World Expo
When Disneyland opened in 1955, its themed “lands” were truly revolutionary. Designed by filmmakers, these lands represented idealized, romanticized, fantastical realms, based on (but never too similar to) the real world… a Midwest Main Street, a jungle outpost, a frontier town, a European village, a city of tomorrow, each passed through a hazy lens of nostalgia and pop culture.
What’s often forgotten, though, is that Universal was doing it first, and doing one better. Universal Studios Hollywood’s backlot was littered with realistic cityscapes that could convince even the most eagle-eyed movie viewer that they were truly looking at a European marketplace, the streets of Chicago, or a Central American village. That same photorealism was translated to the new Universal Studios Florida when it opened in 1990, offering seemingly-habitable “lands” (more properly, “lots”) believably recreating New York, Hollywood, San Franscisco, and Martha’s Vineyard.
The exception is here, along the shores of the park’s central lagoon in Expo Center. Ostensibly themed to the World’s Fairs of old, the Expo Center is built around a singular imposing structure. Rising high above the lagoon is the geometric, nondescript exterior of the Institute of Future Technology.
Those new to the Back to the Future series will find appropriate exposition in the winding queues through the Institute’s exterior, as footage from the trilogy catches us up on the time-hopping exploits of Marty McFly and Doc Brown and the merciless bully Biff. Then, we’re dispatched via a set of continuous ramps along the pavilion’s exterior, rising higher and higher over the park.
Back to the Future: The Ride is comprised of three load levels, each with its own pre-show room that can hold 64 riders (in 8 rows of 8, corresponding to the 8 time machines on each level… phew). It’s there that we’ll be caught up. The premise is simple so long as you don’t mind centuries-spanning mythos. Suffice it to say that – following the conclusion of Back to the Future Part III (which opened in theaters just weeks after Universal Studios Florida’s debut) – Doc Brown and his family settled in 1991 (eh hem… that’s today) to establish the Institute of Future Technology.
That’s where you and I come in. We’re tourists, “volunteering” to test out a simple experiment: traveling one day into the future in a new 8-passenger DeLorean DMC-12 time machine (and a convertible, to boot). But, Doc Brown is quick to warn us that that ne’er-do-well Biff has graduated from High Valley High (class of 1955), stowed away in one of Doc’s time-traveling teams doing research in the past, arrived at the Institute, and stolen a DeLorean of his own.
“He’s got the DeLorean, this is terrible!” Doc cries. “He’s gonna alter time! History as we know it will be completely obliterated! … Wait a second… What am I thinking? My newest invention – the eight-passenger DeLorean time vehicle, that’s it! There’s no way I can get to the time machine… Hold on a minute… I can’t get to it, but, my time travel volunteers… You’re my only hope! The eight-passenger DeLorean is behind that door, where you’re standing! I can pilot by remote control from here, but I’m going to need you to help navigate. You’ve got to catch Biff! The fate of the universe is in your hand! Now, try to relax as we go over some safety instructions…”
Suddenly, our mission has changed… We’re going to need to load into the DeLorean, pre-programmed to pinpoint Biff’s location in time with Doc at the remotely-operated wheel, hit that sweet 88-mph threshold, find Biff, and “bump” him, opening a tear in time to bring us all back home!
Easier said than done.
Back to the Future: The Ride
With Biff on the loose, anything could happen. As the doors open, the beautiful DeLorean shines ahead. A total of eight passengers will move quickly, sliding into the convertible beneath its scissor doors. A corrugated metal garage door is ahead. But we won’t be using it.
Once we’re seated, a press of Doc’s button sees the car electrify to life, beginning to hover. It rises up through the garage and into an almost-unbelievable sight… We’re completely and totally immersed within a massive 85-foot projection dome that surrounds us, completely filling our peripheral vision. And most astoundingly, it appears that this all-encompassing, larger-than-life experience is just for us… our single car of eight passengers treated to this engrossing and unimaginably scaled experience.
With a burst of burning rubber and an 88-mph acceleration, we’re off! The DeLorean tears through time, arriving back at Hill Valley in the incomprehensible future year of 2015. A video screen embedded in the dashboard connects us to Doc. “Hill Valley, 2015! And there’s Biff! Let’s get him!”
