Wizarding World starts to get some themed elements at Universal Studios Hollywood

Now that Halloween Horror Nights has been open for a few weeks and we've done pretty much all the reporting we can do on it, it's time to turn our focus back to construction going on at the rest of the park. 

And there's been a lot going on over the past few weeks both inside and outside of the park as they prepare for the crowds that are sure to descend on the park in 2016. 

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Wizarding World West

We'll start our look with Wizarding World, as that seems to be where most of the changes have been over the past few weeks. 

As you'll see below, some thematic elements of Hogsmeade and/or Forbidden Journey have started to take shape backstage. 

Snowy roofs and lots of rock work

A look at Forbidden Journey, lots of work going on inside. 

Moving inside the park, the scaffolding shows that they are hard at work on the exterior portions of Hogsmeade. 

No weekends off for this project, they are working 7 days a week. 

From the tram, a look at Forbidden Journey

Some new structures are being built

Greenhouse portion of the queue? 

Still a pretty big hole at Forbidden Journey

Nothing to see here ... move along. =)

A bit of an aerial view shows just how much work has been done recently. 

There's still a LOT of work to be done, and only about 1 1/2 years left to do it. It will be interesting to see this project grow over the next few months. 

Springfield

Work is also flying along at Springfield which is set to open in 2015

Starting to see some things related to the facades that will go in front of these buildings for the individual Springfield locations. 

Believe it or not, the walls have actually been moved out even more heading towards the Studio Tour. This is how cramped it is right now between the walls and the Kwik E  Mart. 

From up top you can see the two story approach they are going with. Still interested to see just how this is going to work. 

The area is so cramped with construction right now, but seeing how close the buildings are to the construction walls, not so sure it's going to get any better once Springfield opens. 

Fast and Furious: Supercharged

If that wasn't enough, Fast and Furious: Supercharged continues to speed along like a Big Block Hemi with NOx boost. 

It's pretty much just a big building and really, there isn't much to see here. 

2016 Preparations

Moving outside of the park, there is a LOT of work being done in anticipation of epic crowds for 2016. I think it's safe to say that 2016 will be the biggest year in the history of the park. 

The new parking structure continues to be built. 

Probably even more important than finding places for people to park is getting people in and out of the parking structures quickly. And the preparations for this are EPIC (apparently). 

The road heading up to the park from Lankershim is now only 1 lane as they make improvements

Work is also continuing on the new boutique hotel

If you are taking the red line or other transportation and need to make your way up or down the hill by walking, this is what you are greeted with. Not fun. 

Since they will be encouraging people to use public transportation with the building of the new pedestrian bridge, it'd be nice if they figured out a better way to get people up the hill. 

Speaking of the new bridge, work isn't moving quite as quickly as it is inside the park. Still odd that a bridge is going to take as long as the rest of Wizarding World. That's public works for you. 

Around The Park

Just a couple of notes about the tram, the rest of the park and CityWalk. 

A look at the production schedule for Saturday. Not many changes on this. 

Apparently the President was hanging out at the park. =)

They've started talking about Jurassic World on the tram as you pass by the cars from The Lost World. 

Work is also continuing on the new trash compactor near the Studio Tour. 

Moving out to City Walk, we've heard rumors that Bubba Gump may be on the way out after the first of the year. We've also heard rumors of what may be replacing it, but we don't want to jinx it. Let's just say we'd eat at the new place more than we'd ever eat at Bubba Gump. 

Last but certainly not least, a look at a couple of the great walk-around characters at the park. They really do a great job of interacting with guests and we think they are awesome. 

Ok, that's going to wrap it up for this update that was a LOT longer than we had originally anticipated. Sorry about that, but we hope you enjoyed it. 

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