Grew up in Sherman Oaks. What great memories from back then. I worked at Universal studios in the music department 1974-75, as a "In house" session musician (Member musicians union, local 47 gig). Some of the best times of my life.
Holy crap yeah I broke out my old family album and I am on the last frame of this video !!! Somewhere around 1982 I actually have a bunch of pictures of me in that same shirt at same time! we were about to do the Jaws ride and all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up so my mom started taking a picture of me and everyone else thought it was funny around me !😂🤣 So cool! Thanks for the upload !
I was a Tour Guide at Universal Studios Hollywood for 5 years back in the mid to late 70s. I think I’m actually in this saying the burning house erupts 200 times a day.
The tunnel was originally called "The Eiger Sanction" for the film (1975) of the same name starring Clint Eastwood. I walked through the tunnel, leading a tram once. I worked at the Universal Studios Tour from 1974-1976. I also hiked and ate my lunch at the top of the "flooding the town" scene. They had huge water tanks (two of them) at the top of the hill. I forget now how many gallons they hold. After the flood, the water would be pumped back into the towers. I would eat my lunch, watch the tanks being filled, and then watch as they emptied their water down the hill. Good times. Good memories :) Also, my friend, who was a tour guide, would exit the tram, do his Charlton Heston Moses impression, and lead the tram through the parting of the Red Sea by walking in front of the tram through the Red Sea. Also, where Bruce the shark from Jaws makes his appearance, that is the same lake/lagoon where in the '60s McHales Navy was filmed. That area is the location of the South Pacific base Taratupa.
i've watched several of these tram tour videos dating from 1970s thru the early turn of the century, and the tour guides would quote any where from 9, 000 to 11,000 gallons of water for the flood scene. i don't know why i found that information interesting, but i guess someone would need it someday. (LOL!)
Great tribute! I worked at the New Universal Amphitheatre in the 80's. Ron, the Teamster assigned to the Amphitheatre during shows, once drove us through the tunnel in a pick up truck. That was awesome! It was a great time. We explored many backlot landmarks then.
Thank you for including the falling boulders. That scared the hell out of me as a child, but so fun to look back on. And I totally remember that huge telephone.
I was a Guide and Driver from '76-90 back when we had rain, and when the foam boulders got wet, they'd spray water all the way down the hill eventually getting the guests splashed when they hit the wall that kept them from rolling into the tram... although that happened too. ;)
Peter Fair I could swear I remember the boulders rolling into the tram. But I was about 6 years old, so I wasn’t sure if it was just my wild imagination. I’ve always wondered how did they get the boulders back up to the top of the hill? Did they have a crew gather them up in between trams?
Oh wow!!!! I waited to the very end and you showed me exactly what I remembered most as a 11 year old boy at Universal Studios in 1969. The submarine attacking the Destroyer. I also remembered the Bates Motel and they had display of the Munsters family car. My cousin, Patsy, was visiting from NY and I stood as lookout as he snuck under the ropes and got into the car and stole the gearshift knob. Haha. It was a Hurst shifting bar actually not a ball.
Worked there as a security guard at that time. Once we actually had to "detain" a father of a child that demanded an autograph from one of the actors on a set adjacent to the tram route.
I went to a few concerts here over the yrs & took a Management class back in the 80s at the Sheraton Universal Hotel & one of My favorite Jazz dives, 'Donte's in North Hollywood was close by at 4269 Lankershim
Is sad but the tour is nothing like that now. It used to take hours, and had several stops for various departments. Today, is is just over 30 minutes and you never stop. I for one am never returning.
The three pink trams were the originals, later they added a fourth car and changed the engines to a GM 454, they found that with wet pavement they would lose traction with their drive wheels going up the hill from lower lot to prop plaza, I remember seeing the guests debarked and walk up that hill, they later poured concrete on that road and made it rough like a cheese grater. Back then it was like a Mom and Pop operation, the big attractions on top were Frankenstein castle, petting zoo with big lizard, the monkeys in the middle of the pond by a food venue where rain come off the roof.
People haven't changed..... just now we hear 24/7..... every "drama"😠......on smartphones.....it's a shame.....life has gotten faster NOT better because of technology 😢
@@ABlastfromthePast I swear you must have found my doppelganger when I was that age and I had everyone while sitting in that side of the tram taking videos and pictures of me because of my reaction. I was like 7. And wore the same shirt that's super crazy! Thanks for getting back
Sadly now it seems that the "tour" is more about rides based on the latest movie. and not so much on the actual back lot. because as we all know it,s all about the money.
