UNIVERSAL CITY, Ca., ORLANDO, Fla., (July 14, 2014) — From cult horror film to breakthrough television series on El Rey Network, “From Dusk Till Dawn” will add terrifying maze to its credits when filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’s acclaimed supernatural show debuts as a menacing new “Halloween Horror Nights” experience at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, beginning Friday, September 19.

This all-new maze, inspired by the critically acclaimed television series, will thrust guests into the deviant world of “From Dusk Till Dawn,” where they will encounter sordid mythological creatures known as “Culebras,” serpent-like vampires who have tormented the earth for centuries.  Residing within the elusive and sinister nightclub, “The Twister,” located just over the Mexican border and above cursed ancient ruins, the “Culebras” prove to be a band of immoral and depraved beasts with a deadly agenda. As guests navigate the maze and venture deep within the bowels of “The Twister,” they will find themselves face to face with a cast of perverse characters, including exotic dancer, Santanico Pandemonium, a mysterious and irresistible “Culebras” femme fatale and Queen Vampire.

Based on the film of the same name, "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” is a supernatural crime saga centered around bank robber, Seth Gecko and his violent, unpredictable brother, Richard "Richie" Gecko, who are wanted by the FBI after a bank heist leaves several people dead.  While on the run to Mexico, Seth and Richie encounter former pastor Jacob Fuller and his family, whom they take hostage. Using the family RV to cross the border, chaos ensues when the group detours to a club populated by vampires and are forced to fight until dawn in order to get out alive. The series deepens the tone of the film,From Dusk Till Dawn, upon which it is based, adding new characters and backstories that expand the Mesoamerican mythology behind the creatures inside the club.

“Universal Studios’ ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ event is the ideal platform to take fans of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ to literally experience the terror of stepping into the show,” said Robert Rodriguez.  “It has been an incredible opportunity to work closely with the Creative teams at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort to bring this maze to life with such detail and authenticity.  This maze will capture the visceral excitement and thrills of the series, and I can’t wait to experience it myself.”

A versatile and award-winning filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez is renowned for directing a variety of successful and groundbreaking film sagas, including such cult horror classics asPlanet Terror, Machete, Grindhouse and From Dusk Till Dawn, upon which El Rey Network’s hit television show, “From Dusk Till Dawn:  The Series” is based. Rodriguez is also the Founder & Chairman of El Rey Network, a 24-hour, general entertainment English-language cable channel which debuted in the U.S. in December 2013.

“Robert Rodriguez’ genius in pushing the boundaries of the horror genre is a perfect pairing for ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ as we continue to intensify our event with the most credible horror voices within the entertainment industry,” said John Murdy, Creative Director for Universal Studios Hollywood and Executive Producer of “Halloween Horror Nights.” “This radical new maze will give fans of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ an unprecedented opportunity to experience the show’s Mesoamerican mythology and will come to life with the same attention to detail and production value that Robert’s work is known for.”

“Robert Rodriguez’s vision of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ has translated so well into a maze experience,” said Michael Aiello, Director of Entertainment - Creative Development, Universal Orlando Resort.  “We will feature the over-the-top gore that the show does so well and our guests will come face-to-face with Robert’s unique and wickedly cool take on the vampire mythos that is completely authentic to the show. From the Nightclub interiors to the inner sanctum of its tombs, these bloodthirsty beasts will be everywhere and have a thirst that can’t be quenched.”

Universal Studios’ “Halloween Horror Nights” events have a more than 20-year history of creating incredibly entertaining, horrifying Halloween experiences that are consistently rated the nation’s best. The events on each coast feature highly-themed, disturbingly real, haunted mazes based on everything from films to nightmares – and streets filled with hundreds of specially trained “scareactors.” In addition to the “From Dusk Till Dawn” maze, other announced mazes include, “The Walking Dead:  The End of the Line.”

To learn more about the “From Dusk Till Dawn” maze featuring Robert Rodriguez and the series cast members, click here:  "From Dusk till Dawn" maze announcement video and here"From Dusk till Dawn" cast Q&A

About Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios HollywoodSM, The Entertainment Capital of L.ASM. includes a full-day, movie-based theme park and Studio Tour; the CityWalk entertainment, shopping and dining complex, the Universal CityWalk Cinemas and the “5 Towers” state-of-the-art outdoor concert venue.  World-class rides and attractions include the popular “Despicable Me Minion Mayhem” family adventure ride, the intense, award-winning ride, “King Kong 360 3-D” on the famed behind-the-scenes Studio Tour, the critically-acclaimed mega-attraction, “Transformers™:  The Ride-3D,” “The Simpsons Ride™,” “Revenge of the MummySM—The Ride,”and “Jurassic Park® —The Ride.”

