Browse By Tags

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...

This past Saturday night, I got to do something very fun. As part of the press event for the kick-off of this year's Mardi Gras celebration at the Universal Orlando Resort ... Copyright 2013 Universal Orlando Resort. All rights reserved I got to go backstage at Universal Studios Florida to see the...

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...

Paul G writes in to ask: Why on earth are so many Disney fan websites so negative? There are a good number of them that I don't even look at anymore because they spend so much time complaining about every last little thing. They are so negative! (thank you Jim for being one of the few who, while...

Francis T. sent me this e-mail yesterday: I know that you mostly write about Disney. But my eight year old has recently discovered the Dreamworks animation movies and is now completely obsessed with Shrek . We're headed to Orlando next month. So I was wondering if you had any recommendations about...

Earlier this month when I was down at Universal Studios Florida for the " Transformers The Ride - 3D " press event, a longtime Universal cast member pulled me aside and suggested that -- as part of that trip -- I make an effort to swing by that theme park's International Food & Film...

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...

Make-up master Greg Nicotero helps make AMC's "The Walking Dead" a gory must-see Let's face it: Nobody likes going through security at the airport. But for Greg Nicotero, the Emmy-winning makeup effects artist and co-executive producer of AMC 's hit series The Walking Dead , that...

Troy P. writes in to ask: Hi Jim! Love your website. I was in Minneapolis this weekend and I attended the annual nighttime Halloween festival at ValleyFair, a local theme park here in the Twin Cities. " ValleyScare " was a fun event with creepy theming, chilling music, tons of fog machines...

Earlier today, Chris sent me a note which read: Hi Jim I am loving the daily why for entries. I heard that when planning a european park the original plan was to construct somewhere is Spain. if this is true why for did Disney feel the need to build it in France? As a Britt, I can say that the amount...

My apologies, folks. I know that JHM has been extremely light on content this past week or so. But I have been traveling. Dear Lord, have I been traveling. I wonder how many Frequent Flyer miles The Dreamfinder racked up while he was flying this contraption around EPCOT Center's Kodak pavilion? Copyright...

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...

When you're someone like Lora Wallace (i.e. the show director of Universal Studios Florida 's new Superstar Parade ) , and you've spent weeks in the pre-dawn darkness teaching your young, energetic cast the proper way to move through that theme park ... It's kind of ironic that the light...

There's an old saying that you don't fix what ain't broke. And in the case of "The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man," this Islands of Adventure attraction had received consistently high marks with Universal Orlando Guests since it first opened back in May of 1999. With some folks...

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...

In response to last week's "Universal Studios Florida's 'Jaws' attraction sails off into the sunset" article , A Bigger Boat wrote in to say: I really enjoyed your "Jaws" article. But I find it hard to believe that Universal would change the layout of their entire...

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...