HHN Unofficial

Costa Rican-inspired cuisine and flavorful Tiki cocktails served at Jurassic Café and all-new tropical Isla Nu-bar add to the dynamic guest experience as part of Universal Studios Hollywood’s new mega attraction opening this summer, “Jurassic World—The Ride,” based on the JURASSIC WORLD blockbuster films.

            Along with an array of souvenir collectible, limited edition and one-of-a-kind dimensional dinosaur sculptures from the Jurassic Outfitters store, guests can savor a piece of this exciting thrill ride even after they’ve gone home.

Borrowing its name from the fictitious Central American island in the JURASSIC WORLD movies, the stand-alone, open-air Isla Nu-bar, complete with a thatched roof, serves up tropical-themed Tiki cocktails in three collectible cups:  Etched Tiki, Bamboo-styled Tiki and Tiki God.

Whether blended or made-to-order with fresh juices, every aromatic blended drink is adorned with a pineapple leaf and edible orchid flower.  Flavorable beverages include Tropical Margarita, Piña Colada and Painkiller, along with island cocktails such as Tiki Tai, Bird of Paradise, Ti Peach, Rum Runner and Mai Tai.

With Universal Studios Hollywood’s Executive Chef Marie Grimm at the helm, the new Jurassic Café caters to a selection of Costa Rican-themed cuisine, inspired by the location of the JURASSIC WORLD movies.  Mouth-watering menu items include Sweet Corn Cakes with Slow Roasted Mojo Pork or Spicy Mojo Jackfruit, Citrus Glazed Chicken, Fresh Roasted Red Snapper and Isla Burger. Tempting starters include savory Chorizo and Potato Empanadas, Crispy Lettuce Leaf Roll with Shrimp, Tropical Fruit Salad and Pomegranate Guacamole with plantain chips.  All entrees will be accompanied by fresh green papaya salad and Costa Rica’s national dish, Gallo Pinto – traditional rice and beans.

The Jurassic Outfitters store will feature a variety of collectable merchandise to commemorate the ride’s opening, including a selection of exclusive items. From limited edition t-shirts and hats to drinkware, pins, amber stones and jewelry, Jurassic Outfitters will offer keepsake merchandise for every member of the family.

The shop will also carry a variety of custom-made, high-end collectible dinosaur sculptures and maquettes. These incredibly crafted statement pieces replicate the Tyrannosaurus rex, Velociraptor, Dilophosaurus, Styracosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus and Triceratops and range in price up to $1,000.

In addition to experiencing the exhilaration of the new thrill ride, guests will have the opportunity to become immortalized in one of the ride’s momentous scenes as they plunge down its treacherous 84-foot waterfall with the introduction of slo-mo video capture offered exclusively at “Jurassic World—The Ride.”  The iconic moment will be available for purchase and received digitally for riders to share via their social media platforms so they assure their friends that they indeed survived the vicious dinosaurs. Keepsake digital images will also be available for purchase.

“Jurassic World—The Ride” features an original storyline that will take guests on a breathtaking excursion through the theme park as depicted in Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s film, JURASSIC WORLD.  It will soar to new heights with the addition of iconic dinosaurs from the movie, including the colossal Indominus rex and the magnificent aquatic Mosasaurus in her natural habitat.  The ride also features the stars of the JURASSIC WORLD films – Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and BD Wong who reprise their roles as Owen Grady, Claire Dearing and Dr. Henry Wu.

The mega attraction captures the essence of the blockbuster movies and comes to life in collaboration with the award-winning and inspired minds at Universal Creative, the Academy Award®-winning special-effects visionaries at Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm, Ltd., Universal Pictures and acclaimed filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Colin Trevorrow and Frank Marshall.

When “Jurassic World—The Ride” opens this summer, guests will be welcomed to a dramatically reimagined space reflective of the hit films.  A fresh entry statement, stonework landscaping, and a contemporary redesign of the iconic JURASSIC WORLD gates, illuminated with billowing flames, will create the framework for the all new aesthetics.

More information is available at www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.com

Being a Haunted House Attendant is not for the faint of heart! It takes a special kind of person to manage the operational flow and safety of Universal’s haunted houses, bringing to life the chilling stories and frightful visions of the most notorious creators of horror. 

Do you have what it takes to provide an experience that reaches beyond our Guests’ worst nightmares?

If so, Universal is hiring now! So if you missed out on being a scareactor but wanna get in on the HHN fun as an attendant, this could be your chance.

Apply here at their official jobs site.

Could you be an attendant inside the haunted houses? Let us know in the comments!

