Big Changes Coming To Universal Studios Hollywood - Construction Update City Walk & HHN Merch Is Out
Universal Hollywood Update July 2025
Transcript
0:03
Welcome everyone. Adam the Woo here. As
0:03
of the recording of this Sunday, July
0:05
20th, 2025, I'm checking out of my hotel
0:08
here at the Disneyland Resort. I'm going
0:11
be heading up to Hollywood. I was on
0:13
Hollywood Boulevard last night, but had
0:15
to come back here because this is where
0:16
I was staying, but I'm going to return
0:19
to that area. I'm going to be staying at
0:22
the the Hilton there at the entrance to
0:25
Universal Studios Hollywood. Checking
0:28
out here at 11:00 a.m. check-in there is
0:30
not till 4:00 p p.m. So I figure the
0:33
hour hour and 15 minute Uber ride up
0:35
there. Hopefully they can store my bags,
0:38
pop in the park, maybe hit CityWalk, do
0:41
some stuff around that general area,
0:42
then check into my room and just see
0:44
where the day leads. I'm inviting you to
0:47
join me.
0:49
Shall you? Got my bags all packed up,
0:52
luggage tag on this one, and I've added
0:55
this MGM Studios
0:57
keychain old school
1:00
onto my backpack.
1:03
So, I got a little accessories on both
1:05
bags now. Love staying here. I have
1:09
Disney Vacation Club points that I use
1:11
whenever I'm staying here. I just
1:13
utilize those. My two favorite places to
1:16
stay in Anaheim near Disneyland are this
1:19
particular accommodations. And then also
1:21
over on Harbor Boulevard, I like staying
1:23
at Tropicana and in Suites, which is
1:27
really nice. Really, really close. Very,
1:29
both of these are very close proximity
1:31
to just walking into the park on either
1:33
side
1:35
of the park. Was so glad I was able to
1:37
be here for the actual 70th anniversary
1:40
of Disneyland a few days ago.
1:43
Hard to believe it's been 70 years since
1:44
Walt opened his original Magic Kingdom.
1:47
And I got this door key, which I'm going
1:50
to keep. I'll throw it somewhere in the
1:52
corridor goons when I get home. But I
1:54
like it because it has the 70th on it.
1:56
Celebrate happy. So I'll hang on to that
1:57
as a as a little souvenir. All right,
2:00
got to get going. When I first purchased
2:02
DVC points, I don't know, a few years
2:04
ago, 3 4 years ago. I got a few home
2:07
resorts in Florida. That was before I
2:09
bought my house. Kind of wish I would
2:11
have bought all my points here and at
2:13
Alani instead of having Florida resorts.
2:15
Now, you can use DVC points at any
2:18
Disney Vacation Club properties. The
2:20
only difference with having a home
2:21
resort is it gives you 11 month pokey
2:23
window versus 7 months. That's the
2:27
advantage.
2:35
But I bought all my Florida points
2:35
before getting a house in Florida. So,
2:39
yeah. I kind of just wish I would have
2:40
bought all of Medalani and all of them
2:42
here at Disneyland. So when I travel,
2:44
I'll always have rooms.
2:45
>> Yes, Disneyland 70th was it was a good
2:49
time. I was here for the kickoff in May
2:52
and then I was here for the actual day
2:54
on the 17th which was just a few days
2:57
ago.
2:58
Love it. Love Disneyland. Love Walt's
3:01
original Magic Kingdom showing up to the
3:04
celebrations.
3:05
Now it's time to
3:07
move along.
3:10
Till next time. I mean, I'm out here a
3:12
few times a year, so it's not uncommon
3:15
that I stay here. But yeah, till next
3:17
time. Till next time.
3:24
See you. Street cleaning Zamboni.
3:24
Traffic wasn't too bad. About an hour.
3:28
Sometimes it takes an hour and a half.
3:30
It was pretty kind. an hour.
