So I decided to sacrifice my wallet in order to take Universals Prestigious VIP experience. So lets get started! (sorry for some blurry photos, I am in no way a professional photographer, it doesn't help that I used my camera phone as well 
)
I decided to book an early tour for two at 9:30 in the morning. They weren't letting anyone into the main plaza (possibly due to some minor construction work they were doing to the ticket booths) fortunately they had some VIP employee's near the security gates to help (even try to upsell ) VIP guests through in order to get to the Lounge. we told them we were scheduled for the VIP tour and let us right through. after checking in we climbed to the second floor to a rather luxurious waiting room where breakfast was available before our tour started.
the breakfast contained your typical continental breakfast with pastries but also some croissant sandwiches and a self served cappuccino machine.
The lounge looked first class with a Flat-screen above the fireplace playing a video version of the "world of color" night show found at Universal Orlando, Morgan Freeman and all. they even had phone chargers in case your cell phone needed a pick-me-up.
During our tour we had a chance to chat with our tour guide, Larry. He asked us what we were looking forward to and if there's anything we wanted to see so he can mold the tour in our favor. of course I told him I loved to see anything back to the future related. He said he would arrange us to go see courthouse square. Our tour group was rather small and mostly made up of tourists from other countries.
After the breakfast, Larry lead us out back into the plaza and we headed towards the bus parking lot in front of the park where our VIP trolley waited for us.
The trolley seats were very comfortable and even had a cooler of water in case we got thirsty.
our first stop was sound stage 29 where they film "about a boy"
WARNING VERY BLURRY PICTURE AHEAD :wacko:
Larry shared some information about how they filmed the tv series. it's pretty interesting for tourist that aren't absorbed with the entertainment industry for locals, still, I did feel privileged to be walking through a working hot set. when we entered the sound stage they did have a security guard tail us to keep us in line just in case we decided to touch or move something, which is understandable. I didn't take that many pictures or videos of this portion only because I wasn't really interested in the subject matter. If we were to go into the sound stage where they filmed the phantom of the opera we would have many more pictures than this .
we hopped back onto the trolley and headed to my most anticipated location of the back lot, Courthouse Square. we were dropped off coincidentally where the DeLorean traveled back to the future
as you can see we were able to get really close to the courthouse, I even managed to take a POV shot of when marty was looking up at doc. I was so tempted to shout "I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE!" . (from here I mostly took video recordings rather than pictures. I hope you forgive me for the lack of still images). During our time in the square he gave a brief history of the building and the surrounding area and revealed to us that the marble pillars are made of wood and bricks are mostly plastic. we even got to knock on the pillars to prove his point.
from here I mostly took a full video recording of our group walking through the metro sets. we weaved through the streets and alleyways as Larry pointed out various locations that were used in the movies. Our trolley was waiting for us right in the middle of the metro sets so we didn't have to walk back to courthouse square, although I wouldn't mind considering that I would be able to get one more look at that clock tower!
the tour felt more like the regular studio tour from this point, however we were able to move at an easier pace for the tourist to take more pictures of the surrounding areas. we headed towards king kong, then the flash flood experience and surprisingly jaws in one go. I like to point out that while we drove through the jurassic park vehicle set props, during the spitter attack the driver purposely drove slowly through them in order to get us all wet . I also noticed during the experience portions of the tour (jaws, earthquake, etc) the trolley positions itself in the best locations (the 3rd car location if you were taking the regular tour) when it came to experiencing these attractions. after jaws we headed to colonial street (Wisteria Lane for you desperate housewives fan) we were supposed to be dropped off in order to walk through the street but they currently had location scouts at the time. I was hoping to get a picture in front of the Munster house.
