March 8, 2014 – First on Inside Universal – With the exception of the “Help Little Santa’s Helper” water game, Universal Studios Hollywood has officially opened a new strip of Krustyland’s Carnival Games lining the entrance to The Simpsons Ride. The games include Dunk or Flunk (basketball free-throws), Sideshow You (balloon popper), Thar The Throws (basket-hoops), Help Santa’s Little Helper (water gun game), Wild and Willies (knock’em down game), Strike 3 (another knock’em down with Duff beer cans), and Eye Carumba (small-free throws). The games are exactly what you would come to expect at a typical American carnival and include…
Author: Jon Fu
March 5, 2014 – Hello everyone! Here is a quick update about our favorite theme park with the top five subjects going on this month: 1 » Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem Nears Completion Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem is in its final stride before opening to the public for technical rehearsals. Most of the construction walls have come down and the facade has been exposed near the main entrance of the attraction. Universal Studios Hollywood has raised the bar with quality in similar fashion to Orlando. While we are not expecting technical rehearsals to begin for another couple of weeks, some…
50 Years of Riding the Movies Inside Universal is celebrating 50 years of Universal Studios Hollywood. Starting in the month of March, we will be giving our audience an in-depth look at Universal’s storied past. The editorial team is hard at work building five primary articles focusing on each decade from 1964 with the return of the Studio Tour in California to 2014 with the opening of Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. But we need your help. We would like to hear your stories and see your media detailing your memories at Universal Studios Hollywood. If you or any of your…
February 22, 2014 – The Recharging Station beverage shack located on the Lower Lot has been removed. Home to the Energon energy drink, the Recharging Station was replaced with a photo opportunity pick-up station earlier this month. Traces of Energon have also been removed throughout the park, and Universal has appeared to discontinue sales of the energy drink entirely. Mention of Energon has been scrubbed from Universal’s official website, which once touted the drink as the “preferred fuel of Transformers.” Introduced in 2012 alongside Transformers: The Ride – 3D, Energon was a cream orangesicle beverage exclusive to Universal Studios Hollywood.…
Update: March 9, 2014 – The hallway in the back of the theater leading into the torture chamber appears to have been completed, and Universal appears to have reworked the static queue near the attraction’s entrance. As expected, guests now enter through the back of the theater and into the torture chamber through the theater’s rear doors. We’ve include photos below of the progress. February 23, 2014 – As construction progresses around the future site of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, new adjustments have been made to Shrek 4D – specifically related to the navigational layout of the theater’s…
February 23, 2014 – Hey everyone! We’re back with a photo update from Universal Studios Hollywood, this time detailing ongoing work at some of Universal’s parking lots (woo-hoo!), the future site of the Wizarding World, Simpsons Plaza, work on the Studio Tour and more. So without further ado, let’s get started. Park Update Index » Parking Lot » The Wizarding World of Harry Potter » The Studio Tour » Simpsons Plaza » Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem / Super Silly Fun Land Parking Lots Oh boy, you knew it was coming. The much anticipated billion dollar addition to Universal’s attraction roster,…
February 22, 2014 – Spring break is fast approaching here in SoCal, and things are kicking into gear over at Universal Studios Hollywood. As we approach peak season, construction projects have ramped up around the park in an effort to prepare. How are things shaping up following last summer’s “Summer of Survival”? Here’s a look at the latest from the Entertainment Capital of LA. Here’s a look at some of the current hot topics for the park. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Hollywood Shoppe Closed After Recent Renovation In a move that came seemingly from nowhere, the Hollywood Shoppe next to…
Correction: February 19, 2014 – Contrary to our earlier report, Jaws is still undergoing maintenance. We apologize for the error. February 19, 2014 – We’re back with this month’s version of the Hollywood Minute! Here’s a look at some of the smaller items making news at Universal this month. 1 » NBCUniversal Building Name Change As we reported last night (photo), it appears as if Comcast is in the process of rebranding the University City tower from NBCUniversal to Comcast/NBCU. This follows Comcast’s purchase of the building last fall for $420 million. 2 » Jaws Returns Following a lengthy refurbishment,…
February 17, 2014 – First on Inside Universal – Over the weekend, Universal Studios Hollywood briefly introduced a new character street party/meet-and-greet at Universal Plaza for a limited engagement. Dubbed “Universal’s Lights, Camera, Action Celebration,” the character meet-and-greet occurred at Universal Plaza without any official fanfare or promotion, with team members persuading guests to gather in the central area just minutes before each performance. Characters and prop vehicles would then circle the perimeter of Universal Plaza before performing a brief song and dance routine in the center of the piazza. Frankenstein, SpongeBob SquarePants, Lucy, Doc Brown, Count Dracula, Beetlejuice, Shaggy,…
February 15, 2014 – In this month’s episode, Jonathan, Chris and Bruce discuss Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, WaterWorld, Springfield and Universal’s guest outreach. Programming note: podcast episodes will now resume a monthly schedule as the park heads into an off-peak season. Bi-monthly episodes will still occur when news breaks. Audio Direct download: February 15, 2014 PodcastiTunes link: (006) February 15, 2014 Podcast Jon Fu Jon Fu is the editor-in-chief of Inside Universal. Jon originally founded InsideUniversal.net in 2006 as a summer hobby aimed at providing families and fans a resource for all things “Universal Studios Hollywood.” Since then, the website…