It's Gone

[crossover_chick]

As probably all of you know, Back To The Future -- The Ride closed down yesterday night at Universal Studios Hollywood. This means that the only BTTF Ride still in existence is in Japan.

I want to slap whoever was in charge of that. If not for the Ride, I would have never gotten into Back To The Future. Back in January 2000, I went to Universal Studios Orlando for the first time. Back then, I was a crazed Marx Brothers fan, so the highlight of the trip for the younger me was encountering the Marx impersonators. But I also rode the BTTF Ride for the first time. I quite enjoyed it, even if I didn't get all the references and stuff. A few months after our vacation, I was talking about the Ride with my dad, and I mentioned that I'd never seen the movies. Mom and Dad decided to rectify that oversight.

Heh. They've been paying for it ever since. I got so immediately obsessed that whenever we went to Blockbuster, I just HAD to rent at least the first one. Always zeroed in right on their little patch of real estate. My parents finally bought me the VHS box set as a middle-school-graduation gift (you know, the one with the Secrets video). Shortly after that, I started writing fanfic, and well, the rest is history.

I'm not sure how many times I got to ride the Ride. It's in the double digits, I'm sure -- I always made sure to go at least twice whenever we visited Universal Studios. God -- I could be out of it the entire drive down there, but the instant I started seeing those Universal signs -- the instant I knew I would soon be riding the Ride again -- I'd perk up like that. Mom and Dad preferred the beaches, but I LIVED to go on that Ride. My favorite year was the year we went down around my birthday, and I wore part of my Docette2015 costume. That was the year I got Einy, and the year I discovered I shared a birthday with one of the employees. I don't remember his name, but they brought him out, had us sing the birthday song, and I couldn't resist saying that it was my birthday too. So they invited me up front and let me show off my costume a bit. That was fun. There was also the year I got to meet the Doc impersonator -- God, I was so shy, even around a fake! He was great, though, and I managed to get in a quick kiss on the cheek. :)

I couldn't be there for the closings. Money concerns, you know. And now, knowing that I'll never be able to ride the Ride again -- knowing that my fantasy vacation of going to California to ride the Hollywood version as part of a BTTF vacation is never going to come true --

Boys, I need a hug.

One Die-Hard Fan's Blog About the Closing He says it better than I could.




This was the birthday trip -- my parents got me a jacket and put pictures of Doc all over it for a present that year. This is me in it (and my hat o'pins) with the DeLorean.





The Birthday Trip again, this time showcasing me in my Docette2015 costume. I'm wearing my BTTF.com hat here, along with the shirt, coat, and pants.



In front of the train here. . . .



And inside, with one of the hoverboards.



My first picture with Einy! He shed all over me that day.



The Doc impersonator trip -- me, Dad, and my mother's sock monkey in front of Doc's time train. (Don't ask about the sock monkey.) Ignore the captions -- I made them up for showing the pictures to my classmates.




And, me with "Doc!" Unfortunately, the only pictures we have include me looking like a total dork. :p He was such a sweetie too.

Comments

[gigs-83.livejournal.com]

Grr, I'm so jealous!! I never got to meet the Doc impersonator. I even asked the last time I went to Universal with my mom and they said probably not. *poke*

[docsgirl.livejournal.com]

The one I met was pretty cool. Too bad you never got a chance to catch up with him. :(

[geno0823.livejournal.com]

*um, hugs?*

Damn, that's sad.

[docsgirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

I just felt I had to write something in memoriam. I owe that ride one hell of an obsession.

[bttf4444.livejournal.com]

You look really good in that Doc costume! :)

[docsgirl.livejournal.com]

Heh, thanks. I've still got it in my closet, just in case. :p

[anivad.livejournal.com]

*asks about the sock monkey*

[docsgirl.livejournal.com]

*snort* Eh, it's nothing, really. My Mom has a sock monkey that she takes around with her sometimes -- name's Ian. She's pretty much a kid at heart. (Ian's in semi-retirement now, though -- he's more stitching than cloth by this point.)