View allAll Photos Tagged Components
It's getting closer!
On Friday the 24th we will have a launch event for the bike from 5pm to 8pm
at the Cascade Barrel House. More info here www.shift2bikes.org/cal/viewpp2011.php#24-2357
Starting June 27th, 2011 you can rent the Beer bike! - www.metrofiets.com/rentals/
PictionID:44808994 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Catalog:14_014229 - Filename:14_014229.TIF - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Copyright © 2025 by Craig Paup. All rights reserved.
Any use, printed or digital, in whole or edited, requires my written permission.
PictionID:44808837 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Catalog:14_014216 - Filename:14_014216.TIF - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Opened on June 7, 1990, the park's theme is the entertainment industry, in particular movies and television. Universal Studios Florida inspires its guests to "ride the movies", and it features numerous attractions and live shows. The park is one component of the larger Universal Orlando Resort.
In 2013, the park hosted an estimated 7.06 million guests, ranking it the eighth-most visited theme park in the United States, and ranking it sixteenth worldwide.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 History 1.1 Park history
1.2 Branding
1.3 Timeline
1.4 Previous attractions
2 Park design 2.1 Production Central
2.2 New York
2.3 San Francisco
2.4 London/Diagon Alley
2.5 World Expo
2.6 Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone
2.7 Hollywood
3 Character appearances
4 Production facilities
5 Annual events 5.1 Grad Bash and Gradventure
5.2 Halloween Horror Nights
5.3 Macy's Holiday Parade
5.4 Mardi Gras
5.5 Rock the Universe
5.6 Summer Concert Series
6 Universal's Express Pass
7 Attendance
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
History[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)
The original entrance to the theme park.
Over the years, Universal Studios Florida has not limited itself to attractions based on its own vast film library. It has occasionally licensed popular characters from other rival studios, many of whom did not operate theme parks themselves. Some examples include Ghostbusters and Men in Black, (Sony's Columbia Pictures), The Simpsons (20th Century Fox) and Shrek (DreamWorks Animation).
Many of the park's past and present attractions were developed with the actual creators of the films they were based on, and feature the original stars as part of the experience. Steven Spielberg helped create E.T. Adventure and was a creative consultant for Back to the Future: The Ride, Twister...Ride it Out, An American Tail Theatre, Jaws, Men in Black: Alien Attack and Transformers: The Ride.
In many current rides, the original stars reprised their film roles including: Rip Torn and Will Smith in Men in Black: Alien Attack, Brendan Fraser for Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister...Ride it Out, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong and Linda Hamilton reprised their roles for Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow for Shrek 4D, Steve Carell, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher reprised their roles from Despicable Me for Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, and Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprised their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron for Transformers: The Ride.
In many former rides, the many original stars were also to reprise their film roles such as: Christopher Lloyd and Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future: The Ride, Roy Scheider recorded a voice over for the conclusion of Jaws, Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins appeared in Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, additionally, various Nicktoon voice actors reprised their roles in Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast.
Park history[edit]
From its inception in 1982,[3] Universal Studios Florida was designed as a theme park and a working studio. It was also the first time that Universal Studios had constructed an amusement park "from the ground up." However, the proposed project was put on hold until 1986, when a meeting between Steven Spielberg, a co-founder for the park, and Peter N. Alexander prompted for the creation of a Back to the Future simulator ride in addition to the already planned King Kong based ride.[4]
A major component of the original park in Hollywood is its studio tour, which featured several special-effects exhibits and encounters built into the tour, such as an attack by the great white shark from the film Jaws. For its Florida park, Universal Studios took the concepts of the Hollywood tour scenes and developed them into larger, stand-alone attractions. As an example, in Hollywood, the studio tour trams travel close to a shoreline and are "attacked" by Jaws before they travel to the next part of the tour. In Florida, guests entered the "Jaws" attraction and would board a boat touring the fictitious Amity Harbor, where they encountered the shark, then exited back into the park at the conclusion of the attraction. Universal Studios Florida originally had a Studio Tour attraction that visited the production facilities, but that tour has since been discontinued.
Branding[edit]
Previous slogans for Universal Studios Florida were: See the Stars. Ride the Movies. (1990 - 1998); No one makes believe like we do! (1990 - 1998); Ride the Movies (1998 - 2008); Jump into the Action (2008–2012). The current slogan is: Experience the Movies (2012–present).
Timeline[edit]
1986: Land clearing takes place on the swamp land purchased by MCA/Universal that would hold the park.
1987: Universal Studios Florida is announced at a press conference on the Hollywood property, with a planned opening date of December 1989.
1988: Universal Studios Florida's opening date is delayed from December, 1989 to May 1, 1990. Shortly following, MCA/Universal releases a video detailing the future park, which stars Christopher Lloyd as the Universal character Doc Brown interacting with the various attractions at the Florida park.[5] Universal Studios allows guests to witness the production of television shows and motion pictures in the Florida park's soundstages in middle 1988, while the rest of the studio/park is still under construction.[6]
1989: MCA/Universal Studios claims that The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Michael Eisner copied several concepts of the Universal Studios Florida park, and integrated them into Disney's recently opened Disney/MGM Studios park.[7]
1990: On January 31, Universal Studios Florida's opening date is again delayed from May 1, 1990 to June 7, 1990.[8] Universal Studios Florida begins soft openings for the general public in late May.[9] Many of the park's attractions are not yet open at the time, and still under testing. Universal Studios Florida is officially opened with a grand opening style ceremony on June 7.[10] The park opens with five themed areas: The Front Lot (entrance area), Production Central, New York, San Francisco/Amity, Expo Center, Hollywood as well as a Lagoon located in the center of the park. The Front Lot and Production Central areas are referred to as "In Production", the New York section is referred to as "Now Shooting", the San Francisco and Amity sections are referred to as "On Location" and the Expo Center area is referred to as "The World of CineMagic Center". Nickelodeon Studios also opened on this day where there was a grand opening ceremony hosted by Marc Summers. Due to massive technical problems with the original Kongfrontation, Earthquake: The Big One and Jaws rides, Universal begins a temporary voucher service to allow guests to re-visit the studio/park when the attractions are operating.[10] Jaws is temporarily closed by Universal on September 30 due to persistent major technical problems. During the shut-down, Universal sues the original designer of the Jaws ride,[11] Ride & Show Engineering, and hires Totally Fun Company to create a re-designed version of most of the ride.
1991: Universal adds four new attractions to the park: The Blues Brothers Show, StreetBusters, The Screen Test Home Video Adventure and How to Make a Mega Movie Deal.[12] Back to the Future: The Ride officially opens in the World Expo Center area of the park, in a grand opening ceremony.[13] The ride is considered to be a success, and receives positive reception from theme park critics.[14] Fright Nights debuts at the park. In 1992, it is renamed to Halloween Horror Nights.
1993: Jaws is re-opened, with many scenes altered. MCA/Universal announces plans to expand Universal Studios Florida into the Universal City, Florida resort complex, including a second theme park and multiple hotels.[15]
1995: Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 5th anniversary. A Day in the Park with Barney opens in the World Expo area. The Production Studio Tour is closed due to a dwindle in the studios' recent Film/TV production.
1996: Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time opens in the Hollywood area.[16]
1997: Universal announces that Ghostbusters Spooktacular will be replaced by Twister...Ride it Out, with a planned opening date of Spring 1998[17] Universal Studios announces that the sole Studio park will be expanded into the Universal Studios Escape, including the Islands of Adventure park, Universal CityWalk Orlando and multiple hotels. The Islands of Adventure Preview Center opens in the New York area, replacing The Screen Test Home Video Adventure. It is meant to give guests a preview of the up-coming Islands of Adventure park, as well as expansion of the Studio park into the Universal Studios Escape resort.
1998: The expansion begins as the original open parking lot for Universal Studios Florida is demolished and replaced by CityWalk and a parking garage complex.[18] Universal delays the opening of Twister...Ride it Out from March, 1998 to May 4, 1998 out of respect for the 42 deaths caused by a recent El Nino outbreak of tornadoes in the central Florida area. Twister...Ride it Out opens in the New York area, replacing Ghostbusters Spooktacular.[19] A new area of the park, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, is officially opened, holding the attractions Curious George Goes to Town, StarToons and the previously opened Fievel's Playland, E.T. Adventure, Animal Actors Stage and A Day in the Park with Barney; CityWalk opens outside of the park.
1999: Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster opens in the Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone area. Islands of Adventure opens next door to Universal Studios Florida.[20]
2000: Men in Black: Alien Attack opens in the World Expo area, on the former site of The Swamp Thing Set. Universal Studios Florida's 10th anniversary celebration.
2001: Animal Planet Live opens, replacing Animal Actors Stage.
2002: Universal Studios Escape is renamed Universal Orlando Resort. Kongfrontation closes in a closing ceremony. Halloween Horror Nights is moved to Islands of Adventure. Macy's Holiday Parade debuts at the park.
2003: Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opens, replacing The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.[21] Shrek 4-D opens with Donkey's Photo Finish, replacing Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies and Stage 54 respectively.[22]
2004: Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride opens, replacing Kongfrontation.[23] Halloween Horror Nights takes place in both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
2005: Universal Express Plus is introduced, replacing Universal Express. Nickelodeon Studios closes after nearly 15 years. Fear Factor Live opens, replacing The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show. Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 15th anniversary.
2006: Delancey Street Preview Center opens in the New York area. Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular opens, replacing Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular. Animal Planet Live is closed, and replaced by Animal Actors on Location. Halloween Horror Nights returns to Universal Studios Florida for its "Sweet 16".
2007: Back to the Future: The Ride closes on March 30.[24] Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre opens in CityWalk, replacing Nickelodeon Studios. Earthquake: The Big One closes in the San Francisco area on November 5.
2008: Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! opens, replacing Earthquake: The Big One.[25] Universal announces Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, with a planned opening of Spring 2009. The Simpsons Ride opens, replacing Back to the Future: The Ride.[26]
2009: The Universal Music Plaza Stage opens, replacing The Boneyard. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit opens.
2010: The 20th anniversary of Universal Studios Florida in June, as well as Halloween Horror Nights in October.
2011: The 10th anniversary of Macy's Holiday Parade at the park.[27]
2012: Jaws and the surrounding Amity themed area closes, as announced on December 2, 2011.[28] Universal announces the additions of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories and Universal's Superstar Parade to the park, with openings on May 8, 2012.[29] Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, opens replacing Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast; as announced on March 14, 2011 as "...one of many exciting things planned for the next couple of years".[30] Universal Orlando Resort announced Transformers: The Ride will officially open in the summer of 2013, replacing Soundstages 44 and 54, which were demolished on June 24, 2012.[31] SpongeBob StorePants,a gift shop themed after SpongeBob SquarePants opened in Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone replacing the Universal Cartoon Store
2013: The opening date for Transformers The Ride is announced for June 20, 2013. Details of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion are officially announced. Details for the new Simpsons Land are announced and expected to open in the summer of 2013. Transformers: The Ride officially opens in the Production Central area replacing Soundstage 44. Simpsons Fast Food Boulevard (renamed Springfield U.S.A.) concludes its expansion as it includes one new ride: Kang and Kodos Twirl 'n' Hurl.
2014: The opening date for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley is announced for July 8, 2014 amid the Diagon Alley preview red carpet premiere on June 18, 2014 with Domhnall Gleeson, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, James and Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis and Helena Bonham Carter attending the premiere. King's Cross station opens on July 1, 2014 as well as the Hogwarts Express Hogsmeade station at Universal's Islands of Adventure, connecting park visitors to both theme Harry Potter theme parks via a full scale replica of the train that appears in the Harry Potter film series. Diagon Alley officially opens, replacing Jaws and the Amity section of the park.
Previous attractions[edit]
Main article: List of former Universal Studios Florida attractions
The previous icon of the Jaws ride is still a popular photo spot.
Like all theme parks, attractions are sometimes closed due to aging and replaced with more contemporary attractions. Universal has seen this happen several times. Some notable closures include Kongfrontation, Back to the Future: The Ride, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera and Jaws. The closures of Kongfrontation, Back to the Future, and Jaws have been given homages by the park to honor veteran visitors who revered the former rides.
Park design[edit]
Main article: List of Universal Studios Florida attractions
Universal Studios Florida features seven themed areas all situated around a large lagoon. In 2012, this lagoon was the site of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories, a thematic display that showcased scenes from various Universal films, featuring lasers, projectors and fountains, and pyrotechnics.
The seven surrounding themed areas, clockwise from the entrance, are Production Central, New York, San Francisco, London/Diagon Alley, World Expo, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone and Hollywood. Each area features a combination of rides, shows, attractions, character appearances, dining outlets and merchandise stores. A new area, based on Harry Potter's Diagon Alley was added to the park in the July of 2014.
