Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic was an attraction at Walt Disney Studios Park, Disneyland Paris. The attraction premiered with the grand opening of Walt Disney Studios Park on March 16, 2002. The attraction closed on the January 5, 2020, to be replaced by a new Cars-themed attraction and make way for the €2 billion multi-year expansion plan at Walt Disney Studios Park.
As part of the park's major expansion, much of the Tram Tour is to be removed for the new lands. Catastrophe Canyon is to be retained and incorporated into a new abridged Cars-based attraction, Cars: Road Trip.[1]
Summary[]
Guests entered the attraction via the Hollywood Boulevard section of the park, under a false facade of the Hollywood sign. The tram ride portion of the attraction featured highlights such as the Catastrophe Canyon scene and a look into the set of London in ruins from the film Reign of Fire. In the Catastrophe Canyon scene, the tram stopped when rain started pouring down, followed by an earthquake and then fire occurring across the scene. Afterwards, a flood came down and extinguished the fire, allowing the tram to continue the tour. In the Reign of Fire scene, the tram stops once again to discover what it is like there where the fire effects are used just before the tram comes to a complete stop.
Until 2009, the Tram Tour used to pass through the costume workshop, but this part was removed due to the upcoming expansions to Walt Disney Studios. Imagineers wanted to create a studio tour at the Walt Disney Studios Park based on the existing tour at Disney's Hollywood Studios, where the tour was once the park's signature attraction.
The voiceovers were done mainly by Jeremy Irons and Irène Jacob via bilingual video who explain to guests of how movies are made using sets, costumes, props, etc. and how special effects are used in movies. Until 2005, 2 other versions were used hosted by Isabella Rossellini (Italian) and Famke Janssen (Dutch), and Nastassja Kinski (German) and Inés Sastre (Spanish). At the end of the attraction, Irène Jacob and Jeremy Irons bid guests a farewell during the conclusion of the tour, along with the other host celebrities bidding farewells in their native languages.
Trivia[]
- The Studio Tram Tour's backlot includes a mix of film props and props from extinct theme park attractions; some of these include:
- Vehicles from Epcot's Horizons.
- A stripped Iguanodon animatronic from Animal Kingdom's Discovery River Boats.
- Props and animatronic figures from ABC's Dinotopia miniseries.
- When the tram passes through the Reign of Fire scene, an advertisement for The Lion King musical can be seen on a double-decker bus.
- The route had to be shortened in 2009 to make way for the expansions of Toon Studio and Toy Story Playland.
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