We were up at Universal Studios Hollywood yesterday for a closer look at Springfield, which we'll be sharing for you at a later date, but if you missed any of the pictures we posted be sure to check out our Facebook page. Today we'll mostly be looking at Wizarding World, which is starting to get more landscaping done in advance of it's opening next year. Trees have been added to the hill down towards the Studio Tour. This is going to be a nice natural barrier between Hogsmead/Hogwarts and the Studio Tour. These will fill in quite nicely over the next few years. More framing for Hogwarts has gone up since our last update. Should start seeing details very soon. Flying Hippogriff and Hagrids Hut will be in there somewhere. This really is going to be a nice view. Moving over to Hogsmeade, the buildings on this side look to be pretty much done, at least from the outside. But just to the left, more scaffolding and details being added. Not sure I'll ever get used to seeing a Springfield light post and Hogsmeade building in the same picture. Our look at the arch for this update. From outside the park, doesn't look much different. =) Lots of stuff ready to be moved over to Hogsmeade/Hogwarts. Moving on from Wizarding World, Fast and Furious Supercharged continues to get ready for it's June debut. Rumors are that Disaster at Universal Studios Orlando will be getting a Fast and Furious attraction, which makes sense. I'd imagine they'll use the same "tram" set-up although it'd be nice to see them get something unique. Shipping Containers have been added to the exit of the attraction. I've only seen the first two movies, is this related to one of them? Some great new merchandise has been added for the celebration of the Studio Tour's 50th. This has to be one of my favorite things ever. As a hat guy, I totally love this. Moving out side the park, the new parking structures are continuing to grow. Tommy's will now be a Smashburger They've FINALLY moved the crosswalk from the Red Line station which should make it easier for both cars and pedestrians until the bridge is completed. You now only have to cross one side of the street to get to the shuttle up the hill. They were moving some dirt around for the new hotel as well. Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update, we won't have another USH update for a couple of weeks due to Star Wars Celebration next week. But we'll be running the Springfield stuff as soon as we get the ok to do so. Thanks for reading and for all the great support. If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter and Instagram. Also, be sure to join our new Mailing List to receive our newsletter (will be sent out about every two weeks)
If you have any comments, please share them below. Springfield at Universal Studios Hollywood had some soft openings beginning last Friday with one side of the new area being open and the Duff Brewery Side coming out from behind walls just in time for Spring Break Crowds in the park. Even though it was the first day of the area being open for guests (it had opened on Wednesday for park employees) it seemed like they had everything down to a science as far as serving, seating and keeping lines shorts is concerned. We have no idea when Springfield "officially" opens, but I'd guess as of now it's pretty much open for good. We haven't heard anything about it closing after Spring Break or anything. But we'll let you know if it does. Moving on, the new extended queue for Shrek 4-D is open and it looks awesome. I love the Shrek characters, so if this attraction is going to stay around, maybe they should try and get a new Shrek movie in here at some point? Moving on to Potter, more scaffolding has come down revealing much more of Hogsmeade. Lastly, as of last Thursday, Universal AP prices have gone up and the "Premium" option has been replaced by the "No Black-Out Season Pass". This means that there are currently no AP options at the park that offer parking. If you have the premium pass you can still obviously use the parking until your pass expires. We get that the expansion the park is receiving is absolutely unprecidented. It's unbelievable, and it's amazing. But you are pretty much alienating your most loyal guests here. Hopefully they'll reverse this trend that seems to be the norm at many parks of giving AP's the shaft. Having an AP doesn't (and shouldn't) give us any extra benefit, we just like to go and enjoy the park. I don't think that's too much to ask. Also, you'll notice they are no longer "Annual" passes, but "Season" passes, and employees have been instructed to use this new term. Even year long passes purchased at Costco have an expiration date of March 18, 2016. Now this doesn't mean that Potter is opening on March 19, 2016 or even that there will be no AP's next year. Remember when DCA tried to cut out AP's when they first opened? Granted, DCA had no Potter, but it didn't work out. We fully expect AP prices to go up next year it will just be interesting to see the true impact Potter has. For those of you visiting the park, we suggest taking the Metro Red Line and then the shuttle up to the park. Of course, finding parking at the metro lots is another article in itself. Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. Spring Break has descended on the park and it will be a very busy week at all parks, not just Universal. So bring your patience with you if you'll be heading to a park the next few weeks. As you can see above, we've just started dating our Universal Studios Hollywood updates, there are only so many adjectives you can use to describe the incredible volume of work they are doing at the park. But work is continuing to progress at a ridiculous pace. Springfield and Fast and Furious are well on schedule for their Spring openings. We'll also take a look at the Studio Tour and elsewhere in the park to touch on a couple of things. * Pictures and Words by Gregg Condon This update we'll start off with Wizarding World, because we can. Welcome to Wizarding World. Can't wait to walk through this arch. A couple of close up shots The great hall ... It's big The part of Hogsmeade that's not as done The part of Hogsmeade that's really not as done. So while the front side is looking great, there's still a LOT to be done. And that doesn't even include all of the interior work. This side is basically as done as the front side was a few months ago. Moving over to Springfield, the walls have moved again as they are working on the area between the Duff Brewery and the rest of Springfield. You now basically go just outside Stage 56 (the Special Effects Show) to get to the other side of the park. Kent Brockman reads the news ... "Yeah, I know I'm on ... but I don't care! I don't read the news until I get my danish. Go ahead, try to find a replacement" Krustylu Studios ... coming soon. Mmmm ... Donuts A little better shot of the Springfield sign that we couldn't get in our last update Facades for the Aztec theater and Cletus' Chicken Shack appear to be done. A week? Still 5 days longer than it took to write the movie they are making fun of. =) Anybody know if the smoke stacks are going to have actual smoke? Because we weren't sure, but now we want to see it. The walls were down around Disco Stu's ... which looks pretty close to being done as well. Lisa is so Prim and Proper ... The main reason we went by the park was to check out Dig: The Escape Room. Unfortunately we were unable to visit due to some bad organization. We arrived shortly after 10:00am and were told the first group of the day had already pre-reserved a time (VIP's we presume). We have no problem with that and were told to come back after 11:00. Once we came back at that time we were told the next available time was 2:45. Now, it wasn't a busy day in the park, at all. But it seemed like people were able to reserve times between 11:00 and 2:45, yet we were unable to. But it is what it is. We would have liked to try it out. Perhaps they should come up with a reservation system should they do anything like this again. I don't think we were the only ones who had issues. Groot and his Minion were kind of confused as well ... The Palace Cafe is back open and looks great. Universal Plaza is back to normal after the Lunar New Year celebration Signs for Jurassic World on the backlot. Is it June 12 yet? Speaking of the Studio Tour, apparently the awesome Mindy Kaling from The Mindy Project took the tour a few days ago and sent out a Facebook post about how her show (which currently films on the backlot) was only mentioned once, yet shows like The Ghost Whisperer were mentioned repeatedly. She's kind of got a point, but we did hear them mention her name a few more times than usual during the tour on this visit. Maybe they need to update the script more often? While we're talking about things on the tour that have worn out their welcome, can we stop calling Colonial Street "Wisteria Lane"? That show has been off the air for how long now? People don't care anymore. And don't get us started on War of the Worlds. =) Back to the awesome stuff on the tour, The Psycho House is getting a pretty extensive Restoration, which is awesome. And lastly, Fast and Furious. Looks like the front of it is going to resemble a warehouse of some kind? The door was open. Nothing to see here. =) EDIT: Apparently there IS something to see here. Kolby from the awesome Kolby Konnection caught that the screen that is visible in the last picture for F&F has a cut in it very similar to the door in Gringotts. Hmmm ... very interesting indeed. Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. We'll likely be back at the park in the next couple of weeks and hopefully we'll start hearing about some opening dates for Supercharged and Springfield soon. |
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