The Closed History of the Studio Backlot Tour and Catastrophe Canyon | Expedition Hollywood Studios
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- Опубліковано 12 січ 2019
- Join us on Expedition Hollywood Studios as we look at the closed history of the Studio Backlot Tour and Catastrophe Canyon on Expedition Theme Park. This iconic ride was the heart of the mgm studio park from its opening in 1989 until its closure in 2014. With multiple changes to the tour including the Backstage pass section which started as a 2 hour experience before it was closed for Star Wars Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land.
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Intended for educational purposes.
Credits -
In The Loop - • Catastrophe Canyon Dem...
RobFuz - • Disney MGM Studios Bac...
Tom Laskey - • 1989 Disney MGM Firs...
Seand - • Disney-MGM Studios - 1989
Darin Herle - • Disney Hollywood Studi...
RetroWDW - • Disney MGM Studios fro...
ResortTV1 - • Star Wars Launch Bay |...
laughingplace - • 1989 Video Tour of Dis...
Lee davidt - • 1989 Retro Disney MGM ...
Vintage Disney Parks Channel -
• The Osborne Family Spe...
• A 'Production' Day at ...
• Walt Disney: One Man's...
Attractions Magazine -
• Multi-angle look at Ca...
• Studio Backlot Tour vo...
• Very Last Studio Backl...
• Wandering Oaken's Trad...
Ian Kay - • The Backlot Tour
Ben Laurence - • Walt Disney's Abandone...
Attractions Magazine - • Tour of Honey, I Shrun...
Christ Iller - • Disney MGM Studios in ...
Figmentfan - • A Walk Down Mickey Avenue
asdTubeU - • Disney-MGM Studios - N...
WalleyTV - • MGM Studio Tour 1996
SlotMachineBonus - • DISNEY MGM STUDIOS BAC...
Daisy Lauren - • Disney's Hollywood Stu...
themousecast - • Studio Backlot Tour Sp...
WDW News Today - • Who Wants To Be A Mill...
bienbier - • THE HAUNTED MANSION th...
Sean and Stef IRL - • Video
JakeORL - • ABANDONED Backlot Tour...
Theme Park Worldwide - • Studio Backlot Tour Co... - Розваги
Due to copyright issues, i sadly had to cut the original intro to this video so it starts abruptly into the intro!
That’s me at about 11:57!!!! Honored to be included in your video!!!
I only got to go on this once but it was such a cool experience. Passing by the animation studio, they were animating Brother Bear at the time, which is why my sister and I have a greater fondness for the movie than most
My Dad was somehow ALWAYS chosen as an Audience Participant at least once, every time we went. One time he actually got chosen for the water tank part, 😂 it was amazing.
Fun fact. There is actually a cut of the Empty Nest intro that shows the front of the house and you can see the tram slightly in the background. I saw it once but could never find it online anymore. It's as if they missed it during editing.
I remember that.
This brought back a lot of memories. I used to work at Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and would take a bike from the the cast parking lot to the playground. I recognized everything in this video as I would make my way work in this area and would share a breakroom with the Backlot tour crew. Our team would even help out the tour since the last position in our rotation was AFI. We would stand around in the area just watching over the props while making sure no one touched them. It was really cool when the had the Narnia and Pirates costumes in the room while teaching everyone how Davy Jones was created. I miss those days.
They're taking away all of the best bits of Hollywood studios, if the tower of terror closes here and gets replaced, there would be nothing left to make me want to visit this park again
They aren't getting rid of Tower of Terror or Rockin' Roller Coaster any time soon. Those two attractions are their highest capacity attractions, which helps control the crowds walking the paths. They have re-themed ToT to remove the Twilight Zone licensing, and Rockin' may become a Monsters Inc. Door Warehouse themed coaster, though...