Production Central[edit]
Ride
Year opened
Manufacturer
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem 2012 Intamin
Shrek 4-D 2003 PDI/DreamWorks
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit 2009 Maurer Söhne
Transformers: The Ride 3D 2013 Oceaneering International
The Universal Music Plaza Stage 2009
The area is also home to a variety of dining outlets and merchandise shops. Food and beverage items can be purchased from Beverly Hills Boulangerie or Universal Studios' Classic Monsters Cafe while merchandise can be bought from a variety of themed stores including Universal Studios Store, Studio Sweets, It's a Wrap!, Super Silly Stuff, Shrek's Ye Olde Souvenir Shoppe, and Transformers: Supply Vault.[32][33]
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Opened on June 7, 1990, the park's theme is the entertainment industry, in particular movies and television. Universal Studios Florida inspires its guests to "ride the movies", and it features numerous attractions and live shows. The park is one component of the larger Universal Orlando Resort.
In 2013, the park hosted an estimated 7.06 million guests, ranking it the eighth-most visited theme park in the United States, and ranking it sixteenth worldwide.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 History 1.1 Park history
1.2 Branding
1.3 Timeline
1.4 Previous attractions
2 Park design 2.1 Production Central
2.2 New York
2.3 San Francisco
2.4 London/Diagon Alley
2.5 World Expo
2.6 Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone
2.7 Hollywood
3 Character appearances
4 Production facilities
5 Annual events 5.1 Grad Bash and Gradventure
5.2 Halloween Horror Nights
5.3 Macy's Holiday Parade
5.4 Mardi Gras
5.5 Rock the Universe
5.6 Summer Concert Series
6 Universal's Express Pass
7 Attendance
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
History[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)
The original entrance to the theme park.
Over the years, Universal Studios Florida has not limited itself to attractions based on its own vast film library. It has occasionally licensed popular characters from other rival studios, many of whom did not operate theme parks themselves. Some examples include Ghostbusters and Men in Black, (Sony's Columbia Pictures), The Simpsons (20th Century Fox) and Shrek (DreamWorks Animation).
Many of the park's past and present attractions were developed with the actual creators of the films they were based on, and feature the original stars as part of the experience. Steven Spielberg helped create E.T. Adventure and was a creative consultant for Back to the Future: The Ride, Twister...Ride it Out, An American Tail Theatre, Jaws, Men in Black: Alien Attack and Transformers: The Ride.
In many current rides, the original stars reprised their film roles including: Rip Torn and Will Smith in Men in Black: Alien Attack, Brendan Fraser for Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister...Ride it Out, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong and Linda Hamilton reprised their roles for Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow for Shrek 4D, Steve Carell, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher reprised their roles from Despicable Me for Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, and Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprised their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron for Transformers: The Ride.
In many former rides, the many original stars were also to reprise their film roles such as: Christopher Lloyd and Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future: The Ride, Roy Scheider recorded a voice over for the conclusion of Jaws, Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins appeared in Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, additionally, various Nicktoon voice actors reprised their roles in Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast.
Park history[edit]
From its inception in 1982,[3] Universal Studios Florida was designed as a theme park and a working studio. It was also the first time that Universal Studios had constructed an amusement park "from the ground up." However, the proposed project was put on hold until 1986, when a meeting between Steven Spielberg, a co-founder for the park, and Peter N. Alexander prompted for the creation of a Back to the Future simulator ride in addition to the already planned King Kong based ride.[4]
A major component of the original park in Hollywood is its studio tour, which featured several special-effects exhibits and encounters built into the tour, such as an attack by the great white shark from the film Jaws. For its Florida park, Universal Studios took the concepts of the Hollywood tour scenes and developed them into larger, stand-alone attractions. As an example, in Hollywood, the studio tour trams travel close to a shoreline and are "attacked" by Jaws before they travel to the next part of the tour. In Florida, guests entered the "Jaws" attraction and would board a boat touring the fictitious Amity Harbor, where they encountered the shark, then exited back into the park at the conclusion of the attraction. Universal Studios Florida originally had a Studio Tour attraction that visited the production facilities, but that tour has since been discontinued.
Branding[edit]
Previous slogans for Universal Studios Florida were: See the Stars. Ride the Movies. (1990 - 1998); No one makes believe like we do! (1990 - 1998); Ride the Movies (1998 - 2008); Jump into the Action (2008–2012). The current slogan is: Experience the Movies (2012–present).
Timeline[edit]
1986: Land clearing takes place on the swamp land purchased by MCA/Universal that would hold the park.
1987: Universal Studios Florida is announced at a press conference on the Hollywood property, with a planned opening date of December 1989.
1988: Universal Studios Florida's opening date is delayed from December, 1989 to May 1, 1990. Shortly following, MCA/Universal releases a video detailing the future park, which stars Christopher Lloyd as the Universal character Doc Brown interacting with the various attractions at the Florida park.[5] Universal Studios allows guests to witness the production of television shows and motion pictures in the Florida park's soundstages in middle 1988, while the rest of the studio/park is still under construction.[6]
1989: MCA/Universal Studios claims that The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Michael Eisner copied several concepts of the Universal Studios Florida park, and integrated them into Disney's recently opened Disney/MGM Studios park.[7]
1990: On January 31, Universal Studios Florida's opening date is again delayed from May 1, 1990 to June 7, 1990.[8] Universal Studios Florida begins soft openings for the general public in late May.[9] Many of the park's attractions are not yet open at the time, and still under testing. Universal Studios Florida is officially opened with a grand opening style ceremony on June 7.[10] The park opens with five themed areas: The Front Lot (entrance area), Production Central, New York, San Francisco/Amity, Expo Center, Hollywood as well as a Lagoon located in the center of the park. The Front Lot and Production Central areas are referred to as "In Production", the New York section is referred to as "Now Shooting", the San Francisco and Amity sections are referred to as "On Location" and the Expo Center area is referred to as "The World of CineMagic Center". Nickelodeon Studios also opened on this day where there was a grand opening ceremony hosted by Marc Summers. Due to massive technical problems with the original Kongfrontation, Earthquake: The Big One and Jaws rides, Universal begins a temporary voucher service to allow guests to re-visit the studio/park when the attractions are operating.[10] Jaws is temporarily closed by Universal on September 30 due to persistent major technical problems. During the shut-down, Universal sues the original designer of the Jaws ride,[11] Ride & Show Engineering, and hires Totally Fun Company to create a re-designed version of most of the ride.
1991: Universal adds four new attractions to the park: The Blues Brothers Show, StreetBusters, The Screen Test Home Video Adventure and How to Make a Mega Movie Deal.[12] Back to the Future: The Ride officially opens in the World Expo Center area of the park, in a grand opening ceremony.[13] The ride is considered to be a success, and receives positive reception from theme park critics.[14] Fright Nights debuts at the park. In 1992, it is renamed to Halloween Horror Nights.
1993: Jaws is re-opened, with many scenes altered. MCA/Universal announces plans to expand Universal Studios Florida into the Universal City, Florida resort complex, including a second theme park and multiple hotels.[15]
1995: Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 5th anniversary. A Day in the Park with Barney opens in the World Expo area. The Production Studio Tour is closed due to a dwindle in the studios' recent Film/TV production.
1996: Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time opens in the Hollywood area.[16]
1997: Universal announces that Ghostbusters Spooktacular will be replaced by Twister...Ride it Out, with a planned opening date of Spring 1998[17] Universal Studios announces that the sole Studio park will be expanded into the Universal Studios Escape, including the Islands of Adventure park, Universal CityWalk Orlando and multiple hotels. The Islands of Adventure Preview Center opens in the New York area, replacing The Screen Test Home Video Adventure. It is meant to give guests a preview of the up-coming Islands of Adventure park, as well as expansion of the Studio park into the Universal Studios Escape resort.
1998: The expansion begins as the original open parking lot for Universal Studios Florida is demolished and replaced by CityWalk and a parking garage complex.[18] Universal delays the opening of Twister...Ride it Out from March, 1998 to May 4, 1998 out of respect for the 42 deaths caused by a recent El Nino outbreak of tornadoes in the central Florida area. Twister...Ride it Out opens in the New York area, replacing Ghostbusters Spooktacular.[19] A new area of the park, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, is officially opened, holding the attractions Curious George Goes to Town, StarToons and the previously opened Fievel's Playland, E.T. Adventure, Animal Actors Stage and A Day in the Park with Barney; CityWalk opens outside of the park.
1999: Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster opens in the Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone area. Islands of Adventure opens next door to Universal Studios Florida.[20]
2000: Men in Black: Alien Attack opens in the World Expo area, on the former site of The Swamp Thing Set. Universal Studios Florida's 10th anniversary celebration.
2001: Animal Planet Live opens, replacing Animal Actors Stage.
2002: Universal Studios Escape is renamed Universal Orlando Resort. Kongfrontation closes in a closing ceremony. Halloween Horror Nights is moved to Islands of Adventure. Macy's Holiday Parade debuts at the park.
2003: Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opens, replacing The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.[21] Shrek 4-D opens with Donkey's Photo Finish, replacing Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies and Stage 54 respectively.[22]
2004: Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride opens, replacing Kongfrontation.[23] Halloween Horror Nights takes place in both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
2005: Universal Express Plus is introduced, replacing Universal Express. Nickelodeon Studios closes after nearly 15 years. Fear Factor Live opens, replacing The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show. Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 15th anniversary.
2006: Delancey Street Preview Center opens in the New York area. Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular opens, replacing Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular. Animal Planet Live is closed, and replaced by Animal Actors on Location. Halloween Horror Nights returns to Universal Studios Florida for its "Sweet 16".
2007: Back to the Future: The Ride closes on March 30.[24] Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre opens in CityWalk, replacing Nickelodeon Studios. Earthquake: The Big One closes in the San Francisco area on November 5.
2008: Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! opens, replacing Earthquake: The Big One.[25] Universal announces Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, with a planned opening of Spring 2009. The Simpsons Ride opens, replacing Back to the Future: The Ride.[26]
2009: The Universal Music Plaza Stage opens, replacing The Boneyard. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit opens.
2010: The 20th anniversary of Universal Studios Florida in June, as well as Halloween Horror Nights in October.
2011: The 10th anniversary of Macy's Holiday Parade at the park.[27]
2012: Jaws and the surrounding Amity themed area closes, as announced on December 2, 2011.[28] Universal announces the additions of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories and Universal's Superstar Parade to the park, with openings on May 8, 2012.[29] Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, opens replacing Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast; as announced on March 14, 2011 as "...one of many exciting things planned for the next couple of years".[30] Universal Orlando Resort announced Transformers: The Ride will officially open in the summer of 2013, replacing Soundstages 44 and 54, which were demolished on June 24, 2012.[31] SpongeBob StorePants,a gift shop themed after SpongeBob SquarePants opened in Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone replacing the Universal Cartoon Store
2013: The opening date for Transformers The Ride is announced for June 20, 2013. Details of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion are officially announced. Details for the new Simpsons Land are announced and expected to open in the summer of 2013. Transformers: The Ride officially opens in the Production Central area replacing Soundstage 44. Simpsons Fast Food Boulevard (renamed Springfield U.S.A.) concludes its expansion as it includes one new ride: Kang and Kodos Twirl 'n' Hurl.
2014: The opening date for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley is announced for July 8, 2014 amid the Diagon Alley preview red carpet premiere on June 18, 2014 with Domhnall Gleeson, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, James and Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis and Helena Bonham Carter attending the premiere. King's Cross station opens on July 1, 2014 as well as the Hogwarts Express Hogsmeade station at Universal's Islands of Adventure, connecting park visitors to both theme Harry Potter theme parks via a full scale replica of the train that appears in the Harry Potter film series. Diagon Alley officially opens, replacing Jaws and the Amity section of the park.
Previous attractions[edit]
Main article: List of former Universal Studios Florida attractions
The previous icon of the Jaws ride is still a popular photo spot.
Like all theme parks, attractions are sometimes closed due to aging and replaced with more contemporary attractions. Universal has seen this happen several times. Some notable closures include Kongfrontation, Back to the Future: The Ride, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera and Jaws. The closures of Kongfrontation, Back to the Future, and Jaws have been given homages by the park to honor veteran visitors who revered the former rides.
Park design[edit]
Main article: List of Universal Studios Florida attractions
Universal Studios Florida features seven themed areas all situated around a large lagoon. In 2012, this lagoon was the site of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories, a thematic display that showcased scenes from various Universal films, featuring lasers, projectors and fountains, and pyrotechnics.