Updates on “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood are available online at HalloweenHorrorNights.com/Hollywood and on Facebook at: “Halloween Horror Nights – Hollywood,” on Instagram at @HorrorNights and Twitter at @HorrorNights as Creative Director John Murdy reveals a running chronicle of exclusive information. Watch videos on Halloween Horror Nights YouTube and join the conversation using #UniversalHHN.

Universal Studios Hollywood is part of NBCUniversal, a Comcast company. Follow Universal Studios Hollywood on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About Universal Orlando Resort

Vacation like you mean it at Universal Orlando Resort – where every heart pounding, jaw-dropping, goose-bumping second counts.  It is the only place where you can turn spending time with your family into spending time as a family. Together, you can soar above Hogwarts with Harry Potter, swing above the streets with Spider-Man, become a Minion in the hilarious and heartwarming Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride, and join Optimus Prime in the fight to save mankind on the new mega-attraction, TRANSFORMERS: The Ride – 3D. And, coming this summer, you can step into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.

Universal Orlando Resort is home to two incredible theme parks: Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure; four magnificently themed on-site hotels: Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort and the newest addition, Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort; and Universal CityWalk - a nighttime entertainment complex featuring a collection of nightclubs, restaurants and shops. And located just minutes from Universal Orlando Resort is Wet n’ Wild, Orlando’s premier waterpark.

Tickets and vacation packages for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando are on sale now at HalloweenHorrorNights.com\Orlando. More information about the event will be available soon. Updates on Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights are available on Facebook at Halloween Horror Nights – Universal Orlando and on Instagram at@HorrorNightsORL. Plus, fans can get exclusive updates from Creative Development Director Mike Aiello on Twitter at @HorrorNightsORL.

Universal Orlando Resort is part of NBCUniversal, a Comcast company. Follow Universal Orlando Resort on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About El Rey Network:

El Rey Network is a new English language network founded by maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. Curated by Rodriguez and his artistic collective, the network unites the most culturally diverse generation in history through fearless, badass and original content that awakens the renegade in everyone. The network's action-packed content is anchored by original signature dramas, feature films, grindhouse genre, cult classic action, and horror/sci-fi.

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

Ninja remains closed (no surprises there) but no walls have been placed in front of the entrance which hopefully means it will be open sooner rather than later. 

Sorry for the water spot ... I was using the waterproof camera. 

Not sure how well you can see it, but a couple of the trees are marked with red tape which probably means they are on their way out. 

A look towards the area where they were cutting last week

You could hear some work going on behind the trees, but not cutting, actual "ride noises". Not sure if that means they are pulling out the 3rd train to work on it. 

Since they weren't working today, Jet Stream was back open. I hadn't actually seen the lower queue building full in awhile. 

The path between Apocalypse and Roaring Rapids was also open, probably due to them not working as well. 

A look at some of the work being done from the other side. 

Not sure if this was recently cleared or if it's been this way for awhile. 

Some fence boards have been replaced, again, not sure if that's recent or not. Maybe they should just replace the entire thing while they are working in this area? This looks really tacky. I wouldn't even leave my own fence like this. 

Guessing some trees on the other side of the path may be on their way out as well. It's sad because that's one of the things that makes Ninja great, but it's better than not having Ninja at all. 

Just a couple of quick notes from the rest of the park. 

Ad's in the Apocalypse queue are advertising a chance to win a trip to ride Goliath at Six Flags Great America. Click to enter

The Full Throttle Plaza just got a nice new paint job. This had to have been just since Wednesday because I certainly didn't notice it the other day. It's nice to see little projects like this. They go a long way in keeping the park looking nice. 

I'm no prude, but this shirt caught my eye. Apparently they've been at Six Flags Over Texas since at least 2011. 

It was another beautiful day at Hurricane Harbor. No cartoons or music in the wave pool again. Starting to think it's a safety thing, which is totally understandable. 

New signs about the "Buttons, Zippers and Rivets" policy at the park. This isn't a new policy, but with the two new slides, no surprise they are letting people know about it. 

That's going to wrap it up for this update. Not sure when we'll have another update, but probably in the next week or two depending on what news we hear from the park. 

Leave a comment below and let us know what you think about the new watermark. 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

The pace of the construction for Hogsmeade and Springfield continues to amaze us every time we head into the park. Just since our last mini-update this area looks a lot different. 

As a result of all of the construction, the Shrek 4-D queue has been consolidated a bit. 

As the area takes shape, the Flintstones Bar-B-Q continues to look more out of place. But the park needs the food location for now. 

