PRPG:
Universal Studios Orlando

Taking a Ride Home

August 31, 2016

Since it opened in Universal Studios Orlando last winter, Williams of Hollywood Prop Shops has offered for sale parts and pieces of rides that have been closed down or revamped. That makes for some one-of-a-kind (and very expensive) souvenirs.
Universal Studios Orlando

  • One of the most memorable parts of the 1996 disaster movie Twister was a very angry cow picked up by the tornado and tossed all around. A flying cow figured into the Twister ride at Universal Studios, which closed in late 2015. That fiberglass cow—which is covered in realistic-feeling hair—is currently priced at $4,999.99.
  • If you’re into Twister, or the ride, but you blew your savings elsewhere (say, on a trip to Universal Studios), you’re in luck: you can buy a bicycle prop from the ride for a mere $249.99.
  • One of the park’s most popular rides was a Jaws-themed ride—park guests rode around in a little boat and an animatronic shark attacked them, just like it attacked Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider in the movies. Other sharks featured into the ride, which closed in 2012. A hammerhead shark prop, caught up in a net and ropes sells for $2,900. The miniature, beady-eyed replica of Jaws that for years hung on a sign above where riders queued (along with a sign indicating wait time) is also on sale, for $1,999.99.
  • Disaster! was an attraction that included a realistic simulation of an earthquake in the San Francisco subway. A wrecked subway car door from the ride, which closed in 2015, will set you back just $699.99.
  • Other big pieces of unwanted stuff from elsewhere in Universal Studios is for sale, too. Woody Woodpecker just doesn’t thrill like he used to, apparently, because a six-foot-tall statue of the character was taken out of a gift shop and placed for sale at Williams. Price: $2,999.99.