The seven surrounding themed areas, clockwise from the entrance, are Production Central, New York, San Francisco, London/Diagon Alley, World Expo, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone and Hollywood. Each area features a combination of rides, shows, attractions, character appearances, dining outlets and merchandise stores. A new area, based on Harry Potter's Diagon Alley was added to the park in the July of 2014.
Production Central[edit]
Ride
Year opened
Manufacturer
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem 2012 Intamin
Shrek 4-D 2003 PDI/DreamWorks
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit 2009 Maurer Söhne
Transformers: The Ride 3D 2013 Oceaneering International
The Universal Music Plaza Stage 2009
The area is also home to a variety of dining outlets and merchandise shops. Food and beverage items can be purchased from Beverly Hills Boulangerie or Universal Studios' Classic Monsters Cafe while merchandise can be bought from a variety of themed stores including Universal Studios Store, Studio Sweets, It's a Wrap!, Super Silly Stuff, Shrek's Ye Olde Souvenir Shoppe, and Transformers: Supply Vault.[32][33]
Man started worshiping Nature and its components when he was still a hunter gatherer. Elephant is the largest terrestrial animal and thus man needs his blessings to live in forest.
Later came Ganesa, the elephant headed God, and developed stories, myths and beliefs linking elephant and Ganesa. Elephant is intelligent and can be easily tamed, thus man took him while coming out of forest.
Here elephant blesses my father at Sringeri, in front of Saradamba temple, of course for a small payment.
People in Kerala spend huge amount of money for displaying elephants in temple festivities. People in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka simply keep an elephant in front of temple and make money from visitors.
Presentación Final del Proyecto en la Comuna 8 Medellin: Intergrando Comuna 8 Octavo Semestre/Taller9 UNAL Facultad de Arquitectura
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Panther tank, officially Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 171, was a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to the end of the war. The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 medium tank and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. It is considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower, protection, and mobility although its reliability in early times were less impressive.
The Panther was a compromise. While having essentially the same Maybach V12 petrol (700 hp) engine as the Tiger I, it had better gun penetration, was lighter and faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tiger I. The trade-off was weaker side armor, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long-range engagements.
The Panther was far cheaper to produce than the heavy Tiger I. Key elements of the Panther design, such as its armor, transmission, and final drive, were simplifications made to improve production rates and address raw material shortages. Despite this the overall design remain described by some as "overengineered". The Panther was rushed into combat at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 despite numerous unresolved technical problems, leading to high losses due to mechanical failure. Most design flaws were rectified by late 1943 and early 1944, though the bombing of production plants, increasing shortages of high-quality alloys for critical components, shortage of fuel and training space, and the declining quality of crews all impacted the tank's effectiveness.
Though officially classified as a medium tank, at 44.8 metric tons the Panther was closer to a heavy tank weight and the same category as the American M26 Pershing (41.7 tons), British Churchill (40.7 tons) and the Soviet IS-2 (46 tons) heavy tanks. The Panther's weight caused logistical problems, such as an inability to cross certain bridges, otherwise the tank had a very high power-to-weight ratio which made it highly mobile.
The Panther was only used marginally outside of Germany, mostly captured or recovered vehicles, some even after the war. Japan already received in 1943 a specimen for evaluation. During March–April 1945, Bulgaria received 15 Panthers of various makes (D, A, and G variants) from captured and overhauled Soviet stocks; they only saw limited (training) service use. In May 1946, Romania received 13 Panther tanks from the USSR, too.
After the war, France was able to recover enough operable vehicles and components to equip its army and offer vehicles for sale. The French Army's 503e Régiment de Chars de Combat was equipped with a force of 50 Panthers from 1944 to 1947, in the 501st and 503rd Tank Regiments. These remained in service until they were replaced by French-built ARL 44 heavy tanks.
In 1946, Sweden sent a delegation to France to examine surviving specimens of German military vehicles. During their visit, the delegates found a few surviving Panthers and had one shipped to Sweden for further testing and evaluation, which continued until 1961.
However, this was not the Panther’s end of service. The last appearance by WWII German tanks on the world’s battlefields came in 1967, when Syria’s panzer force faced off against modern Israeli armor. Quite improbably, Syria had assembled a surprisingly wide collection of ex-Wehrmacht vehicles from a half-dozen sources over a decade and a half timeframe. This fleet consisted primarily of late production Panzer V, StuGIII and Jagdpanzer IVs, plus some Hummel SPAAGs and a handful Panthers. The tanks were procured from France, Spain, and Czechoslovakia, partly revamped before delivery.
All of the Panthers Syria came from Czechoslovakia. Immediately after Germany’s collapse in May 1945, the Soviet army established a staging area for surrendered German tanks at a former Wehrmacht barracks at Milovice, about 24 miles north of Prague, Czechoslovakia. By January 1946, a total of roughly 200 operational Panzer IVs and Panthers of varying versions were at this facility. Joining them was a huge cache of spare parts found at a former German tank repair depot in Teplice, along with ammunition collected from all over Czechoslovakia and the southern extremity of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. Throughout 1946, the Czechoslovak government’s clean-up of WWII battlefields recovered more than one hundred further tank wrecks, of which 80 were pieced back together to operational status and handed over to the Czechoslovakian Army,
In early 1948, the now-nationalized CKD Works began a limited upkeep of the tanks, many of which had not had depot-level overhauls since the war. A few were rebuilt with a Czechoslovak-designed steering system, but this effort was halted due to cost. These tanks remained operational in the Czechoslovak army until the end of 1954, when sufficient T-34s were available to phase them out.
A Syrian military delegation visited Prague from 8 April – 22 April 1955. An agreement was struck for the sale, amongst other items, of 45 Panzer IVs and 15 Panthers. Despite their obsolescence the Czechoslovaks were not about to just give the tanks away and demanded payment in a ‘hard’ western currency, namely British pounds. The cost was £4,500 each (£86,000 or $112,850 in 2016 money), far above what they were probably worth militarily, especially considering the limited amount of foreign currency reserves available to the Damascus government. The deal included refurbishment, a full ammunition loadout for each, and a limited number of spare parts. Nonetheless, the deal was closed, and the tanks’ delivery started in early November 1955.
The Syrians were by that time already having dire problems keeping their French-sourced panzers operational, and in 1958, a second contract was signed with CKD Works for 15 additional Panzer IVs and 10 more Panthers, these being in lesser condition or non-operational, for use as spare parts hulks. An additional 16 refurbished Maybach engines for both types were also included in this contract, as well as more ammunition.
The refurbished Panthers for Syria had their original 7.5 cm KwK 42 L70 replaced with the less powerful Rheinmetall 7.5 cm KwK 40 L48 gun – dictated by the fact that this gun was already installed in almost all other Syrian tanks of German origin and rounds for the KwK 42 L70 were not available anymore. and the Panther’s full ammo load was 87 rounds. The KwK 40 L48 fired a standard APCBC shell at 750 m/s and could penetrate 109 mm (4.3 in) hardened steel at 1.000 m range. This was enough to take out an M4 Sherman at this range from any angle under ideal circumstances. With an APCR shell the gun was even able to penetrate 130 mm (5.1 in) of hardened steel at the same distance.
Outwardly, the gun switch was only recognizable through the shorter barrel with a muzzle brake, the German WWII-era TZF.5f gunsight was retained by the Syrians. Additionally, there were two secondary machine guns, either MG-34s or MG-42s, one coaxial with the main gun and a flexible one in a ball mount in the tank’s front glacis plate.
A few incomplete Panther hulls without turret were also outfitted with surplus Panzer IV turrets that carried the same weapon, but the exact share of them among the Syrian tanks is unknown – most probably less than five, and they were among the batch delivered in the course of the second contract from 1958.
As they had been lumped all together in Czechoslovak army service, the Syrians received a mixed bag of Panzer IV and Panther versions, many of them “half-breeds” or “Frankensteins”. Many had the bow machine gun removed, either already upon delivery or as a later field modification, and in some cases the machine gun in the turret was omitted as well.
An obvious modification of the refurbished Czech export Panthers for Syria was the installation of new, lighter road wheels. These were in fact adapted T-54 wheels from Czechoslovakian license production that had just started in 1957 - instead of revamping the Panthers’ original solid steel wheels, especially their rubberized tread surfaces, it was easier to replace them altogether, what also made spare parts logistics easier. The new wheels had almost the same diameter as the original German road wheels from WWII, and they were simply adapted to the Panther’s attachment points of the torsion bar suspension’s swing arms. Together with the lighter main gun and some other simplifications, the Syrian Panthers’ empty weight was reduced by more than 3 tonnes.
The Czechoslovaks furthermore delivered an adapter kit to mount a Soviet-made AA DShK 12.7mm machine gun to the commander cupola. This AA mount had originally been developed after WWII for the T-34 tank, and these kits were fitted to all initial tanks of the 1955 order. Enough were delivered that some could be installed on a few of the Spanish- / French-sourced tanks, too.
It doesn’t appear that the Czechoslovaks updated the radio fit on any of the ex-German tanks, and it’s unclear if the Syrians installed modern Soviet radios. The WWII German Fu 5 radio required a dedicated operator (who also manned the bow machine gun); if a more modern system was installed not requiring a dedicated operator, this crew position could be eliminated altogether, what favored the deletion of the bow machine gun on many ex-German Syrian tanks. However, due to their more spacious hull and turret, many Panthers were apparently outfitted with a second radio set and used as command tanks – visible through a second whip antenna on the hull.
A frequent domestic Panther upgrade were side skirts to suppress dust clouds while moving and to prevent dust ingestion into the engines and clogged dust filters. There was no standardized solution, though, and solutions ranged from simple makeshift rubber skirts bolted to the tanks’ flanks to wholesale transplants from other vehicles, primarily Soviet tanks. Some Panthers also had external auxiliary fuel tanks added to their rear, in the form of two 200 l barrels on metal racks of Soviet origin. These barrels were not directly connected with the Panther’s fuel system, though, but a pump-and-hose kit was available to re-fuel the internal tanks from this on-board source in the field. When empty or in an emergency - the barrels were placed on top of the engine bay and leaking fuel quite hazardous - the barrels/tanks could be jettisoned by the crew from the inside.
Inclusive of the cannibalization hulks, Syria received a total of roughly 80 former German tanks from Czechoslovakia. However, at no time were all simultaneously operational and by 1960, usually only two or three dozen were combat-ready.
Before the Six Day War, the Syrian army was surprisingly unorganized, considering the amount of money being pumped into it. There was no unit larger than a brigade, and the whole Syrian army had a sort of “hub & spokes” system originating in Damascus, with every individual formation answering directly to the GHQ rather than a chain of command. The Panthers, Panzer IVs and StuG IIIs were in three independent tank battalions, grossly understrength, supporting the normal tank battalions of three infantry brigades (the 8th, 11th, and 19th) in the Golan Heights. The Jagdpanzer IVs were in a separate independent platoon attached to a tank battalion operating T-34s and SU-100s. How the Hummel SPGs were assigned is unknown.
The first active participation of ex-German tanks in Syrian service was the so-called “Water War”. This was not really a war but rather a series of skirmishes between Israel and Syria during the mid-1960s. With increasing frequency starting in 1964, Syria emplaced tanks on the western slope of the Golan Heights, almost directly on the border, to fire down on Israeli irrigation workers and farmers in the Galilee region. Surprisingly (considering the small number available) Syria chose the Panzer IV for this task. It had no feature making it better or worse than any other tank; most likely the Syrians felt they were the most expendable tanks in their inventory as Israeli counterfire was expected. The panzers were in defilade (dug in) and not easy to shoot back at; due to their altitude advantage.
In 1964, Syria announced plans to divert 35% of the Jordan River’s flow away from Israel, to deprive the country of drinking water. The Israelis responded that they would consider this an act of war and, true to their word, engaged the project’s workers with artillery and sniper fire. Things escalated quickly; in 1965, Israeli M4 Shermans on Israeli soil exchanged fire with the Syrian Panzer IVs above inconclusively. A United Nations peacekeeping team ordered both sides to disengage from the border for a set period of time to “cool off”, but the UN “Blue Berets” were detested and considered useless by both the Israelis and Syrians, and both sides used the lull to prepare their next move. When the cooling-off period ended, the Syrians moved Panzer IVs and now some Panthers, too, back into position. However, the IDF had now Centurion tanks waiting for them, with their fire arcs pre-planned out. The Cold War-era Centurion had heavy armor, a high-velocity 105mm gun, and modern British-made optics. It outclassed the WWII panzers in any imaginable way and almost immediately, two Syrian Panzer IVs and a Panther were destroyed. Others were abandoned by their crews and that was the end of the situation.
