Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. About 70% of the studio lies within the unincorporated county island known as Universal City while the rest lies within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA". It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios sets and is the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks located across the world.
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and other aspects of the entertainment industry. Universal Studios Florida was the first of three theme parks to open at Universal Orlando Resort, joined later by Islands of Adventure in 1999 and Volcano Bay in 2017. In 2019, it ranked eleventh in the world – sixth in North America – for overall attendance among amusement parks with approximately 10.9 million visitors. A third park, Epic Universe, is expected in summer 2025. It is expected to be the largest Universal park in the United States.
Kongfrontation was a ride located at Universal Studios Florida theme park in Orlando, Florida. As one of the original attractions featured during the park's grand opening on June 7, 1990, it quickly became one of the most popular. It was closed in 2002 to make way for Revenge of the Mummy, which opened in its place in 2004. Kongfrontation was based on the 1976 King Kong film and King Kong Encounter, a defunct attraction once located at Universal Studios Hollywood. It was themed to the evacuation of civilians from Kong's rampage on Roosevelt Island.
The Studio Tour is a ride attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in Universal City, California near Los Angeles. Studio Tour is the theme park's signature attraction. It travels through a working film studio, with various film sets on the Universal Studios Lot. Guests sit on multi-car trams for the duration of the ride. The tour lasts about 45–60 minutes and is led by an in-person "tram guide", with the aid of pre-recorded videos of Jimmy Fallon. It travels through the Front Lot, Backlot, and various attractions, passing sets and properties from movies along the way. The tour inspired a smaller but similar version at Universal Studios Florida, which was removed in 1995.
Universal Classic Monsters is a home video line based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s. Although not initially conceived as a franchise, the enduring popularity and legacy of the films and the characters featured in them has led the studio to market them under the collective brand name of Universal Studios Monsters. Steve Jones of USA Today described Universal's most famous monsters as "pop culture icons", specifically Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Wolf Man.
Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 American documentary film about horror films, including slasher films and crime thrillers. The film is directed by Andrew J. Kuehn, and hosted by Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen. The original music score is composed by John Beal.
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) is a separate-admission Halloween-themed event held annually during the months of August, September, October, and November at the Magic Kingdom theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando, and at Disneyland Paris Resort outside Paris, France. The party began as a response to the Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios Florida. Disney's event caters to a traditional family atmosphere, whereas Universal's has more of a "fright-centered" event with their monsters.
Universal's House of Horrors was an attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. It was the fifth variation of a walk-through maze housed in the "Stage 13" building.. The "Stage 13" building was previously home to different restaurants before being transformed into an attraction. The attraction opened in March 2007.
Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show is a live musical revue stage show based on the film of the same name and Universal Classic Monsters. It is located at Universal Studios Japan, and formerly played at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida.
Coming Soon is a 1982 American direct-to-video documentary film directed by John Landis for Universal Pictures. Landis used trailers of old Universal horror and thriller films to create his own contribution to his favorite film genres. The film is narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis.
Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! was a dark ride attraction at Universal Studios Florida. Set on a soundstage of a fictitious movie company, Disaster! was based on the park's former Earthquake: The Big One ride, which comically illustrates how special effects are filmed for use in movies. The attraction's climax cast the riders as movie extras for a movie final scene involving an earthquake in a subway station. Using high-speed editing techniques, the riders got to see themselves in the form of a movie trailer that included film sequences shot throughout the attraction's pre-show and main ride.
Fear Factor Live was a stunt stage show attraction located in the World Expo section at Universal Studios Florida and in the Upper Lot section at Universal Studios Hollywood. Both attractions opened in spring 2005. The Hollywood attraction was closed on August 14, 2008, to make way for Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Musical, which opened in spring 2009. The Florida attraction began operating on a seasonal schedule on June 3, 2005. The attraction began running again on a full-time basis in summer 2010. The attraction was based on the NBC television series Fear Factor and featured theme park guests becoming contestants in various stunts inspired by the show. After temporarily closing in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Universal confirmed in October 2021 that the attraction would not reopen.
Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show is a live show located at Universal Studios Florida that opened on June 7, 1990, along with the theme park. It is a live demonstration of Universal Pictures' legacy of horror movies, with particular emphasis on prosthetic makeup. It was inspired by the former The Land of a Thousand Faces show (1975–1980) at Universal Studios Hollywood. It is also notable for being one of two original opening-day attractions still in operation at Universal Studios Florida, the other being E.T. Adventure.
Halloween Screams: A Villainous Surprise in the Skies is a Halloween-themed fireworks show that is presented at Disneyland during the seasonal Mickey's Halloween Party event. Based on the similarly-themed, former fireworks show HalloWishes at Magic Kingdom, Halloween Screams is hosted by Jack Skellington and features appearances from Disney Villains and music from Disney animated features.
Universal's Halloween Horror Nights is an annual Halloween-themed event at Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Hollywood, Japan and Singapore. The longest-running & most successful iteration of the event, in Orlando, Florida, began as Universal Studios Fright Nights in 1991 as a 3-night event at Universal Studios Florida. The following year, it was re-branded as Halloween Horror Nights, advertised as the "second annual event". Since then, it has evolved into a scare-a-thon event filled with themed haunted houses, scare zones & shows that runs over the course of select nights from early September until late October/early November, inspiring offshoots at other Universal Studios locations across the globe.
Special Effects Stage was an attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. Originally located in the park's Lower Lot area, it was relocated to the Upper Lot’s Castle Theater to make way for Transformers: The Ride 3D. The attraction opened in this second and final location on June 26, 2010. The show permanently closed on January 8, 2023 alongside Universal's Animal Actors, and both will be replaced by a Fast & the Furious-themed rollercoaster.
Fright Nights is a seasonal Halloween event held at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The event began in 2006 as Halloween Family Fun Night as a single night event and has since evolved into a major park event across a month. It features themed mazes, shows and rides. Fright Nights also refers to the Halloween special event at Thorpe Park in Chertsey, Surrey, England, which opened in 2002.
31 Nights of Halloween is an American seasonal programming block on Freeform. It originally began airing in 1998, after the Family Channel became Fox Family, and was continued through the channel's change into ABC Family, and later, Freeform. The 13 Days of Halloween block was created mainly due to the success of the channel's 25 Days of Christmas, which had started two years earlier. The special block lasted from October 19 until Halloween night, covering the thirteen days before the holiday. Starting in 2018, the program aired throughout the whole month of October.
Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories was a lagoon show at Universal Studios Florida. The attraction replaced Universal 360: A Cinesphere Spectacular in the park's center Lagoon. It featured famous scenes from Universal Pictures films projected onto large waterfall screens mixed with fountains and pyrotechnics. The show was narrated by actor Morgan Freeman, and was part of the 100th anniversary celebrations for Universal Studios throughout 2012. It opened on May 8, 2012. The music for the "spectacular" was a combination of scores from different films, with some original pieces composed by Brian Tyler, who also adapted Jerry Goldsmith's Universal Pictures fanfare for the studio's current logo and composed the "Universal Pictures 100th Anniversary Theme" that was also based on Goldsmith's fanfare. The closure of the show was announced on October 10, 2017. Universal stated that the show was replaced with a new night show named Universal Orlando's Cinematic Celebration, which opened on July 16, 2018, and closed on March 9, 2023.