We all know that Universal recruits 1000s of scareactors every year to terrify the 💩 outta of us but what we don’t often see are adverts for actual actors with “speaking parts”. Normally we would always see ads being run for actors in the Bill and Ted Show but that has sadly been removed from future HHNs, so normally we don’t get specific casting calls.

So it was strange when we were forwarded the below info that shows that Universal are actively trying to recruit some VERY specific actors.

They are trying to recruit:

• A tall and slender woman with a New York accent
• A tall woman
• A tall robust man with a strong accent who must be bald
• A tall man who can do improv and host
• A very tall and thin man

The first and third categories are VERY specific and are surely guessable with further investigation; especially if the rumored houses and zones come to fruition!

But what it does tell us is that there must surely be either another show taking place (other than the dance show) or a number of mini shows contained within the various zones. And as much as we’d like to see Bill and Ted come back we just can’t see it (unfortunately).

And if you’re an actor you could always apply!

So there you have it, some very interesting castings are going on! Who do you think these could be? Let us know in the comments!

We all remember last year when Stranger Things debuted at HHN28 and not only could you visit the world of Hawkins but you could also eat a series of different topped Eggo’s.  As it was this very year that Universal really stepped up the food offerings at HHN with the debut of over 20 different food options, with most of them themed to Stranger Things.

But skip forward to 2019 and it’s not just Universal that getting in on the themed food fad, but now Burger King is also having some fun trolling us all with a new specially themed Whopper: The Upside Down Whopper.

Working in partnership with Coca-Cola and Netflix, select BK restruants across the US will be swopping their classic Whopper Sandwiches literally upside down in an attempt to draw some publicity for the show’s third season.

BK foodies can find the Stranger Things themed burger at the following resturants: Miami, Houston, Boston, Atlanta, Philly, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, L.A., and New York starting Friday June 21.   They will also be offering special Stranger Things themed t-shirts, crowns, ketchup packets, and pins!

Season 3 of the hit show will begin airing exclusively on Netflix on July 4 and from what we’re hearing the season will also be represented at the end of the forthcoming HHN houses this September!

You read that right, within the first hour of Islands of Adventure opening, the park reached maximum capacity. Guests were told no more were allowed inside the park at 9AM.

This of course is due to the opening of Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure, which is now currently sitting at a 12 hour wait time!

This comes as no surprise to any Universal/Harry Potter attraction veterans, as we’ve seen huge crowds like these before for grand opening HP attractions, but maximum capacity reached within an hour is a new one!

You may know him more for his appearances on the Dancing with the Stars show but for a certain Generation X-ers, Joey Fatone will always be known as one of the stars of the chart-topping boyband NSYNC.

What many people don’t know is that Fatone is a huge fan of HHN!  The Orlando local is no stranger to both HHN in Orlando and Hollywood where he said to visit both coasts each year; now that’s some HHN fan dedication right there!

The NSYNC star, who married his childhood sweetheart and Hollywood screeenwriter Kelly Baldwin in 2004, has reportedly filed for divorce in Orlando on May 13.  Joey, who has 2 daughters with Kelly, is now said to be dating new girlfriend and Florida local Izabel Araujo, who also just happens to be another huge fan of HHN.  Apparently, since moving to the US as a kid from her native Brazil (reports say she settled in Tampa before moving to LA), she has been a regular attendee at HHN in Orlando.

And this is where it gets interesting for the two celebrity HHN fans, as it was at HHN Hollywood where they had their first date back in 2014; which if you’re both uber HHN fans we literally cannot think of a better place to have a first date!

She said on her official Instagram,  “4 years ago I met him at #halloweenhorrornights for our first date. We’ve been celebrating it every year at the same place ever since. Not your typical love story but I wouldn’t change a thing!! Looking forward to celebrating many more with my partner in crime!”

And because they are both super fans of HHN, she has documented her dates at HHN with the former popstar:

All photos are owned by: https://www.instagram.com/missizzybela/

You can also check out her official Instagram here and see more of their HHN trips together and the spooky adventures they get up to through the rest of the year.

Warning: Some of the stuff on her Instagram you just can’t unsee!

View this post on Instagram

Come play with us 💀😈 #theshinning #gradytwins #casamigoshalloween 🎃 #GeorgeClooney 🔥

A post shared by Izabel💃🏻 (@missizzybela) on Oct 28, 2018 at 2:35pm PDT

Fatone and Araujo are not alone as celebrity fans of HHN.  From regular A-listers to the local TV stars, celebrities from across the industy love to attend HHN!  And so they should, they’re people too and afterall IT IS the world’s greatest Halloween event!

Have you seen any celebrities at HHN?  Or have you ever bumped into Fatone? Let us know in the comments?

The beIN Media Group who owns 50% of Miramax is allegedly looking to sell their stake in a deal that would value the studio founded in 70s by the Weinstein Brothers at $650 million, according to a report first published in the Wall Street Journal.