With how close Springfield and Hogsmeade are to each other it's going to be interesting to see how they deal with the separation of them both. 

Can it just be open already? 

The building for Forbidden Journey and Hogwarts is starting to get closed off which should start freeing them up to work on more of the Hogsmeade buildings. 

Walls are starting to go up on the huge frame. 

As you can see to the right of the building, they still have a LOT of room to play with

A close up of the building. I don't really see anything other than steel, but if anybody notices anything of significance starting to take shape, by all means share it in the comments. 

Some Horror Nights construction is already going on, hard to believe in just about 2 1/2 months it's going to be time to get scared!! 

Down on the lower lot near Jurassic Park. Still can't tell what the maze theme is going to be.

The facade is obviously a house, but that doesn't really tell us much since pretty much every maze in this spot has had a similar facade. 

Stage 747 continues to get worked on, but I doubt it's a Boxtrolls maze. 

Heading over to the Terror Tram, not sure if this is a prop or it's just full of props. 

The terror tram path

Looks like they were doing some brush clearing

Hopefully we'll get some HHN news very soon. 

New York Street on the Upper Lot recently got some work done on the outside facades and it looks nice. 

Little things like this go a long way from looking at Universal Studios as a "Studios" park with some themed elements and looking at it as a "theme park'. 

There are a lot of "little things" going on around the park including an all-new Starbucks on the lower lot. 

This new Wait Times board was new to me, staffed by a couple of the great Universal Employees like Billy. 

Down on the lower lot, the new Starbucks is open

While I'm personally happy to have a Starbucks inside the park, sadly once you enter the store it's basically just a "Starbucks". There is no Universal themeing inside. Not even any movie posters promoting upcoming releases. 

The inside is also pretty small, but employees were doing a great job of keeping up as there was a bit of a line. Hopefully they'll add some kind of themeing down the line. 

Also, the Starbucks App/Starbucks card isn't accepted although you do get your AP discount. Drink and Food prices are in-line with a standard Starbucks. With the AP discount it's a bit less than your local Starbucks. 

Heading outside the park for a minute, the pedestrian bridge from the Metro Red Line station has started construction. 

Just from this one picture you can see that this bridge is needed and LONG overdue. 

As somebody who likes to take the Red Line I'm excited about this. Of course, this is assuming you can actually find parking at the red-line lots to be able to take the train. 

Hopefully a more permanent solution for getting people up and down the hill is coming. Currently there is a tram that runs about every 5-10 minutes. Or you can walk up the hill as I did. It's a nice little work out. 

Of course, since it was about 90 degrees I headed straight for Jurassic Park (still my favorite ride in the park). 

With the Single-Rider line, it was about 30 seconds. 

The summer splash fountains are on, so you get pretty soaked. 

A couple of quick tram notes, first, as always, lets check the production schedule. 

My favorite summer show AGT is being heavily promoted. But enough with the re-runs already. 

I found this kind of interesting ... this is the name of Meg Ryan's character in "You've Got Mail" (Don't ask how I knew that) and they just announced that her and Tom Hanks were going to be doing another movie together. Probably just a coincidence, but who knows. 

While not really paying attention to the Flash Flood I noticed this on the other side. 

I hadn't ridden on this side of the tram since Jaws reopened, so here is a shark picture. 

Noticed a LOT of tree trimming going on between Wisteria Lane and the Grinch sets. Hmmm. 

While on the subject of Wisteria Lane ... I think it's really time to ditch the Desperate Housewives spiel. The show's been off the air for 2 years now. 

Speaking of things that need to be re-done ... War of the Worlds is almost 10 years old. So old that there are actually cassette tapes in the crash scene. Kids, if you don't know what these are, ask your parents. =)

Just a couple of Fast and Furious pics for today. I didn't make it over to get overhead shots while we were there. We'll make sure we do that next time. 

Lastly, work is continuing on the new hotel where Fung Lum used to be. Not much to see yet. 

That's going to wrap it up for this look at Universal Studios Hollywood. It may be awhile until our next update as we are actually blocked-out for the rest of July (starting on July 11th). Make sure you check your AP's for block out days before heading to the park. We had originally planned on going on the 11th (oops). 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

Heading up the hill, we weren't surprised in the least to see Ninja closed. That didn't mean that people weren't still trying to get in line so they had an Employee stationed at the entrance. Hopefully nobody is giving the employees out here a hard time. 

Depending on how long the ride is closed, I wouldn't be surprised if they just walled off this entire area. 

Heading down the hill towards the back side of the park, you can see them doing work through the trees. More than see, you can hear them doing lots of work. 

Due to it's proximity to Ninja, Jet Stream is also closed. 

