Back to the Future Day, the Ride that I missed in Florida & a McFly/Doc PIE!

 (Geek Alert).  Great Scott, it’s here!

It was on this day…..October 21, 2015, that Marty McFly and Doc Brown went ‘back’ in time to the future and they arrived in a very different version of their hometown of ‘Hill Valley’….complete with Hoverboards and flying cars zipping all over the place.

Welcome to the Future er, I mean the present! (update: now the past)

This movie is no longer about the future, boys n’ girls. Yep, now when you watch it, Doc and Marty will be going to the past (well, our past). Man, that’s heavy.

“Heavy! There’s that word again. Why are things so heavy in the future?Is there something wrong with the earth’s gravitational pull?”

If you were a kid/teen in the 80s, like me (but seeing as I’m still only 25, I’m not sure how that’s even possible?) you probably loved this movie and maybe even saw it in the theatre, too. I’d like to say it’s timeless, but given that it IS a time-travel movie, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Moving on….

It’s definitely my all-time favourite movie. Who wouldn’t want to go back (or forward) in time and see your parents as teenagers or your kids a heck of a lot older? Exactly.

And it’s even more fun when you can travel in time with these guys. Here we are stopping to take a quick pic before getting into the DeLorean.

Now this is what I call a throwback…uh, er….back to the future? Or the past? Or maybe this is the present. Confused yet? hehe

I was in High School not born for another 25 years when the second movie came out. After seeing the original, we couldn’t wait to see the sequel (three years was a long wait). It was fun to see them go into the future instead this time around. While watching it for the first time (back in 1989), we couldn’t really critique their rendition of the future since 2015 was nearly 25 years away. Who knew Hoverboards and self-tying laces weren’t actually going to be all-the-rage now?

Today we can (obviously) see what they guessed right (and wrong) in their take of 2015. There are several great articles written about it like this one  and this one , in case you’re interested in reading more. If you’re a BTTF fanatic like me, they’re definitely worth checking out.

I can’t believe it was 30 years ago (32 now) that Doc and Marty punched ‘2015’ into their time-machine and headed to the future. I still love this trilogy just as much today as I did back then and I even loved the 3rd one, too. But since I’m a Wild West fanatic, that probably doesn’t seem too surprising for those who know me.

There are so many things about this movie that makes it a great story: time-travel, great characters played by totally awesome actors (I LOVE Christopher Lloyd– but Crispin Glover and Michael J Fox are great, too), romance, tons of action, and, of course—the villain ‘Biff’ (make like a tree and leaf!). And, it has the best score/soundtrack ever. 

Every time I hear the theme music for this movie I feel like I’m getting ready to hop into the DeLorean to go back in time to 1955 as well. Although I think 1985 would be better because I can go back to my childhood and do things a little differently. I would also go to the location of where the movie was filmed (in California) to give the producers some insight into what they should do for 2015. Then, many years later, they’ll wonder how this chick they met back in 1985 managed to predict everything right. Are you telling me you time-travelled in a Delorean all the way from 2015 to tell us how to film the movie?

But seriously, while I LOVE anything time-travel related, the ‘Scully’ in me (yep–X Files fan as well) doesn’t believe time travel is possible. Not yet, anyway.

Over the years I’ve heard rumours about a 4th movie or—worse–a re-make !?? Noooooo!  Thankfully none have come to fruition at this point. While it’d be interesting to see another take on the story, a remake of this would probably be awful. So leave well enough alone, Hollywood.

Without further ado….let’s add a bit of a time-travel element to this story, shall we?

It was April 2007 and I was heading to Florida for the first time ever with my good friend Al. I was SO excited because we were going to Universal Studios and I couldn’t wait to finally get to check out the Back to the Future ride that I’d been hearing about for years.

Or not.

Guess what I discovered when we arrived at the Back to the Future Ride? A closed sign, and not just ‘temporarily’, either. The ride was shut down & boarded up and another sign announced: ‘Coming soon: The Simpsons Ride.

NOOOOOOOO! Apparently I looked like a 4-year old who’d just dropped her favourite ice cream cone. That’s exactly how I felt.

Seriously, though? The ride has been around for almost 15 years at the time (this trip to Florida was a decade ago, so now we’re talking 25 years ago since the ride had been there). It opened its doors in Universal Studios, Florida in 1991.

The worst part? I missed it by A FEW DAYS!! Oh yes, you read that right. I couldn’t have had worse timing if I tried. It closed down permanently on March 30th, 2007 and we arrived April 5th, 2007. So my only option was a time machine so I can go back to, say–a week earlier–to do the BTTF ride. 

Lesson learned. If that didn’t teach me to see something sooner than later (be it a place, ride, event etc) before it’s gone, I don’t know what else could.

At the very least, they did keep the Gift Shop open so we could check out some fun BTTF-themed clothes and gadgets.

I’m glad I got to see the store, at least, as it was gone when I came back to Florida a couple years later.

They also had actors, er, I mean the real Doc Brown and Marty McFly walking around chatting with everyone. Doc is such a nice guy, even if he is slightly eccentric. He hasn’t aged much since 1989, either.

And the DeLorean was still on display. The real one too, not just a replica. I think I’m gonna take this for a spin. Maybe even drive it home? Wonder if they’ll notice it missing? hehe

Here’s the Jules Verne train from the 3rd movie.

These cheered me up slightly and almost made up for missing the ride….*Almost*. I’m still upset, but I eventually got over it. If you ever had the pleasure of experiencing the Back to the Future ride in Orlando (lucky duck), I’d LOVE to hear about it. Let me know in the comments, I’ll try not to cry 😀

When I returned to Universal a few years later, this is what replaced the Back to the Future ride:

The Simpson’s ride was actually pretty cool. It’s a roller-coaster simulator/3-D ride, and even my dad (who hated roller-coasters) enjoyed it when we were here together. While it was fun, it ain’t no Back to the Future Ride! (Harumph).

They also had this guy wandering around pretending he was the Doc….on a bike!???  He looked 30 years old… at most. Seriously? For the DOC?  The cosplay actors whom I met a few years earlier were much more realistic.

Update: While this post was written on the actual day when Marty & the Doc went into the future: Oct 21, 2015, now that I am baking themed pies, of course I had to make a Back to the Future pie for the 2 year anniversary.  

It’s a Spiced Cherry Pie with Cardamon, Cinnamon and brown butter—and a Delorean, Marty and the Doc.  Great Scott, this is yummy.

 

Happy BTTF day everyone!  Hope your week is filled with pie, time-travel and maybe even a road trip?

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads!

Dana xo (your friendly Canadian Geek)