I agree with you Chris, Universal is no longer the park it once was, with its "Ride the Movies" campaign; it's now a theme park. And I also agree with you that it's all about what's relevant and new; BTTF is a 29 year old movie property, with absolutely no plans for more sequels or remakes. With that being said, it's one of the many reasons I can tell you with complete confidence 'The Ride' was closed.
I've been working with
BTTF.com (now
Back to the Future dot com) for over 20 years now, and I've been lucky enough to witness some of the many internal discussions about the future of BTTF with Universal. And my day job is working in the film industry. So I see how things have changed over the last two decades, especially with how Generation Y and Z relate to older movie properties; they simply have no interest in them. But BTTF has been able to overcome those obstacles, especially in the last five years. Take for example something as trivial and simple as IMDb. BTTF is currently ranked at #49 in their top 250. Five years ago it was well into the 200's. There's more merchandise now for it than there's ever been. And I just did a two day comic & sci-fi convention in September with Christopher Lloyd; he was the main attraction, amongst many other celebrity guests. I worked the BTTF booth, and we sold 90% of our merchandise in the first day. Close to 30,000 people attended, with literally dozens upon dozens of people were dressed up in some sort of BTTF costumes. So even without the prospects of new movies, there still seems to be a lot of interest in the franchise.
But yes, after 2015, things may change. Part I will be celebrating it's 30th Anniversary, Part III it's 25th, and Part II celebrates the point in time in which the movie takes place. There are a lot of things in-the-works for next year, but it could very well be BTTF's last hurrah. But I hope not.
But going back to my work with BTTF, and what I do for a living, you can't deny that Universal could be doing a better job with the upkeep of the franchise, especially when compared to other studios and theme parks and the treatment of their older properties. There's very little I can say publicly, based on my ongoing working relationship with the studio. But there are some things that are publicly known, but not often spoken of. For one, the DeLorean Time Machine which is now located at the NBC Universal Experience. That is the last remaining screen-used DeLorean from Part I, and it sat on the backlot decaying for nearly 20 years. Don't think for one instance that is was Universal Studios that paid for it's restoration, even though they own it. The Locomotive located at the Florida park, another screen-used prop from Part III - when Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was touring the park a few years ago, checking out the plans for the Potter attraction, Universal told her they were going change the train over to look like the Hogwarts Express. Rowling declined Universal's offer to do such a thing, stating that it was the Back to the Future train, and should be left alone. And on top of that, she paid for it's restoration out of her own pocket (what a wonderfully nice thing to do). These things aren't 'theme park' touristy stuff, these are screen-used movie props. Movie props are big business; the restored DeLorean Time Machine is now estimated to be worth well over a one million. But it took the efforts of the fans and others for Universal to even consider doing anything about it in the first place. If it wasn't for them, I can guarantee you it would still be sitting there on the backlot wasting away.
There are a lot of other factors into BTTF's demise at the studio that I'm aware of, including some theories that I think may also be the reasons why 'The Ride' was taken away, that had more to do with internal interests at the studio, rather than popularity of the attraction itself.
Those photos are great, Chris! I've always wanted to get my hands on one of those "Special Effects Stage" posters. I was able to spend a day there during it's last week of operation in 2001, videotaping the show several times over, including having the the opportunity to go back stage and film the inner-workings of the show. Unfortunately for the project I'm working on now, I need photographs, not video footage, which is why I've been asking for photos.
Going back to my point about props, Universal decided to destroy a lot of that stuff that was used in the FX show attraction, especially the full scale fibreglass DeLorean. That DeLorean was used throughout the filming of Part II for the flying sequences, and there's a lot of movie prop and BTTF collectors out there who would have loved to have had that thing. Same goes for the DeLorean's, props and signage used on The Ride; all of it was mostly dismantled and destroyed. It kind of makes you wonder why go to those lengths, especially when there are people out there willing to pay money for it all. Like I said, I have my theories.