There's always something new to check out at Universal Studios Hollywood. And this time it's some awesome new food options available at Three Broomsticks as well as some awesome new spells that we were able to check out in Wizarding World (check out the video below). 

We also took a look at Halloween Horror Nights Construction and the De-Construction of the Glob Theater. 

No visit to Universal Studios is complete without some Butterbeer 

We got to try out the Potted Cream, Butterbeer Fudge and Butterbeer Ice Cream

Maze construction on the upper lot ... the park also announced  The Purge today , but this doesn't look like that. 

The Globe Theater is being demolished, the rumor is for a Secret Life of Pets ride, but obviously until something is announced there is a lot of speculation going on. 

It's walled off all the way down the road 

Sound like The Walking Dead Helicopter will be on it's way out as well. 

Looks like there will be a maze at Waterworld this year as well

Hi Marilyn!! 

That's it for this quick update from Universal Hollywood, we'll be back soon I'm sure to spend a full day in the park. We hope you enjoyed!! Be sure to go check out all of the new food options. 

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Yesterday Universal Studios Hollywood announced the on-sale information and prices for Halloween Horror Nights. And prices have gone up, pretty much across the board.

​But what really seemed to stick out in people's minds was the price of the R.I.P. Tour. And yes, it's a SIGNIFICANT investment, for our family, 1 night would be an investment of about $1200. That's a LOT for us, a lot for pretty much anybody. 

But once we began to break down the price a bit there is actually value there, yes, value in a $299 ticket.

So what's the next step up, well of course I'm talking about the return of the R.I.P. Tour. The cost: $269 on nights that the front of the line pass is $169 (or weeknights) or $299 on nights that the front of the line pass is $199. There are a few nights where the R.I.P. tour is $329 as well. 

So basically $100 more than a standard Front of the Line pass. 

And what do you get (we're going to use Friday September 29 as an example) 

• Valet Parking: $25 
• Admission and Front of the Line: $199
• VIP Entrance
• Dinner and 2 drinks (if over 21): Approx $50
• UNLIMITED Front of the Line
• Guided Walking Tour of Halloween Horror Nights
• Reserved VIP Seating at Jabawockeez 

Right off the top if you include Admission, Front of the Line, Parking (Standard rate only) and dinner we're up to $274. So essentially for $25 you're paying for a VIP Entrance, Unlimited Front of the Line, Guided HHN Tour and VIP Seating. That's a LOT of extras. ​

And of course, there is no price associated with the Unlimited Front of the Line or Walking Tour as those aren't available a la carte. 

Sure, you CAN just do the regular admission, and that's fine. We'll help you plan ahead with our upcoming survival guide, it CAN be done. There are so many Halloween events each and every year it's hard to fit them all in. Trust us, we know. We're trying to figure out days off, half days, budgets and all kinds of other things for the next 3 months. It's not easy. But with a bit of homework it's possible. 

What the R.I.P. pass does is take away the need for all that homework. And for a lot of people, that's worth the price. ​

What the R.I.P. pass isn't is a R.I.P.-Off. Our Hobby isn't cheap. Theme Parks aren't cheap to build, run or maintain. Most of us have Annual Passes which significantly cut down the cost. Unfortunately Halloween is the one time of year those investments don't typically come into play. 

Halloween has become big business, and it's getting bigger each and every year. 

As always, do what works best for you. If general admission on a Saturday night in mid-October is all you can do Halloween Horror Nights, then do it. We wouldn't recommend it, but again, we'll help you figure out the best plan of attack as we do every year. 

If the R.I.P. Tour works best for you, then do it. And if you want to write a report about your experience, then let us know. We'd be more than happy to post it. =) ​

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball ... and such is the case that led up to this trip report. When you have to put things aside for awhile or experience things differently than you ever had before. 

But on the flip side, sometimes when you have to do things a bit differently it gives you a chance to do a different kind of report if you're a blogger, and this is absolutely that kind of report. 

Some of you already know this, but for those that don't, in August my wife Kristi had to have major back surgery, her fourth major back surgery since 2008. Which has meant a big change in our theme park going life and which meant a HUGE change in our 2016 Haunt Season. So much so that it necessitated a cancellation of our first trip to HHN Orlando and Howl-O-Scream this October (don't worry, plans are already being made to go next October). 

This also meant that our SoCal Haunt Season was very different, one of us couldn't do, well, anything and one of us felt incredibly guilty for doing things. Such is the nature of almost 21 years of marriage. 