Glenn Turner the Monsters Inc rumor is not really that relevant anymore so Rock N Roller Coaster isn’t leaving anytime soon
I was an extra once during the tour. I miss backlot though. It got me in to making costumes
I loved the tram tour and am still gutted that it's gone to this day...I went on every iteration of the tour minus the original 1989 version. Despite the failure of the working aspect of the park, I still LOVED being able to learn about movie making effects while also seeing how actual sound stages/facades look like in person. I don't think the magic of movie making/celebrating the art of film in general should have been abandoned in favor of this new "shove popular IP everywhere" scheme that the new head of WDW has...The unique themes of both Epcot & MGM (yeah I still call it MGM lol), were what made me love them along with the Magic Kingdom. It's also what made me excited about Animal Kingdom! Seeing something distinctly unique outside of Disney films. It's why I'll always be upset that Avatar took the place of beastly kingdom...I enjoy a mix of Disney IP I love, along with new/fun/original things I can only see at the parks such as figment and the old maelstrom ride..
I don't think Star Wars land is a worthy replacement of the tour tbh, since that franchise is honestly worthy enough to have had it's own park to itself and I'm sure will come to be proven when the areas open. Watch the park be at capacity but no ones in line anywhere else. Just there. It's gonna be way worse than when the Harry Potter areas opened. I also love toy story land, but just like Star Wars it feels out of place among everything else. The park is currently a mess of "step into the movies" in the back, "fictional Hollywood" in the front, and random Hollywood/broadway-esque shows in the middle. I don't see how they can fix this issue without removing a lot that fans don't want to be removed, or re-theming entire areas of the park. It feels like no thought was went into these additions other than, "throw more IP in!! Hurry up!!" and that's disappointing...
Favorite memory was finding the Singing in the Rain umbrella and standing under it singing while it started raining from the umbrella. So great! Worth giving up for Rise!
Welcome to Disney's Hollywood Studios!
"This place will never be finished"
Technically, no Disney park will ever be finished.
Dude the beginning was hilarious!!! This video hit me in the feels. MGM was my favorite park and all the backstage/behind the scenes stuff had a huge impact on me as a kid. I always say, that’s one of the reason why I make videos now. After loosing this and The Great Movie Ride, the studios died. Star Wars land will be cool I guess but sacrificing the backlot for toy story land...🤢🤮 This video really made me miss the old studios :(
Side note, thanks for using my footage 😃 That video is still one of my favorites (even though I look like a weirdo with that bandana lol)
Thanks as always Ben!
My sister went to WDW for the first time 2 months ago and the park she liked the most was Hollywood Studios. MK was too crowded, so she had a bad experience there, Epcot was cool and AK was cool too, but she loved HS the most. And now with Toy Story Land, Star Wars Land and the new Mickey & Minnie ride, it will be even more awesome!
Zerox A. M. And now with Toy Story Land, Star Wars Land and the new Mickey & Minnie Ride, it will officially be dead 😢
@@BenLaurence Yes, Hollywood Studios will be dead. However, they are rumored to change the name, and with that, the park may be reinvigorated to see a good run for the current generation. Disney parks are designed to change and evolve with the times, and a studio backlot tour is not what people want these days.
Glenn Turner MGM/Hollywood Studios died with The Great Movie Ride. The backlot was the beginning of the end... the backlot tour I can understand, it was a huge plot of land (even though they could just expand) I see why it had to go...even though it was really cool. The Great Movie Ride how ever, dong get me started lol
I remember this so vividly. I went the first year the park opened, and a couple years later. What is interesting is I don't remember that it was 2 hours. However I do vividly remember the "break" part, but never knew that was its intention. I guess it fooled this 8 and 10 year old back then. Thanks for the memories.
I took the tour once and my sister and I got to ride the bee. I remember being put on top and they turned on the fan and I was like wow. I was a little kid so I was easily impressed
I rode it too, lots of fun
The Backlot tour has always been my favourite ride ever and I’m so sad that it left not only Orlando but is now leaving Paris too.