Syria’s participation in the Six Say War that soon followed in 1967 war was sloppy and ultimately disastrous. Israel initially intended the conflict to be limited to a preemptive strike against Egypt to forestall an imminent attack by that country, with the possibility of having to fight Syria and Jordan defensively if they responded to the operations against Egypt. The war against Egypt started on 5 June 1967. Because of the poor organization of the Syrian army, news passed down from Damascus on the fighting in the Sinai was scarce and usually outdated by the time it reached the brigade level. Many Syrian units (including the GHQ) were using civilian shortwave radios to monitor Radio Cairo which was spouting off outlandish claims of imaginary Egyptian victories, even as Israeli divisions were steamrolling towards the Suez Canal.
Syrian vehicles of German origin during the Six Day War were either painted overall in beige or in a dark olive drab green. Almost all had, instead of tactical number codes, the name of a Syrian soldier killed in a previous war painted on the turret in white. During the Six Day War, no national roundel was typically carried, even though the Syrian flag was sometimes painted to the turret flanks. However just as the conflict was starting, white circles were often painted onto the top sides of tanks as quick ID markings for aircraft, and some tanks had red recognition triangles added to the side areas: Syrian soldiers were notoriously trigger-happy, and the decreased camouflage effect was likely cancelled out by the reduced odds of being blasted by a comrade!
During the evening of 5 June, Syrian generals in Damascus urged the government to take advantage of the situation and mount an immediate invasion of Israel. Planning and preparation were literally limited to a few hours after midnight, and shortly after daybreak on 6 June, Syrian commanders woke up with orders to invade Israel. The three infantry brigades in the Golan, backed up by several independent battalions, were to spearhead the attack as the rest of the Syrian army mobilized.
There was no cohesion at all: Separate battalions began their advance whenever they happened to be ready to go, and brigades went forward, missing subunits that lagged behind. A platoon attempting a southern outflank maneuver tried to ford the Jordan River in the wrong spot and was washed away. According to a KGB report, at least one Syrian unit “exhibited cowardice” and ignored its orders altogether.
On 7 June, 24 hours into their attack, Syrian forces had only advanced 2 miles into Israel. On 8 June, the IDF pushed the Syrians back to the prewar border and that afternoon, Israeli units eliminated the last Egyptian forces in the Sinai and began a fast redeployment of units back into Israel. Now the Syrians were facing serious problems.
On 9 June, Israeli forces crossed into the Golan Heights. They came by the route the Syrians least expected, an arc hugging the Lebanese border. Now for the first time, Syria’s panzers (considered too slow and fragile for the attack) were encountered. The next day, 10 June 1967, was an absolute rout as the Syrians were being attacked from behind by IDF units arcing southwards from the initial advance, plus Israel’s second wave coming from the west. It was later estimated that Syria lost between 20-25% of its total military vehicle inventory in a 15-hour span on 10 June, including eight Panthers. A ceasefire was announced at midnight, ending Syria’s misadventure. Syria permanently lost the Golan Heights to Israel.
By best estimate, Syria had just five Panthers and twenty-five Panzer IVs fully operational on 6 June 1967, with maybe another ten or so tanks partially operational or at least functional enough to take into combat. Most – if not all – of the ex-French tanks were probably already out of service by 1967, conversely the entire ex-Spanish lot was in use, along with some of the ex-Czechoslovak vehicles. The conflict’s last kill was on 10 June 1967 when a Panzer IV was destroyed by an Israeli M50 Super Sherman (an M4 Sherman hull fitted with a new American engine, and a modified turret housing Israeli electronics and a high-velocity French-made 75mm gun firing HEAT rounds). Like the Centurion, the Super Sherman outclassed the Panzer IV, and the Panther only fared marginally better.
Between 1964-1973 the USSR rebuilt the entire Syrian military from the ground up, reorganizing it along Warsaw Pact lines and equipping it with gear strictly of Soviet origin. There was no place for ex-Wehrmacht tanks and in any case, Czechoslovakia had ended spares & ammo support for the Panzer IV and the Panthers, so the types had no future. The surviving tanks were scrapped in Syria, except for a single Panzer IV survivor sold to a collector in Jordan.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio operator)
Weight: 50 tonnes (55.1 long tons; 45.5 short tons)
Length: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in) hull only
7.52 m (24 ft 7¾ in) overall with gun facing forward
Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in) hull only
3,70 m (12 ft 1¾ in) with retrofitted side skirts
Height: 2.99 m (9 ft 10 in)’
Ground clearance: 56 cm (22 in)
Suspension: Double torsion bar, interleaved road wheels
Fuel capacity: 720 liters (160 imp gal; 190 US gal),
some Syrian Panthers carried two additional external 200 l fuel drums
Armor:
15–80 mm (0.6 – 3.93 in)
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 56 km/h (35 mph)
Operational range: 250 km (160 mi) on roads; 450 km (280 mi)with auxiliary fuel tanks
100 km (62 mi) cross-country
Power/weight: 14 PS (10.1 kW)/tonne (12.7 hp/ton)
Engine & transmission:
Maybach HL230 V-12 gasoline engine with 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)
ZF AK 7-200 gearbox with 7 forward 1 reverse gear
Armament:
1× 7,5 cm KwK 40 (L/48) with 87 rounds
2× 7.92 mm MG 34 or 42, or similar machine guns;
one co-axial with the main gun, another in the front glacis plate
with a total of 5.100 rounds (not always mounted)
Provision for a 12.7 mm DShK or Breda anti-aircraft machine gun on the commander cupola
The kit and its assembly:
A rather exotic what-if model, even though it’s almost built OOB. Inspiration came when I stumbled upon the weird Syrian Panzer IVs that were operated against Israel during the Six Day War – vehicles you would not expect there, and after more than 20 years after WWII. But when I did some more research, I was surprised about the numbers and the variety of former German tanks that Syria had gathered from various European countries, and it made me wonder if the Panther could not have been among this shaggy fleet, too?
I had a surplus Dragon Panther Spähpanzer in The Stash™, to be correct a “PzBeobWg V Ausf. G”, an observation and artillery fire guidance conversion that actually existed in small numbers, and I decided to use it as basis for this odd project. The Dragon kit has some peculiarities, though: its hull is made from primed white metal and consists of an upper and lower half that are held together by small screws! An ambiguous design, because the parts do not fit as good as IP parts, so that the model has a slightly die-cast-ish aura. PSR is necessary at the seams, but due to the metal it’s not easy to do. Furthermore, you have to use superglue everywhere, just as on a resin kit. On the other side, surface details are finely molded and crisp, even though many bits have to be added manually. However, the molded metal pins that hold the wheels are very robust and relatively thin – a feature I exploited for a modified running gear (see below).
For the modified Panther in my mind I had to retrograde the turret back to a late standard turret with mantlet parts left over from a Hasegawa kit – they fitted perfectly! The PzBeobWg V only comes with a stubby gun barrel dummy. But I changed the armament, anyway, and implanted an aftermarket white metal and brass KwK 40 L48, the weapon carried by all Syrian Panzer IVs, the Jagdpanzer IVs as well as the StuG IIIs. This standardization would IMHO make sense, even if it meant a performance downgrade from the original, longer KwK 42 L70.
For a Syrian touch, inspired by installations on the Panzer IVs, I added a mount for a heavy DShK machine gun on the commander’s cupola, which is a resin aftermarket kit from Armory Models Group (a kit that consists of no less than five fiddly parts for just a tiny machine gun!).
To change and modernize the Panther’s look further, I gave it side skirts, leftover from a ModelCollect T-72 kit, which had to be modified only slightly to fit onto the molded side skirt consoles on the Panther’s metal hull. A further late addition were the fuel barrels from a Trumpeter T-54 kit that I stumbled upon when I looked for the skirts among my pile of tank donor parts. Even though they look like foreign matter on the Panther’s tail, their high position is plausible and similar to the original arrangement on many Soviet post-WWII tanks. The whip antennae on turret and hull were created with heated black sprue material.
As a modern feature and to change the Panther’s overall look even more, I replaced its original solid “dish” road wheels with T-54/55 “starfish” wheels, which were frequently retrofitted to T-34-85s during the Fifties. These very fine aftermarket resin parts (all real-world openings are actually open, and there’s only little flash!) came from OKB Grigorovich from Bulgaria. The selling point behind this idea is/was that the Panther and T-54/55 wheels have almost the same diameter: in real life it’s 860 vs. 830 mm, so that the difference in 1:72 is negligible. Beneficially, the aftermarket wheels came in two halves, and these were thin enough to replace the Panther’s interleaved wheels without major depth problems.
Adapting the parts to the totally different wheel arrangement was tricky, though, especially due to the Dragon kit’s one-piece white metal chassis that makes any mods difficult. My solution: I retained the inner solid wheels from the Panther (since they are hardly visible in the “3rd row”), plus four pairs of T-54/55 wheels for the outer, more rows of interleaved wheels. The “inner” T-54/55 wheel halves were turned around, received holes to fit onto the metal suspension pins and scratched hub covers. The “outside” halves were taken as is but received 2 mm spacer sleeves on their back sides (styrene tube) for proper depth and simply to improve their hold on the small and rounded metal pin tips. This stunt worked better than expected and looks really good, too!
Painting and markings:
Basically very simple, and I used pictures of real Syrian Panzer IVs as benchmark. I settled for the common green livery variant, and though simple and uniform, I tried to add some “excitement” to it and attempted to make old paint shine through. The hull’s lower surface areas were first primed with RAL 7008 (Khakigrau, a rather brownish tone), then the upper surfaces were sprayed with a lighter sand brown tone, both applied from rattle cans.
On top of that, a streaky mix of Revell 45 and 46 – a guesstimate for the typical Syrian greyish, rather pale olive drab tone - was thinly applied with a soft, flat brush, so that the brownish tones underneath would shine through occasionally. Once dry, the layered/weathered effect was further emphasized through careful vertical wet-sanding and rubbing on all surfaces with a soft cotton cloth.
The rubber side skirts were painted with an anthracite base and the dry-brushed with light grey and beige.
The model then received an overall washing with a highly thinned mix of grey and dark brown acrylic artist paint. The vinyl tracks (as well as the IP spare track links on the hull) were painted, too, with a mix of grey, red brown and iron, all acrylic paints, too, that do not interact chemically with the soft vinyl.
The decals/markings are minimal; the Arabian scribble on the turret (must be a name?), using the picture of a Syrian Panzer IV as benchmark, was painted in white by hand, as well as the white circle on the turret roof. The orange ID triangles are a nice contrast, even though I was not able to come up with real-life visual evidence for them. I just found a color picture of a burned T-34-85 wreck with them, suggesting that the color was a dull orange red and not florescent orange, as claimed in some sources. I also found illustrations of the triangles as part of 1:35 decal sets for contemporary Syrian T-34-85s from FC Model Trend and Star Models, where they appear light red. For the model, they were eventually cut out from decal sheet material (TL-Modellbau, in a shade called “Rotorange”, what appears to be a good compromise).
Dry-brushing with light grey and beige to further emphasize edges and details followed. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic vanish overall, and some additional very light extra dry-brushing with silver was done to simulate flaked paint. Dirt and rust residues were added here and there with watercolors. After final assembly, the lower areas of the model were furthermore powdered with mineral pigments to simulate dust.
The idea of a modernized WWII Panther: a simple idea that turned into a major conversion. With the resin DShK machine gun and T-54/55 wheel set the costs of this project escalated a little, but in hindsight I find that the different look and the mix of vintage German and modern Soviet elements provide this Panther with that odd touch that sets it apart from a simple paint/marking variation? I really like the outcome, and I think that the effort was worthwhile - this fictional Panther shoehorns well into its intended historical framework. :-D
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Opened on June 7, 1990, the park's theme is the entertainment industry, in particular movies and television. Universal Studios Florida inspires its guests to "ride the movies", and it features numerous attractions and live shows. The park is one component of the larger Universal Orlando Resort.
In 2013, the park hosted an estimated 7.06 million guests, ranking it the eighth-most visited theme park in the United States, and ranking it sixteenth worldwide.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 History 1.1 Park history
1.2 Branding
1.3 Timeline
1.4 Previous attractions
2 Park design 2.1 Production Central
2.2 New York
2.3 San Francisco
2.4 London/Diagon Alley
2.5 World Expo
2.6 Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone
2.7 Hollywood
3 Character appearances
4 Production facilities
5 Annual events 5.1 Grad Bash and Gradventure
5.2 Halloween Horror Nights
5.3 Macy's Holiday Parade
5.4 Mardi Gras
5.5 Rock the Universe
5.6 Summer Concert Series
6 Universal's Express Pass
7 Attendance
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
History[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)
The original entrance to the theme park.
Over the years, Universal Studios Florida has not limited itself to attractions based on its own vast film library. It has occasionally licensed popular characters from other rival studios, many of whom did not operate theme parks themselves. Some examples include Ghostbusters and Men in Black, (Sony's Columbia Pictures), The Simpsons (20th Century Fox) and Shrek (DreamWorks Animation).
