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stevefulton
08-04-2001, 08:39 PM
Hi,

I've noticed that there is quite a huge hole on the internet when it comes to Universal Studios. I went there for the first time in 1974 (at the age of 4), and it has always held a real fascination with me since then.

Anyhow, after visiting the park multiple times this year, it seems to me that the "bread and butter" of the park ,the tram ride, is really a sad shadow of its former self. I'm been trying to piece together my memories with what I see from the modern tram ride to try to get a feel for what the backlot was in it's heyday, but this has been very difficult.

There are no real internet resources (that I know of) that contain any history of the park (or the studio), so I have decided to try to create a web site of my own. I don't need any help with the site, or web space or anything like that, but I do need information. Photos, maps, personal stories, etc.

I have started to haunt Ebay, looking for maps and guidebooks from Universal from the past 37 years (they opened in 1964). I have found very interesting guidebooks from 1968, 1971, and 1978 that will form the basis of the website, but I'd like as much as possible. I'm very interested in created a "Yesterland" for lost attractions (Avalanche, Burning House, Battlestar Galactica, Snow Cave, Screen Test Theatre, Kitt, Prop Plaza, Conan, Museum, etc etc etc), a map to show how things have moved and changed (i.e. "Colonial Street" moving from next to the sound stages to back behind "Jaws"), and what effect the 90's fire had on the park.

If anyone knows of any existing resources, or has anything they would like to contribute, that would be fantastic. Scanned images would be ideal, since my budget for this is nil, so buying memorbilia is generally out-of-the-question.

There is no hurry for this project, but since it looks like Vivendi might be tearing the park apart in irrepairable ways in the future, I think the time has come to start some sort of historical archive of the park.

Anyway, if you have any information to share, please feel free to email me at stevefulton@home.com.

-Steve Fulton