Flash Flood attraction c.1970 –The Good old– Pink and White Days
Same loaction many years later with added sets in the background. Universal Studios Hollywood, publicity photo.
The calm before the storm
Janet Jackson did a video on this set… Escapade.
Michael Jackson did several videos on our lot including his very last. I once gave Mr. J a tour. We did Kong, 10 times in a row. He rented the tram for himself and his posse- after hours. That’s when the best tours happen.
Another TV series was omitted off that list, Alfred Hitchcock Presents has an episode involving this little village. One more, Airwolf had a tank battle with the helicopter. Yes, this area was built for films, but kept alive for tours.
Elephants used to be part of this studio. The huge sliding doors on sound stages are referred to as Elephant doors.
A vintage brochure. Many thins have changed since then. #14 is the Flash Flood location.
An arial view today showing the Flash Flood location left of the white roof.
1970’s postcard showing Flash Flood attraction
Prop Plaza -mid eighties…
We begin, once you’re seated;
In 1968 the Flash Flood set opened as the first special-effects attraction and proved to be a major hit for the theme park. 10,000 gallons of water would rush 200 feet down a narrow Mexican village street, uprooting an old tree and threatening to engulf the tram. From sunny California to a storm in a matter of moments, the weather would suddenly takes a turn for the worse. When I was a Glamour Tram Driver in the 80’s, this was one of the attractions that would get the most screams.
The area of Prop Plaza is where patrons would board the Glamour Tram for the second half of the guided tour. The tour guide and I often bond here, since there is down time involved with loading trams at this rest stop. It’s here, where we regroup and pick up 175 new passengers. The excitement begins when we close the tram gates. But as soon as we turn the corner, another back up tram greets you. It’s like an airport and you’re on a plane waiting for clearance to take-off.
So, after a small delay, I get my green light, signaling my turn to diagnose the 100-foot vehicle around a hairpin turn. The front of the tram can see the back off the tram for one brief moment, as this 16-wheel contraption moves along in serpentine fashion. The tour guide usually has run out of things to talk about, but whatever whispers are being directed through the microphone are soon overcome by the sound of rain, wind and thunder. Flood conditions and flash floods have tormented this area since trams replaced horses, back here. As I drive this tram down a sleepy Mexican village road, there’s a warning thunderclap, followed by a tropical downpour. Before you can react, a tree overhead cracks and up the road a wall of water rushes towards you in a monstrous wave. The tree is uprooted and the flash flood threatens to swamp the tram. At the last moment, the flood waters are diverted and the tree miraculously rights itself. The flood is a tribute to the ingenuity of Universal’s Special Effects Department.
I have had the privilege of doing VIP tours and one of my favorite moments at this spot involved a private tour for Don Adams and his kids inside our San Francisco trolley experience. Agent 86 being driven around by me. I love GET SMART, who doesn’t?
As the flood is about to charge us, I step off the tram because me being seated blocked the view of one of the kids on board. The wall of water is the full blown and spreads where I’m standing, soaking my shoes. Don Adams sees this and cleverly in his Get Smart voice says, “I ruin more shoe phones that way.”
As we all laugh- I take off my shoe and attempt to talk in it...Living the dream here, I watched this show of his every Saturday Night as a kid. I had goosebumps when I was told I was giving this tour to Mr. Adams.
It turns out, before I was a tram driver, Don Adams did a movie here involving trams, The Nude Bomb. They race the old pink and whites around our backlot. Agent 99 is replaced by Sylvia Kristel, most noted as a star in adult films. Any tour employee would enjoy this romp, and I must say, some of our tour guides have done adult films, but I digress. These are part of the spectrum of stories shared while waiting to pick up guests at Prop Plaza. If you ever wondered what gets discussed while we wait, it’s career stuff. Just tour guides looking for that big break!
Drivers make 5 times what guides make on the pay scale. We are Hollywood Teamsters, proud of it. Tour Guides rarely last more than a season or two. Some drivers call tramming a career. For culture, Universal cornered the market with top bands always booked at the quaint, acoustically sound, amphitheater. Movies, music, and a studio tour generated a large diverse income source that was second only to Disneyland for tourist dollars.
Tours always finish where they started, and we open the gates at the live action theater. The A-Team would be switched to Miami Vice. Crockett and Tubbs impersonators replaced Mr. T, or JJ as we knew him, and would greet guests to the thumping 80’s theme song playing over and over on the speaker system.
That’s Entertainment…Tram on the right-your turn-All aboard!
Written and lived by …Donnie Norden
Phantom of the Backlots 