Gene Wilder
One of the best and most lucrative applications of virtual reality is in Universal Studio tour in which guests are taking for a tour ride of several simulations and they are made to feel like they are actually part of the several scenes. It must have taken more than one VR app development company to make it a reality.
The VR app development companies that designed the tours must have made a lot of money because people visit the park every day so millions of dollars are realized everyday up till today. And when it feels like a particular section is no longer thrilling guests, a VR app development company is hired to design another scene to replace the section. The technology behind this is obviously more superior to the technology used by top app development companies in Switzerland. The full details of the tour have been given below. It is not only immersive, it is captivating as guests sometimes scream in ecstasy.
History
The studio tour is also known as The Backlot tour. It is a ride thattakes guests through several attractions at the Universal Studios Hollywood. The tour lasts for about 45 to 60 minutes. The tour issaid to be the signature attraction at the park. The tour is led by aguide that keeps appearing on video screens all through the tour. Thetour opened on July 15, 1964. The tour goes through Front Lot, Backlot and several other attractions.
Opening
It is believed that the tour began much earlier than 1964. It is on recordthat it really began in 1915 when visitors were taken around onbleachers for just 25 cent. It is just that the introduction of Glamor Trams in 1964 seemed more like a more official opening. The introduction of behind-the-scenes views of several movies has been amajor boost to the tour. When it opened, the tour began from theFront lot but that changed in 1965 when upper lot studio centeropened.
Design, Construction and Running
The current main attractions of the studio tour are Flash Flood,Earthquake: The big one, Jaws, Courthouse Square (Back to thefuture), King Kong, War of the Worlds, Psycho, Whoville, CollapsingBridge, Fast and Furious and Supercharged.
Over the years, the tour had evolved as it went through severalmodifications. Several attractions have been replaced with new ones.One of the modifications is the movement of tram boarding from upperlot to lower lot in 1991 immediately after the construction of theStarway escalator system. However, the boarding was moved back toupper lot in 1996 as this would pave way for the introduction ofJurassic Park: The Ride.
Another major evolution of the tour is the introduction of CD players in 1989. This offers convenience for tour guides as their narration would be pre-recorded and played through CD players. Things improved further in 2000, CD players were replaced by DVD players and LCD screens. The introduction of LCD screens became a major improvement.As the tour tram passes any location, the tour guide will show a scene from a movie filmed in that location.
Therewas another major upgrade in introduction of Jimmy Fallon in 2011. Hejoined as a video host and he also appeared in several filmingscenes. The Collapsing Bridge was removed from the tour sometime in2006. This is because it was old and needed some renovations. Thiswas done and it was re-introduced into the tour in August 2008. TheCollapsing Bridge was assigned a new role in July 2010. TheCollapsing Bridge was used to represent the Skull Island city for theKing Kong: 360 3-D attraction.
To make the illusions look real, the tour includes some special demonstrations in smaller segments. The guests have an encounter with King Kong and they also encounter a simulated flash flood. Another demonstration worthy of mention is the mind-blowing 8.3 earthquake.Guests are also treated to a short but breathtaking encounter with Jaws. The tour is not complete without a hot chase from the cast of Fast and Furious.
The tour entails visits to the sets of the following films – Royal Engagement, The Princess Diaries, 101 Dalmatians, 102 Dalmatians, All the series of Pirates of the Caribbean, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Great Outdoors, The Sting, Back to the Future, War of the Worlds and Psycho. It also involves visits to some general purpose sets like Desperate Housewives’ Wisteria Lane.
Some Other Highlights of The Tour
Jurassic Park – Guests are sprayed by animatronic Dilophosaurus when the trampasses by the Nublar set. This segment is fashioned after Jurassic Park ride.
Psycho:Bates Motel – As the guests are taken through Bates Motel, NormanBates is seen carrying a corpse to a car. He drops the corpse in thetrunk only to notice guests watching. So he approaches the tram witha knife and as he moves closer, the tram zooms off. Some of theguests usually scream at this point.
Who ville Comes To Life: The tram passes through the Who ville set and pauses for a while for the guests to enjoy a musical performance by the Whos and Max the dog. They perform several remixes of the songs from the movie.
King Kong: 360 3-D – The tram takes guests into sound stage and they are told to wear their 3-D glasses. The stage is designed after a location in Skull Island. Just as guests begin to put on their glasses, a couple of Venatosaurus creatures appear from nowhere and they begin to chase the tram while the guests scream in a mixture of anxiety and ecstasy. The chase attracted King Kong who fought off the creatures. While the fight is on, air and water effects are blown onto guests to make the illusion more realistic. King Kong eventually defeats the creatures and roars in victory and his roar shakes the tram.
The Collapsing Bridge – The tram is taken over the bridge and while atthe middle of the bridge, the bridge creaks and “collapses”allowing the tram to drop off a few meters away. This scares theguests so much because the simulated collapse feels so real. As thetram moves on, guests see the bridge rebuild itself as if nothinghappened.
There are some interesting events that have either been removed or replaced by other events in the tour. The former events are:
•King Kong Sea
•Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb
• The Fast & The Furious: Extreme Close-Up
•King Kong Encounter
•Avalanche Tunnel
•Run away Train
•Battle of Galactica
•Rock slide
In 2015 as part of Golden Jubilee celebration of Universal Studios Hollywood,a nighttime studio tour was launched. So guests have an option of going for the daytime tour or nighttime tour.
