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Awesome. The ET and Earthquake boards you posted were the last versions of those. That font set was used from 2003-2009. We never had a JP board in Orlando, did they have something similar in Hollywood?
 
ThreePack Shagur said:
Awesome. The ET and Earthquake boards you posted were the last versions of those. That font set was used from 2003-2009. We never had a JP board in Orlando, did they have something similar in Hollywood?
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Those boards were still there in 2009?? I was living in Orlando in 09, and they were long gone.. Someone wrote that the last were removed in 2003. No, I found the page of the artist who created these. He made a JP one for Hollywood in the 90s. He also designed and constructed the BttF board in Orlando.
 
Can anyone upload pics of the Orlando Airport Gift Shop from the 90's? including the big Jaws display?

Can anyone upload pics of the Universal Studios Escape billboards from 1999?
 
ThreePack Shagur said:
These started being removed in 1998 (with Ghostbusters being the exception), with Terminator and ET lasting until late 2003. The majority of them were on 528 westbound. Their fiberglass shells only lasted about 3-4 years in the sun, so they would be continually replaced. All of them also had lighting effects.

The biggest factor in their removal was that Universal needed to advertise the parks as a resort instead of a single park, and with billboards along the tourist corridor being prime real estate with 10+ year contracts, it made sense to take them down and start advertisements for the whole.

There were billboards for the following:
ET - light up finger
BTTF - light up flames behind the time machine
Jaws - light up headlight on the boat facing the shark
Kongfrontation - light up tram
Terminator - light up eyes on the T-800
Ghostbusters - illuminated proton streams
Earthquake - illuminated fires

If you guys like factoids, the Jaws billboard was also repurposed for the display at the Universal store in OIA.
Click to expand...

Can you upload a picture of the Universal Store in OIA from the 90's? including the Jaws display inside the glass?
 
I'm shocked no one has a webpage with all these on them. I always loved picking up guests from the airport because the whole journey was COVERED with these billboards. One of the more creative uses was the one that had a big crate on it that later on turned into a Kong billboard. It was a nice touch.
 
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Well for the record, they still have a 3-D builboard featuring Harry Potter..his wand is sticking out and it lights up..

WizardingBillboard.jpg


at least the art is not lost entirely
 
Tucker said:
Those boards were still there in 2009?? I was living in Orlando in 09, and they were long gone.. Someone wrote that the last were removed in 2003. No, I found the page of the artist who created these. He made a JP one for Hollywood in the 90s. He also designed and constructed the BttF board in Orlando.
Click to expand...
That "someone" was also me. These boards were gone in 2003, but I was referring to the font set used in the billboards as being the one used until 2009. Those aren't the original ET and Earthquake boards, but the last.

As for any pictures of the gift shop in OIA, I don't have any.
 
I really miss the E.T one, that's the last one I remember being up. "Fly with me at Universal Studios" I think it said... I'm feeling that "I'm close" feeling just thinking of that billboard.
 
Ash said:
I really miss the E.T one, that's the last one I remember being up. "Fly with me at Universal Studios" I think it said... I'm feeling that "I'm close" feeling just thinking of that billboard.
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Yeah, I agree! There's a whimsical feeling of being so close after driving down. My wife and I always preferred driving over flying. You just don't get the same satisfaction from a short plane ride as opposed to a road trip :)
 
Tucker said:
It's a shame they don't use more billboards, but when you can type Universal into google I suppose you don't need them.
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Just about every billboard in the surrounding area is a Universal billboard or WDW billboard so both resorts clearly haven't given up on billboard advertising.
 
ThreePack Shagur said:
These started being removed in 1998 (with Ghostbusters being the exception), with Terminator and ET lasting until late 2003. The majority of them were on 528 westbound. Their fiberglass shells only lasted about 3-4 years in the sun, so they would be continually replaced. All of them also had lighting effects.

The biggest factor in their removal was that Universal needed to advertise the parks as a resort instead of a single park, and with billboards along the tourist corridor being prime real estate with 10+ year contracts, it made sense to take them down and start advertisements for the whole.

There were billboards for the following:
ET - light up finger
BTTF - light up flames behind the time machine
Jaws - light up headlight on the boat facing the shark
Kongfrontation - light up tram
Terminator - light up eyes on the T-800
Ghostbusters - illuminated proton streams
Earthquake - illuminated fires

If you guys like factoids, the Jaws billboard was also repurposed for the display at the Universal store in OIA.
Click to expand...



I knew I wasn't dreaming when I remember that shop. They also had a full sized terror dog inside the shop if I remember correctly
 
image.jpeg

Can anyone upload a better photo of this old this its a photo of the universal studios escape 1999 billboard with the cat in the hat.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE upload a better picture of this.
 
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