It seems as if the real summer crowds are slowly dying down, as this is also the last week that the park is open late into the night all week, and crowds were noticeably lighter than other days this summer. In today’s update we’re looking at the crazy Wizarding World of Harry Potter development, including some awesome news. We’ve got Halloween Horror Nights prep as well, in addition we’re discussing a couple of things going on around the park, such as the new Shrek 4D pre-show.
Let’s start right outside of the park, over at the Studio Store. Which is currently partially under construction. 
Speaking of stores and construction, the new store being built inside the park is quickly becoming reality, looking through the tarps hanging around the construction, it becomes clear it’ll be a large detailed building. 
It’s the time of year that the Halloween Horror Nights mazes are under construction. So far, a couple of new mazes have been released for this year’s Horror Nights, all have been received with great enthusiasm by the public! 
I’m not sure what’s going on over at the Special Effects stage, there’s a small square of walls in the planter, perhaps a sign for the show, Springfield related something, or just landscaping. As of right now, I have no clue, but I’m back next week, we’ll see what has happened. 
Something very cool, Shrek 4D’s pre-show is extra enhanced with Donkey as part of the pre-show. I used to sort of dislike the pre-show, it just got a tad ‘uninteresting’ to me, as it just felt like more waiting to me. But with the interactive Donkey, it’s actually very enjoyable. 
Over in Springfield, the donut-eating cop over at Lard Lad’s Donuts has been taken out, hopefully we’ll see it again soon. 
It’s quite challenging to get a good shot if you’re sitting in the wrong seat on the Studio Tour, but over the past few months, a huge part of the hill across from the Bates Motel has been carved out, and some serious construction is going on in the area now. 
In the back they’re building a new building as well, it’s an expansion of the retail warehouse. 
In case you have yet to experience the Night Time Studio Tour… Yeah, you better check it out, it’s great. With Marilyn Monroe, Frankenstein, Norman Bates, and many special effects and lighting giving the day-time tour a whole alternative experience… in the dark. 
Little bit of Lower Lot ness, although it wasn’t busy at all at the park (compared to other summer days), it was the first time that I saw a full mummy crew at the lockers making sure only backpacks went into the lockers. Every locker renting station has a crew member check for the items you were about to store. My guess is most lockers were in use, and this way people that had bags were guaranteed to have a locker to their availability. 
Jurassic Park- The Ride was running great, though of course there had to be some malfunctions again. 😛 The car has been placed back, but isn’t dropping yet. Every ride I had on it, the first velociraptor didn’t work, the second occasionally. In addition, the first T-rex head is tilted to the right, significantly, which is pretty cool as it seems as if it literally breaking through the metal. It was good to see that the park turned off the water guns as soon as the sun set, so guests didn’t have to get soaked with no sunlight to dry them off. 
What’s that in the distance? IT’S THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER! 
Here’s the new Hogsmeade sign over at the entrance to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
And just beyond that, around the corner… is… the HOGWARTS EXPRESS. (Yes it’s capitalized because I’m super excited). 😀 
Taking a look at the rapid development of the castle and all the rock work, it’s looking absolutely stunning. 
Whoever is not deeply impressed… go out there and see the details, it looks amazing. 
Oh, look! It’s the Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster.
From wherever you look, its massiveness looks awesome. I can’t wait to explore the insides once it opens Spring of next year. 
That was it for this Universal Studios Hollywood Update, I’ll be back soon for more Universal Studios Hollywood. One way or the other, I simply can’t get enough of the park.
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Just asking…
How busy do you think it will be this upcoming weekend? I am planning on going on Sunday, but I have no idea if the summer crowds are still bad or not.
Summer crowds are definitely not as bad as they’ve been. Nonetheless you’re visiting on a weekend. Since it’s a Sunday, I expect peak-wait times of about an hour to 90 minutes. But with parks such as USH, it’s hard to predict. Arrive EARLY, and the first few hours will be pretty empty in general.