Universal Studios Hollywood - Studio Tour

Prop Plaza / Visitors Village

Dates: 1964 - late 1980s

Postcard of Prop Plaza, c.1970s (courtesy Dickens Collection)

Prop Plaza contained shops, restaurants and an array of interesting props and objects from recent films. This midway point on the tram tour was a useful food and merchandising stop, as well as a chance to take in gorgeous views and many photo-opportunities.

In the early days of the Studio Tour, before the Upper Lot was constructed, the live action Western Stunt Show was performed in a small arena at Visitors Village (which became Prop Plaza). [see postcards below]. The show was moved to the newly built Upper Lot in June 1965.

Postcard of stunt show arena, 1964 (courtesy Dickens Collection)

Postcard of stunt show arena at Visitors Village, 1965 (courtesy Dickens Collection)

Prop Plaza Attractions

Prop Display

From the Universal Studios Guide, 1984 - Giant Phone

Prop Plaza is a stopping point midway in the Glamor-Tram guided tour of the Studio. Here you get a close-up view of many famous film props, including the giant-sized telephone and books used in “The Incredible Shrinking Man” and in the “Land of the Giants” television series.
As you have probably guessed, youngsters (and parents who enjoy seeing children have fun) get a special kick out of this part of the tour. The Plaza is a place to stretch your legs and your imagination; to some, it’s Alice’s Wonderland and Peter Pan’s Never-Never Land rolled into one.

Jail bars at Prop Plaza

Prop Plaza showcased a number of oversized props over the years, many of which featured in The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) (From Viewmaster 5360 series, 1987)

Giant hand prop from Land of the Giants (From Inside Universal Studios, 1978)

Waterfall

Scenic lagoon on the lower level at Prop Plaza, mid-way spot of the tour at Universal City Studios (Postcard C24080, 1968)

Cascading water forms the background to one of the many scenic spots encountered at Prop Plaza. The falls are real. The trees shown here are genuine - some of the palms seen on the tour are hand-made of plaster in Universal’s prop shop. The overhanging cliff and the rocks below are faked.
Prop Plaza contains a number of real movie props, including a World War II airplane, a 1920 hearse, and an elevator and bridge used in filming “Thoroughly Modern Millie”

Wells Fargo Express

A bouncing stagecoach with a background of moving scenery is one of the most popular spots at the Plaza, particularly for visitors who want to photograph a simulated movie sequence or stop-action scene. The children in the overland stage could be “headin’ for Dodge” or Tombstone, and the young man riding “shotgun” might well be Marshal Wyatt Earp!

Taking a Ride in an old Model “T”

From the Universal Studios Guide, 1984 - Tin Lizzy

It’s fun for young and old alike to take a spin behind the wheel of a Ford Model “T”. Visitors enjoy the simulated ride back into American history, to a time-frame, as one comic puts it, when “sex was dirty and the air was clean.”
Here, as at the Wells Fargo display, visitors are welcome to take snapshots or make movies of the family riding along a country road through the hill country of (take your pick) Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, or Wisconsin. You’ll remember your trip in the vintage auto for a long, long time.

The A Team van

Lifting a van at Prop Plaza

"PROP PLAZA VIEW of Valley with San Gabriel Mountains in Background"
(Postcard B4177, 1973)

1983 era trams about to unload at Prop Plaza
(From "The A Team" season two, "Steel" episode, 1983)

Go to jail
From Universal Studios Guide, 1984

Prop Plaza photos 1979 by Robert Napton

Giant gun and hair pins (photo by Robert Napton, 1979)

Giant camera and actor handprints (photo by Robert Napton, 1979)

Giant knife (photo by Robert Napton, 1979)

Giant hand - The silver van in the background was the Six Million Dollar Van (in the years before the A Team) (photo by Robert Napton, 1979)

Giant Phone (photo by Robert Napton, 1979)

Prop Plaza Today

In the 1980s, Prop Plaza was only used during the busy holiday season or at other peak times.
Today, the area is still intact, but is no longer a stop on the tram tour - it's function has been taken over by the concession stands and restaurants on the Upper Lot.

As the Prop Plaza site is one of the few places on the backlot completely off the tram tour, it's a useful place for productions to use as a base camp. During the run of the show, it was used as a production base by Desperate Housewives cast and crew, when they were filming on Colonial Street (Wisteria Lane)
The area is now also known as Hollywood Terrace, and until around 2012 still had most of the buildings intact from the Prop Plaza days.