Universal Studios Hollywood Update

Today was quite a day at Universal Studios Hollywood, the summer tourist crowds are kicking in, and Jurassic World’s premier had a big influence around the park. Fast and Furious Supercharged starts running for guests very soon, and there’s a crazy amount of promotion… and then there’s the magical Wizarding World of Harry Potter… and we’ve got a Flight of the Hippogriff construction update for you!

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Let’s start with whatever they’re building in the old House of Horrors spot, it’s rumored to be a store, nonetheless, it’s taking shape fast.

Jurassic World premiered… and that means a ton of Jurassic World related things around the park, especially Jurassic Park – The Ride of course. The gift shop has 6 banners hanging around the entrance sign. And sells a lot of Jurassic World items in it’s store. From shirts to bottles to toys. Lots and lots of toys actually! The side of the souvenir shop, where Jurassic Park – The Ride boats pass by, more Jurassic World promos can be found! Even on the Studio Tour it’s apparent, especially now production has been finalized and the movie is on the big screen, one of the new picture cars on the tour is a vehicle from Jurassic World.

Speaking of Picture Cars, there’s a crazy amount of Fast and Furious cars on display at the Universal Plaza currently. The one below used to be featured on the Studio Tour, as a Picture Car. There’s a bunch of cool new ones that I haven’t seen before. In addition, next to Colonial Lane on the studio lot, a vehicle from the franchise has been placed.

And then the Wizarding World of Harry Potter… Quite magical already. Imagine what it’ll look like in 10 months. The castle has incredibly many parts to it, clearly. There’s new structures being added like every week! It’s absolutely massive. And construction is coming along nicely. Inside that huge building right there, an upgraded version of USOrlando’s Forbidden Journey will be located, with HD 3D screens. Another large WWoHP building popped up behind Shrek 4D. Not sure what it is. Construction continues on the clock-tower towards the front of WWoHP. And now you better start focusing your eyes.. but eh… The Flight of the Hippogriff coaster is reality, in fact a lot of track has already been placed. Notice below the black crane and to the right of the orange vehicle, some brown supports are sticking out… Now the track of the ride is green, so it’s incredibly hard to see… Luckily from another angle from closer by, it’s a bit easier to see. Notice the large amount of green track and brown supports ahead. To make sure you can see it a bit better, here’s our edited version of the shot, focusing on the track and supports. A lot of track has already been placed, I’d say over 50%! It doesn’t look like a Vekoma Junior coaster, which the Orlando version is, and the Hollywood version was rumored to be. One last note, you can see the brown supports in the distance in this shot. In addition the structure that holds up the glass panels on the Studio Tour escalators have been repainted teal.