Many of the park's past and present attractions were developed with the actual creators of the films they were based on, and feature the original stars as part of the experience. Steven Spielberg helped create E.T. Adventure and was a creative consultant for Back to the Future: The Ride, Twister...Ride it Out, An American Tail Theatre, Jaws, Men in Black: Alien Attack and Transformers: The Ride.
In many current rides, the original stars reprised their film roles including: Rip Torn and Will Smith in Men in Black: Alien Attack, Brendan Fraser for Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister...Ride it Out, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong and Linda Hamilton reprised their roles for Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow for Shrek 4D, Steve Carell, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher reprised their roles from Despicable Me for Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, and Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprised their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron for Transformers: The Ride.
In many former rides, the many original stars were also to reprise their film roles such as: Christopher Lloyd and Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future: The Ride, Roy Scheider recorded a voice over for the conclusion of Jaws, Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins appeared in Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, additionally, various Nicktoon voice actors reprised their roles in Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast.
Park history[edit]
From its inception in 1982,[3] Universal Studios Florida was designed as a theme park and a working studio. It was also the first time that Universal Studios had constructed an amusement park "from the ground up." However, the proposed project was put on hold until 1986, when a meeting between Steven Spielberg, a co-founder for the park, and Peter N. Alexander prompted for the creation of a Back to the Future simulator ride in addition to the already planned King Kong based ride.[4]
A major component of the original park in Hollywood is its studio tour, which featured several special-effects exhibits and encounters built into the tour, such as an attack by the great white shark from the film Jaws. For its Florida park, Universal Studios took the concepts of the Hollywood tour scenes and developed them into larger, stand-alone attractions. As an example, in Hollywood, the studio tour trams travel close to a shoreline and are "attacked" by Jaws before they travel to the next part of the tour. In Florida, guests entered the "Jaws" attraction and would board a boat touring the fictitious Amity Harbor, where they encountered the shark, then exited back into the park at the conclusion of the attraction. Universal Studios Florida originally had a Studio Tour attraction that visited the production facilities, but that tour has since been discontinued.
Branding[edit]
Previous slogans for Universal Studios Florida were: See the Stars. Ride the Movies. (1990 - 1998); No one makes believe like we do! (1990 - 1998); Ride the Movies (1998 - 2008); Jump into the Action (2008–2012). The current slogan is: Experience the Movies (2012–present).
Timeline[edit]
1986: Land clearing takes place on the swamp land purchased by MCA/Universal that would hold the park.
1987: Universal Studios Florida is announced at a press conference on the Hollywood property, with a planned opening date of December 1989.
1988: Universal Studios Florida's opening date is delayed from December, 1989 to May 1, 1990. Shortly following, MCA/Universal releases a video detailing the future park, which stars Christopher Lloyd as the Universal character Doc Brown interacting with the various attractions at the Florida park.[5] Universal Studios allows guests to witness the production of television shows and motion pictures in the Florida park's soundstages in middle 1988, while the rest of the studio/park is still under construction.[6]
1989: MCA/Universal Studios claims that The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Michael Eisner copied several concepts of the Universal Studios Florida park, and integrated them into Disney's recently opened Disney/MGM Studios park.[7]
1990: On January 31, Universal Studios Florida's opening date is again delayed from May 1, 1990 to June 7, 1990.[8] Universal Studios Florida begins soft openings for the general public in late May.[9] Many of the park's attractions are not yet open at the time, and still under testing. Universal Studios Florida is officially opened with a grand opening style ceremony on June 7.[10] The park opens with five themed areas: The Front Lot (entrance area), Production Central, New York, San Francisco/Amity, Expo Center, Hollywood as well as a Lagoon located in the center of the park. The Front Lot and Production Central areas are referred to as "In Production", the New York section is referred to as "Now Shooting", the San Francisco and Amity sections are referred to as "On Location" and the Expo Center area is referred to as "The World of CineMagic Center". Nickelodeon Studios also opened on this day where there was a grand opening ceremony hosted by Marc Summers. Due to massive technical problems with the original Kongfrontation, Earthquake: The Big One and Jaws rides, Universal begins a temporary voucher service to allow guests to re-visit the studio/park when the attractions are operating.[10] Jaws is temporarily closed by Universal on September 30 due to persistent major technical problems. During the shut-down, Universal sues the original designer of the Jaws ride,[11] Ride & Show Engineering, and hires Totally Fun Company to create a re-designed version of most of the ride.
1991: Universal adds four new attractions to the park: The Blues Brothers Show, StreetBusters, The Screen Test Home Video Adventure and How to Make a Mega Movie Deal.[12] Back to the Future: The Ride officially opens in the World Expo Center area of the park, in a grand opening ceremony.[13] The ride is considered to be a success, and receives positive reception from theme park critics.[14] Fright Nights debuts at the park. In 1992, it is renamed to Halloween Horror Nights.
1993: Jaws is re-opened, with many scenes altered. MCA/Universal announces plans to expand Universal Studios Florida into the Universal City, Florida resort complex, including a second theme park and multiple hotels.[15]
1995: Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 5th anniversary. A Day in the Park with Barney opens in the World Expo area. The Production Studio Tour is closed due to a dwindle in the studios' recent Film/TV production.
1996: Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time opens in the Hollywood area.[16]
1997: Universal announces that Ghostbusters Spooktacular will be replaced by Twister...Ride it Out, with a planned opening date of Spring 1998[17] Universal Studios announces that the sole Studio park will be expanded into the Universal Studios Escape, including the Islands of Adventure park, Universal CityWalk Orlando and multiple hotels. The Islands of Adventure Preview Center opens in the New York area, replacing The Screen Test Home Video Adventure. It is meant to give guests a preview of the up-coming Islands of Adventure park, as well as expansion of the Studio park into the Universal Studios Escape resort.
1998: The expansion begins as the original open parking lot for Universal Studios Florida is demolished and replaced by CityWalk and a parking garage complex.[18] Universal delays the opening of Twister...Ride it Out from March, 1998 to May 4, 1998 out of respect for the 42 deaths caused by a recent El Nino outbreak of tornadoes in the central Florida area. Twister...Ride it Out opens in the New York area, replacing Ghostbusters Spooktacular.[19] A new area of the park, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, is officially opened, holding the attractions Curious George Goes to Town, StarToons and the previously opened Fievel's Playland, E.T. Adventure, Animal Actors Stage and A Day in the Park with Barney; CityWalk opens outside of the park.
1999: Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster opens in the Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone area. Islands of Adventure opens next door to Universal Studios Florida.[20]
2000: Men in Black: Alien Attack opens in the World Expo area, on the former site of The Swamp Thing Set. Universal Studios Florida's 10th anniversary celebration.
2001: Animal Planet Live opens, replacing Animal Actors Stage.
2002: Universal Studios Escape is renamed Universal Orlando Resort. Kongfrontation closes in a closing ceremony. Halloween Horror Nights is moved to Islands of Adventure. Macy's Holiday Parade debuts at the park.
2003: Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opens, replacing The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.[21] Shrek 4-D opens with Donkey's Photo Finish, replacing Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies and Stage 54 respectively.[22]
2004: Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride opens, replacing Kongfrontation.[23] Halloween Horror Nights takes place in both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
2005: Universal Express Plus is introduced, replacing Universal Express. Nickelodeon Studios closes after nearly 15 years. Fear Factor Live opens, replacing The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show. Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 15th anniversary.
2006: Delancey Street Preview Center opens in the New York area. Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular opens, replacing Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular. Animal Planet Live is closed, and replaced by Animal Actors on Location. Halloween Horror Nights returns to Universal Studios Florida for its "Sweet 16".
2007: Back to the Future: The Ride closes on March 30.[24] Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre opens in CityWalk, replacing Nickelodeon Studios. Earthquake: The Big One closes in the San Francisco area on November 5.
2008: Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! opens, replacing Earthquake: The Big One.[25] Universal announces Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, with a planned opening of Spring 2009. The Simpsons Ride opens, replacing Back to the Future: The Ride.[26]
2009: The Universal Music Plaza Stage opens, replacing The Boneyard. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit opens.
2010: The 20th anniversary of Universal Studios Florida in June, as well as Halloween Horror Nights in October.
2011: The 10th anniversary of Macy's Holiday Parade at the park.[27]
2012: Jaws and the surrounding Amity themed area closes, as announced on December 2, 2011.[28] Universal announces the additions of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories and Universal's Superstar Parade to the park, with openings on May 8, 2012.[29] Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, opens replacing Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast; as announced on March 14, 2011 as "...one of many exciting things planned for the next couple of years".[30] Universal Orlando Resort announced Transformers: The Ride will officially open in the summer of 2013, replacing Soundstages 44 and 54, which were demolished on June 24, 2012.[31] SpongeBob StorePants,a gift shop themed after SpongeBob SquarePants opened in Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone replacing the Universal Cartoon Store
2013: The opening date for Transformers The Ride is announced for June 20, 2013. Details of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion are officially announced. Details for the new Simpsons Land are announced and expected to open in the summer of 2013. Transformers: The Ride officially opens in the Production Central area replacing Soundstage 44. Simpsons Fast Food Boulevard (renamed Springfield U.S.A.) concludes its expansion as it includes one new ride: Kang and Kodos Twirl 'n' Hurl.
2014: The opening date for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley is announced for July 8, 2014 amid the Diagon Alley preview red carpet premiere on June 18, 2014 with Domhnall Gleeson, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, James and Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis and Helena Bonham Carter attending the premiere. King's Cross station opens on July 1, 2014 as well as the Hogwarts Express Hogsmeade station at Universal's Islands of Adventure, connecting park visitors to both theme Harry Potter theme parks via a full scale replica of the train that appears in the Harry Potter film series. Diagon Alley officially opens, replacing Jaws and the Amity section of the park.
Previous attractions[edit]
Main article: List of former Universal Studios Florida attractions
The previous icon of the Jaws ride is still a popular photo spot.
Like all theme parks, attractions are sometimes closed due to aging and replaced with more contemporary attractions. Universal has seen this happen several times. Some notable closures include Kongfrontation, Back to the Future: The Ride, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera and Jaws. The closures of Kongfrontation, Back to the Future, and Jaws have been given homages by the park to honor veteran visitors who revered the former rides.
Park design[edit]
Main article: List of Universal Studios Florida attractions
Universal Studios Florida features seven themed areas all situated around a large lagoon. In 2012, this lagoon was the site of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories, a thematic display that showcased scenes from various Universal films, featuring lasers, projectors and fountains, and pyrotechnics.
The seven surrounding themed areas, clockwise from the entrance, are Production Central, New York, San Francisco, London/Diagon Alley, World Expo, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone and Hollywood. Each area features a combination of rides, shows, attractions, character appearances, dining outlets and merchandise stores. A new area, based on Harry Potter's Diagon Alley was added to the park in the July of 2014.
Production Central[edit]
Ride
Year opened
Manufacturer
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem 2012 Intamin
Shrek 4-D 2003 PDI/DreamWorks
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit 2009 Maurer Söhne
Transformers: The Ride 3D 2013 Oceaneering International
The Universal Music Plaza Stage 2009
The area is also home to a variety of dining outlets and merchandise shops. Food and beverage items can be purchased from Beverly Hills Boulangerie or Universal Studios' Classic Monsters Cafe while merchandise can be bought from a variety of themed stores including Universal Studios Store, Studio Sweets, It's a Wrap!, Super Silly Stuff, Shrek's Ye Olde Souvenir Shoppe, and Transformers: Supply Vault.[32][33]
Copyright © 2021 by Craig Paup. All rights reserved.
Any use, printed or digital, in whole or edited, requires my written permission.
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Opened on June 7, 1990, the park's theme is the entertainment industry, in particular movies and television. Universal Studios Florida inspires its guests to "ride the movies", and it features numerous attractions and live shows. The park is one component of the larger Universal Orlando Resort.
In 2013, the park hosted an estimated 7.06 million guests, ranking it the eighth-most visited theme park in the United States, and ranking it sixteenth worldwide.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 History 1.1 Park history
1.2 Branding
1.3 Timeline
1.4 Previous attractions
2 Park design 2.1 Production Central
2.2 New York
2.3 San Francisco
2.4 London/Diagon Alley
2.5 World Expo
2.6 Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone
2.7 Hollywood
3 Character appearances
4 Production facilities
5 Annual events 5.1 Grad Bash and Gradventure
5.2 Halloween Horror Nights
5.3 Macy's Holiday Parade
5.4 Mardi Gras
5.5 Rock the Universe
5.6 Summer Concert Series
6 Universal's Express Pass
7 Attendance
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
History[edit]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)
The original entrance to the theme park.
