Tag: Universal Studios

Universal Studios Hollywood Announces Food and Wine Festival!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Today Universal Hollywood announced that on March 19th and 20th they will be hosting a Food and Wine Festival. The only difference between this one and other theme park festivals is that Universal’s will be an after hours hard ticket event.

The event will start at 7pm each night and cost $179 to attend on each night. That price includes food tastings, beer, wine, live competitions and photo ops with Top Chef talent, live entertainment, merchandise, and a gift. For $300 you can get a VIP ticket that allows you access to Universal Studios starting at 12pm and preferred parking with VIP tasting with alumni from Top Chef or for $199 you can get a day and night combo ticket that starts at 12pm but does not include free parking and the special VIP experiences.

If you have not guessed already this event is themed to Bravo’s Top Chef and you will be able to taste some of their delicious meals all night long! Will you be attending this festival? Would you rather it be included in regular park admission like at California Adventure? Do you think what your getting is worth all that money? Let me know in the comments below!

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Universal Studios Hollywood Officially Announces Toothsome Emporium

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Image result for toothsome chocolate emporium

Universal Studios Hollywood announced today that the Toothsome Emporium is set to take over the space occupied by Hard Rock Cafe and open in 2021. Hard Rock Cafe will be closing January 8th to begin the transition.

The restaurant will feature all of the goodies in the Orlando version and be two stories. It will also feature a gift shop, dessert bar, and all day brunch. Universal Citywalk over the past few years has undergone a massive overhaul including the opening of Margaritaville, Antijitos, Voodoo Doughnuts and more. New dining and retail options should be announced in the coming months as there are several more vacant spaces throughout the entertainment center.

What do you think of the Toothsome Emporium coming to Citywalk? I personally love chocolate so I am very excited for this new addition, but let me know in the comments below what you think about this recent change to Citywalk!

Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Citywalk Hollywood Set to Close January 8th

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Universal Citywalk continues to go through major changes as the large and iconic Hard Rock Cafe is set to close at the beginning of January. It is rumored to be replaced by a Toothsome Emporium that is currently at Orlando’s Citywalk.

Photo courtesy of Inside Universal

Above is a picture of the Toothsome Emporium in Orlando and as you can see it is a two story full service restaurant with a large dessert section as well. There is also a gift shop attached. Have you been to the Emporium in Orlando? Are you excited for it to come to Hollywood? Let me know in the comments below!

Grinchmas To Begin on Thanksgiving at Universal Studios Hollywood

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized
Image result for grinchmas
Whoville Tree lit up at USH

It’s that time of the year again where the two holidays of Halloween and Christmas collide. Christmas decorations are already being set up at both Disney and Universal and now we are starting to get more information on Grinchmas with some pretty awesome news.

This awesome news is that this year Grinchmas will start on Thanksgiving Day and will run DAILY (instead of the previous just on weekends) through December 29th. Also starting at this time will be the Christmas at the Wizarding Wold of Harry Potter celebration with Christmas themed shows and entertainment including the ever popular projection show on Hogwarts Castle.

The holiday themed food and Hot Butterbeer will also be making a return and eveyr night at Universal Plaza there will be a Whoville themed lighting celebration to light the 55 foot Grinchmas Tree. As I have stated in previous articles about the holidays Christmas is my favorite time of the year at the SoCal parks and I am so excited to celebrate again this year!

What about all of you? Are you excited for Grinchmas this year? Let me know in the comments below and give this page a follow for constant holiday updates and footage!

Universal Studios Florida To Get New Jason Bourne Stunt Show

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Universal Florida’s website accidentally leaked the name of the show that is replacing the Terminator 2 stunt show. The show is to be called the Bourne Stuntacular and is to be based on a story from Jason Bourne. Hopefully Universal officially announces this attraction soon, but as of now that is all the info I have regarding this new and improved show! Check back and follow this blog for updates on this story as they become available!

Universal Studios Hollywood to Test New VR Experience in CityWalk

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Hello and welcome back to Theme Park Wizard if you are living in Southern California then please stay safe from the strong winds and as of this writing five fires throughout our region.

Universal Studios Hollywood will be trying to compete with Downtown Disney and get its own new VR experience in Citywalk starting October 14th and going through November 7th. This is a partnership between Universal Pictures, Ford Motor Company, and Holoride.

During this experience guests are loaded on to the back of Ford 2020 Explorer cars and will take a 5-7 min drive by a professional driver. The interesting twist of this drive is that it will be through the dark world of Frankenstein. Riders will be using Oculus Headsets to experience this attraction. The best part is that this limited time attraction is free and all you have to do is sign up for a free reservation on their website.

So what do you guys think of this new experience coming to Citywalk? Will you be signing up and giving it a try during this month trial period? Let me know in the comments below!

Velicicoaster Construction Update!

by socalthemeparkwizard, posted in Uncategorized

Hello and welcome back to the blog where today I have a construction update on Universal Island’s of Adventure’s new coaster coming to the Jurassic Park area of the park called the Velicicoaster. All these pictures are courtesy of fellow blog Micechat which provides excellent Disney news so be sure to go over and check out some of their stuff.

This first picture is taken from across the lagoon and really shows the massive scale of the project.

, Dateline Universal Orlando: A Tale of Bees and Dinosaurs

The building in the center is the Jurassic Park Discovery Center which is expected to remain with the coaster tracks going around the structure. You can also see the start of potential footers in the water as this coaster is expected to have a rather significant portion of its track be over the lagoon area which will certainly make this coaster very beautiful and picturesque.

That is the best vantage point you can get from this project as all other areas inside the land just have large construction walls blocking all of the view.

, Dateline Universal Orlando: A Tale of Bees and Dinosaurs
, Dateline Universal Orlando: A Tale of Bees and Dinosaurs

This coaster is expected to be an intense coaster much to the likes of Taron over at Phantasialand. That coaster goes 70 mph and twists and turns through highly themed caverns and environments. One last thing I would like to talk about is the name of this coaster. I absolutely love the name Velicicoaster but I did want to let you know this is so far just the rumored name as Universal has not even announced the project yet! They did trademark that name though, so I am very hopeful that they will use it as the official name of the coaster.

Are you excited to ride the Velicicoaster when it opens in 2021? What do you think of the construction progress currently? Stay tuned because coming up later today I will have a Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway construction update from Toontown!