It's the End of the World As We Know It

Positioned right at the entrance to the Backlot from Production Courtyard is Studio 7, housing the special effects workshop and shooting stages of Walt Disney Studios Park, and it's clear that today's demonstration of "Les Effets Speciaux" will center on scenes from the 1998 blockbuster film Armageddon. The Michael Bay-directed Armageddon, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures division, became an international hit grossing more than half a billion dollars. In fact, the movie did even better abroad than it did in the States, so it's no surprise to see it featured here.

Positioned just outside Studio 7 is one of the full-scale Armadillo vehicles built for Armageddon. It's an impressive prop and a pleasure to see it here (as opposed to the Boneyard of the Studio Tram Tour), where you can spend time appreciating it in detail.

The Armadillo definitely adds some testosterone to this corner of the park. Of course, just as it would be in a real studio, the aesthetic of the Backlot is very utilitarian, with exposed pipes and steel and plenty of equipment around.

From the grip truck parked in the street to the action genre movie posters used on the light & sound towers, it's an area of Walt Disney Studios Park that, by design, is heavy on edge and light on Pixie Dust. There are still plenty of Disney touches, though. Just take a look at the license plate on that truck: WED 1901 (for Walter Elias Disney, born in 1901).

There are also some really cool props to be found on the Backlot. Appropriately standing outside the special effects stage is this giant wind machine.

Getting back to the attraction, Armageddon: Les Effets Speciaux is positioned at the entrance to the Backlot, just beyond the security gates. According to the story, there's production taking place inside Studio 7 today, so it's a Hot Set. As we'll soon learn, that designation on the barriers delineating the queue has more than one meaning.

We head past the podium and toward the building, where signs warn unauthorized personnel of the dangers inherent with the sort of special effects being used on set today.

Luckily, we've been deemed honorary members of the Special Effects Crew, so we're granted access. We gather in a small room to be introduced to the story of Armageddon and our role in the upcoming scene. One of the stars of the film, Michael Clarke Duncan, even "stops by" to give us some encouragement.

With that, we're off to either Stage 7-A or 7-B (the same show is mirrored on each stage for added attraction capacity), where we find ourselves on the set of the Russian space station from one of the action sequences in the movie. Windows open onto a view of outer space, and when the director calls "Action!" we're suddenly thrust into the middle of the meteor storm.

Meteorites begin hitting the station. Lights flicker. Pipes burst, sending clouds of gas into the room. Flames erupt, closer and hotter than you can imagine would be safe. Ultimately, a vacuum opens into space, and everything gets sealed and shut down just as we hear, "Cut!"

Armageddon: Les Effets Speciaux is an intense experience, thrusting Guests into the middle of some of the real special and physical effects used in the making of this action movie extravaganza.