But, as luck has it, Universal Hollywood extended their event for the second time this year which meant that she was well enough to go to the event, but would have to do so in a wheelchair. Not only due to the walking, but to help control any scary "jerky" motions in mazes.

​So hopefully this report will be beneficial to somebody who may want to do HHN 2017 but has otherwise been wondering if they can do so. So we'll DEFINITELY be re-running this update next October, well, September. ;) 

I'll also point out that we did attend Fright Fest in October but at the time it was kind of a "test" so we only did the Scare Zones and Aftermath 2. But all indications are that that event and I'm sure every other theme park event would be just as awesome to navigate for somebody in a wheelchair. 

Once we arrived at the park we picked up our Front of the Line passes and headed into the park. You don't need to have a Front of the Line pass to do the event in a Wheelchair, they will simply give you a return time at each maze, but we were able to get Front of the Line passes at the last minute, so we did. And it made the night awesome. 

Our first stop of the night was Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and if you saw our initial HHN review you'll remember this was down at the bottom of the list. Not so much this time. Such is the curse of going on opening night as you'll see in this report. 

We had a great time in this maze and because I was pushing her and not worrying about picture taking and filming I got to enjoy the maze and see all of the amazing detail in all of them. 

Next up was The Walking Dead which we've of course done before, which also turned out to be the easiest maze to navigate due to it's permanent nature. It was also the only time ALL NIGHT that I ran over somebody's foot (one of the security guards in the maze). Sorry about that. 

Because it was the last night of HHN they were running a test and had Wizarding World open. Because we hadn't tried the hot Butterbeer yet, well, duh, we had to spend some time having Butterbeer and dessert because we didn't think Butterbeer would go very well with Fish n Chips. Grandma would be proud that we had dessert first. 

One of the other HHN experiences that was kind of low on our list from opening night was Terror Tram. First off, the tram attendants are AMAZING when it comes to guests in wheelchairs. So HUGE kudos to all of them. 

The other thing we noticed very early in the night were the monsters were actively going after Kristi. A LOT. I can't count how many times she got her "throat slit" during our night, but it was at least 25-30. 

The Terror Tram also produced the best "scare" we had at any event all year. We were going through one of the "rooms" and came out and got bombarded by chainsaws from three different directions. It was amazing. Too bad we weren't filming. 

After a quick dinner in Springfield we made our way downstairs. Because Kristi is mobile enough to use the Starway we went that route to leave the shuttle for those who aren't able to transfer out. It was interesting taking an empty wheelchair down but after the first level we had no problems. 

Down on the backlot mazes we were able to do Krampus and Freddy vs Jason 2 times each, both were AMAZING and FvJ in particular was so much more improved than opening night. So much so that it was probably my second favorite maze of the night, after Krampus. 

AHS was also really solid again, but I really would love to see them just limit it to one season of the show. I'd love to see it come back and go that route in 2017. 

After a quick break down on the lower lot we made our way through Exorcist, and this was the only maze all night I actually ran into a wall pushing the wheelchair. It's just REALLY dark in this maze and I literally had no idea where I was going. But it was funny and we all laughed. 

Oh, and the maze was of course amazing. 

Last but not least was Halloween which was, duh, amazing. 

Going up the starway with the Wheelchair was significantly easier than going down. 

We spent some time going through The Purge which was literally on fire that night, being the last night there's just a different kind of energy, this is true for all Halloween events. 

I really  hope they bring the concept of the "Gauntlet of Fear" back in 2017. It was a test that worked out REALLY well and everybody seemed to enjoy it. I just hope the theme is something actually "horror" based next year. Would be a GREAT fit for the Shawn of the Dead scarezone again (hint, hint). 

Overall our night of going to HHN in a Wheelchair was a VERY positive experience. There were only a couple of times we got stuck or ran into lots of hanging corpses (FvJ) but all of the staff in every maze, in every line, at the tram was amazing. You can tell that HHN and Universal goes above and beyond when it comes to taking care of all their guests.

And because in some mazes there were parts where I literally couldn't see in front of me, it turned out monsters were kind of waiting for us, which was of course amazing. 

​Yes, parks are required to be accessible due to the ADA but you can tell Universal has taken special care to go even beyond that. And it's very much appreciated. 

Thanks for reading and we hope this report will help some of you as you make plans for next years Halloween season. 

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