I was the only one in the theatre...there were about a dozen total...who chuckled at the nod so I am guessing they didn't get it.  Did anybody else catch the reference or am I one of the few old enough to remember the original?

I haven't seen it yet (and wont till it hits Blu-ray). My guess is I will catch whatever reference there is to the original. One of my favorite movies from that era. I'm sure I've watched it at least a dozen times over the years. 

Seen the flick twice (free ticket didn't work opening weekend, much more enjoyable in 2D in an empty theater during teh day also!), caught (and wished they had gone further with) the nod if it's what I'm thinking. Since I'm not positive how to do spoilers, I'll just ask if I'm on the right track.
You're talking about the part with the following dialogue?

"What's this?"
"Leave it!"

Quoting TheMadMartian:

Quote:
Quoting bigdaddyhorse:

Quote:
Seen the flick twice (free ticket didn't work opening weekend, much more enjoyable in 2D in an empty theater during teh day also!), caught (and wished they had gone further with) the nod if it's what I'm thinking. Since I'm not positive how to do spoilers, I'll just ask if I'm on the right track.
You're talking about the part with the following dialogue?

"What's this?"
"Leave it!"

Indeed...made me laugh.

Made me laugh both times as well. In fact, the humor (not just this scene, but all of it thoughout) worked better the second time.

I saw it in the theater the other day. If you remember the original film the brief appearance of Bubo is a pretty obvious nod to the original. There were only two other people in the theater (a good thing), so no chuckles were heard.