Theme Park Stagecoaches: Part 2 - Universal Studios

We will continue now with the next entry in my "Theme Park Stagecoaches" series. To see Part 1 in the series, click here: Disneyland's Stagecoach Attraction.

Today we are visiting Universal Studios. Universal used to have it's own stagecoach "attraction".....but it didn't go anywhere!

Universal's coach sat in front of a canvas backdrop with painted scenery on it. The canvas was stretched around rollers and it would move past the "riders", giving the appearance that they were going somewhere as the stagecoach bounced up and down. My dad took this next photo of my brother and my aunt riding inside the stagecoach (they're hiding!) in 1967.

The stagecoach was located in what was then called, Prop Plaza. This was an area where the trams would stop halfway through the Studio Tour (the Studio Tour lasted several hours back then). Prop Plaza also included props that were used in both Universal movies and TV shows.

Note the control box and the sign on the wall just to the right of the stagecoach, in the picture below. The sign is washed out, but it reads, "CAUTION - Maximum Capacity 6 Persons - Use Quarters Only - Have Cameras Ready."

Here's a pic of the stagecoach with the canvas backdrop missing behind it. The jail cell on the right was a very popular photo-op at Universal for many years.

This picture is from a Universal Studios pictorial souvenir book. The top of the stagecoach definitely looks over capacity!

In this aerial shot from 1968, Prop Plaza (and the stagecoach) can be seen in the bottom left corner of the photo.

If we zoom in, we can see other props including some cannons and an airplane. Also visible out on the studio backlot is the steamboat used in the 1936 film Showboat (near the upper left corner of the pic), and the stone bridge used in the film, Sweet Charity (upper right corner). Just in front of that stone bridge, is the spot where the Parting of the Red Sea attraction would be added to the tram tour in 1973.

Here's another aerial shot (from 1967). The dining patio that was above Prop Plaza can be seen in the bottom of the photo. This stop in the tour was actually intended for guests to grab a bite to eat. They could then venture downstairs to the props and also to a tram loading area, where they could board another tram for the second half of the studio tour.

Another close-up:

Prop Plaza also included an antique auto photo-op that was very similar to the stagecoach. This photo is used with permission from Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog (thank you, Major!). In addition to bouncing up and down, it looks like the wheels on this vehicle actually spun around. I don't think the wheels on the stagecoach did that (but I'm not one-hundred percent sure).

Prop Plaza stopped being a pit stop along the tram route many years ago, when the tram tour was reduced to just one hour. In 2003, I took my nephew to Universal Studios and was surprised to see the old stagecoach parked in the "upper lot", behind the arena of the former Western Stunt Show (across from Mel's Diner). There were steps behind it, still allowing for guests to climb inside and have their picture taken. The mural behind it was painted on a stationary wall, but it was reminiscent of the old moving backdrop.

I went to Universal Studios again in 2012, and found the coach parked across from where the entrance to the Western Stunt Show used to be. By then, the stunt show arena had been completely removed. Why? I don't know. It hadn't been replaced with anything. Also, the coach was no longer open for guests to pose inside of it. Unfortunately, on my most recent visit to Universal, the coach was nowhere to be found. I hope they didn't toss it in the trash like they did with the old Glacier tunnel, and the Burning House, and the charred remains of Bob Gurr's King Kong animatronic.

Universal has another prop stagecoach that kind of resembles Disneyland's old Mud Wagons (seen in Part 1 of this series). This coach is mounted above the seating area of the Saddle Ranch Chop House restaurant, located outside the entrance to Universal Studios.

This restaurant has a long history of name changes. It originally opened in 1981 as Whomphopper's, then it became Tony Roma's, followed by Country Star Restaurant, and now it's the Saddle Ranch Chop House.

I will leave you today with this final vintage image of the old Prop Plaza Stagecoach, courtesy of "Matterhorn" (thank you!) from Stuff From The Park.

There will be one more part to this "Theme Park Stagecoaches" series. Stay tuned!

****Post Update (September 27, 2017)****

Meet The World reader/commenter "chebert813" spotted the Universal stagecoach just a few weeks ago, during a backlot tour of the studio and she has graciously shared her photo of it with us (thank you, again!) The stagecoach can currently be found parked alongside the Robertson Saloon in the Six Points/Western Streets section of the backlot. I'm so glad to see that this little piece of Universal history still exists!

Knott's Berry Farm - New Hire Stuff & The Giant Chicken!

Thirty years ago today, I had my employee orientation at Knott's Berry Farm! Having been hired just one week earlier, I had been scheduled for the employee orientation as well as two "cash handling" training sessions. The employee orientation was held in an auditorium that is located on the second floor of Independence Hall.



This staircase leads up to the entrance of the auditorium. A film was shown about the history of Knott's and afterwards, we were assigned to an employee "tour guide" and taken on a tour of the park.



