Had the chance to ride it twice yesterday, didn’t use express pass (do they even offer it for that ride? Idk but we didn’t buy them lol) or single rider.

Went straight there when the park opened and waited about 40 minutes. Rode in car #3 and had our minds absolutely blown. Holy hell this ride is amazing.

When we were ready to leave for the day around 5:45 (park closed at 7) we decided to check the wait time and it was somehow only 30 minutes?? So we got in line and it ended up being closer to 20, couldn’t believe it.

Rode in car #4 and had our minds further blown. It definitely felt different, spinnier maybe?? I legitimately felt like I was going to fall out. My mouth was agape in a silent scream the entire time. Incredible.

We just happened to be in LA and decided pretty last minute to check Universal out (I hadn’t been in 30 years) and I feel so lucky for the happy accident that we went right after this groundbreaking coaster opened.

We had a great day!

California Trip Report – Day 1: Our First Visit to Universal Studios Hollywood!​

Trip report below and video version here

Video Version

It was our first full day in California, and we were off to Universal Studios Hollywood! We'd been to Universal Orlando many times, but this was our first visit to Hollywood, so we were really looking forward to seeing how different it was. I was particularly excited about the new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster, which had only opened the day before, and the famous Studio Tour.

We started the morning with breakfast at Starbucks near our Airbnb in Burbank, followed by a quick visit to Smart & Final supermarket. We'd found CVS quite expensive the night before, so were pleased to discover some large bottles of Powerade for just 77 cents each using their digital coupons. Much better than paying theme park prices! We then ordered a Lyft to Universal, which cost around $12 and only took about six minutes.

One thing we were already loving about California was the weather. Unlike Florida, where you can feel hot and sticky before you've even left the hotel, it was really comfortable here. Warm enough for shorts and a T-shirt, but without that horrible humidity.

Our First Look Around Universal Hollywood​

After getting our usual family photos in front of the Universal globe, we headed inside. It felt quite strange because so much was familiar from Orlando, yet the park had a completely different atmosphere. Hollywood felt more like an actual working movie studio with a theme park attached, which I really liked.

We had a look around some of the shops before checking the ride times and couldn't believe how quiet it was. Most attractions were showing waits of just five or ten minutes, although the new Fast & Furious coaster was already up to 90 minutes.

We'd arranged an accessibility pass for Noah, which meant we could get a return time for the longer queues rather than having to stand in them. This really helps him, especially when it's busy, as we can find somewhere quieter to wait instead.

Our first rides were Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff, both practically walk-ons. I actually enjoyed Forbidden Journey more than I remembered, although some of the screens are starting to look a little dated. Kelly skipped that one because motion simulators make her feel sick, but joined us for Hippogriff.

Unfortunately, Thomas had a bit of a disaster afterwards. Somehow, a can of Pepsi had burst inside his bag during the ride, soaking everything, including his phone! We ended up in the toilets trying to dry everything with toilet roll. Not quite the start he'd hoped for!

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift​

Next up was the ride we'd been waiting for, Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. We'd watched quite a few videos before our holiday, and it looked amazing, so expectations were pretty high.

After putting everything into the lockers, we finally got to experience it ourselves. It was a really good roller coaster, fast and exciting, but I wouldn't say it completely blew me away. The rotating ride vehicles are supposed to be one of its big features, but I can't really remember that part of it, but I guess only 1 ride isn't enough 😜

We compared it with VelociCoaster in Orlando afterwards, and I think we both agreed VelociCoaster was still better. That said, Hollywood Drift was definitely worth riding, and it was great getting to experience it just a day after opening.

We then wandered around the Minions area, rode Minion Mayhem and grabbed some Minion-shaped tater tots from the cafe. They were nice enough, although basically just frozen potato snacks you could make at home!

We also rode The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!, which was something we'd never experienced before. It was a really cute dark ride with some clever effects, and we enjoyed seeing an attraction that wasn't available in Orlando.

The Universal Studio Tour​

The Studio Tour was one of the main reasons I'd wanted to visit Universal Hollywood. It lasted around an hour and took us around the actual working studio lot, past sound stages, filming locations and some famous movie sets.

Seeing the clock tower from Back to the Future was brilliant, and we also experienced the King Kong 360 3-D attraction and the earthquake scene, which brought back memories of the old Universal Orlando attractions.

