History
The idea of a Back to the Future–based simulator ride was first discussed in a 1986 meeting between Steven Spielberg and Totally Fun Company president Peter N. Alexander on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot on the eve of the debut of the King Kong Encounter scene for the park's Studio Tour. Spielberg recalled how his friend George Lucas had just taken him for a ride on Lucas' Star Tours ride at Disneyland, telling Spielberg that "Universal could never create rides as good as Disney can". Spielberg requested that Alexander see what he can do with a simulator ride concept of Back to the Future. At the time, the proposed concept of the Universal Studios Florida project was put on hold and considered to be dead, and, according to Alexander, Spielberg's suggestion helped to bring the project back to life.
During its trial phase, the ride was tested in the Omnimax Theatre inside the Expo '86 / Science World (Vancouver) building in Vancouver, BC.
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 with the measurement of the ceiling, the Hollywood version opened two years later. 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 buildings for Florida and California had completely different layouts. In Florida the two arenas were back to back. Designers found that this led to some operational problems so the California building was designed so that the arenas were on opposite ends of the building with the queue and pre-show in between them. The California building was also built upon huge rollers as opposed to being anchored into the ground as a precaution for earthquakes.
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 2007. 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.
A new attraction based on the animated sitcom The Simpsons, known officially as The Simpsons Ride, replaced the BTTF ride at Universal Studios Florida on May 15, 2008 and at Universal Studios Hollywood on May 19, 2008. One of the preshow clips in that ride cameos Doc Brown as tribute to Back to the Future: The Ride (see below).
Read more about this topic: Back To The Future Part IV
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