Nick Studios Memories.

My trip to kid mecca.

In the summer of 94 nothing was more important to me than watching Nickelodeon. When i woke up it was Eureeka's Castle. When i fell asleep it was I dream of Jeanie. As far as i was concerned, there were no other channels. It wasnt just this summer, i had loved nickelodeon for as long as i could remember. So when my parents told me we would be visiting Universal Studios this summer i soiled my ninja turtle undies.

Classy Ball aint it?

Now this article isnt about "the good ol days" of universal studios, because to be quite honest, I didnt really like the park too much. I mean sure it had an awesome Back to the Future ride (one of my favorite movies) But aside from that the lines were too long and there just wasnt that much stuff for kids. I wasnt there for all that jazz anyway. I was here for one place and one place only... kid heaven. Nickelodeon Studios... the place where all my favorite shows were created.

Truly a Work of Art.

My eyes swelled up with joy at the giant orange logo peeped over the walls of the park, i could hardly wait to rub elbows with Marc Summers, share stories with the cast of Hey Dude and make smores with Bobby Budnik and Donkeylips from Salute Your Shorts. I knew my chances at hanging out with my favorite nick stars was slim to none, but I thought I would atleast be able to play with my parents on Family Double Dare or sit in for an episode of Clarissa Explains it all.

A Beacon of Hope.

The wait in line wasnt any shorter than Jaws or King Kong but there were a couple of things that made waiting in line easier. First off Sega Genesis were installed around the lines for kids to play. I remember the game was Asterix to be exact. I didnt get to play it thanks to greedy kids around me, but there was something i was able to enjoy... THE Slime Geyser! Seeing this geyser was like meeting a celebrity. They showed that thing at the end of every show made at Nick Studios. After a few 30 foot high green slime explosions it was time to enter the gates of kid heaven, time to meet my television friends id grown up with, it was time to...

Womp Womp Womp.

I must say i was greatly disappointed by the fact that just about every one of my favorite shows had already been cancelled. Hell we didnt even get to sit in for ANY show. The closest thing i came to seeing a show came when we walked into a studio were some kids were practicing lines for a new tv show coming out... that show would become a moderate Nick classic.

Goo Punch Anyone?

Okay, so I didnt know anything about the show and it didnt end up being one of my favorites. But i was still excited about it. Looking back now... i wouldnt have minded sitting in for one of the episodes atleast. Anyhow there was one more cool thing about the tour. I actually got to touch THE Aggro Cragg.

Better Than A Gold Medal.

The funny thing is,everyone acted like it was no big deal that the freakin Aggro Cragg was right there displayed on the wall. The one and only trophy kids from all over the world faught to the death over on Global Guts was right here beside me. The tour guide didnt even mention it. He was too busy making sure all the kids got herded into another room where the next travesty occured.

What is this crap?

Nickelodeon Game Lab it was called. It was sort of a half Double Dare half Nick Arcade knock off. I was hoping so bad that i would get chosen, i ruled at games as a kid. And to make it worse the game the kids were competing at was Sonic the Hedgehog. I played no game more in my childhood as i did Sonic the Hedgehog. But alas, i was not picked. The stupid kids that did get picked didnt even make it passed the first level. What kind of moron doesnt make it passed level one!

Appearantly too challenging for some.

And that was it. It was almost like i went to Oz and looked behind the curtain. But i cherish all my childhood memories, even the bad ones. And thats why i made this article. Not only that but im sure there are many of you that took this tour and had a blast. And im sure you got just as sad as i did when i found out the Studio was closing back in 2005.

Stripped of its charm.

For decades parents have been able to take their kids to Disney world and say "hey kids this is what i liked when i was your age." But unfortunately our generation wont be able to do that with Nickelodeon. Even thought i didnt have the best time at the Studio, i still considered that place to be a monument to my childhood. Maybe not as important as Cinderella's Castle but i sure as hell watched alot more Nickelodeon than Disney at that age. Why did they close the studio? Well, we may never really know. But what i do know is what will be in its historic building.

