The Backlot Tour is one of those rides at "Hollywood Studios" that has really evolved over time. It used to be so much more awesome, but also a lot longer. Now it feels a little bit like a bus tour that they are rushing to get finished with because the bus driver has to go to the bathroom.Anyhow, the backlot tour begins with a audience involved demonstration of how movies do special effects. They reenact a scene with gunfire and explosives and things catching on fire to show you how everything in movies is fake. I always love this part because the audience participants get soaked and they always act like they didn't expect it. It's a real "aw shucks" moment.
Once the demonstration is over you are moved through this props warehouse to get to a bus. It used to be that you would wait in this line for a long time, which kind of sucked, but also gave you a lot of time to look at the props. Now you've got a hot poker to your ass and have to move through the props room at a quick pace. Which is a shame because some of the props are actually really neat. I've seen people step aside at this point to actually take time to enjoy the movie props, so if you don't get super competitive about Disney lines and getting to the front the fastest, this is an option for you. I have a fanatical Disney line competitive streak, so I would never do this.
Anyhow, after the props warehouse, you are loaded onto a "moving tram" that will take you to Catastrophe Canyon. I won't give away the big surprise in Catastrophe Canyon because that is the one part of the tour that is really neat.
However, the tram ride totally blows now. They used to take you through all of these neat areas where you could see costumes being made or movie/tv sets actually being filmed. They also took you to this area where they had famous tv houses set up. The most famous being the Golden Girls house. It was a really nice and relaxing bus ride. It also gave you a good chance to get off of your feet for awhile.
Now the tram zips you into the canyon and through a costume/props department and then you are done. Wham, Bam, Thank You Mam. Really, they have taken all of the romance out of the ride.
So, 2/5 or 4/10 stars. If you are on a quick trip, I'd say this is one that could be missed.
2 comments:
You are right. This ride has gone downhill! Remember when it used to take a couple hours to go on this ride. There were parts of the tour where you walked through the buildings too. Didn't there used to be some kind of a game show that you could sit in and watch or even play with the host? I miss that. Maybe it was Let's Make a Deal before they turned it into Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I think they also took a good part of that building and turned it into the best ride ever--Toy Story Midway Mania!!
BTW...you will always get to sit on the canyon side of this ride to get the full water effect.
I don't think there was ever a gameshow as part of the tour, I think that's always been a separate thing, but I could be wrong. You have the better long-term memory, me the better short-term.
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