Universal Studios Hollywood - Your Guide to the Universal Studios Hollywood and Theme Park
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Universal Studios Hollywood puts you so close to the action that you can hear the cameras rolling. Take a enlightening inside look at the sets and discover the behind-the-scenes secrets of today's biggest films.
Next, journey into the exciting worlds of your favorite movies as you spin into action with the new rock n’ roll show Spider-Man Rocks, venture into The Mummy Returns: Chamber of Doom or take the monster plunge of Jurassic Park – The Ride, plus more attractions and shows.
Discover action-packed rides and attractions where the movie thrills come alive. You’ll face raging dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, wild adventure in Shrek 4-D, an army of mummy warriors in the new Revenge of the Mummy – The Ride, and more. Finish your day at LA’s favourite entertainment destination—Universal CityWalk. So come experience Hollywood… Universal Studios Hollywood, the world’s largest movie studio and theme park.
Universal Studios has a number of costumed characters roaming the park grounds, representing many different genres. Some are portrayals of Hollywood icons, like the Marx Brothers, Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball. Others are based on Universal's vast media library, such as: |
The characters of Walter Lantz (examples include Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda)
The characters of Hanna Barbera (such as The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo and Shaggy)
Universal's collection of classic monsters (such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man)
Characters from Universal's various film releases (such as Back to the Future's Emmett "Doc" Brown, Beetlejuice, An American Tail's Fievel and Curious George)
To augment its collection, Universal Studios Hollywood has licensed many other popular characters, like those from, Shrek, Nickelodeon shows SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. Most recently, as promotion for their movie and in preparation for their future attraction, the Simpsons can now be seen in the park.
Universal Studios Hollywood History
Universal Studios Hollywood is the original Universal Studios theme park. Woody Woodpecker is the mascot for Universal Studios Hollywood and the rest of the Universal Studios Theme Parks. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA," though during the summer it is often advertised as "The Coolest Place in LA."
It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios soundstages and sets. It is the first of many fully-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks, along with Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Japan, and the upcoming Universal Studios Singapore, Universal Studios Dubai, and Universal Studios South Korea theme parks.
Universal Hollywood Attraction Information
Universal Hollywood Studio Tour
The world-famous Studio Tour, which lasts about 45 minutes, is led by a tour guide (seen throughout the tram on a video screen) and travels through the Front Lot, Backlot and various attractions. Along the way are sets and props from many famous movies. The Tour is the signature attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, and unlike many other theme park studio tours, goes into the heart of a busy, working movie studio. Shrek 4-D
Participants are led into a dungeon-like room with two giant television screens on either side. On the screen, Lord Farquaad announces that he has kidnapped the Three Little Pigs, Gingerbread man, and Pinocchio and is holding them hostage. He says that he will torture everybody for answers. After a brief tutorial from the ride operator, the cinema doors are opened and people take their seats. |
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The short film takes place right after the first Shrek film. In it, the spirit of Lord Farquaad returns from the dead to kidnap Princess Fiona. Therefore, it is up to Shrek and Donkey to rescue her.
Although the animation is 3-D, the ride is a 4-D film, which means it is designed to make viewers feel what they are watching. For example when Donkey sneezes, the front of the seats spray mist into viewers' face. It also has movable seats, air jets and rubber tubing, to simulate other effects such as air, "creepy crawlies" and other movements.
The animated film produced for the ride was later released on DVD under the modified title Shrek 3-D and included a couple of pairs of two-color 3-D glasses. The DVD included an anaglyph 3-D version along with a conventional version without 3-D effects.