Blue men beating on pipes.

I mean no disrespect to the Blue Man Group. Im sure the show at Universal is very entertaining. But was it worth tearing a piece of my childhood away to see 3 bald men covered in blue paint beating on a bunch of pipes and throwing balls at each other? I choose an episode of My Brother and Me any day.

Thanks for reading, im new here. Hope you share a memory with me.

Comments

Man, I remember the good old days growing up with Nick shows! Everyday after school, it was non stop till 8 ish. Than at 8 cal snick! And all those snick classics such as "Are you Afraid of the Dark?" Classic! I miss it! I can't believe they tore it down! It had to be a huge part of the park! Kids loved nick, I wonder why or how it got taken down, and especially for the blue man group....shmucks!

I always wanted to go to that place but I was just too young, I just wish they had it there now because I would just love to go there, but NOOOO they have to have the gay Blue Man Group. Way to F up our childhood

Informative article.. But I cant connect with it... I was graduating high school then...lol

Sorry.. but still a great article.

Why thank you. Much appreciated.

This is an amazing article

Wellllll, i must say that animation DOES take longer to produce than live action. But saying it takes six months to make just one episode is totally wrong. There are usually thirteen episodes of per season of a show, are you telling me it takes six years to create just one season of king of the hill? I think not. But... and this is a big butt, the way that most new cartoons are made doesnt even take a week to produce. Shows like Mucha Lucha and Dora the Exlorer are flash animated on the computer wich only takes a week or so an episode. For example there are episodes of south park that feature topics that literally happened in between episodes. (like Isaac Hayes departure)

Have you noticed thats why for their live action shows they didn't use really little kids? Thats the Hollywood secret, to take a short kid that looks younger then they look to play someone several years younger then they really are. Not to mention kids on shows like that have been dealing with being filmed for years, in commercials and such. They're pretty used to it and thus well behaved.

Cartoons, however....it takes 6 months to make one episode. Just ONE episode. Think of how many live action episodes you can make within that time span. Not to mention theres a lot more to making a cartoon episode. With something live action, beyond writing the script its all filming after that. Sure theres a lot of crew involved, but post production is fairly simple enough. With a cartoon, you write the script, storyboard the episode, spend hour upon hour carefully sketching out everything frame by frame, then you have a team to ink it, a team to colour it, a team meanwhile making the backgrounds, then you put the background with the coloured and inked character, take a picture, and then you have a single frame for the episode.

Also 2 more things: I went in 2004 and they weren't even doing live shows and the place looked pretty pathetic anyway. They made the right call, although it is heartbreaking. Also, to CeciliaFett, "Cartoons are WAY more expensive to make then live action shows" Dude are you on crack?!?!? Try staffing 10 people instead of 50 and not having to work with bratty kids and their even more difficult, overly-proud parents and hauling your equipment all over the place when you had to film out of the studio? At least when you're making a cartoon you can pretty much guarantee productivity, I'm sure there were full days wasted trying to film tv shows.

"3 bald men covered in blue paint beating on a bunch of pipes and throwing balls at each other" hahahaha!!! Very funny stuff. A very good first article! Welcome to RJ, dude.

I yelled really loud that I needed to go to the bathroom during a tour at Nickelodeon when I went there once when I was little and I got a spanking. I don't remember right off about what other trouble that I caused there. It's been a long time. My mom and dad are not taking me back to Nickelodeon after the trouble that I caused there. I was going to go back without when I got older until I learned that they closed Nickelodeon down and they turned it into The Blue Man Group.

The entire point of this site is to enjoy and relish in the past. The whole "honestly, im not upset. Things change and some die" attitude could be applied to any topic of the past. Just like a loved one, you know theyre gonna die but that doesnt make it any easier when they do.We all fully understand that, but some of us are more sentimental than that.

"the death of nick studios can be blamed on the rise and success of nick toons. cartoons are cheaper to make than live action shows, and that combined with their popularity made nick focus primarily on making cartoons."