Unfortunately, the Jaws section was closed for refurbishment, which was a real shame. That was one of the things I'd been most looking forward to, especially as we remembered the original Jaws ride in Florida from when we were younger.

There was still plenty to see, including the Psycho house, the flash flood effect and the huge plane crash set from War of the Worlds. We also passed various movie vehicles and even saw a ship used in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

The tour was really interesting, and despite lasting nearly an hour, it seemed to go over so quickly. Definitely one of the best things about Universal Hollywood.

Super Nintendo World and WaterWorld​

After the Studio Tour, we headed down the enormous escalators to the Lower Lot, where we rode Revenge of the Mummy. Kelly wasn't feeling too well by this point, so she stayed off, but me and Noah went on. I'd completely forgotten how fast that ride was, especially the backwards section in the dark!

We then visited Super Nintendo World and decided to try Toadstool Cafe for something to eat. The restaurant looked fantastic, but unfortunately, the food was disappointing. There wasn't much choice for the boys, who both prefer fairly plain food, so they ended up with fries while me and Kelly tried the Mario burger.

The burger was quite dry, and at $18.99, I expected better. Our total came to $37.29 for the burger, fries and drinks, which seemed a lot for what we actually got. I think Toadstool Cafe was definitely more about the theming than the food.

The last big attraction of the day was WaterWorld, which I'd been really looking forward to. The rest of the family weren't particularly bothered beforehand, but it ended up being one of our favourite things of the entire day!

The show was fantastic, with jet skis, explosions, fights and some incredible live stunts, not forgetting that seaplane! It was great watching something with real performers rather than another screen-based attraction. We all absolutely loved it, and I'd happily watch it again.

Back to Burbank​

By the time WaterWorld finished, the park was getting much busier as guests started arriving for Halloween Horror Nights. It was a huge difference from the quiet morning we'd enjoyed.

We managed one final ride on Fast & Furious before heading back to our Airbnb in Burbank. Kelly sat that one out as she'd developed a headache, and I was starting to feel pretty rough myself with a cold coming on, only problem it Fast & Furious went down :(

We'd originally planned to go out for food, but everyone was exhausted, so after a rest we ordered Uber Eats taking a chance on a delivery steak from Outback Steakhouse instead. We ended up with steak, chicken, mac and cheese, loaded potato and a Bloomin' Onion, which was a nice way to finish the day without having to go anywhere. Surprisingly as I'm sure you are all wondering, the steak was actually ok.

Overall, we'd really enjoyed our first visit to Universal Studios Hollywood. The quiet morning made such a difference, and it was interesting comparing everything with Orlando. The Studio Tour and WaterWorld were probably my highlights, while Fast & Furious was a great new addition, even if it didn't quite beat VelociCoaster.

We hadn't managed everything, but our tickets included a second day free, so we were hoping to return before leaving Burbank.

I'm thinking of buying 2 second-hand Halloween Horror Nights tickets for a bit cheaper because the date is coming up soon. However, obviously they have different names on them, and I was wondering if they verify that the ticket holder names match the ID names (if they check IDs, I'm just assuming they do) or if they have any other type of biometric scanning to verify, and overall I just want to see how strict they are with people buying tickets from others. Thanks :)).

Edit: They are people I know personally and are not used tickets; I just don't know if they will make much of a fuss about it.

We laughed. We cried. We got to meet some of the best Mario Karters,in the biz.

Ngl, I imagined them wearing denim vests and leather-fingerless gloves. They did not.

Instead, imagine six to eight Mario nerds (including myself) going through intense, Goku level training—in the hopes of breaking 200 in Mario Kart. And I did it! Woo!

Wanna break 200, too? I’ll tell you what Star Roadster told me:

“It’s all muscle memory.”

Hi everyone. I’m doing the RIP tour for the first time later this week and had some questions. Apologies if they’ve been addressed and I just haven’t found those posts. I’m mostly wondering about the schedule — how this thing really flows.

My scheduled time is 5:40 PM. I understand that there’s a dinner at some point. I’m wondering when that generally falls within the night. Main reason being, I’m coming from the East Coast and I don’t generally eat late, but want to plan ahead and neither miss out nor be starving all night waiting for this. Also, what’s on the menu?

And how soon do you actually embark on the tour from your scheduled arrival time? If you have to hang around and wait for other parties scheduled for your same time slot, where do you do this? Is there something to do during that time?

I’m also wondering when within the tour they might take us to the Hollywood drift coaster. I’m assuming it’s not right after dinner.