After riders enter a Krusty themed ride car vehicle, Sideshow Bob appears on a TV screen in the ride cabin and lifts the car up onto "The Traumanator Coaster" with the Simpsons in front of them. The coaster begins going down various drops while Bob swings a wrecking ball at riders. Soon, the riders fly off the coaster and into the "Happy Little Elves in Panda Land" attraction with Bart and Lisa, where Bob takes control of an evil panda and chases them through the attraction. The ride then flies off the track again and enters "Captain Dinosaur's Pirate Rip-Off" with Homer and Marge. The riders then travel through that attraction and arrive at "Krusty's Wet and Smoky Stunt Show" where they are taken racing in circles while tied to a killer whale before Bob corners them at the attractions exit. Maggie, still giant-sized, appears and grabs and bangs him into the vehicle, which almost falls into Hell before it is saved by Professor Frink. Bob then steals Maggie's pacifier and tells her that she must destroy Springfield to get it back. Riders then take a wild ride through Springfield before encountering Maggie again, who mistakes their car for a new pacifier, and sucks on them repeatedly, before spitting them out, catapulting them into the Simpson's house. The family is sitting on their couch when Kang and Kodos appear and turn their couch into Krusty's "Death Drop" ride. The riders are then dropped down from the sky, encountering various Simpsons characters along the way. They land back at the entrance to Krustyland, where Bob prepares to kill them, before the couch the Simpsons are sitting on drops onto him. The vehicle is then calmly lowered back down to the ground while mist, fire, electricity and smoke effects spray, and Krusty appears on the TV screen above the wall. Krusty is holding a camera while forgetting the ride photo and pushes the button, causing the vehicle to vibrate, ending the ride. After the gullwing doors on the car lift up, guests exit the ride.
Universal's House of Horrors
This attraction features scares from The Mummy, The Wolfman, Child's Play, Psycho, Dawn of the Dead, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera, Nosferatu and many other classic horror films. It opened in March of 2007. During the annual Halloween Horror Nights the attraction features an increase in the number of scaractors.
Jurassic Park River Adventure
The ride is meant to evoke the island environment featured in the Michael Crichton novel and Spielberg film. The concept is that Jurassic Park opened as planned; the river adventure is an actual attraction in the park itself. It begins as a jungle river cruise past huge dinosaurs. After encountering an Ultrasaurus (a dinosaur since discovered to be a chimera), a pair of Stegosaurus, and Psittacosaurus, the raft begins heading toward a part of the park known as Hadrosaur Cove. A duck-billed Parasaurolophus bumps the raft, causing it to begin drifting into the Raptor Containment Area, a section of the adventure that (according to voiceovers on the ride) had never successfully been integrated into the rest of the park. "Unauthorized Entry," says a female voice over the intercom. The raft passes by a replica of the Raptor Pen from the film, and riders hear snarling Velociraptors in the dense foliage while branches move to simulate the creatures attempting to escape from their confines. Turning a corner, riders see a boat that appears to be in a state of disrepair: two Compsognathus are seen eating a bloody shirt (The CP5 which has been sent by Jurassic Park Animal Control to guide the boat towards a safe area but the compsognathuses came and killed the crew). The boat heads towards the pump station where riders see a Velociraptor run into a dark corner. On a wall next to the boat, a Jurassic Park Vehicle falls over the top and nearly crushes the riders.Velociraptors jump out at the guests. A large crate with something snarling inside also nearly falls on the riders. The riders begin to slowly head up a hill into a large building in silence. The riders enter a dark tunnel with several mock red lights on the ceiling. Several Dilophosaurus spit their poisonous venom (actually, water) at the guests. As the raft follows a 180 degree turn, the snout of a T-rex lumbers ahead. A raptor is seen tearing up a control panel. "Attention, this is an emergency. toxic gases are present in this area. Life support is imminent...Life support systems will terminate in 15 seconds...10, 9, 8, 7, 6," says a female voice over the intercom. The Tyrannosaurus's head reappears once more in front of the riders to distract them from the 85 ft plunge below. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1," and the raft plunges down an 85ft near-vertical drop.
Revenge of the Mummy Universal Hollywood
Revenge of the Mummy is an indoor steel/dark ride roller coaster featured at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. |
