Digital wallpaper photos of the "Studio Backlot Tour" in the Streets of America section at Disney's Hollywood Studios!

Originally known as the "Backstage Studio Tour", the "Studio Backlot Tour" was one of two actual rides (along with "The Great Movie Ride") to open with the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in May of 1989. The original version of this ride was an extended trip through the entire backlot of the Studios, including going through Production Central, Residential Street, the Boneyard, Catastrophe Canyon, and finally a trip down New York Street. The ride ended there, but that's when the tour continued as a walking tour through the Water Effects Tank, special effects and post production soundstages, and a short viewing of upcoming movie trailers in the Walt Disney Theater. The entire "Backstage Studio Tour" began and ended in the Animation Courtyard and took nearly two hours to complete.

As the Disney-MGM Studios theme park grew, this attraction rivaled "The Magic of Disney Animation" with seeing the greatest number of changes throughout the years.

The first noticeable change happened in 1990. After New York Street opened to pedestrian traffic, it was no longer mandatory to continue the walking tour to complete the attraction. Now guests could skip that second part, of if they wanted, they could skip the tram tour and go straight into the walking tour. The walking tour was even billed as its own separate attraction: "Inside the Magic: Special Effects and Production Tour."

The next change happened to the walking tour. Sometime in the early 1990's, the Walt Disney Theater began to host its own attraction, essentially cutting short the walking tour. The earliest attraction in the Walt Disney Theater in my guidebook collection is "Disney's 'Pocahontas'; A Legend Comes to Life."

In June of 1996, "Inside the Magic: Special Effects and Production Tour" closed and the soundstages were slowly converted into separate attractions.

The next major change to the actual studio tour happened in late 1996 / early 1997. In addition to now being called the "Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour," the attraction changed entrances and now began at the end of Mickey Avenue where the old walking tour began. The ride received a new entrance and now guests got to enjoy the Water Effects Tank before going through a small prop warehouse as the line queue for the tram ride. The tram ride's route was shortened, no longer going all the way back to the original loading station in Animation Courtyard. The original exit platform still remained and is used today.

From 1995 to 2004, "The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights" took over Residential Street during each Christmas season, so the tram tour was shortened as it skipped that area.

In 2001, the Water Effects Tank and parts of the line queue received an upgrade and now focused on the movie Pearl Harbor. The theming for the water tank was changed to reflect the U.S. Navy in the 1940s.

In 2004, Residential Street was demolished to make way for the massive "Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show" amphitheater, shortening the tram route once again to its current route today.

Finally, in 2008, the ride changed names along with the theme park, going from the "Disney-MGM Studios Backlot Tour" to just the "Studio Backlot Tour."

April of 2008:

CAUTION - Some of these pictures contain spoilers of what happens during the ride. If you've never experienced this attraction and don't want to know what happens, I strongly suggest that you hit the "Back" button and visit another page.

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- Disney's Hollywood Studios - Streets of America - "Studio Backlot Tour" - sign - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- "Studio Backlot Tour" - entrance - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - warning sign - 01 (1200x1600) (960x1280) (720x960)

- Backlot Tour - entrance - 02 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Water Effects Tank - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Water Effects Tank - Harbor Attack - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Water Effects Tank - Harbor Attack - 02 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Water Effects Tank - Harbor Attack - 03 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Water Effects Tank - Harbor Attack - 04 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Water Effects Tank - Harbor Attack - 05 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - loading station - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - topiary Earful Tower - 01 (1200x1600) (960x1280) (720x960)

- Backlot Tour - Production Operations - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Topiary Productions - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Topiary Productions - 02 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - "bone cage" - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - steamroller - Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Elgin E-474 aircraft - Flightplan - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - C-123 aircraft - "Jailbird" - Con Air - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - "pod" spaceship - Flight of the Navigator - 01 (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Gee Bee aircraft - The Rocketeer - 01 (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Judge Doom's "Dipmobile" - Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - 01 (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Catastrophe Canyon - 01 (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Catastrophe Canyon - Mohave Oil Co. - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Catastrophe Canyon - 02 (1200x1600) (960x1280) (720x960)

- Backlot Tour - Catastrophe Canyon - 03 (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Catastrophe Canyon - 04 (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Catastrophe Canyon - 05 (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - Catastrophe Canyon - 06 (1600x1200) (1280x960)

- Backlot Tour - tram - 01 (1600x1200) (1280x960)