Once when I was a cast member, I was biking backstage by Catastrophe Canyon when I accidentally flew over the handlebars of the bike and crashed into the fence. I stop up and noticed that a tram full of guests had just seen me wipe out, so I took a bow and pretended to be part of the tour. This would’ve been early 2014. I still think about that anytime I see anything related to the tram tour 😂
Top job as always, your videos remind me how much things have changed since I started visiting in the late 80s, and to embrace it. I’m just happy I got to experience MGM as it was intended and I’ll get to enjoy galaxy’s edge too. Feel a bit sorry for those who only know the studios over the last few years. Looking forward to your next vid
You hit me right in the feels. I was 4yrs old the first time I rode the backlot tour. Then many years later I got to be part of the magic doing the water tank show. I was working for the final day. We had many tears. I have many memories from childhood up to adulthood on this ride and I miss it everyday.
i truly miss this ride, It was so cool seeing all the house facades
A few years ago my family went to Disney world as sort of a senior/birthday trip. When we got to the resort we kicked off our trip at Disney MGM studios and our first ride was the studio back lot tour. So there we were lined up in line and the cast members were asking for volunteers to "help" in the boat skit. Well, my sister and I just turned 18 the day before we got there. So to get the cast members attention e were jumping up and down yelling Pick us! We just turned 18!!! While our parents and some people around us were pointing at us! Seeing us we were sent to fill out waivers and casted as the cowardly sailors and we were thrilled! Only for that to be the very last time that we rode the ride! We were sad to find out that they closed it, but I couldn't asked for a better final ride than to fill out my first waiver at Disney world!!!
I love The George of the Jungle part. That’s been my favorite movie since I was little
That Intro... touching our hearts again!
Soon to be closed in Walt Disney Studios Park with the expansion to the park.
That's not confirmed. On leaked plans its still there with a shorter track (leaving pretty much only the canyon scene intact)
I saw three versions of this over the years and remember it fondly.
I miss the old tour. I took the tour in 1993, 94, 95, 97, 98 and into the 2000's and watched it shrink. The earliest tour were the best!!! I remember boarding the tour behind the Animation Tour thru 1995 - the loading/queuing area was huge and all under cover. I remember I bought a "Home Improvement" t-shirt in the gift shop at the tram tour's exit back in 1993!!
Oh I miss this ride!! It was my absolutely favorite in hs
That intro hurt me omg 😂
:D
My sister and I went to Disney World with our family to celebrate our 18th birthday and went to Hollywood Studios the day after our birthday. Signing waivers to be the audience participants in the water tank scene was the very first thing we got to sign as legal adults. I'm glad we did it and got to do it while we did because it closed a few months later.
"Another change was added to ruin the experience even further" I for SURE thought you were going to say the addition of the "Planes" marketing, because that was the WORST haha. Loved working the last days of the Backlot Tour (Tank team!), even though it was nothing like it used to be. Still an incredibly unique attraction to work. So our coord. Simon did the last show ever. It was magical. Great video!
That was my favorite ride in all four parks I personally don’t think Star Wars is a worthy successor I would much rather have this. That being said I love your videos 👍
We’re looking at taking our girls to Disney World, so I’ve been loading up on these videos. Man, the Backlot Tour was always so much fun. I first went in ‘97, and my dad was pulled out of line and dressed up like Jeff Daniels in 101 Dalmatians for a demonstration on green screen. We also got to watch them animate Tarzan. It’s sad to see it isn’t the same anymore.
I was about 4 when I first went to the Disney parks in 2000, and while I don’t remember the tour myself, I was always impressed when looking through old family photos and videos of the trip. Really wish I could’ve experienced it, now that I’m older and have a greater appreciation for it.
Great video!
I used to visit a friend who worked at Lightpoint Animation on the backlot. They created the Disney cloud becoming Mickey commercial and the Dooley and Pals TV show that was filmed in a studio on the backlot. I remember that some of their graphic designers worked next to one of the windows where guests could observe them while on the backlot tour. It was strange standing there watching one of them work and all of a sudden there were 50 or more people watching you. Felt weird, kind of like being in a zoo.
That intro was a pretty clever and funny representation of how Disney’s Hollywood Studios is slowly but surely losing its theme. I’m just thankful they spared both the exterior of the Chinese Theater (especially the hand prints) and a portion of Streets of America
Thanks for sharing. Brought back a lot of good memories
Got there early once with a couple of friends and so they chose us to be in the navy boat scene. Great fun and the staff were all a blast! I have the tape lying around somewhere to be discovered one day.
