It’s a big update from Universal Studios Hollywood where we find thrills, chills, and the promise of greater things to come. There has been quite a bit of progress at the three major construction projects happening throughout the park: Fast and Furious: Supercharged, Springfield, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We also have the first bits of news coming to us about the terrifyingly fun Halloween Horror Nights event coming this fall and look at some of the work happening on the Starway escalators.  It’s time for lights, camera, action!

Fast and Furious: Supercharged

Near the end of the World Famous Studio Tour we find Fast and Furious: Super Charged construction. The attraction will be a feature of the tour that uses HD 3D screens to envelop the tram in action. You can see that this building is quite a bit bigger and wider than the King Kong building.

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Halloween Horror Nights

News about this years Halloween Horror Nights is finally trickling out. Fans of the event have already voted and chosen the first Scare Zone.

Online voters said “Bon appetite” and selected “Mask-a-Raid,” a Scare Zone concept based on a hoard of blood thirsty cannibals masquerading as French aristocrats, in the first-ever Universal Studios Hollywood “Halloween Horror Nights” Choose Your Scare online voting competition. The winning Scare Zone concept will materialize in disturbingly real detail at the terrifyingly popular event in Fall 2014.

The new Scare Zone, staged in the theme park’s French Street location, will transport guests to a time when masquerade balls were a staple of the social calendar in pre-Revolutionary War France. However, visitors will soon learn that behind the elaborate, jeweled masks of powdered and perfumed party-goers are members of a blood-thirsty cannibal cult.

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Jurassic Park Queue:

Maze construction has begun in the overflow queue for Jurassic Park. While nothing has been announced yet for this location, we can make out the beginnings of a menacing house.

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Mummy Queue:

Likewise, the usual construction has begun behind the Revenge of the Mummy Coaster.  Still no word on what the maze will be.

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Stage 747:

With all of the construction continuing throughout the park it is safe to assume that Stage 747 will be used again to house another maze. Let the speculation begin . . . PLEASE let it be better than Black Sabbath.

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Terror Tram: Invaded by the Walking Dead

The Terror Tram invaded by The Walking Dead returns again.  According to Universal, the experience will send guests on the road to Terminus, featured in season 4.  The path will be interspersed, as usual, with themed landmarks. Charred walkers from the burned moonshine cabin will be after wandering guests.

This is the third time that the Walking Dead have invaded the Tram Tour, and it has kept nearly the same pathway for just as many years.  It is a sort of double-edged sword really.  On the one hand it is a very effective franchise that still remains wildly popular with guests.  But the problem is that we have seen this before, many, many times.  Scare is about surprise and the unexpected. Let’s hope that they shake things up a bit.

Nothing is visible just yet on the Terror Tram route, but that’s normal.  It’s usually one of the last things to get themed out for Halloween.

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 The Walking Dead: End of the Line

The Walking Dead: End of the Line returns to Halloween Horror Nights with another incarnation of the flesh-eating monsters.

This year’s bone-chilling maze will place guests at the heart of a harrowing journey to seek sanctuary at Terminus, an elusive destination that promises community for all.

Simpsons Springfield

Here, in the center of the upper lot, we take a look at the burgeoning buildings of Springfield.  More vertical than its Orlando counterpart, Springfield will feature Moe’s Tavern, Krusty Burger and more. We can’t wait for a Ribwhich.

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The construction is right across from the Simpsons Ride.

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There were tons of workers climbing the framework the day we were there.

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The Kwik-E-Mart sits in the foreground as more of the neighborhood is constructed nearby.

Starway

It seems that more work is being done on the underside of the Starway escalators.

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Finally, we round things out by summing up the outlandishly huge project at the center of the mountain.  The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, including the blockbuster Forbidden Journey attraction, is moving full steam ahead.

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Backstage, surface and paint tests are being conducted.

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The show building for the feature attraction is massive.

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We can make out the jagged and angular rooftops of Hogsmeade that will act as the entrance to the land.

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Here is the gate into Hogsmead.

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If we peer though the Hogsmeade gates, we can see the facade for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey being built.

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The crooked chimneys are a really cool design element.

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That’s Waterworld in the background.
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Here’s a different elevation for the Forbidden Journey.
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The front of the show building where the facade will face the land.

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This view is from the exit of the Studio Tour.

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Parking Garage

Outside City Walk construction of another large parking structure is still in the prep stages. This structure will also be used to house the many tour busses that line up every morning along Buddy Holly Drive, but the main purpose is to absorb the masses that will be descending upon the park in the coming years.

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We are really excited to see so much construction happening at Universal Studios Hollywood. This is lining up to be a major themed entertainment destination. Who’s ready for a Butter Beer?

Until next time, we will see you . . . In The Parks.

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