Dianne and I are both 40. We've lived in Southern California for most of our lives, and consider ourselves to be fairly well rounded, and relatively cool. We're both college graduates, where we studied theater and music.

We have appeared in musicals, have sung in a studio - we have even performed as Christmas Carolers at Disneyland and at Universal Studios Theme Park. Suffice it to say, that we enjoy and understand the subtleties, nuances and appreciation of music.

2 years ago, we bought Universal Studios Celebrity Passes, and we have enjoyed the luxury of being able to visit as often as we do. I even wrote a short column about Universal Studios on amusementpark.com which you can link to here.

During our most recent visits, we have noticed that the background music has been subtly increasing in volume. In places, it is now at an almost painful level. Background music, when used effectively supports the look and feel of each section of a theme park. At Universal Studios Hollywood, it seems, background music has slowly taken Center Stage.

The entrance plaza music is big and bombastic and dramatic - a great way to set the scene for the Park. The problem? It's just too loud. More like a rock concert than a theme park, we literally cannot carry on a conversation, or ask a question of a Universal staff member without pitching up the level of our voices.

Walking further into the Park, this Main Gate symphony blends into music from 'The Mummy Returns' attraction as we passed by. Then, The Blues Brothers show started, and 'Soul Man' was added to the mix. Far from being able to decipher this cacophony of noise, I felt myself starting to squint - my ears were actually hurting.

As we rounded the corner, with Jake and Elwood's version of 'Shake Your Tail Feathers' rumbling the walkway, we were met with the newly decorated London Street.

While the re-decoration of this section is a nice touch, the 'Austin Powers' music caused us to have to shout "THIS IS NEW, ISN'T IT?" Again, the music is too loud.

And yet, even as "Soul Bossa Nova" was shaking the windows, just off to the right, at Mel's Diner, we could hear Sam Cooke belting out 'You Send Me.' Sam was also too loud.

Casting better judgement aside, we ate lunch at Mel's, although with the '50's music playing in the restaurant so intensely, we had to shout our order to the staff behind the counter. And then, sitting in the outdoor patio, we noticed that the '50's music playing inside the restaurant was different than the music playing outside.

This mixture of competing tunes became so grating, we just bulked down our food and got out of there. No time to sit, no time to talk, and certainly no time to relax and people watch.

Down the way from Mel's, about a year ago, Dianne and I sat at a park bench in front of the Mexican restaurant and were confronted by no less than four different pieces of music - all playing at the same time - all loud.

The bench was still there [right], and so was the music.

A Mariachi tune coming from the Cantina, an accordion instrumental coming from the Louie's Pizza and Pasta, a song from 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' near 'Animal Planet Live' and Alan Silvestri's famous theme from 'Back to the Future' --' It was very loud. And very mind-boggling.

Another neat getaway for us on past visits was Jurassic Cove Cafe.

We would buy a snack or lunch, or just sit and relax on the upper outdoor dining area. Sure, we could hear the boats splash down, and some other ambient sounds, but overall, it was quite nice and enjoyable.

Until now.

A recently added dinosaur sculpture at the front of the attraction, now pumps out John Williams' 'Jurassic Park' theme. So loud, it can now be heard plain as day on that upper eating area. And it repeats about every 3 minutes. A once quiet oasis has become another noise filled pit where we just want to get the heck out of there.

As the volume of the background music increases, so does the volume of guests talking to one another. Far from providing excitement and fun, noise causes tension, confusion, and uncertainty.

You can see it the guests' faces.

The upper lot has become something akin to New Years' Eve in Times Square - with a steady, noisy din of shouting voices, loud music, and scowling people charging from one location to the next.

Add to this your trek in and out of CityWalk with its' own pounding, pulsating, rock and roll soundtrack, and visiting Universal Studios has become one, big Excedrin headache

And while the numbers of Celebrity Passes increases, it seems that Universal Studios Hollywood will be filled with more and more returning guests - and more and more locals. Unlike the here-for-one-day tourists who are racing from one ride to another, the returning guest is one who has probably seen most of the attractions, has the luxury of visiting on a Wednesday afternoon just to grab a cup of coffee, a snack and hang out for a few hours. Without places to catch their breath and chill out, these members of your guest base can't linger, relax and ultimately spend money on food and merchandise.

Our Celebrity Passes are expiring June 2002 - and we're not going to renew this time. Right now, Universal Studios is no longer a destination for us where we can walk around, get some exercise, and enjoy a little bit of a theme park fix. it's now another busy place to put your head down, plug your ears, and run through.

My suggestion is certainly not to rid the Park of the music completely, but to fine tune it -- adjusting the volume, the tone, and the speaker placement. Transform some of these smaller sections of the park from big noise-filled blast zones, into nifty little nuggets of fun. Places where this local clientele can spend some time.

Universal could try it for a month - as a grand experiment. See if your local guests and Celebrity Pass holders show up more, carry on normal voiced conversations, start smiling again, start spending more money, and if their ears stop bleeding.

And if it doesn't work, if the comments are negative, and people really want their music loud again -- you can always just go back and crank up the volume.

PS: I did write a letter to Larry Kurtzweil, President of Universal Studios Hollywood relating our experience in the park. It was a similar letter to the story you just read.

We did receive a response. To see a copy of the letter click here

Great to be heard, and very cool that they wrote back - I appreciate that.
But we're still not going to renew our Celebrity Passes.