As you can see, employees are stationed here as well. Most park guests don't understand why Jet Stream is closed from what we could tell, especially since it was in the 90's. But please don't give these guys a hard time. They'd rather be operating their ride and giving people a good time vs. standing out here telling people the ride is closed. 

Looks like Jet Stream was E-Stopped as soon as the Ninja accident happened, which is supposed to happen. 

A look at some of the trucks up on the hill working on the trees. There is an access road that goes pretty much in the middle of both rides. 

Guessing that the crane is to hold up trees as they are cut below. Don't need any more trees falling on the track or the Jet Stream flume. 

A little further down the road, you can see the trees they have been working on. Guessing that Ninja is a bit more "open" when it reopens. 

The path from the end of Cyclone Bay (near Apocalypse) up to the exit of Roaring Rapids is closed to allow crews easy access from backstage area's. 

As soon as we hear ANYTHING regarding the ride reopening we'll be sure to pass it along. The most important thing is making sure the area is safe for everybody. 

Unfortunately, Ninja wasn't the only coaster incident on Monday. Sadly an 18 year old Man was ejected from the coaster "Inferno" at Terra Mitica in Spain and later died from his injuries. The coaster in question is an Intamin Zac Spin coaster which is the same type as Green Lantern: First Flight. 

As always, safety is the first priority. Below is a statement from the park regarding the incident: 
We are saddened to hear of the accident in Spain. The safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority and as a precaution we have temporarily closed a similar ride for a thorough inspection

As we were taking our pictures it was obvious from the interaction between park guests and the employees stationed out front that the news of the accident in Spain hasn't reached most of the "GP". 

Again, our thoughts go out to those impacted by this tragic accident in Spain and we applaud the park for taking measures to make sure all of their rides are safe. 

Just a couple of quick notes regarding the rest of the park ... 

I'm not a "Coaster Shirt" guy, but I actually liked this shirt, and for $6 I was almost tempted to pick up a couple. If we make our weekly trek to Hurricane Harbor this weekend I may head in and pick one up. 

I didn't notice them at the time, but the "Ultimate Coaster Match" shirts behind this sign actually don't look too bad either. 

Swashbuckler is still down (and not listed on the "Closed Rides" list) but there is now some kind of shed on the site. Maybe it's the swings? 

Lastly, a couple of these charging stations have shown up outside of Studio 6F (near Gold Rusher). This is actually a pretty good use of ads and I'm sure they are very popular. 

Blast from the past time!!! Who recognizes this? I hadn't actually seen this in years but as CoasterMatt and I were looking for area's to take Ninja pics, we came across it. 

That's going to wrap it up for this quick update. Again, as soon as we hear anything about Ninja or Green Lantern we'll let you know. 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

Info on Thunderbolt's opening from the park: 

The Thunderbolt Has Opened!

The Thunderbolt is the first custom built roller coaster in Coney Island since The Cyclone in 1927. Thrilling riders with speeds of 65 miles per hour, the 125 foot tall roller coaster, featuring over 2,000 feet of track, it sits near the historic B&B Carousell and the new Steeplechase Plaza, and marks another important milestone in Coney Island’s rebirth.

Chris' review and some great pictures. 

In true Coney Island fashion (weather wise), the ride was running with sustained winds of 30+mph

There is absolutely no line ever because the first ride cost 10 dollars, even when it is 92 degrees on a beach day in the middle of the summer.

That being said, it was kind of awesome. Awesome in a way that this is the coolest coaster within 50 miles of my house.

It's like a euro fighter without head banging so it's tough to describe.

I came off the ride thinking, that was fun but again, somewhat perplexed.

Gauging the ride based upon stuff I actually love: 
Is it worth 10 dollars a ride? Absolutely not. Is it really cool and easily the best roller coaster in New York? ABSOLUTELY.

Unfortunately, due to the weather and the cost, the only time we actually saw the ride run was when we rode it, so sadly no pictures of the ride in action. 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

Springfield continues to take shape. You can see some of the Hogsmeade buildings to the left. 

Not Diagon Alley ... err ... Fast and Furious Supercharged. 

Down below, maze stuff is starting to take shape. No idea what maze this is yet but this is the location of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2012) and Insidious (2013) among others. 

Looks like it could be a house of some kind? Doesn't really tell us much. 

Stage 747 continues to be worked on for HHN. I doubt this is going to be some kind of Airplane themed maze ... insert your favorite Airplane Quote in the comments below. Our favorite may get something special.

And that's it for this update. We know it's Monday and you are hard at work so we didn't want to take up too much of your time. 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. 

If you have any comments, please share them below.