Nickelodeon Studios

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Nickelodeon Studios

Universal Studios Florida

Land

Production Central

Theme

Nickelodeon Shows

Opening date

June 7, 1990

Closing date

April 30, 2005

Hosted by

Nickelodeon Tour Guides

Ride duration

40 minutes

Replaced By

Blue Man Group LIVE at the Sharp Aquos Theatre

Nickelodeon Studios (opened June 7, 1990 – closed April 30, 2005) was an operating television taping studio as well as an attraction at Universal Studios Florida.

1 History
2 The Tour
3 Shows taped at Nickelodeon Studios
4 External links

[edit] History

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Nickelodeon Studios as viewed from the Hard Rock Cafe in March 2004.

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Location of the former Nickelodeon Slime Geyser after its removal.

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Nickelodeon Studios after the sign and markings were removed.

Opened with the Theme Park on June 7, 1990, the facility was a working studio where many Nickelodeon and Nickelodeon GAS shows were produced, with the first being Double Dare. It consisted of soundstages 18 and 19, along with a central building between them that housed both Nickelodeon production offices, dressing rooms, makeup rooms, the Gak Kitchen and the Game Lab live show located on Stage 17 for guests of Universal Studios Florida. Soundstage 21, located directly behind Stages 17 and 18, was also part of the production facility in the early 1990s when a larger sound stage was needed for the taping of Nickelodeon GUTS and Global GUTS. Stage 21 was not "owned" or part of the studio contract Nickelodeon had with Universal, but was leased separately for the duration of Nickelodeon Productions on the stage. A Studio Tour was made available to guests of Universal Studios that allowed them to see the working production facility in person. Guests were also allowed to be part of a live studio audience if taping was occurring that day. Over 2,000 episodes of original programming were shot at Nickelodeon Studios while it was in operation. The studio tour closed in 2001 after staffing cuts were made. The Game Lab portion of the tour would continue to run until Nickelodeon Studios closed in 2005 (but was renamed "Nick Live").

While Nick Studios was in production there were many benches scattered around the facility. Ones shaped like a human foot, carrot, finger, curies ship, wave etc. They also had Nicktoon cardboard setups of many of there cartoons for photo opportunities.

The facility shut down on April 30, 2005, after Nickelodeon had gradually moved its production facilities to Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California, and One Astor Plaza in New York. The final program taped at Nickelodeon Studios was Nickelodeon SPLAT! on August 17, 2004.

The Slime Geyser in front of Soundstage 18 was removed in May 2005.

The trademark "Nickelodeon" sign above the facility was removed in January 2006.

A time capsule buried by the network in 1992 in front of Sound stage 18 was removed in August 2006 and was replaced with concrete. The time capsule contained items deemed important to the children of 1992 as voted upon by Nickelodeon viewers, including a new Nintendo Game Boy, an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine and various other toys. The time capsule was scheduled to be opened on April 30, 2042, fifty years after its burial. They reburied the time capsule at the Nickelodeon Family Suites in Orlando. It is still scheduled to be opened in 2042 .

At this time Stage 19 and the second floor Nick control room in the center building between stage 18 and 19 is home to FSN and Sun Sports Network. Much of the Nick signage is still visible in the second floor hallways including multiple Ren and Stimpy murals. Stage 19, former home to shows such as Double Dare, now contain sets for studio shows for FSN Florida and Sun Sports, along with a storage area for Universal Orlando parade floats. However, this area is not accessible to guests. Currently, the Tube that runs above Soundstage 19, that was part of the Nickelodeon tour, is now used for storage of several old props and A/V equipment, along with storage for the Blue Man Group. Additionally, the Slime Kitchen is used as the break room for the Front of House staff of the Blue Man Group and the Game Lab is now a special event room for Universal Studios and the Blue Man Group.

On November 9, 2006, Universal Orlando announced that sound stage 18 would be redesigned to become a 1,000 seat permanent venue for Blue Man Group. The new venue opened on June 1, 2007. During the construction phase of new theater, no cosmetic changes were made, with the exception of the addition of the new Box Office in the Pavilion. The sound stage was painted black with three giant blue heads, the main building was painted white, and the side of Stage 18 was painted black with blue, yellow, and red paint splats. The facility was renamed the Sharp Aquos Theatre. Additionally, inside the building the dressing room signs remain the same that were used during the time of Nickelodeon, as well as the "Production Crew Only" signs which have not been changed. Overall, areas not accessible to guests have remained the same as they were during the time of Nickelodeon, including the wall murals in the Main Hallway (a blurred picture of a DoubleDare taping), 2nd Floor Tube (Blue's Clues), and the guest escalator: now closed off by storage and a temporary wall that makes a rehearsal area (The Wild Thornberries).

[edit] The Tour

Nickelodeon Studios featured a tour for visitors of the Universal Studios theme park. As you entered the building, you would go up an escalator to the second floor, where you would enter a Blue's Clues themed room. From there, you'd enter the Soundstage 19 viewing tube, in which your tour guide would tell you about the production going on in that soundstage. Then, you would enter the Control Room viewing area, which showed a video on Nickelodeon, and allowed you to see into the Nickelodeon Control Room. From there, you would enter the Soundstage 18 viewing tube, where you would again learn about the production going on below. You would then go down another escalator into the Game Lab area, and bypass it to the hallway with the Wardrobe, Makeup, and Gak Kitchen departments, where you would get a hands on experience tasting gak and slime, and trying on different items for a Nickelodeon production. Then, you would end your tour in the Game Lab, where you may have the chance to participate in games for upcoming Nickelodeon shows, and even have the chance to get slimed! The entire experience lasted around 40 minutes. It operated from 1990-2001, until staffing cuts were made at the studio. It was last seen on June 15, 2001.

The viewing tube is now used for storage by the Blue Man Group, and has shutters over the windows that allowed guests to look down on the soundstage. The Game Lab is now a special event room for Universal and the Gak Kitchen is now a break room for Blue Man Group front of house staff.