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Race Through NY Starring Jimmy Fallon

Of course the bars and restaurants also have exposed ceilings, labeled false walls etc.
I ate at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios last week for the first time in a long time. It was funny to see it also set up like a set, with false walls. Reminded me a lot of Louie's and Finnegans. Even the Tattoine Traders is setup that way when you're exiting Star Tours, with false walls and exposed studio lighting on the ceiling.

I miss the Production Tram Tour at Universal Studios Florida. It was interesting to travel backstage, and see some of the sound stages in use. And then go from backstage to the New York backlot. You got to see the full transition from unthemed sound stages to New York. On the tour they'd explain that the facades are constructed using Styrofoam that's later sprayed with concrete to appear like real brick, but can easily be dismantled later for different productions. They explained how the bricks on the road are actually created using a rubber mold on wet concrete to give the illusion on individual bricks. A technique that was used recently for Fallon's courtyard in front of the store.

New York street fake bricks, note the seem:
IMG_1098.jpg


Fallon fake bricks:
P1080536.jpg


I think my point is, the backlot areas are purposely constructed to show off how Hollywood makes movies. Buildings like Macy's and now 30 Rock don't actually go up many stories, they stop at around two or three stories. You have to fill in the rest with your imagination... and productions would use matte paintings (or digital set extensions nowadays,) to add in the remaining stories in post-production. They even teach you how that's done in front of the Pantages theater.

Live Matte Painting:
P1040688.jpg


The "theming" of the New York and Hollywood backlots actually taught me a lot about filmmaking. The things I learned in the early nineties made me want to pick up a camera and make movies. Which I've had the pleasure of doing once or twice in my life. I guess without the production tour, or someone to explain why things are the way they are, it isn't as educational. I understand that theme parks are moving towards a more immersive experience. The once unthemed sound stage for Murder She Wrote Mystery Theater is now a (barely) themed gray NEST facility for Transformers.

The rules are changing. But I still see nothing wrong with seeing a little show building behind a facade in a theme park. Just yesterday I noticed the white unthemed show building behind Haunted Mansion. Never noticed it before, but it's always been there, easily visible above the exit doors, huge and looming in the background. Never noticed it because I was too busy gawking at the impressive mansion facade I guess.

I think we can all agree Fallon is a step above Twister.

Just like Minions was a step above Jimmy Neutron which was a step above Hanna Barbara. Universal's getting there. Baby steps.

soundstage-transition.jpg
 
Okay, so today I went through my construction updates to create a recap video (like I did with Kongstruction not too long ago.) My pictures go back to December 2015.

Strange to see Twister again. The facade really has come a long way.


Great video!

It reminded me that we got a bathroom in a much needed location. If nothing else- just the net gain of a bathroom was filling a massive need.
 
Great video!

It reminded me that we got a bathroom in a much needed location. If nothing else- just the net gain of a bathroom was massive.
Actually, there was always a bathroom there, but it has been expanded and updated dramatically. It was hard during construction, for concerts especially, to have Monsters Cafe's tiny bathroom be the closest one, so I was glad to see it back in operation before the rest of construction concluded.
 
The "theme park community" is generally horrible. If I was in any decision making capacity I'd monitor them for any smoke, but generally not pay attention. For this reason I think Fallon will be successful.
I'd go even further. If I was a Disney or Universal Executive I'd do the opposite of what's on the various sites. Tourists & the general public have a very different view of things. The GP is not nearly as negative in their views and they go to theme parks to have fun and be entertained. Some in the theme park community have a habit of over analyzing, being too serious, and nit picking to the extreme. These are theme park resorts, not drama schools.:)
 
Yeah, it's a bit soon for the guest reaction to be anything, nevermind great.

If you're talking about comments post-ride to the staff, you're obviously not getting the full picture.

And an actual study would need a decent sample size - unless they've been drilling it hourly with people with iPads it's unlikely you'd have the sample size the industry considers the minimum.

I don't know Uni's methodology... but an immediate post ride survey primarily serves the purpose of informing ops of what is going wrong in their operation. It's not getting the bigger picture guest opinion because people don't know the ride is open, opt out, are denied because of ride requirements, missed it due to downtimes, etc...

It'd be like a post ride sample from Test Track in the early years that everyone loved the ride with no mention of serious issues with downtimes. Well, the people who got to ride enjoy it - but that's obviously not the whole story.

So time becomes an element - how long after is it even remembered. Does it drive people to the park. Does it extend their day or does it replace another option. How does it relate to their overall ratings.

Very little of that could be captures and analyzed in such a short period of time.

If I remember correctly the post turnstile in and out of the park surveys ask why you came to the park...normally the newest attraction is listed along with HP (of course)..Those may help to better understand people's true feelings

Did this just open?

How does one get up there??
 
Did this just open?


If I remember correctly the post turnstile in and out of the park surveys ask why you came to the park...normally the newest attraction is listed along with HP (of course)..Those may help to better understand people's true feelings


How does one get up there??

Last time at UO I asked a TM out front what the balcony is for and if I could go up right now, she said private events and no.
 
I ate at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios last week for the first time in a long time. It was funny to see it also set up like a set, with false walls. Reminded me a lot of Louie's and Finnegans. Even the Tattoine Traders is setup that way when you're exiting Star Tours, with false walls and exposed studio lighting on the ceiling.

I miss the Production Tram Tour at Universal Studios Florida. It was interesting to travel backstage, and see some of the sound stages in use. And then go from backstage to the New York backlot. You got to see the full transition from unthemed sound stages to New York. On the tour they'd explain that the facades are constructed using Styrofoam that's later sprayed with concrete to appear like real brick, but can easily be dismantled later for different productions. They explained how the bricks on the road are actually created using a rubber mold on wet concrete to give the illusion on individual bricks. A technique that was used recently for Fallon's courtyard in front of the store.

New York street fake bricks, note the seem:
IMG_1098.jpg


Fallon fake bricks:
P1080536.jpg


I think my point is, the backlot areas are purposely constructed to show off how Hollywood makes movies. Buildings like Macy's and now 30 Rock don't actually go up many stories, they stop at around two or three stories. You have to fill in the rest with your imagination... and productions would use matte paintings (or digital set extensions nowadays,) to add in the remaining stories in post-production. They even teach you how that's done in front of the Pantages theater.

Live Matte Painting:
P1040688.jpg


The "theming" of the New York and Hollywood backlots actually taught me a lot about filmmaking. The things I learned in the early nineties made me want to pick up a camera and make movies. Which I've had the pleasure of doing once or twice in my life. I guess without the production tour, or someone to explain why things are the way they are, it isn't as educational. I understand that theme parks are moving towards a more immersive experience. The once unthemed sound stage for Murder She Wrote Mystery Theater is now a (barely) themed gray NEST facility for Transformers.

The rules are changing. But I still see nothing wrong with seeing a little show building behind a facade in a theme park. Just yesterday I noticed the white unthemed show building behind Haunted Mansion. Never noticed it before, but it's always been there, easily visible above the exit doors, huge and looming in the background. Never noticed it because I was too busy gawking at the impressive mansion facade I guess.

I think we can all agree Fallon is a step above Twister.

Just like Minions was a step above Jimmy Neutron which was a step above Hanna Barbara. Universal's getting there. Baby steps.

soundstage-transition.jpg

I think Hanna Barbara, Jimmy Neutron and Minions are a rare bred of ride where every version has been great.
 
Remember the USF version of Minions came out right after the first movie...They had no idea what it would become...Here's hoping one day we get a Minion dark ride of some kind
 
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