Back to the Future: The Ride

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Back to the Future: The Ride
Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan
Area World Expo Center (USF)
Upper Lot (USH)
San Francisco (USJ)
Theme Back to the Future
Opening date May 2, 1991 (USF)
June 12, 1993 (USH)
March 31, 2001 (USJ)
Closing date March 30, 2007 (USF)
September 3, 2007 (USH)
Ride duration 15 minutes
Height requirements 40" (102 cm)
Replaced By The Simpsons Ride (USF & USH)

Back to the Future: The Ride is a simulator ride based on the Back to the Future trilogy of films. It is located at Universal Studios Japan, and previously at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. The ride story centers on a first-person adventure through time, in pursuit of the trilogy's villain, Biff Tannen.

Contents

[edit] History

The original attraction opened on May 2, 1991, at Universal Studios Florida. Back To The Future The Ride also opened on June 2, 1993 at Universal Studios Hollywood and on March 31, 2001 at Universal Studios Japan. The ride was actually planned to open in Orlando and Hollywood at the same time but due to foundation problems, the Hollywood version opened 2 years later.[1] The original ride in Orlando enjoyed almost sixteen years of constant operation before its final closure, to little fanfare, on March 30, 2007, after operating at half capacity for over three months. The Hollywood ride publicly closed on Labor Day, September 3, 2007. In commemoration of its final month of operation, a special event was held with Christopher Lloyd and Bob Gale beginning the countdown to the ride's closure in early August of 2007. [2]. Additionally, a contest was announced with the grand prize winner receiving a classic 1981 De Lorean DMC-12 vehicle.

The ride at Universal Studios Japan is still open, with no plans for closure at this time.

A new attraction based on the animated sitcom The Simpsons, known officially as The Simpsons Ride, replaced the Back to the Future: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood on May 19, 2008 and Universal Studios Florida on May 15, 2008.

[edit] Attraction footage

About two years after the ride opened, one of the ride employees recorded the entire ride projector footage, in-car footage, and pre-ride line footage from the master laser discs to a VHS tape and sold copies of it. He was later fired and arrested, but, copies can still be found in online auctions, and some footage has been posted on YouTube. As a result, Universal announced in 2007 that they might soon release an official DVD of the footage, similar to what took place for the Shrek 4-D attraction.

According to Bob Gale in a recent interview after a screening of Back To The Future, he said that he talked to Universal, and it is a possibility that the Back To The Future Ride footage and all the line and pre-show videos will be included as extra bonus feature on the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the Back To The Future trilogy. [3]

[edit] Plot

[edit] Pre-show

Riders enter the ride as "volunteers" for a time travel experiment at Emmett Brown's fictional Institute of Future Technology. Brown explains that the plan is for them to travel one day into the future, but that caution must be exercised as Biff Tannen has escaped his time period and is now running amok in the space-time continuum.

Once inside, Brown reveals some of the inventions he has been working on, including his "crowning achievement" - an 8-passenger De Lorean time machine, which is what the riders will be using in the experiment. Unbeknownst to Brown, however, Tannen has infiltrated the Institute - he appears to the riders, asking for assistance in finding Brown's time machine.

Tannen traps Brown in his office, and it is revealed that he escaped 1955 when employees of Brown took the original De Lorean to 1955 for an experiment; Tannen stowed away when they make the return journey. He steals the time machine and vanishes into time. Frantic, Brown pleads with the visitors to assist him; they enter the 8-passenger time vehicle (with some helpful advice from Brown saying that the time vehicle Biff had stolen has a homing device, that way wherever Biff may be, the 8-passenger vehicle will pin-point to that exact location). They then follow Tannen into time.

[edit] Ride

First, Biff leads the riders to Hill Valley in 2015, where they chase him through town. They smash into neon signs, flying over neighborhoods and the town square, the chase culminating at the iconic clock tower. He then departs for the ice age.

The riders follow, and slowly lower into the icy caverns of the ice age. Biff honks his horn, causing an avalanche that damages the riders' vehicle. Flying out of the caverns, the car sees Biff shoot away into time, but their own engine has failed, and begins to plummet down a waterfall. Brown manages to restart the vehicle, accelerating backward and through time into the Cretaceous Period.

Upon arriving, the clock display on the De Lorean's dashboard blinks 12:00, as a reference to a videocassette recorder that has lost power. The riders follow Biff's vehicle into a dormant volcano in which a Tyrannosaurus is discovered. Tannen goads it into attacking the riders, who barely escape. The dinosaur strikes Tannen's car, sending it flying out of control; the dinosaur then swallows the riders' car, but spits it out mere seconds later. The riders then drop down onto a lava river to see Biff's De Lorean, now damaged and unable to maneuver, moving down an active lava flow toward the edge of a cliff. As both vehicles plunge over the edge, the riders' car accelerates to time travel speed and bumps Tannen's, sending both of them back to the original point of departure - the present, at the Institute of Future Technology, where Biff gets out, thanks us and Dr. Brown (although it's quiet obvious that he wasn't happy he was captured), but is soon grabbed by security and taken away.

Riders exit the vehicle, as Brown thanks them and reminds them that "the future is what you make it!"