Variety also reported on the possible sale and said that all attempts for confirmation from the company were ignored.

Miramax with its 700 plus film library is known worldwide for its variety of different movies including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love and Halloween; most of which were made when they were under the Disney banner. It was 2016 that the Studio was sold by its private equity owners for a reported $1 billion to the beIN Media Group.

Shortly after acquisition, the company began maximising its company value by pushing various movies into production including Halloween, Bad Santa 2, Whitney, and Bridget Jones’s Baby.

Scream folds into this issue by the fact that the rights to the franchise reside with Miramax and Dimension Films/Lantern. Apparently a third series to the Scream TV show has been produced but not released due to a problem with the deal with Netflix.

Rumor has it via Bloody Disgusting that Universal/Comcast may seek to acquire the shares and add the franchises to their existing film franchise library. Tying all the rights together under one studio would make the production of these franchises much easier and could lead to a greater output of horror movies or even a cross-over movie (but that’s just me spitballing!).

So there you have it, a great rumor to brighten up your midweek! Would you love to see these titans of horror at Universal and would a cross-over movie even work? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

In all the confusion and updates of last week, it was easy to miss the upgrade to the official HHN site that now includes the ability for guests to book their places onto the fantastic Scareactor Dining.  The official site reads:

Make your meal part of the horror with this event-exclusive dining experience at Universal Studios’ Classic Monsters Cafe. Enjoy special scareactor photo opportunities, a digital download of a photo taken during the dining experience and an all-you-care-to-eat themed dinner buffet.

Reservations are required. For those who purchase through the Agent Store, Attraction Ticket Desks or at the Front Gate, after reserving and purchasing your dining experience, you must call 407-224-FOOD (3663) (EST 7:30 am–10pm Mon–Sat; 7:30 am–9 pm Sun) up to 24 hours before arriving to confirm your table.

For more information on this MUST DO addition to HHN29 you can call the above number or hit-up the official site here.  And we would highly recommend you pre-book as these dates do sell-out!!

Dates Currently Available:
Sep: 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22, 26, 28, 29
Oct: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31

Will you be doing the Scareactor Dining this year or have you done it in the past?  Let us know in the comments!

News hit us last night that the former Terminator building, which has been having a huge amount of construction work undertaken to it, has finally received walls around the guest facing areas. This installation of hoarding is now making many fans speculate that the new show/experience will open very soon!

Walls are now up around the entrance to the former T23D. pic.twitter.com/V5DAiP1PcB

— ElectricUmbrella (@CarpetUmbrella) June 9, 2019

We found online permits here that showed the construction works were really ramping up a notch and that completion can’t be far off. This also compounded with speculation that the attraction could have been themed to The Universal Monsters, however we now believe this is very unlikely.

We received the following email from a Team Member who wished to remain anonymous:

I don’t know what’s going in that building but I’ve been told that there will be cars and technology displays

So if he’s right it’s very unlikely to be Monsters. It could however be a number of possible franchises from the Fast and Furious to the original rumor of Jason Bourne.For right now we’re just have to wait for an official announcement! What would you like to see as an attraction in this building? Let us know in the comments!

Remember: Nothing is official until Universal announces it, these are just rumors!

Prepare to be totally terrified…

On the heels of last year’s immensely popular event, the ‘80s will return with a vengeance to Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights. All-new horrifying experiences inspired by some of the biggest frights of the era will invade the world’s premier Halloween event – offering no escape from the decade that just won’t die. Guests will face 10 elaborately themed haunted houses based on everything from Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” Universal Pictures’ legendary “Universal Monsters,” plus other cinematic greats and crazed cult favorites, to original abominations created by the twisted minds of Universal’s Entertainment team. They’ll navigate five sinister scare zones throughout the park, each filled with menacing scareactors. And when they need a break from the scares, guests can enjoy Universal Studios’ most exhilarating rides and attractions.

More details about this year’s event will be revealed soon.

With a plethora of different ticket and vacation packages on sale now, guests can experience this year’s Halloween Horror Nights their own way by customizing their visit. Guests can save up to $53 on a Halloween Horror Nights single night ticket when booking online and experience more horror each night with a multi-day ticket. Florida resident vacation packages are also available and include accommodations at Universal’s newest hotel – Universal’s Endless Summer Resort – Surfside Inn and Suites – one-night admission ticket to Halloween Horror Nights, tickets to Universal Orlando’s theme parks and more. Plus, guests can upgrade their experience with the Halloween Horror Nights Express Pass and more.

Halloween Horror Nights runs on select nights from September 6 to November 2 at Universal Studios Florida. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com