The Life of a VIP - Adventures By Disney Backstage Magic About This Page:

[PrincessSharon]

I wandered around for a bit, enjoying the park.



I saw Shrek and Fiona, and since there were only a couple of people waiting, I queued up to meet them.





My nephew is a big fan of Spongebob, so I went into that store and bought him a gift. I also saw Spongebob greeting guests and I knew DN would love to see a picture, but there was a long line, so I skipped it.

I called Celebrity Helicopter and wondered if it would be better to take the tour the next day, but she said the forecast for Monday was rain, so that meant I needed to do the helicopter tour that day at 2:30. Which meant I wouldn’t be doing the Universal VIP tour. That meant that I needed to do the tram tour, so I went there next.









I arrived just in time to catch a tram. I ended up with a row to myself. I really enjoyed the tram tour. We rode past sets that I recognized from a lot of TV shows and movies. During the tour, when we passed certain sets, we would see a little film clip of that set in a film or tv show. They told us that CSI (the original), Parenthood and Desperate Housewives were among the shows currently in production on the lot.

The studio is so large they have their own fire department.



There was a major fire at the Studio in 2008 that destroyed New York Street and the King Kong ride as well as a film vault. The film unfortunately cannot be replaced, but New York Street is being rebuilt, as is the King Kong portion (now in 3-D!).



The courthouse section (famous from the Back to the Future films) survived the fire and has recently been used in many productions, including Ghost Whisperer.







A number of new highly detailed sets are being constructed. This is because the old sets show their faults in high definition. There was a lot of construction going on in this area.




This will house the brand new King Kong 3-D attraction, opening this summer



I was excited to see a glimpse of the sun. I hoped that was a good sign for my helicopter tour. The tram came to a display of cars used in films and tv.















And then we saw how they make cars go flying through the air once they get blowed up real good.







Then we went through Jurassic Park.





Then, we came to this.



And it started to rain!



No worries, it was just movie rain.



The rain caused a flood.







Then we went through the western area. They actually have four streets that can serve as four different towns, because each one has its own bank, sheriff’s office, tavern, etc.





There was a big tank filled with water that they use for filming underwater scenes.



The actors go inside, and the crew and director stay nice and dry outside. You can see there’s a window they can use on the side of the tank. We passed Lyon Estates, home of Marty McFly.



Then we came to this lake.



Aside from being used for countless productions, it was blocking the way! Luckily, the tour guide knew how to part the waters. Unfortunately, because I was in the back of the tram, I couldn’t really see all that well.




The view from the back

We also passed Skull Island (they never used anything larger than this in the remake of King Kong).



Next on the tour was Earthquake (which was used recently in Bones).


I loved the orange juice poster





Continued…

[PrincessSharon]

Next was Jaws.










Eeeeew!







The little town also served as Cabot Cove on the tv show Murder, She Wrote. I am embarrassed to admit I’m a big MSW fan.



Then we headed over to Wisteria Lane, home of tv’s Desperate Housewives.

























As we continued, I saw this street name, which made me chuckle.



I can pretty much guarantee that people living on Psycho Pass don’t get many visitors. Then we went through Whoville.





The tour guide told us that the cars all actually worked. Then we came upon the Bates Motel.








Is there someone in the window?

You could actually get a good look at Mother in the window, but I kind of like how it’s sort of vague in the photo. It adds to the creepiness, I think.

Next was the set of the plane crash scene from The War of the Worlds. This was eerily realistic.















Continued…

[PrincessSharon]

We passed some other things, including the cabin from the John Candy movie Great Outdoors.



Then this big blue sky wall.



They use it when filming on the lake in front of it, so it appears to be a vast ocean. It works on film obviously because they don’t shoot all the trees and stuff around the lake. It was used brilliantly in The Truman Show.

We next visited the Tomb of the Mummy.





Once inside the tomb, things got a little crazy. It was a great effect!

The video might give you a little vertigo

I really enjoyed the tram tour. I felt like it gave a great sense of how movies are made, and there were a lot of things I recognized from my favorite shows and films.

I’d done everything I needed to, but I still had time, so I explored the park for a little while.



Frankenstein was wandering around and hilariously scared a woman walking through the park. I can laugh because she was walking around and not looking where she was going, so she literally bumped into him before she saw him, and then got scared. Ha!



I went over to watch Shrek 4-D. I had to wait about 5 minutes for the show to start and that was truly the longest wait I had the entire day!



After the show, I decided it was time to head out, but on the way, I figured I’d do the House of Horrors.



This was a walkthrough haunted house, similar to what they have at Halloween Horror Nights, but on a much tamer scale. It would have been pretty frightening for younger kids (there were plenty of warning signs, though). I am admittedly a big chicken, and I wasn’t really scared, but I have to admit Chucky got a jump out of me when he popped out in front of me. And the scare at the end would have caused me to scream had he jumped out at me instead of the girl in front of me. She and her boyfriend backed right up into me!

When I came out, I saw a few characters doing meet and greets (Curious George, Woody Woodpecker, and… uh, Mrs. Woody Woodpecker? I don’t know her name ). The thing I enjoyed most was that they were doing the Single Ladies dance. Random, right? That kind of random weirdness always strikes me as funny.



I figured I’d grab some lunch at City Walk on the way out. Perhaps my favorite restaurant (at least from the outside) was the Saddle Ranch Chop House.





I didn’t eat there, though. I ended up eating at Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom, though I have no pictures of that. I do have some more City Walk photos to share.











All in all, it had been a successful morning at US. I got everything done on my list and more in about 4 hours.

Up Next: The best way to see L.A.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update and pictures from US Sharon! The tram tour looks great! Can't wait to hear about the helicopter ride!

[sc507]

Wow! You really got a lot accomplished! The tram ride looks great

[elisa1006]

WOW! What wonderful pictures. I love all the detail from the tram tour!

[chezp]

Wow, you did get a lot done in a short space of time. I didn't realise Universal Studios there was so different to the one in Orlando. Maybe we'll have to visit it sometime....

[Mauimouse]

That tram ride looks amazing. Thanks for all the great pictures. Looking forward to seeing LA from above.

[disneydani]

Wow...you managed to cover tons of ground in such a short time! Lovin' all the pics; Universal looks like it maight have to go on "the list"....

danielle

[doccoc2002]

Great update...you did a lot in 4 hours. The tram ride looks like the most fun. I would of LOVED to see Wisteria Ln. Can't wait to see your flying tour!

[2princessmom]

What a great trip! Loved the pictures! Brings back tons of great memories!

[lazanya]

Gret update! Love the pics from US and love the tour!

[BostonTeaParty]

Interrupting my reading to say: Wonderful start to your trip.

This place is heaven for science/astronomy geeks.

My husband Paul is a science/astronomy geek and he would have been in blissed-out-science/astronomy geek-heaven at this place. In fact, he just read a book about the life of Tesla, which he really enjoyed. The Tesla display reminded me of Frankenstein's laboratory though. Now back to the tr.

ETA: Was just telling Paul about your visit to the Observatory, and he, of course, is familiar with it, even though he's never been there. He said to tell you that they've filmed other movies there too, including Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy's movie "Bowfinger" (which we loved).

[Wendyismyname]

What a fantastic trip report Sharon!! I can't wait to read the next update!

[DyanKJ130]

WOW, Sharon! You sure got a lot done in one morning. The tram tour looked especially interesting. Could you see any of the filming, while you were there? Looking forward to hearing about the helicopter ride