 Yesterday we made our return to Universal Studios Hollywood. After a year of closure, the park reopened last Thursday and we have to say, it was sure great being back. In this update we've got lots of videos to share including our Secret Life of Pets POV, Jurassic World POV with Indominous Rex, Super Nintendo World Update and my thoughts on the reopening procedures, covid protocols and more. It's a packed update, make sure you have a Scooby Snack!! Written by Gregg Condon Before we get into the update, here is the video with a walk-through of the park and my commentary on the parks reopening. I also included some highlights from the Studio Tour at the end, sans-commentary.  Out in CityWalk, the Butterbeer stand is now closed. Make sense since the park is now open.  It's great to be back!
 The limited capacity totally worked!  Our first stop was to get adopted!   Mmm ... massage   The queue has so many great details Love the details, definitely need to investigate these pics further for easter eggs   Lets go for a ride!  We got stopped a few times, yay for selfies!  The amount of "gags" in the ride are amazing!    FIRE!   The ride is seriously so cute, it's definitely a perfect fit for the park!  Hi Harry!  I have to admit, I got a bit emotional riding Forbidden Journey!  How about a look at Super Nintendo World! Guess it's official now. =)  There's no hiding it now!    Love being able to get up-close looks at it now!    And even overhead looks  And over-wall looks    We of course had to take a ride on Jurassic World!  I know this isn't one of the newer additions, but I love how this pic came out  Smile!
After our adventure, we needed a refreshment
 I was a bit embarrassed at how quickly I drank my drink, until I saw this. LOL.  Some HHN construction. As for how they're going to do HHN this year, who knows. It won't be "normal", but I also can't see them opening these mazes for daytime use. These tents can get hot, 110+ during the day.  Hey Bart! (Note: If you're holding a tiki or any other cup that has an alcoholic drink, the characters will not take selfies with you ... learn something new every day)  This was the most crowded spot was saw all day, and it wasn't bad at all.  More HHN Stuff
Hey Scoob!  Yes, this really was 80 minutes. They're maybe at 1/3 to 1/4 capacity  Reminder, these markers are there for a reason. The group in front of me not only ignored these, but also mask requirements, which is why I'm this far back. But this was the exception, not the rule. 96.8% of people know and follow the rules.  Rawr  The replacement for WhoVille ...  As I was walking out shortly before 4:00 this was the crowd level on the upper lot Overall my visit was VERY positive. The Team Members are doing an amazing job at all of the attractions and at all areas of the park. Which doesn't surprise me at all. As far as attractions. As I mentioned in the commentary video, the attractions that have the most reduced capacity are the Studio Tour and Jurassic World. I'm also going to assume Transformers and The Mummy are in that group, but we didn't ride them so I can't 100% say. Secret Life of Pets doesn't seem to have it's capacity reduced AT ALL due to the way the ride is already set up. This coupled with the virtual queue means you don't need to go here first. In addition, Forbidden Journey, again due to the way the ride is already set up, didn't seem to have too much of a reduced capacity. You're losing maybe 1-2 seats per ride vehicle whereas with Jurassic World and the Studio Tour you're losing a LOT more than that. With that said, you can save Pets and Forbidden Journey for later in the day and you should be good to go. As always, thanks for reading and watching! Until next time! Related Videos
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Universal Studios Update: Taste of Universal, Pets Place, Super Nintendo World - March 22, 20213/22/2021  Over the weekend we made a trip up to Universal Studios Hollywood to take in their Taste of Universal event. We were super excited to get back into the park, try some yummy food and spend a few hours in the park. Since our last visit in February 2020, there's been a lot of stuff going on. Namely the all new Pets Place near the Secret Life of Pets: Off The Leash attraction and construction on Super Nintendo World. So of course we had to check out both. Written by Gregg Condon  Kong has always been the King of Citywalk  The movie theater is back open, but no theater attractions in the park are.  Nothing has changed on the outside of Toothsome since the last time we were at CityWalk  But it is coming soon!  Lots of outside seating available all around CityWalk  Mmm, Donuts  One of our favorite eateries at CityWalk is now open for outdoor dining  NBC Sports Grill looks like it could open at any time  In the meantime, the outside seating area is being used for Antojitos   Vivo is also open for outdoor dining, they don't have as much outdoor space as some of the other eateries however  New store too!  Let's head in to get our taste on!    Bello!  The park looks great, didn't feel too busy at all and had signs and table cleaners everywhere    Lots of space around the park to get pics of things with no people in them       Pets Place looks awesome! Some pics from inside the store are below.  Can't wait for this to open! 