Over the years, Universal Studios Florida has not limited itself to attractions based on its own vast film library. It has occasionally licensed popular characters from other rival studios, many of whom did not operate theme parks themselves. Some examples include Ghostbusters and Men in Black, (Sony's Columbia Pictures), The Simpsons (20th Century Fox) and Shrek (DreamWorks Animation).
Many of the park's past and present attractions were developed with the actual creators of the films they were based on, and feature the original stars as part of the experience. Steven Spielberg helped create E.T. Adventure and was a creative consultant for Back to the Future: The Ride, Twister...Ride it Out, An American Tail Theatre, Jaws, Men in Black: Alien Attack and Transformers: The Ride.
In many current rides, the original stars reprised their film roles including: Rip Torn and Will Smith in Men in Black: Alien Attack, Brendan Fraser for Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister...Ride it Out, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong and Linda Hamilton reprised their roles for Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow for Shrek 4D, Steve Carell, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher reprised their roles from Despicable Me for Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, and Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprised their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron for Transformers: The Ride.
In many former rides, the many original stars were also to reprise their film roles such as: Christopher Lloyd and Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future: The Ride, Roy Scheider recorded a voice over for the conclusion of Jaws, Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins appeared in Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies, additionally, various Nicktoon voice actors reprised their roles in Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast.
Park history[edit]
From its inception in 1982,[3] Universal Studios Florida was designed as a theme park and a working studio. It was also the first time that Universal Studios had constructed an amusement park "from the ground up." However, the proposed project was put on hold until 1986, when a meeting between Steven Spielberg, a co-founder for the park, and Peter N. Alexander prompted for the creation of a Back to the Future simulator ride in addition to the already planned King Kong based ride.[4]
A major component of the original park in Hollywood is its studio tour, which featured several special-effects exhibits and encounters built into the tour, such as an attack by the great white shark from the film Jaws. For its Florida park, Universal Studios took the concepts of the Hollywood tour scenes and developed them into larger, stand-alone attractions. As an example, in Hollywood, the studio tour trams travel close to a shoreline and are "attacked" by Jaws before they travel to the next part of the tour. In Florida, guests entered the "Jaws" attraction and would board a boat touring the fictitious Amity Harbor, where they encountered the shark, then exited back into the park at the conclusion of the attraction. Universal Studios Florida originally had a Studio Tour attraction that visited the production facilities, but that tour has since been discontinued.
Branding[edit]
Previous slogans for Universal Studios Florida were: See the Stars. Ride the Movies. (1990 - 1998); No one makes believe like we do! (1990 - 1998); Ride the Movies (1998 - 2008); Jump into the Action (2008–2012). The current slogan is: Experience the Movies (2012–present).
Timeline[edit]
1986: Land clearing takes place on the swamp land purchased by MCA/Universal that would hold the park.
1987: Universal Studios Florida is announced at a press conference on the Hollywood property, with a planned opening date of December 1989.
1988: Universal Studios Florida's opening date is delayed from December, 1989 to May 1, 1990. Shortly following, MCA/Universal releases a video detailing the future park, which stars Christopher Lloyd as the Universal character Doc Brown interacting with the various attractions at the Florida park.[5] Universal Studios allows guests to witness the production of television shows and motion pictures in the Florida park's soundstages in middle 1988, while the rest of the studio/park is still under construction.[6]
1989: MCA/Universal Studios claims that The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Michael Eisner copied several concepts of the Universal Studios Florida park, and integrated them into Disney's recently opened Disney/MGM Studios park.[7]
1990: On January 31, Universal Studios Florida's opening date is again delayed from May 1, 1990 to June 7, 1990.[8] Universal Studios Florida begins soft openings for the general public in late May.[9] Many of the park's attractions are not yet open at the time, and still under testing. Universal Studios Florida is officially opened with a grand opening style ceremony on June 7.[10] The park opens with five themed areas: The Front Lot (entrance area), Production Central, New York, San Francisco/Amity, Expo Center, Hollywood as well as a Lagoon located in the center of the park. The Front Lot and Production Central areas are referred to as "In Production", the New York section is referred to as "Now Shooting", the San Francisco and Amity sections are referred to as "On Location" and the Expo Center area is referred to as "The World of CineMagic Center". Nickelodeon Studios also opened on this day where there was a grand opening ceremony hosted by Marc Summers. Due to massive technical problems with the original Kongfrontation, Earthquake: The Big One and Jaws rides, Universal begins a temporary voucher service to allow guests to re-visit the studio/park when the attractions are operating.[10] Jaws is temporarily closed by Universal on September 30 due to persistent major technical problems. During the shut-down, Universal sues the original designer of the Jaws ride,[11] Ride & Show Engineering, and hires Totally Fun Company to create a re-designed version of most of the ride.
1991: Universal adds four new attractions to the park: The Blues Brothers Show, StreetBusters, The Screen Test Home Video Adventure and How to Make a Mega Movie Deal.[12] Back to the Future: The Ride officially opens in the World Expo Center area of the park, in a grand opening ceremony.[13] The ride is considered to be a success, and receives positive reception from theme park critics.[14] Fright Nights debuts at the park. In 1992, it is renamed to Halloween Horror Nights.
1993: Jaws is re-opened, with many scenes altered. MCA/Universal announces plans to expand Universal Studios Florida into the Universal City, Florida resort complex, including a second theme park and multiple hotels.[15]
1995: Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 5th anniversary. A Day in the Park with Barney opens in the World Expo area. The Production Studio Tour is closed due to a dwindle in the studios' recent Film/TV production.
1996: Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time opens in the Hollywood area.[16]
1997: Universal announces that Ghostbusters Spooktacular will be replaced by Twister...Ride it Out, with a planned opening date of Spring 1998[17] Universal Studios announces that the sole Studio park will be expanded into the Universal Studios Escape, including the Islands of Adventure park, Universal CityWalk Orlando and multiple hotels. The Islands of Adventure Preview Center opens in the New York area, replacing The Screen Test Home Video Adventure. It is meant to give guests a preview of the up-coming Islands of Adventure park, as well as expansion of the Studio park into the Universal Studios Escape resort.
1998: The expansion begins as the original open parking lot for Universal Studios Florida is demolished and replaced by CityWalk and a parking garage complex.[18] Universal delays the opening of Twister...Ride it Out from March, 1998 to May 4, 1998 out of respect for the 42 deaths caused by a recent El Nino outbreak of tornadoes in the central Florida area. Twister...Ride it Out opens in the New York area, replacing Ghostbusters Spooktacular.[19] A new area of the park, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, is officially opened, holding the attractions Curious George Goes to Town, StarToons and the previously opened Fievel's Playland, E.T. Adventure, Animal Actors Stage and A Day in the Park with Barney; CityWalk opens outside of the park.
1999: Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster opens in the Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone area. Islands of Adventure opens next door to Universal Studios Florida.[20]
2000: Men in Black: Alien Attack opens in the World Expo area, on the former site of The Swamp Thing Set. Universal Studios Florida's 10th anniversary celebration.
2001: Animal Planet Live opens, replacing Animal Actors Stage.
2002: Universal Studios Escape is renamed Universal Orlando Resort. Kongfrontation closes in a closing ceremony. Halloween Horror Nights is moved to Islands of Adventure. Macy's Holiday Parade debuts at the park.
2003: Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opens, replacing The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.[21] Shrek 4-D opens with Donkey's Photo Finish, replacing Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies and Stage 54 respectively.[22]
2004: Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride opens, replacing Kongfrontation.[23] Halloween Horror Nights takes place in both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
2005: Universal Express Plus is introduced, replacing Universal Express. Nickelodeon Studios closes after nearly 15 years. Fear Factor Live opens, replacing The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show. Universal Studios Florida celebrates its 15th anniversary.
2006: Delancey Street Preview Center opens in the New York area. Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular opens, replacing Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular. Animal Planet Live is closed, and replaced by Animal Actors on Location. Halloween Horror Nights returns to Universal Studios Florida for its "Sweet 16".
2007: Back to the Future: The Ride closes on March 30.[24] Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre opens in CityWalk, replacing Nickelodeon Studios. Earthquake: The Big One closes in the San Francisco area on November 5.
2008: Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! opens, replacing Earthquake: The Big One.[25] Universal announces Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, with a planned opening of Spring 2009. The Simpsons Ride opens, replacing Back to the Future: The Ride.[26]
2009: The Universal Music Plaza Stage opens, replacing The Boneyard. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit opens.
2010: The 20th anniversary of Universal Studios Florida in June, as well as Halloween Horror Nights in October.
2011: The 10th anniversary of Macy's Holiday Parade at the park.[27]
2012: Jaws and the surrounding Amity themed area closes, as announced on December 2, 2011.[28] Universal announces the additions of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories and Universal's Superstar Parade to the park, with openings on May 8, 2012.[29] Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, opens replacing Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast; as announced on March 14, 2011 as "...one of many exciting things planned for the next couple of years".[30] Universal Orlando Resort announced Transformers: The Ride will officially open in the summer of 2013, replacing Soundstages 44 and 54, which were demolished on June 24, 2012.[31] SpongeBob StorePants,a gift shop themed after SpongeBob SquarePants opened in Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone replacing the Universal Cartoon Store
2013: The opening date for Transformers The Ride is announced for June 20, 2013. Details of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion are officially announced. Details for the new Simpsons Land are announced and expected to open in the summer of 2013. Transformers: The Ride officially opens in the Production Central area replacing Soundstage 44. Simpsons Fast Food Boulevard (renamed Springfield U.S.A.) concludes its expansion as it includes one new ride: Kang and Kodos Twirl 'n' Hurl.
2014: The opening date for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley is announced for July 8, 2014 amid the Diagon Alley preview red carpet premiere on June 18, 2014 with Domhnall Gleeson, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, James and Oliver Phelps, Tom Felton, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis and Helena Bonham Carter attending the premiere. King's Cross station opens on July 1, 2014 as well as the Hogwarts Express Hogsmeade station at Universal's Islands of Adventure, connecting park visitors to both theme Harry Potter theme parks via a full scale replica of the train that appears in the Harry Potter film series. Diagon Alley officially opens, replacing Jaws and the Amity section of the park.
Previous attractions[edit]
Main article: List of former Universal Studios Florida attractions
The previous icon of the Jaws ride is still a popular photo spot.
Like all theme parks, attractions are sometimes closed due to aging and replaced with more contemporary attractions. Universal has seen this happen several times. Some notable closures include Kongfrontation, Back to the Future: The Ride, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera and Jaws. The closures of Kongfrontation, Back to the Future, and Jaws have been given homages by the park to honor veteran visitors who revered the former rides.
Park design[edit]
Main article: List of Universal Studios Florida attractions
Universal Studios Florida features seven themed areas all situated around a large lagoon. In 2012, this lagoon was the site of Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories, a thematic display that showcased scenes from various Universal films, featuring lasers, projectors and fountains, and pyrotechnics.
The seven surrounding themed areas, clockwise from the entrance, are Production Central, New York, San Francisco, London/Diagon Alley, World Expo, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone and Hollywood. Each area features a combination of rides, shows, attractions, character appearances, dining outlets and merchandise stores. A new area, based on Harry Potter's Diagon Alley was added to the park in the July of 2014.
Production Central[edit]
Ride
Year opened
Manufacturer
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem 2012 Intamin
Shrek 4-D 2003 PDI/DreamWorks
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit 2009 Maurer Söhne
Transformers: The Ride 3D 2013 Oceaneering International
The Universal Music Plaza Stage 2009
The area is also home to a variety of dining outlets and merchandise shops. Food and beverage items can be purchased from Beverly Hills Boulangerie or Universal Studios' Classic Monsters Cafe while merchandise can be bought from a variety of themed stores including Universal Studios Store, Studio Sweets, It's a Wrap!, Super Silly Stuff, Shrek's Ye Olde Souvenir Shoppe, and Transformers: Supply Vault.[32][33]
These precision ballscrew nut housings, which are used on a wide range of Haas machines, are machined in large batches on Haas EC-400PP pallet pool HMCs. In-house machining and extensive use of common components help Haas Automation keep machine prices affordable, and provide customers with more value.
Here are the main sections of the Banshee. When transporting this for shows, this is probably how I'll do it - otherwise it'll just get banged up and pieces will go everywhere.
This box is one of 20 different boxes for sale by auction on eBay in support of survivors of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. Click here to visit / to return to the eBay listing [Item number: 120728883569]. The auction for this item closes on Friday the 3rd of June 2011 at 01:13 a.m. British Summer Time (UTC + 1).
✹ Click here to see a thumbnail overview of all the boxes, or watch a Slideshow of all the boxes.