3:34
This the time frame to get over here to
3:35
the Hilton at Universal City, right
3:40
outside Universal Studios Hollywood.
3:44
>> All right, I am amazed. I'm checking in
3:46
at 12:30 p.m. A half hour afternoon. I'm
3:49
heading up to my room, which is all the
3:52
way at the top of this hotel, way up
3:58
near the top floor. I always enjoy
4:01
staying here. I would say probably seven
4:05
out of 10 times I'm in Hollywood, I stay
4:07
here. The other three out of 10, just
4:09
just guesstimating.
4:11
I'll stay elsewhere. But I always enjoy
4:14
this proximity to everything that is
4:16
Hollywood, whether it be, you know,
4:19
Universal, the Boulevard, Warner
4:21
Brothers, Griffith Park, etc.
4:29
And I got a really amazing view this
4:29
time. I've stayed on the, you know,
4:31
10th, 12th, 13th, 15th floor, etc., but
4:34
I've never stayed above the 20th floor
4:37
before. I think there's only 24 floors
4:39
total on the entire property. So, I am
4:42
way up here
4:44
getting a good view. Look at the red
4:46
carpet down there.
4:48
Not sure if I'm going to park if I'm
4:49
going to pop in the park today or not.
4:51
If I do, maybe just check out some of
4:53
the HHN merch that is already put out,
4:56
if any. But I do want to go over to
4:58
CityWalk, get a coffee. I might even
5:01
head down to the pool and hot tub a
5:02
little bit later. Kind of have a more
5:05
chill day. You can see the new roller
5:08
coaster over there, Fast and Furious.
5:11
being constructed.
5:19
I'm here for a couple days,
5:19
two or three days, give or take a day.
5:33
All right, I definitely need some
5:33
coffee. Have not had a piping hot
5:34
caffeinated beverage yet. So, it's time.
5:38
It's time. I've learned not to drink a
5:41
big cup of Joe before heading up from
5:44
Anaheim to LA cuz halfway up if you're
5:47
stuck in traffic and that bladder says
5:50
you need to take care of business and
5:53
you're in a you're in a ride share
5:54
vehicle, it doesn't end well. So that's
5:56
why I waited till I got here. This is
5:58
the shower and the facilities
6:00
over in this section. You got a mirror
6:02
there. Kind of see me over there as well
6:06
bouncing from mirror to mirror.
6:09
There's me again right over in that
6:12
section.
6:13
This one's got the Rodeo Drive, a corner
6:17
of Rodeo Drive
6:20
as well. Got a haird dryer down there.
6:24
Plenty of towels. This is a tub style of
6:28
shower. They do have a few rooms that
6:30
have the the sliding glass door, but
6:33
this is not one of them. This has a tub
6:35
if I wanted to soak the bones a little
6:37
bit later. But again, I think I might do
6:38
the hot tub a little bit later. We also
6:42
provide some waters in here. These are
6:44
complimentary. You can always go get
6:45
more or ask for more. But if you would
6:47
like a Voss, a larger Voss, 28 oz Voss,
6:52
they will charge you $12. It's also a
6:54
Quezin Art, but the cups are super tiny.
6:57
I need a Venty.
6:59
I need a Vinty sugar-free vanilla latte.
7:03
I'm going to head down there right now.
7:11
Citywalk time. Hopefully there's a lot
7:11
of HHN merch out already. I think I
7:13
think they put some out. We'll see.
7:16
Going down
7:27
Got to say hello to my fish and turtle
7:27
friends over here. See if they miss me.
7:30
probably have no recollection whatsoever
7:33
about
7:34
missing me, but I do like to say hi to
7:37
them. You got the koi down in here. They
7:40
just want some little snacks, but I
7:41
don't have any food for you. Sorry. If I
7:44
did,
7:46
they would recommend me not feed the
7:49
fish. I don't have any little snackages.
7:53
We got the turtles over here.
7:56
I love this little peaceful spot
7:59
right outside the hotel.