 The virtual queue machines are ready to go as well as the height markers for the attraction!
 Test seat too!   There are even some new additions to Super Silly Fun Land!  The Minion Café is super cute, and we can't wait to try all of the food offerings here.     Unicorn Cupcakes  The Loaded Mac and Cheese was very tasty, would recommend  Gabe from Theme Park Duo got the Meatball Mac and Cheese and said it was very good  Minion Pudding Thing  We of course had to head into Wizarding World. At Three Brooksticks got some Sticky Toffee Pudding and of course Butterbeer
 It was nice to be back in Wizarding World Super Nintendo World Construction The first escalator down to the lower lot was open so we were able to get some pics and video of Super Nintendo World  You can see where Super Nintendo World is in relation to the rest of the Lower Lot   An overview of the entire lower lot   You can see the entry warp pipe in the bottom right corner of this pic. It will be near Transformers.   A zoomed in view of the entry area and warp pipe   A look at the entire land  A different view from Super Silly Funland   A year ago I would have said the stores/restaurants here would be removed for Super Nintendo World. Now, it's obviously not happening. As you can see the walls around the land have been built around the existing buildings.  Oh look, HHN Construction!  One of the HHN Speculation Maps indicates we will get "HHN Lite" here in Hollywood, with two mazes being open during the day. Definitely have some questions about that, namely that these tents get SUPER hot and are not completely dark during the day.  Back to the food. Chicken Chicharrón. This may have been my favorite thing I ate all day.  The Street Tacos were also very good, and not just for "theme park tacos". They were actually really good tacos.  Now that's a pretzel!  If you didn't get a pink donut, did you even go to Springfield?  Hello Kitty!!  Overall we had a great time at Taste of Universal. Many of the food items were pretty much what you can get when the park is open vs specialty food items, but since the park isn't open we were ok with that. The longest lines for the event were at Three Brooksticks and Krusty Burger, which struck us as odd if I'm being honest. But hey, people like those Krusty Burgers! The event runs for the next few weeks. Be sure to check it out! Related Videos
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 Yesterday, Renée made her way over to Universal Orlando Resort to check out the awesome Mardi Gras festival and a couple of pics of Velicicoaster progress. The park is looking great, even better due to the lack of crowds. Let's head in!! Written by Renée Girard  Spending a few hours this afternoon at Universal Orlando!  First, a quick stop at Islands of Adventure. I absolutely love the details in Port of Entry, and with low crowds today, it’s great to look around and enjoy it.     Only a 15 minute wait (posted at 45) for Hagrid’s is pretty perfect.   Velocicoaster looking good, as always. Can’t wait to ride!    Let the good times roll! Mardi Gras celebration is happening all over Universal Studios.     RIP  RIP 2.0  The parade floats are all over the park, offering a modified experience where you can still see their amazing sets and costumes, and also collect beads!     The food festival is the headliner for Mardi Gras at Universal this year. The sampler card is a great value to get, but I most likely won’t be back due to blockout dates   I kept it simple with a vegan bratwurst  And Purple Haze beer  The entertainment team members were all outstanding and gladly posed for some socially distant selfies. 
 More treats can be found in the Tribute Store, where I easily could have had one of everything, but narrowed it down to the bananas foster cheesecake pop and vegan skull brownie (a favorite of mine from HHN, too!).
 Continuing on with the Tribute Store, the amount of detail put into it for each event, and now especially Mardi Gras, is stunning.
 I hope Universal continues on with the amazing theming for all of their events with the Tribute Store. To me, it’s more of a walk-through experience than a store.
  I was definitely spoiled by the lack of crowds in the store, and the park overall, for that matter. If you can get to Mardi Gras at Universal Orlando, definitely do it now before spring break hits, and enjoy everything! 
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