Welcome to a glamorous update from Universal Studios Hollywood.  Today we bring news from the Entertainment Capital of LA as they open their brand new addition to the world famous Studio Tour.  Fast and Furious Supercharged. We covered the opening of this attraction earlier in the week as a big gala opening was held on the 23rd. With the enhanced tram tour now officially open, we see the lines that it is commanding and the effect that a new attraction has on the tour and the park itself.  In fact, yesterday, just one day after official opening of Fast and Furious, the park reached capacity and closed its gates to new guests. We bring you that news along with updates on the new retail space going in at the front of the park. Next we deliver pics from the construction of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and share news of a new partnership with HorrorBuzz.com, including the first bits of news on Halloween Horror Nights 2015.  Lights, Camera, ACTION!

Universal Studios Hollywood Hits Capacity

As the second full day of operation for the new Fast and the Furious tram tour attraction unfolded, thousands of guests descended upon the movie theme park. Lines of cars headed into the parking structures at times stretched all the way out to the freeway off ramps with drivers clamoring for a spot.  By noon all of the front gate and VIP parking spots had sold out and by 2pm the parking structures were closed as capacity was reached.

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Checking the wait times you can get an overall feel for the crowd level.
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A two hour wait for the Studio Tour.

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Jurassic Park was a popular ride with the heat levels rising in the park.  The wait times reached up to 90 minutes.
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At the Studio Tour employees were handing out return times for priority boarding.
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Each pass was good for up to 6 guests in your party if you returned at a later time to ride.

Universal Entry Shops

Here we see the former site of the House of Horrors, which is being transformed into new shopping and dining locations.  Rumor has it that this will be the site of a rather swanky Starbucks® location.  One can only hope.

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Beating the Heat

Universal has a knack for making it easy to beat the heat. On the hotter days they have mist fans blowing to give a refreshing gust of cool air.

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Of course there is the aforementioned Jurassic Park The Ride.  But you don’t need to wait in a line to get soaked. The Super Silly Fun Land water play area is a popular, no-wait choice.

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But, if you DO want to see dinosaurs, they have turned the water effects up full blast on Jurassic Park.

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Here we share the vary latest pictures from the construction site of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

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From the central Universal Plaza, Hogwarts looms in the distance.
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Here we see the gate to Hogsmeade.

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As announced, Universal Hollywood will be getting the family coaster, Flight of the Hippogriff.  Think Gadget’s Go-Coaster but better and with an animated Hippogriff.

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Halloween Horror Nights 2015

As the author of In the Parks for the past 8 years, I have had the privilege to cover quite a bit in the theme park industry in Southern California.  You may have noticed a certain zeal that I personally have for Halloween. It has been a little tricky to share with readers the various bits of news and construction that had a more gruesome slant. We have decided that this type of coverage needs its own home, so those that want to continue reading about it can do so without offending our family audience.

Today, we are proud to announce HorrorBuzz.com.  This new site caters to the entire spectrum of tastes in the horror genre.  From Horror to Halloween and everything in between, HorrorBuzz will pick up on sharing the latest Halloween Horror Nights news while leaving the Disney and Theme Park news for MiceChat.

Today we share the latest Halloween Horror Nights construction pics here.  Click here to see the new site and see the latest HHN News.

That about wraps it up for the news from Universal Studios Hollywood.  Next week we will visit another amazing southern California park, so stay tuned. We will see you In The Parks.

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Norman Gidney
Norman Gidney, also known as Fishbulb, has produced and edited many of the articles on MiceChat over the years.