8:06
You're seeing eye
8:06
of the giant minion.
8:17
It's a big eye shuttle going up the
8:17
hill. This is a very steep hill
8:20
getting up. It's like basically this
8:22
theme park's built on the side of a
8:23
mountain. A small mountain. Let's call
8:24
it a a bigger size hill. This is not the
8:28
back lock tram tour, but it is a tram
8:31
vehicle that will take you from the
8:33
bottom to the top. I always cut across
8:35
here and walk up the Frankenstein
8:37
parking area over to the Frankenstein
8:40
escalator.
9:29
I prefer doing this than walking over
9:29
there and crossing that bridge.
9:32
Good old Frankie. Frankenstein or as
9:36
some refer to it as Frankenstein's
9:38
monster. This is the first time I've
9:40
seen the Universe Studios Hollywood
9:43
Frankenstein's monster aka Frankie
9:45
Frankenstein since I was in the bath
9:48
directly underneath
9:50
the King Kong sculpture which has been
9:52
mounted on the side of the building here
9:55
at Citywalk for as far back as I can
9:56
remember, maybe even farther back than
9:58
my time here. I think the first time I
10:00
was ever at Universal here in SoCal was
10:03
probably 2012, 2013. The first time I
10:06
visited LA. They've been coming ever
10:08
since then to the parks at Universal.
10:10
Seen quite a few changes over the years,
10:12
just in my short duration and short
10:15
tenure. The Starbucks used to be a pizza
10:18
place. It was a Blaze Pizza. Now it's a
10:20
Starbucks. And there really wasn't much
10:22
of a line, which is kind of I don't know
10:23
how busy it's going to be inside the
10:24
park. I'm going pop in there and just
10:26
see if they any have any new merchandise
10:29
or anything like that. Probably not
10:30
going to ride anything or do the tram or
10:32
anything like that. Maybe I'll do a
10:33
little construction. Speaking of
10:34
construction, a lot of CityWalk really a
10:37
lot of things are closing. A lot of
10:39
things are going to be new developments
10:41
and new establishments, drastic
10:44
differences happening,
10:46
you know, not only in the park, but also
10:48
Citywalk. In the park, they're building
10:49
the the new Fast and Furious coaster.
10:51
I'll pop in and take a look at that as
10:53
well. But even Citywalk itself, a lot of
10:55
things constantly changing the es and
10:58
flows of Universal Cities Citywalk.
11:04
All right, I think now after after
11:05
drinking the coffee,
11:07
>> after drinking the coffee and getting a
11:09
little caffeinated, I think I'm going to
11:10
pop inside the park now. Got my uh
11:13
season pass, my annual pass, be able to
11:15
pop inside the park. So, going to head
11:17
in there now and see what I can see what
11:19
I can see. Just I don't know, check out
11:21
the merch and and probably go back to
11:23
the hotel room and relax and see where
11:25
the rest of the night leaves. Night
11:27
leaves night leads.
11:34
having trouble talking today. They still
11:34
got their Back to the Future 40th
11:36
display out. Looks like there's a few
11:37
things that were not here last time I
11:39
was here. They're doing got some new
11:41
merchandise. The radiation suit. Look at
11:43
this. A radioactive plutonium handle
11:45
with care rain jacket. Look at that.
11:48
That's kind of neat.
11:51
There we go. We got the HHN stuff
11:53
starting to kick off here with some
11:55
coffee mugs. Like we're going to have a
11:58
Jason. Was it Jason universe? All about
12:01
Jason. Here we got Friday the 13th
12:03
happening right over here. That's pretty
12:05
that's going to be pretty fun. Like
12:06
Fallout's going to be another one of the
12:08
IPs that's happening right here. You got
12:11
the dog holding the hand. Also the
12:13
t-shirt here. I guess this is the first
12:15
drop of the merchandise. I've kind of
12:16
haven't really uh paid attention to any
12:18
of it, but now that I'm here, I figured
12:20
I could probably start to get into the
12:21
HHM spirit. Art the Clown over here from
12:25
Terrifier. Let's see. I think yeah, they
12:26
already announced that Art the Clown was
12:28
going to be one of the the icons from
12:31
Terrifier. That's going to be uh that's
12:33
going to be interesting uh interesting
12:34
concept with this like kind of looks as
12:36
if there are two icons left as well. So
12:39
you got Fallout, you got Art the Clown,
12:41
you got Jason Vorhees, there's going to
12:42
be another one right here and another
12:44
one right here. This is kind of neat.
