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The Internet is really a wondrous place. Especially if you're a young person who's considering a career in animation. If you've ever considered becoming a character designer someday, you can always swing by Tom Bancroft 's Character Mentor Studio or Stephen Silver's blog and then...

Just yesterday, Universal Orlando served up its five-millionth glass of Butterbeer. Which is quite an achievement. Given that -- prior to the June 2010 opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure -- this beverage only existed between the pages of J.K. Rowling...

It was a quiet, grey November day yesterday at Universal Studios Florida ... Photo by Jim Hill Which was kind of impressive unto itself. Given that the night before had been October 31st, Halloween, the very last night of operation for this year's edition of Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights...

Penn & Teller, Universal Orlando team up to create haunted house for Halloween Horror Nights In the nearly 40 years that they've been working together, Penn Jillette & Teller have accomplished a great many things. Thanks to their skillful blend of cynical showmanship & macabre magic,...

If you noticed some yellow & silver confetti drifting by yesterday ... Photo by Jim Hill ... Well, there was a good reason for that. " Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem " had its grand opening at Universal Studios Florida yesterday morning. Photo by Jim Hill And the Universal Orlando Resort...

It looks like Universal Orlando has really hit a hole-in-one with its new Hollywood Drive-In Golf complex. Copyright Universal Orlando. All rights reserved Though the painters were still putting a few finishing touches on these two 18-hole courses while I "played through" at last night's...

When the very last member of the audience left the Blue Man Group theater back on January 22nd, that's literally when the work began. The crew at the Universal Orlando Resort had only two weeks to give this CityWalk venue a $5 million, hi-tech makeover and they weren't going to waste a moment...

Hey, did I ever tell you my favorite grace-under-pressure story? It happened just recently. And not to me, thank God. But - rather - to poor Rupert Grint , the talented young actor who's played Ron Weasley in all of the "Harry Potter" movies to date. Photo by Jim Hill Now let me take a...

Four weeks from tonight, the Universal Orlando Resort will be premiering the 20th anniversary edition of Halloween Horror Nights . "And just what should we expect as HHN reaches this special headstone ... er ... milestone?," you ask. Well, to hear show director Mike Aiello talk, the 20th anniversary...

It’s a problem that every theme park has faced at one time or another. As in: How to keep those turnstiles turning in the weeks & months just before a major new attraction opens. And in the case of the Universal Orlando Resort , there’s a very real fear among UOR managers that many Guests are now...

Denny P. dropped me a line on Saturday to ask: Did you see Jason Garcia’s story in the Sentinel yesterday about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter ? As a Disney fan, this sounds like complete hype to me. But what do you think? Is this Islands of Adventure addition really going to be a game changer for...