[edit] Cast and Crew

[edit] Cast

[edit] Crew

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The first and final time traveler, to exit the halls of the Institute of Future Technology in Hollywood, on the day of September 3, 2007 was an 18 year old girl by the name of Irma Girón due to the efforts of the publicity manager of Universal Studios Hollywood.[4]
  • Although Back to the Future creators Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had no involvement with the ride, they were consulted as to whether they "got Doc right". The two responded with a "yes". They have also commented that "it's a great ride." In addition, references are made to a "Zemeckis-Gale diagram" and "Gale-Zemeckis Coordinates."[5]
  • When the ride footage was made, there was no computer animation, so all the special effects, sets and other things in the ride footage were actually very detailed miniature sets recorded in stop motion filming. The miniature sets were actually quite large, with the replica 2015 buildings as large as half a grown man, and the T-Rex model being about 7 feet tall. [6]
  • The ride in Florida and Hollywood were supposed to open at the same time in 1991 but due to foundation problems with Hollywood's building, it had to be rebuilt and the ride in Florida opened up without its west coast cousin while the Hollywood one opened up nearly 2 years later. [7]
  • The Institute of Future Technology that you crash into at the end of the ride was actually a model of the Florida's version of the building. [8]
  • The modified DMC that was outside of the BTTF giftshop (Now a Kwik-E-Mart) was being used at the Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure at Universal Studios Florida's Halloween Horror Nights in 2007.
  • At Rock the Universe 2006, an annual Christian rock festival held at Universal every September, Relient K lead singer Matt Thiessen asked the fans to ride Back to the Future while it was still open, as they learned earlier that day it was closing. Each band is taken on a tour through the park every year.

[edit] Memorabilia

The De Lorean on display outside of the Orlando ride before being moved in 2007
The De Lorean on display outside of the Orlando ride before being moved in 2007

In keeping with the theme of the ride, many prop-replicas from the Back to the Future films are on display as guests line up. Notable items include the hover boards from the second and third movies and letters from Doc Brown to Marty McFly. The locomotive from the third film and one of the modified DeLoreans were on display outside the rides; the DeLorean outside the Orlando ride was removed in September, 2007, later to be seen with the Doc Brown character driving it until it was put on display outside of Soundstage 54. The Jules Verne time train from the third film was also on display outside the Orlando ride until it was removed on July 24th, 2007. After being sighted in various prop warehouses, it is now back on display, freshly painted and polished outside Soundstage 54 with the DeLorean.[citation needed]

The locomotive from the third film on display outside the former Orlando ride
The locomotive from the third film on display outside the former Orlando ride
The locomotive outside the Sound stage 44 building at the park.
The locomotive outside the Sound stage 44 building at the park.

[edit] Line

The line video features clips from the Back to the Future trilogy, as well as new footage featuring Dr. Brown. It features diagrams for other innovations, ostensibly created by Brown; newsreel footage of Doc with Albert Einstein and other historical figures; and a "live" video feed from 2015 in which Brown explains the experiment.

[edit] Physical setup

Diagram of the ride theater and motion base system for each of the cars.
Diagram of the ride theater and motion base system for each of the cars.

The ride is a motion simulator with the cars located under a 70-foot (21.3–m) IMAX Dome screen. Each of the 24 cars (12 per dome) is mounted on three pistons, allowing it to rise, fall and tilt, following the motion on the screen. The cars are arranged on three tiers and are staggered to prevent riders from seeing the other vehicles in the theater. The front section of the cars rise eight feet (2.4 m) out of the "garage" when "flying". The actual range of motion from the simulator base is about two feet (0.6 m) in any direction. The motion and the visual input from the screen images combine to make the riders feel as if they are in a high-speed pursuit.

The ride is actually composed of two IMAX Dome screens with cars arranged around them. The experience of both is identical, but the ride enjoys a very reliable in-service record as a result. If one screen or "dome" is shut down by a mechanical problem, the other ordinarily remains in service. This increases wait times, but essentially eliminates a complete shutdown of the ride as a whole.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jim Hill : The Other "Back to the Future: The Ride" ride film
  2. ^ Christopher Lloyd, Bob Gale begin official ‘Ride’ closure countdown at Universal http://www.bttf.com/index.php?/weblog/more/christopher_lloyd_bob_gale_begin_official_ride_closure_countdown/
  3. ^ http://www.bttf.com/index.php?/weblog/more/bob_gale_hints_at_back_to_the_future_blu_ray_release_at_recent_screening/ ‘Blu’ to the Future: Bob Gale hints at ‘Back to the Future’ Blu-ray release at recent screening
  4. ^ [http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=0F023A13C3E45E541396F9127E152751?contentId=4254108&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 MyFox Los Angeles | Universal Studios Closes 'Back to the Future - The Ride' cheack out the video tab
  5. ^ http://www.giveneyestoee.com/bttf/ Back to the Future: The Ride
  6. ^ Universal Studios Hollywood. Los Angeles, California
  7. ^ Jim Hill : The Other "Back to the Future: The Ride" ride film
  8. ^ Inside Universal | Universal Studios Hollywood Guide

[edit] External links

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Back to the Future trilogy
Characters
McFly family
Brown Family
Tannen Family
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