November 27, 2013 – Despite the fact that it’s still late November, Universal Studios Hollywood has already begun its yearly tradition of hosting Grinchmas – the park’s winter seasonal event.
Having covered the bulk of Grinchmas in another article, this photo update will namely focus on some minor construction projects occurring throughout the park. Let’s get started.
» Parking
» Christmas Decor / Grinchmas
» Finlays
» Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
» Studio Tour / Restrooms / The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
If you’re a parking lot enthusiast, you’re going to love what we have in store.
All kidding aside, as Universal Studios Hollywood undergoes an ambitious transformation plan, parking is going to be a precious necessity – more so than it currently is now. With potential hotels on the horizon as well as the highly anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal is currently strengthening and expanding its parking infrastructure to support the additional load.
Remember this lot?
Meanwhile, the parking structure near Jurassic Parking is progressing nicely.
In lieu of snow and a tree lighting ceremony, Universal has promised an increase in interactive activities for the kids (read: decorating Christmas cookies) and more festive park decor.
While the absence of snow and a full-fledged show can definitely be felt, the park does admittedly look very nice for the holidays. Even from an aesthetic point of view, the absence of the large Grinchmas banner draped over the arch makes for a much classier entrance. Whether or not you want to attribute the changes to the toned-down nature of this year’s Grinchmas event, the park still looks pretty damn good (especially Universal Plaza).
Heading off to Baker Street, it appears as if Finlays received a new subdued paint job. The original color scheme didn’t took too bad, but in hindsight, I guess you could say the change was for the better.
Meanwhile, Baker Street proper hasn’t changed drastically from last year’s holiday dressing. The area still looks good, so why change what works?
Not much has changed since our last look at Despicable Me. If you’ve got sharp eyes, you might note the addition of printed trees peeping out from behind the houses.
Other than that, everything looks good for a Spring opening.
Since our last update, Universal has managed to close off and demolish the old Studio Tour restrooms, and introduce newer fixtures in its place – this time closer to the Simpsons Ride. As a result of the change, the area surrounding the Studio Tour entrance looks and feels much more expansive – no doubt in preparation for the Wizarding World. And for those of you who are wondering, the new restrooms follow the same blue star theme as the existing restrooms located throughout the park. Nothing special here.
Meanwhile, the old Studio Tour arch has finally been dismantled, pushing the entrance of the Studio Tour back a few feet.
Oh look, Harry’s catching on fire.
“Me fail English? Thats unpossible!”
That’s a wrap! Stay with Inside Universal for continuing coverage of Grinchmas 2013 and Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. For now, thanks for reading and we’ll see you in the next update.
Photos by Chris Lord and Bruce Babcock. Captions by Jon Fu.