next we headed towards the psycho house were we were able to get off the trolley and take photos up close of the house and the war of the worlds set. I didn't take alot of pictures here as the public can go through here anyway during horror nights. I did take a picture of mother looking out the window so I at least have a daytime shot of the house
we were taken deeper into the war of the worlds set to see what was left of the Jurassic Park II set hiding behind some trees and the tail of the plane. I took a video recording of this so unfortunately no still images. but he did mention that due to an earthquake the sets are in such a dilapidated state. while here the tourist got spooked by the war of the worlds sounds and effects as a regular studio tour just arrived in the area
if you were taking the normal tour at the time this would be your final stop but we still had to do a few more things. we headed back down towards little europe where we took a short bathroom break located within one of the european buildings. during this break I was able to chat a bit with the tour guide about were Spartacus square used to be and why they decided to take it out. after our break we headed to another anticipated portion of the tour The Prop department
I was really looking forward to this portion in the hopes to see some famous props from the movies. unfortunately it felt more like an indoor swap meet. we were only limited to the first floor which mostly consisted of various tables, desks office chairs...and more chairs. they did have a photo op they set up with props from the mummy (with brendan fraiser) and E.T. I asked if this E.T. was used in the movie, however Larry said that this was merely a model that was displayed in their souvenir shop when E.T. the ride was open.
this model of king kong once sat in a movie theater as a promotional prop when it was out.
despite the whole swap meet feel I did see something that was part of the golden years of Universals horror genre. this prop was used in the original mummy movie when Boris Karloff was filmed during his transformation from mummy to human in the film.
after the prop house we went through the earthquake attraction as the finale of the backlot tour. we were all dropped off in the lower lot to do some rides. Our tour guide was still with us of course guiding us to each ride. we did transformers and mummy, unfortunately jurassic park was down so we were unable to go on that ride. next we headed for despicable me and finally we were able to eat lunch.
Lunch is served in the paris street section of the park inside the Moulin Rouge building. I didn't take any photos inside as I was too busy eating but it is a buffet and the tour guide gives you an hour to eat before the tour continues.
they served some high quality stuff such as sushi, spinach with portabello mushrooms, lobster, shrimp cocktail etc. this was also the first time I got to try ratatouille (I've always wondered what it tasted like when watching the movie, thankfully very delicious) although the selection was limiting the food was really good. selections for desert were bite sized cheese cakes and lemon tarts. of course they even have some things for kids (and less adventurous types) like french fries and chicken strips for drinks they had the same cappuccino machine from the lounge or a fridge filled with soda or iced tea you can take for yourself.
after lunch we headed towards special effects stage and water world. we finally hit our last stop with the Simpsons which I decided to sit out. this was where our tour guide left us at 3:30. he explained that there are other things in the park and where to find them and that the VIP lanyards they gave us at the start of the tour offered unlimited Front of the lines for the attractions. And that was the end of our VIP experience, sorry again for not having a lot of pictures as I did more video recording to capture what our guide was saying as well. I took pictures only when our guide wasn't explaining something.
Some tips for taking the VIP tour, before you head out to the backlot, talk with your tour guide and let them know what you would like to see the most. Our guide Larry was able to get us out to the Clock Tower and he made it the highlight of the tour as we took our time in that location. I regretted not telling him that I wanted to see the court of miracles as well since that's were the famous horror films were shot. so be sure to take the time to talk with your tour guide and tell them what you would like to see and they'll arrange the tour to your liking. You can also leave your tour group after you've eaten so if you'd like to take on the park on your own you aren't forced to stay with your tour guide to the end.
as for some critical points of the experience I wish they gave as much attention to the history of the park as they did with the studio. before going into the rides it would be nice to know the history behind the ride, what it took to create it and what used to be there before the current ride. like for example before heading into The Simpsons ride it would be nice if they pointed out that what used to be here was back to the future, possibly some tidbits of how it came to be, I remember reading somewhere that George Lucas boasted to Steven Spielberg about his Star Tours ride and that Universal could never build a ride as detailed and engrossing as that, then steven spielberg answered with back with back to the future the ride. so bits of history like that would be nice when being toured around the park.
overall the back lot tour was the highlight of our VIP experience. while the park portion wasn't that special for me being a local (besides the excellent food) for tourists its a great way to experience the park and the studio back lot. but if you've been here a couple of times and really want to check out the backlot studio up close and personal then I recommend the VIP tour.
