I’ve been a longtime fan of the Universal Studios tram tour. My first time visiting the studios was 1985, right before Back To The Future opened! I’ve been back to there many times since, but now always VIP - the only way to go! When I saw they were having a 60th anniversary celebration with some special photo ops, I knew I had to go back and check it out. After this visit, I realized I still love it, but there are so many great rides, experiences, and sets that no longer exist. So I created this page to celebrate some of those missed (and not-so-missed) spots from Universal Studios.
I have included pictures where I can for reference, but some I never grabbed a picture, i.e. The Back To The Future Ride. Also, special thanks to TheStudioTour, a great website full of great historical information on all the studios. Enjoy!
Here is a look at the Glamor Tram. They decorated some of their old diesel trams with the historic red and white trim. I forgot how much louder they are than the electric trams! Here are also some shots of the drop-off spot by the Bates Motel for various photo ops.
Not sure the best place to start, but how about the spot where you used to originally get off the tram and check out some big props and some other photo ops. I remember they also used to have a van you could “lift” which I believe was part of the Bionic Woman or Six Million Dollar Man, but was repainted as the A-Team van when I last saw it.
Although you do occasionally get to see some sets during the VIP Tour, back in ‘85 they brought tours to see the sets for All In The Family and The Jeffersons!
On my tour, we were also luck enough to see all the extras taking a break while Steven Spielberg was filming The Color Purple.
Who remembers the Battlestar Galactica experience?
As a horror fan, I was excited to see the Psycho house and Bates Motel. Unfortunately, they were prepping for Psycho III at the time, so couldn’t get too close, but thought you would like to see what the area looked like back then. This was the first time the built out the facade of the motel and well before the War of the Worlds set was next to the house. You can also see Falls Lake before the screen was built at the end.
Not missed at all is the Grinch village, which was sat behind the Bates Motel ruining the backdrop for us Psycho fans!
The tram would also drive by the facade of this burning house…
And for many years the tram would cross the deteriorating bridge! It is still there, but hasn’t been driven on in many years. The view is mostly blocked by the King Kong 3D ride. You’ll start to notice some of these pictures are very poor quality as they are screenshots from the VHS camcorder days.
Speaking of Kong, the King Kong Encounters ride was destroyed in a 2008 fire at the studios. the fire destroyed a big portion of the backlot as well as many audio master tapes owned by Universal.
The fire also destroyed a lot of the New York backlot, so much film history lost…
The courthouse, probably made most famous by the Back To The Future series, is seen here in 1985.
It essentially stood the same with minor modifications until the 2008 fire in the backlot. Although the courthouse was okay, they built a new facade over it, but if you are able to go in, you can see the original doors and columns. Sadly, the diner from the series is also now gone.
The Parting of the Red Sea was a neat effect that the tram drove through. In later years, they added some King Kong miniature off to the side for who knows what reason. This was closed in 2016.
After you pass through the sea, you would go by the Blue Parrot Hotel, originally built for The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island and later used in Tales of the Gold Monkey. It was demolished in 2009.
I forgot about this, but this was apparently miniatures used in Dante’s Peak!
Now the Jaws ride is still there and operational, but a lot of things have changed since these 1985 photos, including the set dressing and Quint’s boat from the original film!
They used to have a large hanging shark on the upper lot for many years. It was replaced with another one, then disappeared, but has reappeared in the photo op section of the 60th Anniversary Tram Tour.
Colonial Street (aka Wisteria Lane) was the spot of many famous houses, including Leave It To Beaver and The Munsters. It went through a dramatic change in the late 80’s for The Burbs and then later for Desperate Housevies.
Here are a few more random facades that no longer exist to the best of my knowledge…
Apparently they still do the car drivebys, but not on my tours for some reason. I haven’t seen it a while, but they also used to drive by random ones like DC Cab in the first pic.
Not a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise and no one was a fan of the Tokyo Drift spot on the tram. This was thankfully short-lived. This appears to still exist but hasn’t been used in years.
As a horror fan, I do miss their House Of Horrors, which usually had some nice props in the entrance. It was later rebranded as a walk-thru experience for The Mummy Returns and eventually demolished.
Speaking of props, the VIP Tours have just started allowing visits into the prop and wardrobe building, but no longer allow photos. I am always excited to see the big shopping cart from The Incredible Shrinking Woman, which you can now catch by the Bates Motel photo op area. I also miss the various props and wardrobe they used to have down in the lower lot for general visitors.
Seen here in 1985, it had then been recently seen in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. It remains essentially the same, but the back structure has been taken off and changed since then as you see how it originally looked in the second picture.
I dearly miss the revolving tunnel as it was featured in the Bionic series. Originally called the Glacier Avalanche, it wen through a couple changes to highlight Dante’s Peak and The Mummy. It was a fantastic illusion and was replaced by the fantastically awful Fast and Furious Supercharged ride — the worst thing ever conceived.
This structure was built for Jurassic Park: The Lost World. It remained in this spot for many years and was mostly obscured by the War Of The Worlds plane crash scene. Eventually it was demolished and near it was placed the big log cabin.
This may still exist but I haven’t seen it on any recent tours, but you would get a chance to drive by some Jurassic Park series’ vehicles, props, and spitting dinos!
The Jurassic Park ride was changed and converted into a Jurassic World ride, so included here to show some of the original elements. I also took a whole video of my “final” experience on the old ride and can be found here: https://youtu.be/dr29W1LF2hU?si=O7EU09ne04RMdSdd
As we get into rides, I still haven’t forgiven them for getting rid of the E.T. experience. It was replaced with The Mummy coaster.
I also miss the T2:3D ride, the really only true sequel to Terminator 2. I also liked when they did a mini version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show one year during Halloween Horror Nights and they had it actually raining on the audience!
And speaking of Halloween, I also miss Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure - a biting, satirical variety comedy show that some people were apparently sensitive to….
Also gone in the Shrek 4D ride. Not a favorite of mine, but included here for reference.
The Backdraft experience was a great showcase of fire effects.
The Special Effects show went through a couple variations and locations, but eventually closed and was replaced by the Transformers ride.
More recently gone is Animal Actors, which I did kind of like. The first shot is in ‘85 and I think the dog played Einstein in Back To The Future.
The reason Animal Actors is gone is to make way for a big rollercoaster. This also means the Universal City sign and a lot of the poster timeline drive is now gone, at least on the hill side.
Universal Studios Hollywood is still a great experience, although they really lean into the theme park elements now and giving Disney some much-needed competition. I highly recommend the VIP experience, it’s definitely worth the money and you never know who you’ll run into on the tour….