Thats not true at all. Cartoons are WAY more expensive to make then live action shows, and take a lot longer as well. The problem was the rise of pre-teen drama's. For the kids not allowed/too young understand and watch 90210 had these sort of more, toned down mini versions. They became very popular and, well, there just wasn't any place for the brand of live action comedy Nick was doing at the time.

Its a little sad to see it go but honestly, I'm not upset. Things change and some things die and are replaced. That is the cycle of things. The studio would've had to go sooner or later, you know. Or maybe thats just how I feel because Disney World was a major dissapointment to me when I was 4. Or because I only ever had 1 oppertunity to even go to Universal Studios Orlando, but a realitive convinced my folks that the place was super boring. Pity because I always wanted to ride the Back to the Future ride. Or the Jurassic Park ride.

I went to Orlando couple yrs ago and saw the blue man group building and thought to myself..this is pure horseshit..i was raised by this very building which is now a preformance room for 3 fucking guys who look like papa smurfs asshole grandkids

Through the years of watching Nick, I assumed that the studio was defunct, but this article confirmed it for me. The last two pictures gave me that "say-it-ain't-so" kind of feeling. *Sigh* Oh, well.

I liked the article and it may have been better if you showed some of your own pictures if you had some, but if you didn't take pictures, it OK. Also just to let you know, the first picture was of the Hollywood ball.

Well growing up I always wanted to see Nickelodeon Studios and Universal, seeing the ads on Nick all the time, however I'd never get to see it due to my mother's fear of flying. I finally made it there last year, but as you know it was too late, the studio was closed and all they have is a crappy simulator serving as a memory of a time long passed. I tell you I was dissappointed that they closed it and the classic Nick I grew up with was officially dead. And from what I heard whispered around the Nicktoon simulator, so was everyone else who had grown up with Classic Nick. Thanks for the article man, it kind of softened the blow of never having seen it.

I wish it was STILL there.

The reason why Nickelodeon Studios shut down is because during the late 90s, reality shows and teen dramas were becoming the mainstream of television instead of sitcoms and game shows, and during that time it would have a difficult time on a kids network. Because of this, they decided to use their time at the new animation studio in California, and that meant less use of the Florida studio. By 2001 due to low budget, they laid off 30 staff members of the studio, they had auctions of props from nickelodeon shows filmed at the studio, and the tour was shortened to 20 minutes instead of 40. Some of the props have gone to the Jimmy Neutron Nicktoon Blast, but recently those were taken away and they were replaced with props from the newer nickelodeon shows. By then less people were touring the studio and in 2004, they made an update to the design of the studio, gone were the loud, crazy, 90s colors and in were the lame colors of nickelodeon of today. Soon there were a single digit number of employees, and the tour was just lame and boring, and the studio was in big trouble. By late April, they made the decision to shut down the studio. It was originally going to become offices, but they decided to make it Blue Man Group. I went to see the show, and it was pretty good, but it'll never be better than Nickelodeon Studios.

THEY CLOSED THE NICKELODEON STUDIO!!!!! SOB! I DIDNT EVEN GET THE CHANCE TO GO THERE!!!! SO THATS WHY A SHOW LIKE SPONGEBOB WAS MADE!!!

i miss that place, i went there and i was in the audiance for double dare(or double dare 2000, i cant remember)and me and my twin bro both told a joke to the host(cant remember his name)!

i've visited orlando every year since 1988 but we usually just went to disney world for most of the trips. even after finally adding universal studios to the line up a few years after it opened, i wasn't able to convince my parents to take me to nick studios until 1997 because they weren't interested. by that point the place was like a tomb. there was no line and we walked right in to a tour that showed us several empty sound stages where the tour guide explained what USED to be shot there with fake enthusiasm. nick studios served as a monument to my childhood too as nick was all i watched for years, but visiting the studios in 1997 it was like someone had defaced that monument. the whole thing was a disappointment, my parents were annoyed with me for making them go, and i refused to ever go back.

nick studios being removed was a shame, but we all could see it coming about 10 years before it did. as you mentioned in your article, nick's best shows has been canceled already by summer of 94 and nick survived mostly on reruns and nick toons. the death of nick studios can be blamed on the rise and success of nick toons. cartoons are cheaper to make than live action shows, and that combined with their popularity made nick focus primarily on making cartoons. with that, the nick studios was no longer used, no longer needed, and therefore was seen as a waste of space. they filmed slime time live there for a few years but when that went down there was no reason to keep nick studios alive anymore.