)I decided to book an early tour for two at 9:30 in the morning. They weren't letting anyone into the main plaza (possibly due to some minor construction work they were doing to the ticket booths) fortunately they had some VIP employee's near the security gates to help (even try to upsell
) VIP guests through in order to get to the Lounge. we told them we were scheduled for the VIP tour and let us right through. after checking in we climbed to the second floor to a rather luxurious waiting room where breakfast was available before our tour started.
the breakfast contained your typical continental breakfast with pastries but also some croissant sandwiches and a self served cappuccino machine.
The lounge looked first class with a Flat-screen above the fireplace playing a video version of the "world of color" night show found at Universal Orlando, Morgan Freeman and all. they even had phone chargers in case your cell phone needed a pick-me-up.
During our tour we had a chance to chat with our tour guide, Larry. He asked us what we were looking forward to and if there's anything we wanted to see so he can mold the tour in our favor. of course I told him I loved to see anything back to the future related. He said he would arrange us to go see courthouse square. Our tour group was rather small and mostly made up of tourists from other countries.
After the breakfast, Larry lead us out back into the plaza and we headed towards the bus parking lot in front of the park where our VIP trolley waited for us.
The trolley seats were very comfortable and even had a cooler of water in case we got thirsty.
our first stop was sound stage 29 where they film "about a boy"
WARNING VERY BLURRY PICTURE AHEAD :wacko:
Larry shared some information about how they filmed the tv series. it's pretty interesting for tourist that aren't absorbed with the entertainment industry for locals, still, I did feel privileged to be walking through a working hot set. when we entered the sound stage they did have a security guard tail us to keep us in line just in case we decided to touch or move something, which is understandable. I didn't take that many pictures or videos of this portion only because I wasn't really interested in the subject matter. If we were to go into the sound stage where they filmed the phantom of the opera we would have many more pictures than this
.we hopped back onto the trolley and headed to my most anticipated location of the back lot, Courthouse Square. we were dropped off coincidentally where the DeLorean traveled back to the future
as you can see we were able to get really close to the courthouse, I even managed to take a POV shot of when marty was looking up at doc. I was so tempted to shout "I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE!"
. (from here I mostly took video recordings rather than pictures. I hope you forgive me for the lack of still images). During our time in the square he gave a brief history of the building and the surrounding area and revealed to us that the marble pillars are made of wood and bricks are mostly plastic. we even got to knock on the pillars to prove his point.from here I mostly took a full video recording of our group walking through the metro sets. we weaved through the streets and alleyways as Larry pointed out various locations that were used in the movies. Our trolley was waiting for us right in the middle of the metro sets so we didn't have to walk back to courthouse square, although I wouldn't mind considering that I would be able to get one more look at that clock tower!
the tour felt more like the regular studio tour from this point, however we were able to move at an easier pace for the tourist to take more pictures of the surrounding areas. we headed towards king kong, then the flash flood experience and surprisingly jaws in one go. I like to point out that while we drove through the jurassic park vehicle set props, during the spitter attack the driver purposely drove slowly through them in order to get us all wet
. I also noticed during the experience portions of the tour (jaws, earthquake, etc) the trolley positions itself in the best locations (the 3rd car location if you were taking the regular tour) when it came to experiencing these attractions. after jaws we headed to colonial street (Wisteria Lane for you desperate housewives fan) we were supposed to be dropped off in order to walk through the street but they currently had location scouts at the time. I was hoping to get a picture in front of the Munster house.next we headed towards the psycho house were we were able to get off the trolley and take photos up close of the house and the war of the worlds set. I didn't take alot of pictures here as the public can go through here anyway during horror nights. I did take a picture of mother looking out the window so I at least have a daytime shot of the house
we were taken deeper into the war of the worlds set to see what was left of the Jurassic Park II set hiding behind some trees and the tail of the plane. I took a video recording of this so unfortunately no still images. but he did mention that due to an earthquake the sets are in such a dilapidated state. while here the tourist got spooked by the war of the worlds sounds and effects as a regular studio tour just arrived in the area
if you were taking the normal tour at the time this would be your final stop but we still had to do a few more things. we headed back down towards little europe where we took a short bathroom break located within one of the european buildings. during this break I was able to chat a bit with the tour guide about were Spartacus square used to be and why they decided to take it out. after our break we headed to another anticipated portion of the tour The Prop department
I was really looking forward to this portion in the hopes to see some famous props from the movies. unfortunately it felt more like an indoor swap meet. we were only limited to the first floor which mostly consisted of various tables, desks office chairs...and more chairs. they did have a photo op they set up with props from the mummy (with brendan fraiser) and E.T. I asked if this E.T. was used in the movie, however Larry said that this was merely a model that was displayed in their souvenir shop when E.T. the ride was open.