FINALLY!!!! Someone ELSE remembers the tour as it used to be. When they aded the "rides" and the "attractions" they did was turn what used to be a great behind-the-scenes tour of a working movie studio in the lamest waste of money I've ever seen. Sure, maybe the tourists from the Iowa cornfields who have no idea how it's really done might be impressed. But to those of us HERE who grew up around movie studios and know how they do it… totally lame. Wonder if they still show "Wisteria Lane" from "Desperate Housewives" even though that show has been off the air for years. They need to get rid of the stupid rides and get back to what the tour USED TO BE!!!!
@@kb6kgx Yes you get exactly what my point is. One time when I took the tour it was with the Radio & T.V. production class from the high school I went to. Someone told the tour guide and they told us some things that they I guess usually don.t. My best friend who was in the class with me we were talking about the Radio&TV class just the other day ,and we wondered why did some of us not go into the Radio/TV/Movie industry. I guess it was one of those things that was just not meant to be. And from what adds that I see on tv for the tour it almost takes stupid money just to get in. Somewhere in my pictures I have one of some of my friends standing next to the cars that they used in American Graffiti. They were all for sale at the time. I think that John Milner's yellow coupe was like $1500.00 and they did not sell it. Wish I could go back it would be in my driveway right now along with the Merc. and the Chevy Impala.
Took the tour in 1983. Had a real ass beside me who was always putting down the asian tourists. Announcement comes over the PA that someone had lost their wallet. Ass.... immediately comes out with ''probably one of the chi.nks''. His wife tells him to check his pockets just in case. Turns out it was his wallet.
Oh, how much I would give to witness just one day of this in the 70s. Time seemed simple back them. And less hectic.
Last time I was there, 1977. Yes, I live in L.A.
Grew up in Sherman Oaks. What great memories from back then. I worked at Universal studios in the music department 1974-75, as a "In house" session musician (Member musicians union, local 47 gig). Some of the best times of my life.
Holy crap yeah I broke out my old family album and I am on the last frame of this video !!! Somewhere around 1982 I actually have a bunch of pictures of me in that same shirt at same time! we were about to do the Jaws ride and all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up so my mom started taking a picture of me and everyone else thought it was funny around me !😂🤣 So cool! Thanks for the upload !
Beautifully videoed. Thank you for sharing. A great way to look back and enjoy the original Studio 👍👍 🙏🏼 thank you.
I was a Tour Guide at Universal Studios Hollywood for 5 years back in the mid to late 70s. I think I’m actually in this saying the burning house erupts 200 times a day.
The tunnel was originally called "The Eiger Sanction" for the film (1975) of the same name starring Clint Eastwood. I walked through the tunnel, leading a tram once. I worked at the Universal Studios Tour from 1974-1976.
I also hiked and ate my lunch at the top of the "flooding the town" scene. They had huge water tanks (two of them) at the top of the hill. I forget now how many gallons they hold. After the flood, the water would be pumped back into the towers. I would eat my lunch, watch the tanks being filled, and then watch as they emptied their water down the hill. Good times. Good memories :)
Also, my friend, who was a tour guide, would exit the tram, do his Charlton Heston Moses impression, and lead the tram through the parting of the Red Sea by walking in front of the tram through the Red Sea.
Also, where Bruce the shark from Jaws makes his appearance, that is the same lake/lagoon where in the '60s McHales Navy was filmed. That area is the location of the South Pacific base Taratupa.
i've watched several of these tram tour videos dating from 1970s thru the early turn of the century, and the tour guides would quote any where from 9, 000 to 11,000 gallons of water for the flood scene. i don't know why i found that information interesting, but i guess someone would need it someday. (LOL!)
Great tribute! I worked at the New Universal Amphitheatre in the 80's. Ron, the Teamster assigned to the Amphitheatre during shows, once drove us through the tunnel in a pick up truck. That was awesome! It was a great time. We explored many backlot landmarks then.
The same way as I remembered it when I was 7 years old. :)
Thank you for including the falling boulders. That scared the hell out of me as a child, but so fun to look back on. And I totally remember that huge telephone.
I was a Guide and Driver from '76-90 back when we had rain, and when the foam boulders got wet, they'd spray water all the way down the hill eventually getting the guests splashed when they hit the wall that kept them from rolling into the tram... although that happened too. ;)
Peter Fair I could swear I remember the boulders rolling into the tram. But I was about 6 years old, so I wasn’t sure if it was just my wild imagination. I’ve always wondered how did they get the boulders back up to the top of the hill? Did they have a crew gather them up in between trams?
Excellent...I was there back then. Thanks for your video.