As for disney not filming anything in orlando anymore, that can be blamed on disney's old hollywood style. they use the same actors for everything now, and keep everything very centralized and controlled. control is easier when everyone is kept in a small area, so they are no longer spread from west coast to east coast and stay in california

i am going to universale in 2 days i will look for that old building!

I used to live in Marathon, FL
so i was able more easily to get
to Universal in the summer of 1998 after a whole decade
of begging my parents to take me! (ah, those were the days!)

and when i got to see Nickelodeon Studios,
words couldn't even describe how excited i was to
finally see the source of all my favorite shows in my childhood!
and i got to see a taping of an episode of my most
favorite live-action show, Kenan & Kel which just
made things way more better!
and i remember the Nick Game Lab, i sadly didn't get
picked either and video games are my life! nope, guess they
always went with the kids with the worst skills ever!
and to think that was my first and only time i ever got
to go to Nick Studios, and i was just as saddened and heartbroken
when i heard that they closed down, but at least there's still a Nick Studios
because they moved to a building just across where the old one used to be!
but i still miss the old one anyway, :'(
if time travel is ever possible in our lifetimes
i'll be sure to stop by Universal back in Nick's heyday and have that same
awesome experience i did when i was 10!

R.I.P.

Nickelodeon Studios.

1989-2005

i haven't been to Nick studios, but i believe that it would be a great experience. i also have heard great things about BMG @ Universal. coincidentially, i have some cousins who actually work there sometimes

Yeah, it's a shame. I live just a few miles from both Disney and Universal and also work in the television industry producing shows. I had a few friends who worked on a lot of Nick's shows. I grew up in Michigan though and remember when my family first got cable and were able to watch Nickelodeon. I used to love all the shows on Nick, even the old ones like Lassie and Dennis The Menace. Double Dare, Mr. Wizard, and You Can't Do That on Television were some of my favorites. I think You Can't was actually made in Canada or something though. My first year down to Universal and Nick was in the spring of '94 too. I was I think a little more into movies than it sounds like you were, but Nick was definitely a big attraction. It's really sad that so much of Orlando's production and glitz has faded away for the most part. In '89 when MGM opened at Disney and then Universal and Nick, the powers that be were trying to make Orlando the new kind of east coast Hollywood. If you think about it, it has some halfway similar pluses to the L.A. area as far as weather and accessibility. All the Nick shows, a lot of other TV shows, and a good handful of movies were shot (at least in part) in Orlando. I was just watching Parenthood the other day and noticing some familiar out of focus buildings in a few scenes. Die Hard 3's opening explosion was the old city hall being demolished downtown. Other less than popular movies like Earnest Saves Christmas were shot here too. Anyway, Orlando just never grew a good enough infrastructure to support it all and it slowly died out. You occasionally find a few productions here, but for the most part Disney and Universal have pulled out of the production business here. And Nick is totally gone. But those days in the early 90's were sure great. It was sort of Orlando's hay-day. Heck even the Orlando Magic were still fairly new and popular. Stars had homes here too. A few still do I guess, but not nearly as many. Like the article though. Who knows, maybe a new spark will start up here some day! I miss Nick!

How dare they close down Nickelodeon Studios and dedicate it to a group of Blue Men! No wonder that network's gone down the sh*tter!

Thanks for sharing. I always wanted to go to the Nick Studios. Unfortunately the fastest I could make it to Orlando was in 2008. Sadly I'll never be able to see a taping of Legends of the Hidden Temple.