A Deep Dive Into Classic Universal Studios Florida (Complete)

As a original USF team member, I have a different recollection of the tram tour. I don't recall it being part of the opening day line up of attractions. I don't even think it was part of the plan. As I recall, it was added in reaction to guests not understanding Universal Studios Florida was planned as a full theme park, and wanting the Universal Studios Hollywood tram tour experience. Parking lot trams were put into service as tour trams in the park. This experience was ultimately not successful, as the park was not designed to accommodate such an experience.

An hour and a half long deep dive into the Golden age of Universal Studios Orlando that only a weirdo like myself and others who like niche content about the world of IP licenses, shady corporate politics and theme park architecture is into? Oh yeah It's like an early Christmas!

I miss Jaws. There has never been anything else quite like it. It did such a great job of being very immersive. I wish they could have found a way to add Diagon Alley while keeping Jaws.

One of my favorite changes to Universal over the past few years - they completely embrace their legacy and celebrate their former attractions wherever they can. It means a lot to a fan of classic Universal

I only experienced Twister once as a kid, and "intense" was an understatement for me 😂 the roof slamming back down still makes appearances in my nightmares

It’s crazy to me how at first Universal Studios Orlando Resort was just a small studio lot park with some incredible attractions like Kongfrontation and Jaws (well, when they worked lol), and is what it is now. The resorts are very well themed and some of the best I’ve ever stayed in Orlando, Citywalk is super nice for a night out with the fam, Islands is without a doubt the best theme park I’ve ever visited, Volcano Bay is the best water park I’ve ever been to, and now Epic Universe is on its way! The one that started it all is still there and while not the crown jewel of the resort, is still immensely fun and with some of my favorite attractions in Orlando. Love this park, flaws and all!

just a few words about kongfrontation: it will definitely look stupid to people in 2022, but as a kid in the 90s, it was my favorite ride. i didn't realize it was at the time, but it's the ride i remember most fondly, and here's why: the theming really transported you to a nyc subway, and like poseidon said, it strongly conveyed a sense of imminent danger. the queue had a distinct smell that was absolutely perfect when combined with the true to life weathered walls and graffiti that you walked by. i remember the actors in the news clips on the little tv monitors in the queue being pretty convincing too, and the whole thing was just a master class in execution. obviously nobody was actually scared of the animatronic; that wasn't the point. but it's really difficult to convey something like this if you haven't experienced it. great video, cheers.

One year, ‘01 or ‘02 Halloween Horror Nights ran a haunted house on the ground level of the entire Kong ride. It was So incredibly cool

Nicely done! FUN FACT: a friend of mine worked on the Kongfrantation ride and said the banana breath effect had to be turned off because the chemicals were melting Kong’s vinyl skin!

I really really wish I was born just a bit earlier so that I could’ve rode these rides. The Hannah Barbara one looked the most fun

You really found your niche. There’s enough people focusing on Disney that you can’t shake a stick without hitting one. Universal Orlando is my second favorite park after Disneyland and it’s only second because I have to take a 6 hour flight to get there. Any kind of Universal Orlando content I can get is appreciated. I know your channel is going to blow up!

The Universal content on this channel is by far my favorite! Loved this deep dive on my third favorite Orlando park (Islands is my favorite and Animal Kingdom my second)!

~Jump To A "Scene"~ 0:00 Intro 3:48 History Lesson on Universal Florida's Origin 14:36 Studio Tour 16:48 Nickelodeon 19:19 Hannah-Barbera 21:31 "Try it now Yogi!" 24:24 Alfred Hitchcock 28:10 Murder She Wrote 31:45 MCA Recording Studio+Other Attractions in Production Central 32:56 Kongfrontation 38:37 Ghostbusters+Streetbusters 43:47 Twister 46:05 "Hold on for your life" 49:04 Earthquake+Disaster 57:16 BeetleJuice 58:40 JAWS 1:03:36 The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show 1:05:00 Back To The Future 1:09:44 Swamp Thing Set+Men In Black 1:10:44 ET Adventure 1:13:33 Animal Actors 1:14:23 Bates Motel+Barney 1:15:59 Bates Mansion+Curious George & Fivel's Playland/Kidzone 1:17:27 Lucy-A tribute 1:19:33 Horror Make-up Show 1:21:34 T2-3D 1:26:08 Dynamite Nights+Cinesphere 360 1:28:14 Universal Florida Today+Closing Notes

Man that Alfred Hitchcock attraction looked and sounded AMAZING for a cinephile such as myself.

Alfred Hitchcock Experience is probably the one I miss the most. An absolute love letter to film making with one of the best to ever do it. Nothing quite like it anywhere else.

As a 90s kid(and even further, A Florida kid), I really love and appreciate the depth you went into for this video. It warmed my cold millennial heart as the parks are like a second home to me. Universal Orlando is the first park I remember visiting as a child going through the struggles of my early life and my experiences there helped shape the adult I am today.

I grew up in orlando and basically grew up at universal and disney world. Been to both countless times and have seen both change. Its good to have experienced this park from the beginning

I love your celebration of classic Universal studios, as it does not receive as much acclaim as it used to after HP took over. The older attractions are marvels in ingenuity and design, and definitely deserve to be remembered when discussing theme park history.

The Kongfrontation ride had the most amazing waiting in line experience ever, just so may little details of old New York down to a crazy amount of chewing gum on the floors and walls, which looking back was probably helped a lot by guests 😂

This was an amazing video! Great job. As an MCA Recreation Services executive from the 1990s, this brought back some great memories. The one addition I can share is about the MCA Recording Studios attraction— this was not an attraction on motion picture sound recording as you mentioned… this was an attraction meant to showcase the MCA Music Entertainment division (at that time MCA was one of the largest music companies in the world)… the attraction allowed guests to record their own vocal tracks of music from the MCA music library. I miss many of the older original attractions at USF… but as you know… there have been so many corporate owners and JV partners at Universal Orlando that the various masters impacted varying degrees of bad decisions in desperate attempts to understand how to make money in the theme park industry.. remember Universal was owned by MCA, which was then bought by Matsushita/Panasonic of Japan, which was then sold to the Seagram Company and renamed Universal Studios, Inc. Seagram then sold Universal to French company Vivendi which kept the video game and music business and then sold what was left of Universal to NBC, which itself was eventually acquired by Comcast. The Orlando property itself had various joint venture owners though out the last 30 years… the first few years was a joint venture with Cineplex Odeon, that was then bought by the Rank Organization and that was sold to Blackstone. Count the number of corporate owners and JVs in the last 30 years and you can understand all of the changes.