This video made me sad, Hollywood studios is nothing like it was when I first went in 2010. Everything linked to the Hollywood stuff is pretty much removed now, and that was what made it special for me. Great movie ride was my favourite ride, I loved the stunt show and backlot tour, and the streets of America and honey I shrunk the kids places were both great experiences. It’s rlly sad what disney is doing to the park
god i miss this ride! once again a great video. keep up the good work
Went only one time in November 2014. Did not even know they used to have a tram tour at the studio. Our kids enjoyed the Frozen Trading Post.
Its a good Sunday when you upload!!!
As much as I loved the backlot tours in '90, '92, '96 and '01, something else needed to take it's place. It got worse and worse as the years went on, and I could only imagine what it was like near the end.
My mom got to be part of the water battle scene on the tour when we went in 2008, she was the captain of the ship
This was my favorite! I’m gonna miss it a lot!
This was great brought back some great memories and answered some questions I've had for a long time. Thanka
Your general progression of the life of this attraction came to the right conclusion. It was beyond saving at the end of its life. Nothing was going on and barely anything was worth looking at. The water tank hadn't seen updates from 2001 and frequently didn't do its live show any longer, the Boneyard props were all weathered or mostly destroyed from the Florida elements, Costuming and Production were on occasion building floats for the parades, and Catastrophe Canyon, while beautiful when you're in it, wasn't worth the entire tour before it to get to when everything could be seen happening from the upper sections of the arena's bleachers. Disney suffocated the Backlot Tour, and it finally claimed it in 2014. It was no surprise, and I'd rather it be extinct than be a meager drab narrated look at a bunch of prop husks and maybe an interesting effects demonstration.
I must dig out my photos from when I visited this attraction in November 1989.
I visited MGM Studios in 2004, and me and my boyfriend were picked to be the two volunteers to be on the boat in the water tank. We were kind of 'voluntold', as we happened to be the first in queue, ha. It was super cool! The only sad thing was that when the audience were being shown the tape with all the effects added, we were told that the film was being deleted as it was being shown, so we wouldn't get to see it. they let us stay back and watch the next round though, which was nice of them. I miss the tour, but I am hoping to go back when Galaxy's Edge opens!
Yeah i did it one year with my friend also. It was a shame you could not see yourself in it unless you had someone else to film!
Keep up the great job. I learn so much watching this channel.
I think a good name change would be disney Hollywood World's park. Fits the new park perfectly and makes sense to call it that at Disney World. Kind of shocked they even still call it studios.
So sad, the balcklot tour and catastrophe canyon was so cool! I haven't been to the park in years but I am sure the Star Wars attraction is popular. I heard the Rock and roller coaster was going to go away and that is sad too because that is a really fun ride
Thank you for making this! I totally went on this when I was 7 but I couldn't remember what it was. Flood of memories bruh fr thank you
I just visited Hollywood Studios. I have not been there in several years. Seeing this video gives some sort of reasoning to the layout of the park. Or lack there of. It was so convoluted. That archway really threw me off.
Fun fact, this was my favorite ride when I was a kid. I also used to think Herbie was the mascot of Hollywood Studios.
I once worked on the Tram Tour, so sad to see it gone now.
This brought back memories 😊
This is one of my favorite video series of all time.
I went for the 1st time in 2002-03. I was a very interesting park. It did NOT however change enough for my tastes. I would only visit it twice total. WDW, Epcot & Animal Kingdom were my 3 favorite parks. Don't get me wrong. Lots of great details in the park including the mechanical traffic lights in the front area. Also loved the Great Movie Ride.
Out of all the closed attractions in Disney world, Studio Backlot Tour was my most favorite. If there was only a way they could move the ride next to where Toy Story Land is...
