Ah, Universal Studios Hollywood, the entertainment capital of L.A., at least, that’s what they say. For those somehow unfamiliar with the park’s history, Universal Studios Hollywood first opened on March 14, 1915, not as a park, but as your typical movie studio.
It wasn’t until July 15, 1964, that the Studio became a fully-fledged theme park, giving birth to the ever-so-popular Studio Tour. Fast forward 60 years and the park has evolved so much from what it used to be. Whether it’s changed for the better or worse is up for interpretation, but with these changes comes the 60th anniversary that celebrates the parks’ history.
In the Studio Tour line, you’ll see the banners and posters that, while they would normally show off movies produced by Universal, have been changed to include pictures and information about the tour’s beginnings, its old attractions, and the shuttle’s design. Personally, I enjoyed reading about old attractions like the King Kong Encounter, the Ice Tunnel, and the Collapsing Bridge.
For those curious and interested enough to read about the Studio Tour’s past, it’s a nice addition, although you could probably find the same information online. Speaking of the past, the tour has a technically new design for its shuttles.
Half of them have a cool dark blue with silver coloring on them, while the other half goes back to the 60’s and sports that classic red and white candy-striped color it had when it first debuted. The Studio Tour description seems to make that a selling point as seen in the link below.
SAS senior, Sebastian Gopar, gave his thoughts on the tour saying, “It’s okay as an anniversary. I feel like it could be cooler, but it’s okay for what it is.”
Once on the tram, you get the usual talk about the movie sets and buildings in the New York area and after you get past the King Kong section, you get taken down behind the sets of New York, completely skipping the Jurassic Park dinosaurs that come after.
To give a quick rundown of other parts, from King Kong, you’ll go to Little Europe, then to Earthquake, Jaws, and take a shortcut to Flash Flood. From Flash Flood, you’ll head to the Wild West set pieces and back to Jaws, where you’ll go to the plane crash site from War of the Worlds.
From War of the Worlds, you go to the Bates Motel, and this is where the fun begins. Once you’re at the Bates Motel location, you’ll be allowed to get off the tram and explore the set and take pictures. Behind the Motel, there are 3 more picture sites.
You can take pictures with the cars from the Fast and Furious franchise, and one with Jaws himself. Feel free to stick your head in his mouth, he won’t bite (hopefully). The 3rd and final picture location features King Kong’s hand and supposedly uses some kind of AR technology to simulate a scene with you and him. I never used it though so take that with a grain of salt.
Luis Bernal commented on this saying, “It was fun for what it was, but I feel like the park could have done a lot more for its 60th anniversary celebration. Feels like they hyped it up too much.”
Overall, while there are a few “new” features, the Studio Tour’s 60th-anniversary event didn’t really feel that grand to me. It just felt like another day at Universal. For those who love whatever the park has to offer, you’ll likely enjoy it.
The event lasts until August 11th, and if there’s money available, there’s an exclusive popcorn bucket in the shape of a Studio Tour shuttle driven by Woody Woodpecker himself. Heads up though, the prices are ridiculous as always when it comes to theme park merch.
