After the success of Ivan Reitman’s 1984 Ghostbusters, the studio expected the sequel, released in 1989, to be just as successful. In the 80’s and 90’s, corporate tie-ins were on the rise, but nothing like they are now. Ghostbusters had a huge following, and plenty of action figures and products, so it made sense to kick it up a notch. Hence the creation of the “Ghostbusters Spooktacular” at Universal Studio Orlando. The stage show launched in 1990 and ran through 1996, when it was closed to make room for “Twister…Ride it Out” (another wild ride). When you’re young, it makes no sense why big companies change the things you love – but in retrospect it makes a lot of sense why this attraction was closed, as with “Black to the Future: The Ride”, “Jaws”, “King Kong”, and even Disney’s “Journey into Imagination”. It hurts nonetheless. But thanks to YouTube, our memories can live on until the sun dies, or civilization falls, or aliens destroy the planet.
For our younger readers, or those who never traveled to Universal Studios in the 1990’s, I wanted to share a look at one of the coolest attractions that ever graced a theme park.
Guests queued through the outside of a soundstage where it was presumed that the Ghostbusters films had been shot, wiki explains. Then, they entered the building where the storyline would be revealed. It was later changed to where guests were queued outside a soundstage where a sign advertised a “Seminar Hosted by Louis Tulley Today.”
Inside, guests would seat at the base of the Temple of Gozer where the Ghostbusters would play around with Slimer, battle spooks, the Stay Puft Marshmallow-Man, and eventually Gozer.
“Your fate is sealed. Choose and perish!”