Author: Jonathan Green

Universal Orlando Resort just announced all-new details for their new holiday offering Christmas in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Beginning November 18, in Hogsmeade The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle will light-up the night as Hogwarts Castle will be transformed in festive decor, candlelight and moments inspired by the films with the use of projection mapping. According to the Universal Orlando Blog you can expect to see “The ghosts of Hogwarts singing carols, students riding broomsticks and creating snowmen, a moment inspired by the Yule Ball and many more surprises.” Along with the all-new nighttime show, the Frog…

We’re back for this month’s photo update! In this update we’ll be taking a look at Christmas in the Wizarding World, Studio expansion and CityWalk Hollywood. Let’s jump right in… Park Update Index » CityWalk Hollywood » Holiday Decorations » New Animation Studio Store » Grinchmas » DreamWorks Theater » Christmas in the Wizarding World » StarWay Refurbishment » Fire Station 51 » Studio Expansion » Lower Lot Expansion » Holiday Merchandise » A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That CityWalk Hollywood CityWalk Hollywood continues is transformation as two locations are currently awaiting new tenants. Magnet…

In 2006, John Murdy – Creative Director for Halloween Horror Nights – was tasked with bringing the spectacular Halloween event back to Universal Studios Hollywood after a six-year hiatus.  Now with twelve consecutive years under his belt, Murdy and his team have turned Halloween Horror Nights into the go-to haunt event on the west coast. John Murdy was gracious enough to do an interview with Inside Universal, talking about the creative process and the level of teamwork involved in executing a haunt event in a theme park that coexists with a fully-operational movie studio.  With other similar Halloween attractions within…

For the last few months, Universal Studios Hollywood has been conducting firework tests for the new holiday show “The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle”, Inside Universal has learned. The new show is set to debut on November 24 along with the newly re-branded Holidays at Universal Studios Hollywood. If fireworks do end up being used in the show, it will mark the first time since 1994’s Spectrablast that fireworks have been used in a nighttime show at Universal Studios Hollywood. Be sure to follow Inside Universal for continuing coverage of Universal Parks and Resorts.

We’re back for this month’s photo update at Universal Studios Hollywood. In this update, we’ll be looking at several closures in CityWalk, Studio expansion and Christmas is coming early this year. Without further ado, let’s jump right in… Park Update Index » CityWalk Hollywood » Christmas Preparations » New Animation Studio Store » Dreamworks Theater » Plaza Grill » Lower Lot Expansion » Fire Station 51 » StarWay Refurbishment » Studio Expansion » A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That CityWalk Hollywood Upstart Crow and Magnet Max have both closed inside CityWalk Hollywood. Both shops were…

Knott’s Berry Farm has officially transformed and kicked off the 45th Anniversary of Knott’s Scary Farm. This year, Knott’s boasts a haunt line-up of nine mazes, two shows and one ride overlay. Knott’s understood the bar needed to be raised since the market is saturated with haunts, and this may very well be Knott’s Scary Farm’s best line-up in recent memory. Of the nine mazes this year, three of them are brand new – with “Dark Ride” being perhaps one of the best theme park mazes in Southern California. Let’s take a look at all that Knott’s has to offer.…

Halloween Horror Nights 2017 has kicked off at Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal graciously invited us to attend the event and experience all that they have in store for guests during this year’s Halloween season. This year’s line-up boasted some of the most popular names in horror – including films from Blumhouse, The Shining, Saw and the original “Titans of Terror”, Freddy, Jason and Leatherface. Since the event’s resurgence in 2006, Creative Director, John Murdy, and creative partner, Chris Williams, have turn Universal Studios Hollywood’s event into the leading haunt experience in Southern California. As each year passes, the event has…

In part two of our inside look at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, we take a look at The Shining with Creative Director, John Murdy. During our tour, Murdy mentioned that they’ve wanted to do The Shining for ten years now. The amount of detail that went into the construction of The Shining maze goes to show the love, dedication and respect Murdy and his team have for the mazes they create. “Like the Exorcist, it’s an incredibly difficult property to translate into what we do here at Halloween Horror Nights or any live experience. That’s…

A couple of weeks ago, Inside Universal got an an exclusive look at two mazes with Halloween Horror Nights Creative Director, John Murdy – seeing the set installations of The Shining and Insidious. Heads up! In the article we will be mentioning plot points to a future film release and to the mazes themselves. We will not discuss everything we saw inside the mazes to leave some surprise for those who will be going to Halloween Horror Nights this year. The first maze we toured was Insidious: Beyond the Further. The maze is located inside the Jurassic Park extended queue…

We’re back for this month’s Universal Studios Hollywood photo update. We’ll be taking a look at the CityWalk transformation, DreamWorks Theatre, Halloween Horror Nights and much more. Without further ado, Let’s begin! Park Update Index » CityWalk Hollywood » New Animation Studio Store » Dreamworks Theater » Halloween Horror Nights » Starway » Fire Station 51 » Soundstages 22-25 and 28 » New Production Facilities » A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That CityWalk Hollywood The CityWalk transformation continues as Upstart Crow – one of the last original stores in CityWalk – closed just last week,…