First Look: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood

I was lucky enough to be one of the journalists invited to preview the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood before it officially opened the next day. Here are some of the photos I took during the special Media Preview.

Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Warwick Davis, Evanna Lynch, James Phelps, and Oliver Phelps during panel discussion with media. (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Warwick Davis, Evanna Lynch, James Phelps, and Oliver Phelps during panel discussion with media. (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Evanna Lynch, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps and Tom Felton during panel discussion with media. (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Evanna Lynch, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps and Tom Felton during panel discussion with media. (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Yay for Butterbeer (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Yay for Butterbeer (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogwarts students (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogwarts students (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Ollivanders (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Ollivanders (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Honeyduke's (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Honeyduke’s (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Wand Selection Ceremony (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Wand Selection Ceremony (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Wand selection ceremony (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Wand selection ceremony (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Inside Ollivander's (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Inside Ollivander’s (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Travel writer Ashley Burnett tries her hand at magic (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Travel writer Ashley Burnett tries her hand at magic (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Frog Choir Performance (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Frog Choir Performance (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Even the bathrooms were designed like the bathrooms at Hogwarts (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Even the bathrooms were designed like the bathrooms at Hogwarts (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
More of the stars from the movies (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
More of the stars from the movies (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
The Monster Book Of Monsters (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
The Monster Book Of Monsters (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Entrance to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Entrance to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Sirius' motorcycle (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Sirius’ motorcycle (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Shop at Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)
Shop at Hogsmeade (Photo: Michelle Rae Uy)

 

“Fast & Furious – Supercharged” Sets Universal Studios Hollywood Ablaze

Sizzling celebrities. High speeds. Explosions. A car flying in the air and through a billboard. Universal Studios Hollywood certainly welcomed the latest family-friendly addition to Los Angeles’ favorite theme park with a bang!

Tuesday, June 23, saw the launch of the new Universal Studios ride, “Fast & Furious – Supercharged,” and fans of the movies as well as families with kids are in for the ride of their lives.

Photo by David Sprague | Courtesy Universal Studios Hollywood
Photo by David Sprague | Courtesy Universal Studios Hollywood

The high-octane but very kid-friendly adventure is an exciting hydraulic motion-based ride pumped with adrenaline, state-of-the-art 3D audio and 3D-HD imagery systems, other sensory special effects, and the world’s longest and most expansive 360-degree screen. The ride features some of the stars from one of the biggest movie franchises in history, including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Tyrese Gibson, who all reprise their roles to fight the bad guys in an exhilarating car chase!

Expect rockets, debris, bullets flying and explosions as you get caught in the midst of all the action. And get ready to get a little wet. The best part? Dwayne Johnson, who plays DSS agent Luke Hobbs in the franchise, joins them with big guns blazing!

Photo: Michelle Rae
Photo: Michelle Rae
Photo: Michelle Rae
Photo: Michelle Rae

Kids, teens and adults will truly be impressed with this new ride that Vin Diesel himself called, “…incredible, ….really remarkable. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Fast & Furious – Supercharged” is expected to become a mega-hit like its big screen counterparts. It joins the ranks of War of the Worlds, Desperate Housewives, Psycho, Jaws, and other Universal Pictures hits as it now serves as the epic conclusion to the park’s popular Studio Tour, which attracts people young and old from all parts of the world. It is set to open to the park goers on June 24, 2015.

So what are you waiting for? Rev your engines, fasten your seatbelts, and race to Universal Studios Hollywood now for this thrilling ride!

(Originally published on MiniTime.)

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