Proceeds of the auction - after eBay and PayPal fees have been deducted - will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.
✹ To see a larger, more detailed, view of this picture click on the small magnifying glass icon at the top right of the picture, then click on "View all sizes", then click on "Original" - which displays the largest and best quality image.
✹ To see a view of the base of the box - without the lid - click here.
About the Japanese Red Cross Society
The Japanese Red Cross are one of three major fundraising organisaitions based in Japan (the other two being the Japanese broadcaster NHK and the Red Feather Central Community Chest of Japan - originally a post World War II re-building organisation). You can download two english language reports relating to the disaster from the Japanese Red Cross website:
Operations Update No.1 - 13th April 2011 [.pdf file, retrieved 17th May 2011]
Operations Update No.2 - 6th May 2011 [.pdf file, retrieved 17th May 2011]
Over two months on, the needs of many of the survivors remain desperately basic. There has been an increased incidence of pneumonia and associated fatalities. As well as helping with practical and medical requirements, the Japanese Red Cross Society are helping people deal with "Shell Shock" / Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and further developing services to address these issues.
Perhaps most impressively, they helped quickly set up a management structure to co-ordinate help from all the major fundraisers, a committee including academics and representatives from the 15 most badly affected prefectures [local governments]. The pre-existing local Red Cross chapters [branches] are helping with governance.
Although Japan has a large economy, and domestically the japanese have been hugely generous towards aid efforts, like everywhere else, many people of course are not personally rich. There is still epic upheaval. Much of welfare is normally provided by family and community, a system that breaks down when whole barrios are fragmented and diminished. Services like adoption and fostering, for example - normally always done by relatives - are having to be developed. A planning policy of building schools on higher ground saved many children, but even after encouraging teachers back out of retirement, there is still a shortage of experienced teachers. Japan is mostly mountains and sea, with very little spare land suitable for building, and so - while rebuilding takes place - temporary accommodation has had to be built on land normally reserved for other activities, for example on school playgrounds.
If you enjoy shopping in support of the Japanese Red Cross Society, you might also like Tomodachi Calling, a cafepress web store / shop (recommend by a fellow flickrer schmid91, who helped document the aftermath of the tsunami in Ishinomaki Myagi prefecture).
Japan based english language online newspapers
About the decorative hexagonal origami gift box
The box is made up from 12 square origami papers - 6 for the lid and 6 for the base. No cutting, glue or adhesive tape is used.
Although Japan has a long tradition of paper folding, the design of the box is modern, by Tomoko Fuse 布施 知子, who is a renown unit origami designer and artist. Unit origami is a method of building up models using pre-folded components or units.
If you are an accurate and consistent paper folder, but are new to unit origami, and you would like to make your own box, I would recommend her book "Origami Boxes: Moribana Style" [# ISBN-10: 0870408216 - # ISBN-13: 978-0870408212] as an excellent introduction. Connecting the units together can be a bit fiddly at first, and the book also includes designs for more simple square and triangular boxes, which give the opportunity to practice and develop the skills needed for doing the final assembly.
(Until Asimo gets a bit more nimble fingered, the box is unlikely to flood the market anytime soon...)
If you get the bug, she has also created and written about very much more complex models. "Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations" [ISBN-10: 0870408526 - ISBN-13: 978-0870408526] is considered a classic text on the subject.
Paper making was a traditional supplemental business of farmers in Japan during the winter. The very cold water during that season enabled the fibres in the pulp to be soaked without becoming subject to decay, and some also argue that cold shrinks the fibres, creating a finer, crisper paper.
Cristina D'Avena & Gem Boy
Carroponte - Sesto San Giovanni - Milano
11 Luglio 2013
© Mairo Cinquetti
© All rights reserved. Do not use my photos without my written permission. If you would like to buy or use this photo PLEASE message me or email me at mairo.cinquetti@gmail.com
Cristina D'Avena nasce a Bologna lunedì 6 luglio 1964 da Alfredo, medico, e da Ornella, casalinga. All'età di 3 anni e mezzo esordisce cantando "Il valzer del moscerino" alla decima edizione della rassegna canora per bambini Zecchino d'Oro; il brano si aggiudica il 3º posto. Dopo l'esperienza allo Zecchino d'Oro, rimane all'Antoniano come componente del Piccolo Coro fino al 1976, ma continuerà a frequentarlo per altri 5 anni accompagnando la sorella Clarissa, nata 10 anni dopo di lei e anche lei diventata nel frattempo componente del coro.
Nel 1981 Cristina è una diciassettenne studentessa di Liceo Classico che vede il canto solo come un hobby. In quel periodo, Alessandra Valeri Manera, l'allora responsabile della tv dei ragazzi della neonata Canale 5, era alla ricerca di una voce femminile che potesse interpretare la sigla della serie animata giapponese "Pinocchio": per questo motivo interpellò Augusto Martelli, direttore artistico-musicale della rete nonché figlio del maestro Giordano Bruno Martelli. Fu proprio Martelli padre, tramite il figlio, a segnalare a Valeri Manera il nome di Cristina D'Avena, avendo egli avuto modo di frequentarla fino a poco tempo prima presso il Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano. Dopo essere stata sottoposta ad un provino discografico, Cristina, ancora minorenne, firma un contratto di esclusiva (a cui è legata ancora oggi) con l'etichetta discografica di Canale 5, la Five Record (in seguito ridenominata RTI Music, oggi inglobata in RTI s.p.a.), e diviene così l'interprete della canzone "Bambino Pinocchio" composta da Martelli figlio che di lei all'epoca disse: « Diventerà una grande cantante ». Il successo commerciale del relativo 45 giri diede effettivamente inizio alla carriera di Cristina: da allora non ha mai smesso di incidere e, grazie alla quantità di sigle da lei registrate, è l'unico personaggio dello spettacolo la cui voce è presente sulla tv italiana ininterrottamente dai primi anni '80 almeno una volta al giorno, 7 giorni su 7, 365 giorni l'anno.
Sempre da questo periodo inizia a pubblicare numerosi singoli ed album, che complessivamente venderanno un totale di circa 6 milioni di copie: nel 1983, infatti, Five Record dà vita a "Fivelandia", il primo volume di quella che diventerà una longeva collana destinata a contenere le sigle dei cartoni animati in onda sulle reti del biscione; un appuntamento fisso dell'autunno a cadenza annuale, a cui si aggiungerà, a partire dal febbraio 1987, la sua versione primaverile anch'essa a cadenza annuale dal titolo "Cristina D'Avena con i tuoi amici in tv". Tra le canzoni di maggior successo dei primi anni, particolare menzione per "Canzone dei Puffi" del 1982 (grazie alla quale verrà premiata con il suo primo Disco d'Oro per le oltre 500.000 copie vendute) e "Kiss me Licia" del 1985 (Disco di Platino per le oltre 100.000 copie vendute del relativo album): quest'ultima è la sigla a cui la cantante dichiarerà più volte di essere maggiormente legata.
A partire dal settembre 1986 raggiunge, tuttavia, una popolarità ulteriore a quella già acquisita in 5 anni con la sola interpretazione delle sigle, nonché una notevole visibilità, quando interpreta il ruolo di Licia nella prima di 4 serie di telefilm per ragazzi intitolata "Love me Licia": la serie è basata sulla protagonista e sui personaggi del cartone animato giapponese "Kiss me Licia" (che aveva fatto il suo debutto 12 mesi prima), del quale questa produzione italiana con attori in carne e ossa prosegue idealmente le vicende. È così che quella che fino a questo momento era quasi soltanto una voce (quel timbro così particolare che milioni di bambini italiani avevano già imparato a riconoscere) diventa di fatto un volto, il volto di una ragazza dall'aspetto più giovane dei suoi 22 anni che l'intero pubblico, anche quello più adulto, ora conosce e apprezza già. A "Love me Licia" seguiranno "Licia dolce Licia" nella primavera 1987, "Teneramente Licia" nell'autunno 1987 e "Balliamo e cantiamo con Licia" nella primavera 1988; le serie vengono trasmesse il lunedì, il mercoledì e il venerdì alle ore 20:00 su Italia Uno in diretta concorrenza coi telegiornali Rai e raggiungono insperati ascolti record.
Nel 1987, mentre i brani da lei incisi ammontano già ad un centinaio, Cristina registra un brano in lingua francese: si tratta della versione francofona della sigla italiana "Lovely Sara" (da lei già interpretata pochi mesi prima), destinata ad accompagnare la messa in onda di "Princesse Sarah" che sarà il primo cartone animato ad essere trasmesso su La Cinq, rete televisiva francese di proprietà di Silvio Berlusconi costruita sul modello di Canale 5. Grazie a questa sua incisione la cantante, che per la prima volta vide apparire il proprio nome sulla copertina di un disco pubblicato e distribuito esclusivamente all'estero, è conosciuta e ricordata ancora oggi dai bambini francesi degli anni '80.
Conclusasi la saga di Licia nella primavera 1988, dall'autunno Italia Uno decide di mettere in scena proprio Cristina e la sua realtà quotidiana, costantemente impegnata tra gli studi universitari alla Facoltà di Medicina e il lavoro di cantante. Non a caso, durante l'ultima puntata dei telefilm di Licia, Cristina D'Avena compare nel ruolo di se stessa annunciando la sua intenzione di metter su una band musicale. Pochi mesi dopo viene infatti trasmessa su Italia Uno "Arriva Cristina", a cui seguiranno "Cristina" nell'autunno 1989, "Cri Cri" nell'autunno 1990 e "Cristina, l'Europa siamo noi" nell'autunno 1991. "Cri Cri" si compone di due serie da 36 episodi l'una, mentre "Cristina, l'Europa siamo noi" viene trasmessa da Retequattro anziché da Italia Uno e alle ore 19:00 anziché al consueto orario delle 20:00. Come già avvenuto per le 4 serie di Licia, per ognuno di questi telefilm Five Record pubblica un disco contenente la sigla e tutti i brani cantati all'interno degli episodi: i primi tre album diventano Dischi di Platino.
Tra i suoi concerti più riusciti quelli realizzati nel novembre 1989 e 1990 al PalaTrussardi di Milano, a cui assistettero un totale di circa 20.000 spettatori, e quello del 1992 al FilaForum di Assago (13.000 persone in sala e 3.000 all'esterno) i cui incassi sono stati interamente devoluti alla Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro.
Con alle spalle la stessa autrice-produttrice degli esordi ed una casa discografica che, grazie solamente alle sue canzoni, nel 1991 ottiene un fatturato di oltre 9 miliardi di lire, negli anni '90 la cantante prosegue, regolarmente e senza interruzioni, ad incidere nuove sigle e a pubblicare CD; numeri, i suoi, che tanti artisti blasonati, ancora oggi, le invidiano. Persino la cantante Mina, nel 1994, inciderà ed inserirà in uno dei suoi album una cover di una canzone di Cristina del 1988 dal titolo "Sempre attento al regolamento"; per l'occasione, testo e titolo furono modificati e la canzone divenne "Tu dimmi che città".
All'attività musicale e discografica si aggiunge l'attività di conduttrice e co-conduttrice televisiva (nonché radiofonica) iniziata già nel 1989 col varietà del sabato sera di Canale 5 "Sabato al circo", esperienza grazie alla quale Cristina, insieme a tutto il cast del programma, si aggiudicherà il Telegatto nella categoria "Programmi per ragazzi". Il programma andrà avanti per quattro anni, fino al 1992, quando cambia titolo, rete e giorno di programmazione e diventa "Il Grande Circo di Retequattro", in onda per 16 settimane da mercoledì 7 ottobre. Assieme a Gerry Scotti presenta per due anni lo speciale di Capodanno di Canale 5, in onda il 31 dicembre 1989 con il titolo "L'allegria fa 90" e il 31 dicembre 1990 con il titolo "Evviva l'allegria". Dall'8 novembre 1992 conduce su Italia Uno "Cantiamo con Cristina", la versione per bambini del "Karaoke" di Fiorello che va in onda alle ore 20:00 della domenica: in ogni puntata si affrontano due squadre che si sfidano sulle note delle sigle di Cristina. Nella stagione 1993/94 farà parte del cast della sesta edizione di "Buona Domenica", al fianco di Gerry Scotti e Gabriella Carlucci: qui, tra le altre cose, conduce la rubrica "Radio Cristina" dove commenta lettere e fax inviati dai più piccini e si esibisce in alcuni numeri musicali e di danza (in questi spazi avrà anche modo di eseguire le canzoni dell'album "Cristina canta Disney" fresco di pubblicazione). Avrà poi il ruolo di inviata speciale in giro per l'Italia nella quinta edizione di "La sai l'ultima?", in onda su Canale 5 nella stagione televisiva 1995/96 e condotta da Gerry Scotti assieme a Paola Barale. A partire dal 15 settembre 1996, invece, conduce per due anni di seguito, alternandosi settimanalmente col doppiatore ed amico Pietro Ubaldi, il contenitore di cartoni animati e giochi telefonici "Game Boat", in onda tutti i giorni nel preserale di Retequattro; in questo periodo, tra l'altro, viene pubblicato il quattordicesimo capitolo di "Fivelandia", premiato con il Disco di Platino per le oltre 100.000 copie vendute. Nel 1998, nel 1999 e nel 2000 ritorna allo Zecchino d'Oro in qualità di co-conduttrice al fianco di Cino Tortorella e Milly Carlucci. Nell'autunno 1998 è chiamata da Fabio Fazio per condurre con Andrea Pezzi il varietà del venerdì sera di Rai Due "Serenate", ideato dallo stesso Fazio che inizialmente doveva esserne il conduttore. Su Rai Uno, invece, condurrà il tradizionale "Concerto di Primavera", sia ad aprile 1999 che ad aprile 2000, oltre che lo special natalizio "Buon Natale a tutto il mondo" di cui sarà la presentatrice sia nell'edizione del 1999 che in quella del 2000.