this model of king kong once sat in a movie theater as a promotional prop when it was out.
despite the whole swap meet feel I did see something that was part of the golden years of Universals horror genre. this prop was used in the original mummy movie when Boris Karloff was filmed during his transformation from mummy to human in the film.
after the prop house we went through the earthquake attraction as the finale of the backlot tour. we were all dropped off in the lower lot to do some rides. Our tour guide was still with us of course guiding us to each ride. we did transformers and mummy, unfortunately jurassic park was down so we were unable to go on that ride. next we headed for despicable me and finally we were able to eat lunch.
Lunch is served in the paris street section of the park inside the Moulin Rouge building. I didn't take any photos inside as I was too busy eating
but it is a buffet and the tour guide gives you an hour to eat before the tour continues.they served some high quality stuff such as sushi, spinach with portabello mushrooms, lobster, shrimp cocktail etc. this was also the first time I got to try ratatouille (I've always wondered what it tasted like when watching the movie, thankfully very delicious) although the selection was limiting the food was really good. selections for desert were bite sized cheese cakes and lemon tarts. of course they even have some things for kids (and less adventurous types) like french fries and chicken strips for drinks they had the same cappuccino machine from the lounge or a fridge filled with soda or iced tea you can take for yourself.
after lunch we headed towards special effects stage and water world. we finally hit our last stop with the Simpsons which I decided to sit out. this was where our tour guide left us at 3:30. he explained that there are other things in the park and where to find them and that the VIP lanyards they gave us at the start of the tour offered unlimited Front of the lines for the attractions. And that was the end of our VIP experience, sorry again for not having a lot of pictures as I did more video recording to capture what our guide was saying as well. I took pictures only when our guide wasn't explaining something.
Some tips for taking the VIP tour, before you head out to the backlot, talk with your tour guide and let them know what you would like to see the most. Our guide Larry was able to get us out to the Clock Tower and he made it the highlight of the tour as we took our time in that location. I regretted not telling him that I wanted to see the court of miracles as well since that's were the famous horror films were shot. so be sure to take the time to talk with your tour guide and tell them what you would like to see and they'll arrange the tour to your liking. You can also leave your tour group after you've eaten so if you'd like to take on the park on your own you aren't forced to stay with your tour guide to the end.
as for some critical points of the experience I wish they gave as much attention to the history of the park as they did with the studio. before going into the rides it would be nice to know the history behind the ride, what it took to create it and what used to be there before the current ride. like for example before heading into The Simpsons ride it would be nice if they pointed out that what used to be here was back to the future, possibly some tidbits of how it came to be, I remember reading somewhere that George Lucas boasted to Steven Spielberg about his Star Tours ride and that Universal could never build a ride as detailed and engrossing as that, then steven spielberg answered with back with back to the future the ride. so bits of history like that would be nice when being toured around the park.
overall the back lot tour was the highlight of our VIP experience. while the park portion wasn't that special for me being a local (besides the excellent food) for tourists its a great way to experience the park and the studio back lot. but if you've been here a couple of times and really want to check out the backlot studio up close and personal then I recommend the VIP tour.
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