Ask Chris: Did Universal's Studio Tour Have a Photo-op Stop?

Decades before Harry Potter and the Mario Brothers came to the park, the bus was the only attraction on the Universal Studios Tour . The ride lasted over two hours, more than twice as long as today, so midway through, visitors got off at Prop Plaza, a food and rest stop loaded with photo-ops. In the days before selfies, some of the best remembered displays were jail bars to pose behind, an oversized telephone from short-lived TV show Land of the Giants , a Conestoga wagon for kids to bounce on and giant boulders made of foam.

Inspired by the sight of buses disgorging tourists at the Farmers Market, Universal exec Albert Dorskind invited Gray Line tours to bring sightseers to the commissary for lunch (with a 20% markup!) during 1963. The following year, the studio launched its own fleet of candy-striped trams with fringe on top where visitors saw the backlot and a cowboy stunt show. Prop Plaza debuted a year later with a panoramic view of the San Fernando Valley, rock work, a waterfall and a bridge which all made for great Kodak moments. Insiders say that the trams struggled to reach the steep and awkward plateau and stopped visiting around 1992. Some of the structures remain but the old Prop Plaza is now used for storage and the occasional special event.

To celebrate the tour’s 60th anniversary , trams are stopping through Aug 11 at the Psycho house (an opening-day attraction) and a retro “prop plaza,” featuring a restored vintage Glamor Tram parked alongside long-gone photo-ops like the shark from Jaws and King Kong’s giant paw. Wear your double-knit polyester, bring plenty of flashbulbs, and take home one of the tram-shaped popcorn buckets.