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Ever since The Wizarding World of Harry Potter first opened at Universal's Islands of Adventure back in June of 2010, thousands of people have entered Hogsmeade and -- after spotting that stationary version of the Hogwarts Express (which was parked at the entrance of this theme park land as a photo...

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...

sk anyone who's ever worked in themed entertainment about what the tougher job is: building a brand-new ride, show or attraction from the ground up OR finding a way to shoehorn a brand-new ride into a pre-existing show building. And to a man, they will tell you that the retrofit is always the tougher...

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...

So what's Christmas-time like in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter ? Given that holiday magic is kind of different from the sort of magic that they practice up at Hogwarts, Christmas in Hogsmeade is a somewhat understated affair. There's a wreath on the door at Zonko's and some garland...

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,...

AMC's "The Walking Dead" takes a bite out of Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Fans of AMC 's " The Walking Dead " will be running -- not walking -- to Orlando and Hollywood later this year. Especially after they learn that this Emmy Award-winning television series is...

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...

There must have been a few confused tourists at Universal Orlando earlier today. Given the whales ... ... and polar bears that were parked right outside of the entrance of Universal Studios Florida this morning ... ... you have to wonder how many tourists thought (at least for a moment) that they had...

January used to be the start of the slow season at the stateside Disney Parks. How so? So slow that - immediately after New Year's Day -- Disneyland Park wouldn't even open on Mondays & Tuesdays. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Which -- as far as the maintenance crew...

Upstage: (verb) To divert attention or praise from; force out of the spotlight This wasn't how The Walt Disney Company envisioned 2012 starting out. After weeks of broadly hinting that the Mouse had something big in the works for Leap Year, Disney's PR department thought that Twitter & Facebook...

It's time to say "Good-bye" to " ... the mistake on the lake." Copyright Universal Orlando. All rights reserved That's what the skippers who worked on "Jaws" used to affectionately call this Universal Studios Florida attraction. Which will be closing later today...

MaxAndGoofy wrote in yesterday to ask about my whereabouts: Are you okay? I've been coming by your website since late Tuesday night. Other than that Roger Rabbit article that you pulled out of the archives, I haven't seen any new articles posted on JHM since then. Since you're usually good...

All over the US today, there are muddled Muggles wandering about. Devoted Harry Potter fans who just couldn't wait to see " Deathly Hallows - Part 2 ." Which is why - rather than opting to catch the very first show of this new Warners Bros. Pictures release on Friday morning - they decided...

In response to Wednesday's Entertainment Designer Forum article , JacksBack wrote in to say: Paper model of Wizard's Crag from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Signed by Ray Keim, this one-of-a-kind collectable will be just one of the items up for bid...

I know that we're just a few days away from Easter here. But if you're a serious Halloween fan, one of those folks who actually plans their trips down to Orlando around Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida and/or Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa ... Well, there's only...

Have you heard about this survey that's been making the rounds? The one that asks people who've previously attended performances of La Nouba (i.e. that Cirque du Soleil show that's been entertaining WDW visitors on Downtown Disney 's West Side since December of 1998) about a possible...