Oh wow!!!! I waited to the very end and you showed me exactly what I remembered most as a 11 year old boy at Universal Studios in 1969. The submarine attacking the Destroyer. I also remembered the Bates Motel and they had display of the
Munsters family car. My cousin, Patsy, was visiting from NY and I stood as lookout as he snuck under the ropes and got
into the car and stole the gearshift knob. Haha. It was a Hurst shifting bar actually not a ball.
Took the tour early to mid 70s, they pointed out Marcus welby house, jaws lagoon, and the archway so many classic universal monsters passed through.
Worked there as a security guard at that time. Once we actually had to "detain" a father of a child that demanded an autograph from one of the actors on a set adjacent to the tram route.
GREAT JOB AS ALWAYS - THE PLACE SURE HAS CHANGED.
I went to a few concerts here over the yrs & took a Management class back in the 80s at the Sheraton Universal Hotel & one of My favorite Jazz dives, 'Donte's in North Hollywood was close by at 4269 Lankershim
A police club I was in during grammar school in the 70’s took us to universal studios every year in the mid 70’s
Thank you.
L0Ve
Ah the glory days ah yessssss 100 % legit😊
Is sad but the tour is nothing like that now.
It used to take hours, and had several stops for various departments. Today, is is just over 30 minutes and you never stop.
I for one am never returning.
The three pink trams were the originals, later they added a fourth car and changed the engines to a GM 454, they found that with wet pavement they would lose traction with their drive wheels going up the hill from lower lot to prop plaza, I remember seeing the guests debarked and walk up that hill, they later poured concrete on that road and made it rough like a cheese grater.
Back then it was like a Mom and Pop operation, the big attractions on top were Frankenstein castle, petting zoo with big lizard, the monkeys in the middle of the pond by a food venue where rain come off the roof.
sadly, prop plaza is now just used for storage.
anyone else immediately remember defending your life? wow!
At 2:35 if you never been through that all Id need is a couple beers to make me lose my cookies..
God rest Jules and Lew.
People haven't changed..... just now we hear 24/7..... every "drama"😠......on smartphones.....it's a shame.....life has gotten faster NOT better because of technology 😢
Who is the kid in the very last frame of this video ? What year is it in ? Around 82? Looks just like me!
That footage is from the mid 60's
@@ABlastfromthePast I swear you must have found my doppelganger when I was that age and I had everyone while sitting in that side of the tram taking videos and pictures of me because of my reaction. I was like 7. And wore the same shirt that's super crazy! Thanks for getting back
Sadly now it seems that the "tour" is more about rides based on the latest movie. and not so much on the actual back lot. because as we all know it,s all about the money.
FINALLY!!!! Someone ELSE remembers the tour as it used to be. When they aded the "rides" and the "attractions" they did was turn what used to be a great behind-the-scenes tour of a working movie studio in the lamest waste of money I've ever seen. Sure, maybe the tourists from the Iowa cornfields who have no idea how it's really done might be impressed. But to those of us HERE who grew up around movie studios and know how they do it… totally lame.
Wonder if they still show "Wisteria Lane" from "Desperate Housewives" even though that show has been off the air for years.
They need to get rid of the stupid rides and get back to what the tour USED TO BE!!!!
@@kb6kgx Yes you get exactly what my point is. One time when I took the tour it was with the Radio & T.V. production class from the high school I went to. Someone told the tour guide and they told us some things that they I guess usually don.t. My best friend who was in the class with me we were talking about the Radio&TV class just the other day ,and we wondered why did some of us not go into the Radio/TV/Movie industry. I guess it was one of those things that was just not meant to be. And from what adds that I see on tv for the tour it almost takes stupid money just to get in. Somewhere in my pictures I have one of some of my friends standing next to the cars that they used in American Graffiti. They were all for sale at the time. I think that John Milner's yellow coupe was like $1500.00 and they did not sell it. Wish I could go back it would be in my driveway right now along with the Merc. and the Chevy Impala.
@@lilorbielilorbie2496 What did Universal have to do with "American Graffiti"?
@@kb6kgx They were the studio that released it to the public.
@@lilorbielilorbie2496 I know that NOW…
Took the tour in 1983. Had a real ass beside me who was always putting down the asian tourists. Announcement comes over the PA that someone had lost their wallet. Ass.... immediately comes out with ''probably one of the chi.nks''. His wife tells him to check his pockets just in case. Turns out it was his wallet.
The "Studio Tour" is so lame. Not at all how it used to be before all the rides and "attractions" were added.
You just Had to include the names of the musics/songs in the actual video? You could've shown the names in the description.
what is the name of that song