Nickelodeon Studios

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Nickelodeon Studios


Former Studio Logo (top); Former entrance to the Nickelodeon Studios attraction at Universal Studios Florida (bottom)
Universal Studios Florida
Area	Production Central
Theme	Nickelodeon Shows
Opening date	June 7, 1990
Closing date	April 30, 2005
Ride duration	40 minutes
Replaced By	Blue Man Group at the Sharp Aquos Theatre

Nickelodeon Studios (opened June 7, 1990 – closed April 30, 2005) was an operating television taping studio as well as an attraction at Universal Studios Florida.

1 History
- 1.1 Closure
2 The Tour
3 Shows taped at Nickelodeon Studios

[edit] History

Nickelodeon Studios as viewed from the Hard Rock Cafe in March 2004.

Nickelodeon Studios after the sign and markings were removed.

Opened with the Theme Park on June 7, 1990, the facility was a working studio where many Nickelodeon and Nickelodeon GAS shows were produced, with the first being Double Dare. It consisted of soundstages 18 and 19, along with a central building between them that housed both Nickelodeon production offices, dressing rooms, makeup rooms, the Gak Kitchen and the Game Lab live show located on Stage 17 for guests of Universal Studios Florida. Soundstage 21, located directly behind Stages 17 and 18, was also part of the production facility in the early 1990s when a larger sound stage was needed for the taping of Nickelodeon GUTS and Global GUTS. Stage 21 was not "owned" or part of the studio contract Nickelodeon had with Universal, but was leased separately for the duration of Nickelodeon Productions on the stage.

While Nick Studios was in production there were many orange benches scattered around the facility, incorporating shapes like a human footprint, carrot, finger, cruise ship, wave, cloud, etc., reflecting the network's station IDs. Some of these benches have been moved to the "Control Room" at Jimmy Neutrons Nicktoon Blast. Also scattered around the property were Nicktoons cutouts for photo opportunities.

[edit] Closure

The facility closed on April 30, 2005, after Nickelodeon had gradually moved its production facilities to Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California, and One Astor Plaza in New York and its live-action comedies to Nick on Sunset on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The final program taped at Nickelodeon Studios was Nickelodeon SPLAT! on August 17, 2004.

The Slime Geyser in front of Soundstage 18 was removed in May 2005.

The trademark "Nickelodeon" sign above the facility was removed in January 2006.

Many fans of the studio were dismayed at its closing and sent letters asking for it to remain open.

A time capsule buried by the network in 1992 in front of Sound stage 18 was removed in August 2006 and was replaced with concrete. The time capsule contained items deemed important to the children of 1992 as voted upon by Nickelodeon viewers, including a new Nintendo Game Boy, an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, a Home Alone VHS tape, clips of Nickelodeon station IDs and various other toys. The time capsule was scheduled to be opened on April 30, 2042, fifty years after its burial. The capsule was reburied at the Nickelodeon Family Suites in Orlando. It is still scheduled to be opened in 2042.^{[citation needed]}

At this time, Stage 19, as well as the second floor control room in the center building between stage 18 and 19, is home to FSN and Sun Sports Network. It is also being used as a storage area for Universal Orlando parade floats. Much of the Nickelodeon signage is still visible in the second floor hallways including multiple Ren and Stimpy murals. Currently, the Tube that runs above Soundstage 19 that was part of the Nickelodeon tour, is now used for storage of several old props and A/V equipment, along with storage for the Blue Man Group. Additionally, the Gak Kitchen is used as the break room for the Front of House staff of the Blue Man Group and the space that formerly housed Game Lab is now a special event room for Universal Studios and the Blue Man Group.

On November 9, 2006, Universal Orlando announced that sound stage 18 would be redesigned to become a 1,000 seat permanent venue for Blue Man Group. The new venue opened on June 1, 2007. During the construction phase of new theater, no cosmetic changes were made, with the exception of the addition of the new Box Office in the Pavilion. The sound stage was painted black with three giant blue heads, the main building was painted white with black and blue trim, and the side of Stage 18 was painted black with blue, yellow, and red paint splats. The facility was renamed the Sharp Aquos Theatre. Additionally, inside the building the dressing room signs remain the same that were used during the time of Nickelodeon, as well as the "Production Crew Only" orange splat signs which have not been changed. Overall, areas not accessible to guests have remained the same as they were during the time of Nickelodeon, including the wall murals in the Main Hallway (a blurred picture of a DoubleDare taping), 2nd Floor Tube (Blue's Clues), and the guest escalator: now closed off by storage and a temporary wall that makes a rehearsal area (The Wild Thornberrys).

[edit] The Tour

Nickelodeon Studios featured a tour for visitors of the Universal Studios theme park. As visitors entered the building, the tour would take them up an escalator to the second floor, where they would enter a Blue's Clues themed room. From there, the tour would enter the Soundstage 19 viewing tube, in which the tour guide would tell guests about the production taking place on that soundstage. Then, the tour would enter the Control Room viewing area, which showed a video about Nickelodeon, and allowed guests to see into the Nickelodeon Control Room. From there, the tour entered the Soundstage 18 viewing tube, where guests would again learn about the production going on below. The tour would then go down another escalator into the Game Lab area, and bypass it to the hallway with the Wardrobe, Makeup, and Gak Kitchen departments, where visitors would get a hands on experience tasting Nickelodeon Gak and slime, and trying on different items for a Nickelodeon production. Then, the tour would conclude in the Game Lab, where lucky guests would have the chance to participate in testing possible games for upcoming Nickelodeon shows, and even have the chance to get slimed. The entire experience lasted around 40 minutes. It operated from June 7, 1990 until June 15, 2001, when staffing cuts were made at the studio. Game Lab itself continued to operate until the complex closed on April 30, 2005.