Oh they did it that time, they didn’t leave the whole attraction abandoned, they didn’t repurpose the whole ride, nor did they build over all of it. No, no, they didn’t even have the decency to choose one, so they did it all. I expected nothing less of them before clicking on this... what shame, I loved the ride, even as a 4 year old who hadn’t seen half the movies mentioned, luckily I rode it before the automated version but once again, like Journey into imagination I never got the full experience of some of the most memorable rides in the parks. That’s the power of a couple thousand bucks to Disney...
Love the video!
I remember when I was younger, they added a prop from the Hannah Montana movie (The one with an actual plot.. not the recording of a concert). I think it was the chicken coop or something. I just remember being really excited to see it.
Awesome video!
i miss this ride what makes this even sadder is that it the Paris version is also closing to make way for Star wars and Frozen
I loved the studio back-lot tour. It was one of my favorite things about Hollywood Studios. Like he said in the video, it's no longer a working studio and nothing in it has that feeling to it anymore. The magic of film-making was what made this park unique. Now it's just another Disney theme park with attractions that change according to what movies are popular. EPCOT used to be set apart as well as the the entire front was all about the future, like Walt had imagined and the rest was a tour of the world. Now it seems that it is being taken over with movie rides and attractions as well. Guess this is where Disney World is headed but I think they lost some "magic" along the way.
that poor kid at 15:31 was me every time i went through the canyon as a kid
Appreciate your little remark regarding the Paris version of the Studio tour. I have actually been on it and it's pretty weird. Not only are there no studios in Paris, there is literally nothing that has anything to do with movie production, everything has been imported, replicated or made up just for the sake of the tour. Hence it's not really that entertaining, it's mostly just driving around. The special effects stage with the blowing up fuel truck and the massive water is the highlight of the tour, although it's not really anything I'd recommend someone who visits the park. Looking forward to you going into detail on it! :)
Eisner scaring/bossing around Chernabog seems very accurate. XD
The intro was great!
Yeah Bruh, Disney-MGM was my working home too. I was at TOTS, Honey I shrunk the kids adventure park and parade route supervisor. I miss the old park.
"look how old you've become" I'M MAD LMAO 😂
Man love this stuff crazy awesome love u guys
Thank you!
Thanks guys for the heart
I love that one! Keep going brother! 👊
Love your channel
Great video as usual Sam! I'm really looking forward to an eventual Expedition World Showcase, and a video on Maelstrom! (I've been watching a bunch of on-ride videos of Maelstrom, along with reading articles about it, and I can't wait to see you tackle it! Maelstrom, and the World Showcase have such an interesting history!)
I’m looking forward to it also since I used to work in it!
I went to Disney Paris a few months ago and rode their tram tour. It was bizarre! Save for the Catastrophe Canyon sequence (incredible as always), it was mainly a long, silent trip that passed through the same sets and boneyard pieces multiple times. If you ever do a future video on it, I'd love to see how it's evolved!
Another Amazing Video by Sam
I went on it in 2004. The best thing was seeing Max from Flight of the Navigator, one of my favourite films as a kid (and still is). It was just a shame that it wasn't kept in any way shiny, and has holes in it.
California Adventure is like the west coast version of today's Hollywood Studios. They even have the same entrance design.
Just got back and we missed what was no longer there. And while Toy Story Mania is a lot of fun Toy Story Land is nothing more than a typical amusement park. Alien Flying Saucers is nice but really nothing more than a "whip-go-round."
Hey Sam great video totaly broght me back to being 12 so to answer your question and this is coming from a guy whos wedding band says "may the force be with you" writen in Aurebesh lol and i do not feel that Galaxy's Edge is a sutiable replacement i wrnt on the back lot tour as a kid and that was the most talkes about part we say sets and props from all our fav movies and shows me and my brither would hope to spot Tim Allen or Al from Home Improvement the Fact of knowing movies and Tv shows were being filmed while we were there made it that much magical to a child. Me and my Wife (girlfriend at the time) were chossen to do the battle ship scene it was GREAT!!! but now with all that gone its lost some of the holly wood magic it once had. And now with the great movie ride gone well its less of a spark of hollywood i feel once you leave that main entrance area all the idea of being in Hollwood is gone... Great video again csnt wait for the next
Love your videos
And this plus Universal is probably why I got into filmmaking which is a curse and a blessing. Thanks Eisner for all the pain.
