did they come from? I still think that it's kind of random and haphazard, but I'm glad that Dad took a few pictures, as you can see some of the old EPCOT World of Motion animatronics in the rafters in one shot.
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| Props from the Rocketeer |
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| World of Motion figures |
The tram tour was a shell of what it once was, so my dad didn't take a ton of pictures. Here's one of the Earful Tower, the Hollywood Studios icon that was taken down in 2016.
Herbie the Love Bug - there was a "battered" version to the left.
Of course, props like these were the build-up to the only truly impressive thing on the Tram Tour, Catastrophe Canyon. First, though, you couldn't miss Walt Disney's airplane, used to scout the land that eventually become Walt Disney World.
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| Not mine either |
Catastrophe Canyon, Disney's attempt at a Universal-like special effects "disaster" show was pretty cool. I have a video clip to share if you are interested, though you probably have seen it somewhere.
Right behind Catastrophe Canyon was the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show. I did watch it on this visit, but I'm not sure if that show is well-enough respected to warrant a post. Turning around near the end of the Tour, we saw the Streets of America, which were only accessible by the tram in the park's very earliest days.
After the Tram Tour, there was an American Film Institute exhibit. My Dad is a big movie fan, so he took a bunch of pictures.
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| Indiana Jones whip |
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| Lifeboat from Titanic |
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| Axe from The Shining |
I came away from the ride not very impressed but glad that I experienced it. When I got home, I watched some videos of the lengthy, original version, which gave me a better perspective on how the ride had evolved into its then-current state. Catastrophe Canyon was awesome and I would be picturing oil tankers tipping over and bursting into flames for months (instigated by collapsing telephone poles). ;-) I'm glad that I got to ride the Backlot Tram Tour and several other extinct Walt Disney World attractions that closed between this trip and my next in 2014, like Maelstrom, the Great Movie Ride, and Stitch's Great Escape, but I am still kicking myself for not seeing Universe of Energy! Thanks for reading.
5 comments:
I was able to experience the Tram Tour a couple times before it's removal, but for some reason I don't remember that indoor queue with the props on display. Do you know if they built that later? I seem to remember the queue being outdoors. However, I could be confusing it with something else.
The times that I went on the Tram Tour, were before they removed the "residential street" with it's recreations of the Golden Girls and Empty Nest houses. From what I've heard, they just kept shortening the tour, little by little. I just got so that I skipped going on it, in it's later years.
Walt also used that plane, to travel from CA to NY for the 1964/65 New York World's Fair. Last I heard, they were storing the plane at a water treatment facility (on property), north of Animal Kingdom. You can see it on Google Maps. I hope they don't decide to get rid of it altogether!
I didn't know that they removed the studio park's water tower! What do they do for water, now? ;-)
TokyoMagic!, I think that the props building was built later, after the walking tour and tram tour had split and likely after they moved the entrance to here from where the Animation building was. I'm not sure, though.
That's cool Walt used the plane for the World's Fair. Makes sense! I do hope that it gets reused, but I'm not really sure what it could be used for...
I'm glad that nothing catastrophic (just no canyon) happened when they removed the tower! ;-)
I DO miss this attraction, and YES, it was best during the Disney MGM Studio years (during the 1990s). It reminded me of the Universal Studio (Hollywood) tram tour, but better. At Disney, I recall the tram also going past the costume department building windows (huge picture windows that allowed you to see everything inside), and you could see hundreds of costumes hanging everywhere, and you could also see the workers creating new costumes. Very colorful and fun to try to catch a quick glimpse of a familiar costume.
I recall one year, when we exited this attraction, the 'exit building' was filled with the Nightmare Before Christmas sets/props. Though I'm not a huge fan of that movie, it was cool to see the actual sets and all. The original Backlot Tram Tour - with everything there was to see and do - was A LOT longer and very interesting, in my opinion.
Loved the Earful Tower - especially at Christmastime. They would place a giant Santa hat on top.
I made a comment the other day, on Gorillas Don't Blog, about missing Disney's MGM Studios. These are just a few of the reasons why.
Thanks, Andrew, for today's fun post and trip back in time!
Sue
The reason I did this post, Sue, was actually because of that comment. I had another post I was working on but wasn't going to finish it in time, so I saw what you said and realized that I could do a "quickie" write-up on this! :-)
That costume building was still part of the tour when I rode it. There were some people working inside, though I'm guessing that it was for park costuming, as the film productions had all but disappeared by that point.
I would have loved to have seen the Earful Tower with a Santa hat. Thanks for the great comment!
Andrew, anytime you want to post anything regarding Disney’s MGM Studios, you’ll get my attention. That was my favorite WDW Park.
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