Nel 1998 debutta anche al cinema, seppur con un cameo: interpreta infatti se stessa in una scena del film "Cucciolo" di Neri Parenti accanto a Massimo Boldi, con il quale aveva già lavorato ai tempi di "Sabato al circo".
Nel dicembre 2002 Cristina festeggia ufficialmente 20 anni di carriera (sebbene l'incisione di "Bambino Pinocchio", la sua prima sigla per un cartone animato, risalga al secondo semestre del 1981) con la pubblicazione di un doppio CD dal titolo "Cristina D'Avena: Greatest Hits" (ma il titolo inizialmente previsto è "Cristina D'Avena: Vent'anni"), che raccoglie i più grandi successi della cantante (il CD 1 è relativo agli anni 1981-1990, il CD 2 agli anni 1991-2002) e include una nuova versione, riarrangiata e reinterpretata per l'occasione, della sua prima sigla. Proprio nel giorno d'uscita del disco, il 6 dicembre, dall'auditorium di Cologno Monzese la rete televisiva satellitare Video Italia le dedica, in prima serata e in diretta contemporanea su Radio Italia, una puntata di oltre 2 ore della sua trasmissione "Serata con...", durante la quale la cantante esegue dal vivo gran parte dei brani dell'album, in quella che si rivela essere una vera e propria festa-concerto a cui prendono parte fan storici, amici e collaboratori di vecchia data.
Il suo nome per oltre 20 anni è stato professionalmente associato in modo indissolubile a quello di Alessandra Valeri Manera: responsabile dei programmi per ragazzi delle tv del biscione dal 1980 al 2001 e a conti fatti talent scout e creatrice del personaggio "Cristina D'Avena", Valeri Manera è stata anche ideatrice, autrice, direttrice artistica e produttrice di tutti i lavori della cantante alla quale è legata da una sincera amicizia, sebbene dal 2001 la sua attività si sia ridotta ad una composizione saltuaria dei testi di sigle. In coppia con Valeri Manera, nel 2002 Cristina firma per la prima volta come autrice una sua canzone dal titolo "I colori del cuore". Nel 2007 firma da sola il testo di una sua sigla per un cartone animato (il titolo del brano, e della serie, è "Dolce piccola Remì") e da allora, di tanto in tanto, alcune delle sigle da lei interpretate portano il suo nome come unica autrice delle parole.
Il 14 aprile 2007, al Roxy Bar di Bologna, Cristina celebra 25 anni di successi con un grande concerto, accompagnata dall'irriverente gruppo dei Gem Boy con il quale inaugura una collaborazione che dura ancora oggi. In questa occasione riceve da Red Ronnie il prestigioso riconoscimento "Gandhi 9.11", un totem luminoso creato dall'artista Marco Lodola e destinato a quei personaggi che si sono maggiormente distinti come portatori di pace. Nello stesso anno, poi, si verifica un vero e proprio record per la cantante: alla cifra di 1.210 euro si chiude l'asta online del CD del 1989 "Cristina D'Avena e... i tuoi amici in TV 3", venduto sul portale eBay il 10 settembre. La vendita viene resa nota e definita dalla divisione italiana del sito come « il primato mai raggiunto online da un CD in Italia »; non a caso, la versione CD dell'album è considerata uno tra i pezzi più rari nella produzione discografica della cantante, non tanto per le 14 sigle in esso contenute (reperibili comunque su altre pubblicazioni successive) ma poiché, nella sua versione digitale, venne stampato in un numero limitatissimo di copie rispetto ai classici formati utilizzati all'epoca (sebbene per ancora pochi anni), vale a dire l'LP e l'MC. Il record è stato addirittura superato il 10 novembre del 2011, quattro anni dopo, quando un'altra copia messa all'asta è stata venduta alla cifra di 3.010,00 euro.
In questa fase della sua carriera, nonostante da tempo non abbia più un programma tutto suo, la cantante continua a farsi vedere dal pubblico televisivo accettando l'invito di numerose trasmissioni Rai o Mediaset che la chiamano per intervistarla o per vederla esibirsi; nella puntata del 16 febbraio 2008 del programma di prima serata di Rai Uno "I Migliori Anni" si registrerà un picco di ascolti pari a 7.618.000 telespettatori proprio nel momento della sua partecipazione al programma in cui dal vivo canta la sigla di "Kiss me Licia". Nello stesso anno pubblica due libri per bambini, di cui la cantante è autrice e narratrice, dal titolo "Le fiabe di Fata Cri: Fata Cri e i draghetti pasticcioni" e "Le fiabe di Fata Cri: Fata Cri e il ballo degli scoiattoli": quest'ultimo venderà 37.500 copie.
Dopo aver scritto e interpretato la sigla della serie animata "Twin Princess - Principesse Gemelle" che diverrà il suo primo singolo ad essere commercializzato come download digitale, nel 2009 realizza un disco che si distacca dalle sigle tv per le quali è da sempre conosciuta: per la prima volta infatti si rivolge al grande pubblico, non solo a quello dell'infanzia, e lo fa con un album dal titolo "Magia di Natale", in cui reinterpreta 12 brani della tradizione natalizia, classici e moderni, tutti arrangiati dal maestro Valeriano Chiaravalle. Il disco è anche l'occasione, per la cantante, di incidere per la prima volta in lingua inglese. Nell'album figura anche una cover di "Childhood", brano di Michael Jackson con il quale l'artista ha voluto rendere omaggio al Re del Pop.
Da giovedì 21 gennaio 2010 torna a lavorare in tv: è nel cast della seconda edizione del programma di prima serata di Italia Uno "Matricole & Meteore". Nello show, composto da 8 puntate e condotto da Nicola Savino e Juliana Moreira, ha il doppio ruolo di ospite fisso e inviata speciale nei panni di una principessa alla ricerca del Principe Azzurro; nelle varie puntate si esibisce anche in alcuni medley di sigle fra le tante incise nel corso della sua carriera. Dal 28 febbraio dello stesso anno è testimonial di Intervita ONLUS, organizzazione umanitaria internazionale impegnata in progetti di sviluppo nel Terzo Mondo attraverso il sostegno a distanza, per la quale registrerà 15 messaggi promozionali trasmessi da Canale 5. A partire dal periodo autunnale, le serie di telefilm che la videro protagonista tra l'86 e il '91 riacquistano visibilità nonché rinnovata fortuna grazie alla loro riproposizione da parte del canale Hiro di Mediaset Premium e, poco tempo dopo, anche per mano di La5 che le trasmette, tutte le sere, allo stesso orario della prima messa in onda, vale a dire alle 20. Visto il grande successo riscosso (la fascia oraria in cui vengono trasmessi risulta essere la più seguita per la rete), la casa discografica della cantante decide di ristampare, per la prima volta su CD e dopo oltre due decadi di assenza dal mercato discografico, le colonne sonore di ciascuna delle 8 serie, raccogliendole in due box multidisco intitolati "Licia e i Bee Hive Story" e "Arriva Cristina Story", che appassionati vecchi e nuovi accoglieranno con straordinario entusiasmo.
Anche nel nuovo millennio la cantante ha continuato e continua a tenere concerti in tutta Italia, sia da sola che accompagnata dal gruppo dei Gem Boy; uno dei suoi ultimi concerti più fortunati è sicuramente quello tenuto ad Avellino nel maggio del 2010 dove, tra bambini e adulti, ha raccolto oltre 15.000 spettatori.
Nel gennaio 2011 incide una sigla per la prima volta in duetto con una voce femminile: quella di Alessia Volpicelli, piccola paziente del C.R.O. (Centro di Riferimento Oncologico) di Aviano; il brano, di cui la D'Avena è anche autrice, si intitola "Emily della Luna Nuova". Nello stesso periodo firma anche il testo di una canzone per uno dei concorrenti del programma televisivo "Io Canto": si tratta del brano "Tutto quello che ho" incluso nell'album d'esordio di Simone Frulio dal titolo "Tredici".
L'anno successivo la cantante torna in tv e approda su Super!: per tutta l'estate è infatti la conduttrice di "Karaoke Super Show!", la prima produzione del canale televisivo per ragazzi edito da De Agostini. In onda nel week-end dalle più belle piazze della riviera romagnola, il programma prevede la partecipazione di due squadre composte da bambini, genitori e nonni che si sfidano interpretando i grandi tormentoni estivi, le canzoni dello Zecchino d'Oro più amate e naturalmente le più famose sigle dei cartoni animati di Cristina. Ma il 2012 è anche l'anno del 30º anniversario del debutto artistico di Cristina D'Avena: per festeggiare questa ricorrenza viene messa in atto una serie di celebrazioni a partire già dal dicembre 2011, quando apre il fanclub ufficiale della cantante che gli ammiratori chiedevano insistentemente da tempo. Ad aprile del 2012 i festeggiamenti proseguono con l'inaugurazione del suo negozio online, all'interno del quale è possibile trovare gran parte della sua sempre più abbondante produzione discografica oltre a tanti prodotti e gadget esclusivi, scelti e ideati direttamente da Cristina in persona. Le celebrazioni di questo importante traguardo si materializzano anche a livello discografico con la nascita di un grande progetto in due parti dal titolo "30 e poi...", che debutta nei negozi di dischi il 27 novembre 2012 con l'uscita del triplo CD "30 e poi... Parte Prima". L'album è composto da 3 CD che racchiudono un totale di ben 70 sigle originali dei cartoni animati più famosi degli anni '80, '90 e 2000; la scaletta è impreziosita dalla presenza di tre sigle inedite (una risalente al '95, una al '99 e un'altra ancora al 2009) qui pubblicate per la prima volta in assoluto e di una ora disponibile per la prima volta su CD, da una reinterpretazione di Cristina del classico natalizio "O Holy Night", da un megamix dei suoi storici successi anni '80 e infine da una cover del brano "L'anno che verrà" di Lucio Dalla, con la quale l'artista vuole rendere omaggio al cantautore suo concittadino. Il progetto "30 e poi..." prosegue quindi nel 2013 con una serie di iniziative a tema e si concluderà nell'autunno dello stesso anno con l'uscita di "30 e poi... Parte Seconda".
An 803 vacuum tube (pentode), made in 1942 for the US navy by Westinghouse. This beast was intended for radio transmitters, and can push 200W at 2000V.
The filament alone draws 50W!
In conjunction with CyberClimb and Legado Video, we produced a business legacy video for Component Manufacturing and Reaves Creating Systems. The video aids …
www.arrivalelectronics.co.uk/manufacturing Arrival Electronics delivers a full variety of Managed Electronic...
Read more about Component Manufacturing
(Posted by a Precision Machining China Manufacturer)
Component color work like carrying the stripes over the head set to the fork are at the heart of what we're doing with paint right now.
The insides of an 803 transmitting vacuum tube. The number n the center column is 96393. One of the leads is wrapped in what appears to be asbestos.
034/365 polyptych
Some shots from an abandoned refinery in CA. There are technically 4 photos in this image including the texture which was shot in the same location.
Prints available from lexmachine.etsy.com
Title: Symmetrical Components Seminar
Digital Publisher: Digital: Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
Physical Publisher: Physical: Graphic Services, Texas A&M University
Date Issued: 2011-08-17
Date Created: 1968
Dimensions: 4 x 5 inches
Format Medium: Photographic negative
Type: image
Identifier: Photograph Location: Graphic Services Photos, Box 21, File 21-155
Rights: It is the users responsibility to secure permission from the copyright holders for publication of any materials. Permission must be obtained in writing prior to publication. Please contact the Cushing Memorial Library for further information