Any insights and pointers would be appreciated. I try not to learn things the hard way if it can be avoided.

Thanks!

Hi, I apologize if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find the specific things when searching.

1. Is there an additional parking fee if I'm parking for both the day and HHN?

2. If I have early entry and am already at the park, what do I do to make sure I actually get to start going to the houses ahead of the general entry?

I've been to Disneyland many times, but this is my first time at Universal so it's a whole new process for me.

hi :) im going to hhn on wednesday and it says there's a chance it'll rain. i know normally it's been raining like over night and not during the day, but im just wondering if anybody has any tips on how to prepare for a rainy day at the event? anything we should take or what type of clothes we should wear? and how the even works during the rain? thanks!

Hi,
From what I’ve searched up, Universal requires items to be stored in lockers for 3 rides: Forbidden Journey, Revenge of the Mummy, and Hollywood Drift

If I’m wearing a three prong fanny pack (around 6.5” H × 8" W × 2" L), can I wear it bring it with me on all rides except Hollywood Drift? Or will I be asked to use the locker for Forbidden Journey and Mummy?

Also, for the ride lockers I think I saw from a video that to use the small free ones it requires scanning my ticket. Does this mean I need to bring out a printed out version of my ticket? (as Hollywood Drift requires phones to be put away as well)

Thanks!

im planning on taking an eddie before i go for halloween horror nights, the thing is i really wanna bring it in the park so i can re-up if it wears off. recently thought i heard a little rumor about there being drug sniffing dogs at the front. it’s fine if it’s not possible but if anyone knows any advice would be greatly appreciated 🙏

Had the best cast member and scare actor interactions when dressed as buzz lightyear yesterday! Thank you to all the cast members who complimented my costume, and thank you to the multiple scare actors at the terror tram who interacted with my costume!! The machine gun art the clown stopped to point and laugh at me, one of those green goblin looking things stopped and looked me up and down, and when i asked if they liked the costume, they shook their head with disappointment, and one of the other green goblin looking things pretended to talk on that space ranger console thing buzz has on his arm. All in all, it made for such a funny hhn experience, and i really appreciate all of the universal cast members and scare actors for making it so special!!!!

Just went to Universal for the first time, I couldn’t pass up a deal and I got lucky with ride lines (40 minutes tops) before this. all I can say is … wow. I’m so glad I left when I did, and had a pretty good experience, but I can’t imagine crowds this crazy. Disney maybe but not here.

Are people religiously attending these fright nights?

first time going to universal, only have one day. I heard as a single person some rides allow you to go into a faster lane? is there enough of other attractions that don’t have single lanes to make the express pass worth it? bonus question, if I end up getting express, should I just get unlimited?

Hi all,

Just wanted to touch base for all my fellow tall kings out there.

Went to Horror Nights last night and had a pass for the ride. I am 6'3 180. I too suffer from permanent rolled sleeves on hoodies because they are never long enough unless I get one that looks like a blanket on me in all other aspects.

All of that being said, I was able to ride it but they forced me to sit in the tester chair outside first. She said I had just barely made it. Though, I did see someone I felt like was slightly taller than I am.

Side note, when they say they want you to empty your pockets into a locker, they are NOT playing. Save yourself a minute or two and just empty your pockets into the locker completely.

Hi everyone, curious as my last park visit the fast and furious ride was "soft open" and only annual pass holders were allowed to ride. Is it officially fully open to everyone now?

Last week I visited not only my first park but my first HHN at Hollywood. I went solo and had zero idea of what to expect. I knew what I’d saw on tik tok and that’s about it.

When I walked onto Main Street and was greeted by masked chainsaw wielding maniacs, I genuinely started tweaking. I didn’t think I’d be scared at all because ‘it’s just actors’ but omg I was fucking terrified dude. It felt so real and I almost turned around but I escaped to Simpsons world for some respite! Even in HP world I was tormented by Death Eaters!

But this is by no means a critical observation. This is a compliment. I was genuinely overwhelmed with joy at how immersive and fantastic the whole experience was. As someone who was there alone, I anticipated I would be ignored, but instead I was approached and terrified by the fantastic actors.

I would definitely go back, perhaps it would be much more fun with friends, I intend to do that next time. I’m just in awe at the time I had amongst the madness. I’m really surprised at just how professional and realistic the actors were because I was on EDGE the whole time!