My first visit was in '90....when I took the tour,a small section of the New York Street was painted to look like something from the *Dick Tracy* movie,then in theaters. There was a short presentation,as two performers played a jewel thief who's eventually caught by the world's clumsiest cop.
Years later,when the street was open to the public,I walked down it one hot summer day,and my eye caught a Coca-Cola sign over a doorway. I spent several minutes trying to enter this building to get a drink,wondering why they were closed in the middle of the day when....honest to God...I finally realized I was trying to enter a false building.
Walt’s plane is at the Disney Water Facility, and the paint on the plane now is unfortunately brown on the stripes. If you want to see what I mean go check out MattSonswa’s video on it. The backlot tour video reminds me of so much. I just hope the props are safe. It’s ironic how they used a mans voice and called it “Donna.”
The first time I visited DHS was in 2017, when the entire backlot area was shut down and the park was even more of a vestige than it is now. I missed my chance to see some of it in 2013, when I went to Disney World for the first time but skipped Hollywood Studios. So it's interesting to get some of the history in this video.
I loved the tour , it’s sad to see it go but with the incredible experience at the Harry Potter world Disney needed to do something similar ... and remember things are always sweeter in memories 🙂 I still enjoy MGM (or what ever it’s called now)
I always liked the Backlot tour, but I still hate Eisner for copying Universal and stopping them from making their great Studio Tour in Orlando.
The idea that Eisner stole the idea from Universal has been debunked numerous times over the years.
I've Might Go To Walt Disney World Resort In Florida One Day. Thanks Mate. X
Fun fact
Various WCW shows where fillmed at Hollywood studios along with the nitro set
Eric Bischoff on Managing WCW & Filming WCW in Disney World
ua-cam.com/video/OdLjB5x6nHQ/v-deo.html
Yes it would have been great to see that back in the day
Some day, I should get my old videos I took there in the 90’s.
Really interested in seeing a history video on Disneyland Paris version and the differences... I always thought both these rides were odd.... It's hard to find any history on Paris version.
I went to the Paris Backlot Tour thinking it was something like this and it was really strange indeed
Dude I love your videos thank you for your high quality content on UA-cam you are like a rescue boat in a sea of garbage lol
Thank you!
Thanks Sam For Using My Footage!
I really liked this when i rode it but universal Hollywood’s on beats it ass and I found that intro hilarious and you should do a video on the entire original mgm studios and I mean original like when the tmnt and ace Ventura show were still alive and great vid
This is a hot take but I am ok with the replacement of the Backlot Tour with Toy Story and Star Wars. As much as I loved the tour, The experience at Toy Story and Star Wars is amazing. I'll miss the tour ofc but I'm not super upset about it. Star Wars area could become something crazy and I'm glad I was able to experience it along with Toy Story land with my family. Some amazing times
I CAN'T BELIVE I WENT ON THAT TOUR IN SPRING 2014!
I remember when MGM opened, they had some super-cheap tickets for Florida residents so my grandma was like "Eh, okay, let's see what they threw together", lol. I did not care about any rides, I wanted to see ALL the movie making stuff.
It has made me pretty sad to see so much of the "movie magic" stuff go over the years, but I completely understand that stuff just isn't as exciting to kids who have grown up with DVD-extras and the rest. It probably looks silly to see anyone get excited about green screen stuff when you can now just buy your own. That studio tour stuff was wonderful in its heydey, though, and I'm glad channels like yours keep a record so they can see.
Oh, and ironically, I was super-stoked about my first visit to MGM because I found a poster of the original Star Wars marquee print. At that time, catalogs & stores only carried the later artwork, I was freaking out with glee when I brought home the "real thing". Back then, I never, ever would have guessed Star Wars would take over like it has.
Great episode, as always! :-)
0:00 Hey it’s me
Aw man, this was my favorite attraction in MGM Studios!