This is my name tag that I was given to wear during the orientation. We hadn't been issued our official name badges yet, so we wore these stickers......and yes, I have saved it all these years. If you read my "I Was A Teenage Christmas Tree At Disneyland" post from December 2010, then you might remember that I also saved the "new hire" items from my short stint at Disneyland as well.



A week after the employee orientation, I had my cash handling training which was held in the Conference Room building that sits adjacent to Independence Hall. It was a two-day training session and on the first day, I stood outside of the locked building with three fellow new-hires waiting for our trainer to show up, but she never did. Oh, and it was pouring down rain! It was a weekday in the "off-season" and the entire Knott's Lagoon and Independence Hall area was abandoned and kind of creepy. As the sun went down, we waited in the rain (and the dark) wondering how long we should stay there. I don't remember how much time passed before we finally decided to go across the street to the Cable Car Kitchen, which was the location we had been hired for. As it turned out, our trainer had completely forgotten that she even had a training class that day. She showed up for our second day and had to cram everything into one session! Having already been through the employee orientation process at Disneyland, I remember that I kept thinking, "This would NEVER happen at Disneyland!"



If I remember correctly, the Knott Family used to have their board meetings in that Conference Room building. And speaking of the Knott Family, shortly after being hired, this welcome card arrived in the mail.





Here's a small booklet that was given out to Food Service employees. The inside shows the exact date of my employee orientation, the cash handling training classes, and my first day of work which happened to be the first day of Easter Vacation/Spring Break that year.












This card was given to new employees to show them where they were allowed to park. Over the years, most of these areas eventually became restricted and everyone was expected to park in the Employee Lot/School Lot across Western Ave.





So thirty years to the exact day of my Knott's employee orientation, I found myself going to Knott's to see Jay Jennings' "The Art of Knott's Berry Farm" photo exhibit. On my way there, I was delayed by one of the park's stagecoaches as it was en route to the stagecoach barn across La Palma Ave.



The exhibit was held in one of the banquet rooms of the Chicken Dinner Restaurant.



Here's Jay Jennings presenting Dean Davisson with one of his 1950's-inspired black and white photographs. Mr. Davisson was the head of Knott's public relations department from 1958 to 1976.



I took this next photo as I passed by the front of the Chicken Dinner Restaruant. Do you notice anything missing?



The giant chicken is gone! I noticed it was missing a couple months ago. I know it wasn't original to the Farm....and it wasn't even there back in the eighties when I was working at Knott's, but it was one addition that I never minded.



I'm guessing that this sculpture was a real vintage roadside sign that Knott's acquired within the last 20 years or so. Does anyone know where it came from originally? I'm hoping it was just placed into storage and that it wasn't tossed out!

Knott's Scary Farm

Knott's "Scary" Farm held their first "Halloween Haunt" of the season last night and if I'm doing my math correctly, this marks the 37th year of this event. Below are some Haunt buttons that were given to Knott's employees to wear back in the '80's. The first one is undated, but it is from 1985.

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These next buttons are also undated, but at least they began to put the event number on them. This one is from the 14th Annual Haunt that was held in 1986.
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This one is from 1987. The graphics look like they were just borrowed from the previous year's design.
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This last button is from 1988.

The last Haunt that I worked was in 1988. I quit Knott's just before the Haunt nights began in 1989. My first Halloween Haunt was actually in 1982, but they didn't start producing Haunt buttons for the employees until 3 years later, so I only have the four.

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Next, we have two photos of the Headless Horseman that would wander the Stagecoach route during the Haunts. This first photo was taken from almost the same spot as this photo seen over at Gorillas Don't Blog.

I never really knew for sure how they did this, because it was always pretty dark when you'd see this character, but if you look closely at the two photos, I think the nose of the person can be seen in the "V" of the shirt and there is an eyeball on either side of that, which would mean the person is just wearing a "bloody stump" prosthetic on top of their head and probably "fake shoulders" to lengthen the appearance of the torso. Clever. I used to think that the person's head was down inside the shirt looking out through the clothing somehow.

Last up for today, we have a photo of Elvira walking down some stairs on the stage of the Goodtime Theater, formerly the John Wayne Theater, and now the Charles M Schulz Theater (and somewhere in there it was known as the Toyota Goodtime Theater) located in what was then known as the Roaring 20's area of the park, formerly the Gypsy Camp, and now the Boardwalk area. WHEW!

This photo was taken at the beginning of the show right after that disc with Elvira's face painted on it lit up and revealed her sihouette standing behind it....just like something out of a '70s variety show! I can only remember two of the songs that she sang in this particular show, "My Boyfriend's Drac," and "Chapel Of Love" ("We're going to the chapel and we're going to get buried"). Her show changed year after year and was always excellent. I wish she still performed at the Haunts....if she did, I would probably go just for that!