12:45
You can buy this little window door unit
12:47
right here with a little standee and you
12:50
could put the different ones on there.
12:51
When they announced the other two, you
12:53
could have the five icons on a little
12:55
collectible in your home. Love all the
12:57
Universal Monster stuff. Not HHM, but
13:00
you got Bride of Frankenstein over here,
13:01
pillows, plushes, the mummy, wolf man,
13:05
Frankie, etc. Bride of Frankenstein. So,
13:08
not it's alive, but she's alive right
13:11
there. You also have the little hats.
13:13
She's alive down there in the different
13:15
color. Here you got the little purse
13:17
there with the bride and the Frankie
13:20
there. Not either or, but both of them
13:23
together. They're alive as well. That's
13:25
kind of neat, too. You got his face. Got
13:27
the face on the front of that hoodie
13:29
through there. You got the creature down
13:31
below right here. Almost didn't see this
13:33
plushy right here. This is the invis
13:34
almost didn't see him, but now I kind of
13:36
notice that the invisible man is right
13:38
there. Dracula.
13:41
All kind of stuff in here. Love the
13:43
universal monsters. Ooh, here's a
13:44
creature. Like a planter. Oh, no. It's a
13:47
coffee mug. Like a planter, but it's
13:48
like a little coffee mug right here. You
13:50
can put a little cup of Joe in there.
13:52
The mummy socks. Walking over here to
13:54
this little overlook over to this area.
13:57
The 80ft overlook that you can look down
13:59
over this direction where you can get a
14:01
pretty good view through the shrubs here
14:04
at the Fast and the Furious coaster,
14:06
which is Wow. It has seen some major
14:08
progress since last time I was here with
14:11
not only the building looks like it's
14:12
almost finished, but looks like all the
14:14
track has laid on. Yeah, look at this.
14:16
The entire track looks to be Oh my gosh.
14:18
There's a there's a ride vehicle right
14:20
there. What the heck? There is
14:23
a ride vehicle for the Fast and the
14:24
Furious. Well, I'm assuming that's going
14:26
to be the ride vehicle. Look at that
14:27
thing.
14:29
>> Wow. Oh, they're even building the
14:31
walls, those like sound walls or
14:33
whatever right there. It's going to like
14:34
maybe block the screams or maybe part of
14:36
the theming.
14:38
>> Interesting.
14:41
>> Look at the the box over here. You can
14:43
see where it says Shaw on the side of it
14:46
right there in the middle. That wooden
14:47
box. The theming starting to come to
14:50
fruition. This is going to be really
14:52
cool to see this on the side of the see
14:54
this operating on the side of the
14:56
mountain with the ride vehicles get
14:58
tested and looping around, etc.
15:02
I kind of walk around a different angle
15:03
too and get some get different angles of
15:06
this as well with the the ride track
15:07
that looks to be complete from different
15:09
angles in the building and all that.
15:11
Thing is neat about this too, it goes
15:12
over the escalator. You know, the
15:15
escalator that has a few different
15:16
portions that goes up and down the sides
15:18
of the side of the mountain.
15:20
Yeah. It's going to the the ride vehicle
15:22
and the track itself is going to just
15:24
kind of shoot over the top of the
15:26
escalator, which is kind of a neat neat
15:28
way they're doing it where it goes on
15:31
one side and then just completely goes
15:32
over the other side. It's kind of neat
15:34
to neat to see it to be honest. It's
15:37
hard to believe also that where this was
15:38
used to be the it was like a dance show
15:41
of some sort and there was also the
15:42
animal actors stage. They were like two
15:44
different arenas that were side by side.
