'Back to the Future' Ride Takes Its Final Passengers

Sept. 3, 2007 (KABC-TV) (KABC) -- Monday was the last day for the 'Back to the Future' ride at Universal Studios.

I suppose it's only fitting I covered the ride closing, because I was there when the ride opened 14 years ago.

I was actually among the first people to board the "Back to the Future" ride back in 1993 before it opened to the public.

Now, "Back to the Future" is part of Universal Studios' past.

Over the years, the attraction has had some 61 million guests.

We never actually traveled more than a couple of feet in our seats, but technology sure made us feel like we were flying all over the place.

For fans of the ride, this is a sad occasion.

"I've been on this ride for years, I love being on this ride, it's one of the defining rides of this theme park ... the only place it's going to be open now is in Japan and it's expensive to go there," Brian Carolus, a "Back to the Future" fan, said.

Each "Back to the Future" trip took riders about four and a half minutes.

In the summer of 1993, it became Universal Studios' first high-tech thrill ride.

Guests strapped into their seats, feeling like they'd just gotten into the movie's DeLorean time machine. Add some movement and some pictures projected in front of your wheels and illusion took over.

One DeLorean owner and his friends came a fair distance to be at the ride's last day.

"'Back to the Future' is a big part of my life and I couldn't miss the last day of the 'Back to the Future' ride so I drove all the way out here from Dallas, I hate to see this thing go, it breaks my heart, I got to be honest with you, it really does," Bob Moseley said.

The ride will replaced by a new thrill ride based on "The Simpsons," opening next spring.

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