Biff’s broadcast on the dash. “Gotta get some gas, Doc!” Turns out, Doc’s remote control operation leaves something to be desired as we smash through a Texaco marquee. We’re just seconds behind Biff, riding wildly through town. In hot pursuit, we crash through neon signs and around neighborhoods. “I think we’ve got him!” Doc cries as the iconic Clock Tower from the film comes into view. “Bump him!”
“Sucker!” Biff taunts, honking his horn and accelerating to 88-mph, tearing away through time and disappearing. That means we’re off, too. With another burst, a new world comes into view. Or… an old one.
“Looks like we’re headed a million years back in time! That’s Hill Valley below us, in the middle of the ice age!”
“Back again?” Biff taunts. “Well, come on in.”
We do, diving down into the icy caverns and frozen glaciers below. It’s a prehistoric game of tag as we swerve through the caverns. Biff sounds the DeLorean’s horn, triggering an avalanche inside the glacier. As massive pieces of ice fall toward us, Doc steers up and down, pulling us up and out of the chasm just before it collapses. Unfortunately, he’s ended up with us teetering on the edge of an infinite canyon, and the engine is dead. “Lean back!” It’s too late! The DeLorean nose dives just as Biff disappears into the time continuum again. At the last second, Doc remotely restarts the car, reversing us to 88-mph.
In a flash, the icy world is replaced with something new: a fuming, steaming, roiling, red-hot world of volcanoes as far as the eye can see. “Hang in there, volunteers! There’s Biff, headed toward that volcano!”
“Hello buttheads,” Biff overtakes the monitor again. “Hey, you guys don’t know when to give up, do you?”
“Prepare yourselves, people… I suspect that the primeval Hill Valley that we’re about to enter could be a pretty rough place.” He’s not wrong. Flames envelope the DeLorean as we dive into the ancient magma pits. Timeless geologic processes have carved an endless subterranean world here, but the solitude of these endless caves is soon replaced when a rockform comes to life.
Great Scott, a dinosaur! It’s a Tyrannosaurus rex!” The towering creature stirs, huffing in the direction of Biff. He shines the headlights on the creature. “Right this way, Gramps! Now, sic’em!” The titanic monster gnashes his enormous jaws at us again and again, finally capturing the entire car in his mouth! “He’s swallowed us!” But with a burp, we’re free. The DeLorean falls down into the molten caverns at his feet, splashing down in a lava river. Biff’s ahead of us, and broadcasting via our monitor.
Ahead of us, Biff topples over the edge of a 400-foot drop, his DeLorean spiralling toward the magma lagoon below… As he screams, we teeter and fall right behind him! In mid-descent, the engine revs. “Hold on, Biff! Going 88 miles per hour! Bump him!”
Success!
As Biff screams, our bumped vehicles tear open a new time portal. “We bumped him! The impact between the two vehicles should send us straight back to the Institute!” Racing us back through the stars, the Institute of Future Technology comes into view and we smash through its front entrace.
To the tune of Huey Lewis and the News’ “Back in Time,” the Delorean lowers back into the garage and its doors swing open. We made it, and the world is officially saved. “You did it!” Doc screams. “Not only did you catch Biff and save the universe, but you proved that my latest invention is a success! Go forth time travelers, and remember: the future is what you make it!”
Spectacularly, there are two options for seeing what a ride on Back to the Future was really like. The first is an “official” point-of-view video released alongside the 2009 DVD and 2010 Blu-Ray release of Back to the Future. Unfortunately (but somewhat necessarily), the wide, domed, OMNIMAX ride footage was cut to about 20% of the original size (somewhat like wearing blinders that reduce the view only to what’s directly in front… a disservice to the tremendous work of Doug Trumbull). A very large computer-generated “DeLorean dashboard” (set to the ride’s opening date in Florida, May 2, 1991) further obscures a large amount of the picture. However, this video includes the “dashboard” monitor and spoken audio.
The second option is a brilliantly remastered version of the full OMNIMAX dome video giving a more complete picture of the massive scale of the ride. However, this full view lacks the dialogue and the in-cab monitor.
Future
An exciting, immersive, multi-media, 21st century thrill ride to match Disney note-for-note, Back to the Future: The Ride was literally the reason executives decided to move forward with a Universal Studios Florida… a magnificent headliner themed to one of the hottest film properties of the era, it jump-started Universal Orlando as a contender in the Orlando market. And yet, even the most astounding E-Tickets based on movies have an expiration date… Right?
On the last page, we’ll dissect what happened to Back to the Future: The Ride and put its story to rest. Read on…