Universal studio tour/ride

rnorwo1

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 23, 2006
Hi,
We will be in LA next week. My son really wants to do the studio tour/tram ride there, but we probably won't be able to get to universal until afternoon next Friday. I know the tram ride closes before the park, is it likely that we will be able to ride it? If it's the first thing we do when we arrive, probably a little after lunch? Thanks for any info, because if it is unlikely, we may skip universal altogether (I've done this ride before, he's aware of what it is, he is still just very excited about it!)
 
The Studio Tour usually closes 1hr 45mins before listed park closing.

On Nights the park closes at 10pm they will close the queue at 8:15pm. However, if the park is extremely busy, or is open past 10pm, the latest the queue will stay open is until 8:45pm. As long as you are in the queue prior to its closing, you will be allowed to ride.


To find out the latest the Studio Tour is open go to www.ushwaittimes.com on the day you want to visit and it will tell you the time the Studio Tour closes.
 
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You will have plenty of time. As PP said, the last tour line admittance time is listed on the site and is a couple hours before closing, usually around sunset. We were there last Friday and it closed at 8:45 (10:00 park closing), we got on around 8:15 and there was no line at all. We finished right around 9, just in time for the Hogwarts lights. Caught sunset during the ride.
 


Sorry, to clarify last tram left at 8:45, so if you were not on board by that time you were out of luck.
 
Hi, I was just there last weekend, we went to Universal studios and rode the Tour Ride at around 7ish if i'm remembering correctly.
 


Does he specifically want to do that tour or just a tour? Warner Bros starts as late as 5pm, it's cheaper than admission to USH and free parking.
 
Thanks Ryan! I hadn't planned on doing it since I thought it would be too long and incomprehensible to my young kids but an hour could be doable. Is there anything scary? Is there a pretty set list of things to see? Like certain movies? We'd be going at the end if September. My oldest is into how they do things with special effects but he's probably not seen any classic movies they might show so I'd have to plan ahead for him to really get it.
 
Depending on what is being filmed the day you go- some of the sets you will most likely see are:

- The Clock Tower from Back to The Future
- Wisteria Lane from Desperate House Wives (and a TON of other movies and TV shows have filmed on that street)
- The plane crash set from War of The Worlds
- 6points Texas - A LOT of Westerns filmed on this set.
- Whovill from 2000 How The Grinch Stole Christmas
- Bates Motel and Psycho House
- Court of Miracles from Frankenstein.

Those are off the top of my head. You will see a lot- most of the sets listed above have been in countless movies, tv shows, commercials, and music videos.



As for scary things on the Tour:

King Kong 360 3D: Dinosaurs, King Kong, Giant Spiders and Insects fighting around the tram (on 360 screen)
Jaws: Explosions, a man gets eating by a shark (nothing graphic), and an animatronic shark leaps out of the water land lunges at the passing tram.
Earthquake: Explosions and you are in the middle of an earthquake in a collapsing subway station.
Lost World of Jurassic Park: Animatronic dinosaurs lunge at the tram and spit water.
Fast and Furious Supercharged: Car chase with guns and very loud fog cannons to simulate crashes and explosions.
Bates Motel: Norman bates lunges at the back tram car with a Knife after the Tour stumbles upon him removing a dead body (in a blanket) from a motel room and putting it inside the trunk of his car.




The Studio Tour is one of the best attractions in SoCal and at any theme park-its worth a visit to Universal.


Here is a video of the full tour

ht
 
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Thanks again Ryan! I had no idea it was so action packed and interactive. It sounds way better than I thought! I've never seen any of the King Kong movies, would the sets be based on old films or a newer one? Ditto War of the Worlds and Frankenstein? I think those sound like the only ones I could possibly show a 7 yr old since I would assume it would be more fun if he knew the characters.

Ok I just googled, I had no idea there was a WoW movie or that it was Speilberg! He's amazing of course so no idea how I missed it, unless it's really bad? That has to be the one on the tour then?
 
I went on the tour 2 weeks ago, and due to filming, we skipped the clock tower (it's covered and looks nothing like in the movie anymore anyway), Wisteria Lane and Frankenstein. Also, Norman Bates wasn't out. At one point we had to wait in silence and just sat on a hot tram for about 10 minutes. We also barely saw the NY section, which I'd seen more earlier this year on another tour. We also couldn't watch many of the videos that they usually show due to filming and the noise that would make. And no, there wasn't any extra content to replace everything that was skipped. I wouldn't go to USH just for the tour, it should be an extra bonus to a day in the theme park. Skipping parts that are normally on the tour or that you wanted to see can happen at WB/Paramount/Sony too, but those are smaller groups and there is more flexibility then when hauling a multi-car tram full of people across the lot.
 
From my 8 yo who won't go on anything scary/dark, the scary parts are: the King Kong/TRex fight, Norman Bates, earthquake and Fast & Furious (too loud). He refuses to go on the studio tour because of these parts. The dinosaur and the shark are outside and for some reason not considered scary. Norman Bates is not out on the evening tours (he must work a day shift) but you do still go by the psycho house and everything is spookier in the twilight! My 10 year old loves it all so we parents alternate going on with him.
 

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