15:47
and they bulldozed both of them to to
15:49
build the
15:51
the show building for the Fast and the
15:53
Furious. And then of course the the
15:55
track itself kind of went all the way
15:57
into areas where there was nothing. They
15:58
had to clear out some shrubs and foliage
16:01
and trees and whatnot down the side of
16:04
the mountain. But going to be awesome
16:06
when this opens early next year, I'm
16:08
hearing
16:15
Fast and Furious.
16:15
And they already closed the other Fast
16:16
and Furious ride that was on the back
16:19
lot tram tour, which I'm thankful for. I
16:20
never never liked that at all. This is
16:22
going to be way better than that. That
16:24
was at the very end of the tram tour.
16:25
Didn't I didn't really care for that all
16:26
that much personally. It was just my
16:28
opinion, but didn't love it.
16:29
>> Oh, I thought that was like
16:31
>> No, I'm scared to test that.
16:33
>> Testing the fans out.
16:34
>> Yeah, we don't want any accidents. I got
16:36
to make sure it's not poisonous, you
16:37
know.
16:38
>> Okay.
16:38
>> What do you think so far?
16:40
>> I'm enjoying the the nice little cool
16:43
steam air there. Cool steam. You don't
16:44
think it's dangerous?
16:45
>> I think it's perfectly fine. I'm no
16:47
expert like you, Bernie, but
16:48
>> you know, I'm trying my best out here,
16:50
you know.
16:51
>> But I It's all about the safety of the
16:53
guests, you know.
16:54
>> That's true. I feel perfectly safe right
16:56
now.
16:56
>> You know what? I think I'm going to stay
16:57
here for like another hour.
16:58
>> Okay, that's good. Probably a good idea.
17:01
It's a little hot out here.
17:03
>> All right, keep up the good work.
17:04
>> I'll see you around.
17:05
>> All right, see you, Bernie.
17:08
>> Kind of excited about this Jason
17:10
Universe maze. Is this going to be like
17:11
a montage of all the different Jason
17:13
movies? Is it going to be all the
17:15
different eras of Jason kind of mashed
17:18
into one? Be pretty cool if that's the
17:20
case. Again, I really haven't kind of
17:21
dove into it and I've stayed spoilerfree
17:23
on HHN so far, but I think it's time to
17:25
start learning a little bit. It's going
17:27
to be here before we know it. All right,
17:28
I think I'm going to make my way out of
17:30
here, go back to the hotel, get out of
17:32
the heat. I definitely over the next
17:34
couple days want to dip in and do all
17:36
the Universal stuff, but today just pop
17:38
in to look at merch. It's a little
17:39
warmer than I expected out here to be
17:41
honest.
17:43
The shade it feels really good, but when
17:44
you're in the sun, it's it's kind of
17:47
warm for SoCal.
17:50
And the shade's great. So, if you're
17:52
right here,
17:54
definitely a lot cooler than being right
17:57
there. I mean, that's obviously
18:35
I'm heading back to the room. Got a
18:36
couple snacks.
18:39
Just going to enjoy the rest of the
18:41
evening. It's busy in the park. I mean,
18:44
it's also, as I'm filming this, it's a
18:46
Sunday, so I imagine other days as the
18:49
weekday start, it won't be as busy, but
18:51
man, it was it was busy in there. Down
18:53
the little gift shop at the bottom of
18:54
the hotel. Got some gum. Got some Harobo
18:57
Harbo gummy bears, gold bears. Got some
19:01
little nuts and chocolate trail mix.
19:03
Another water there.
19:06
Yeah, I'm just going to have a
19:08
relaxing time in here. Been going pretty
19:11
hard the last, I don't know, four or
19:13
five days with friends. Staying very
19:16
busy from morning till night.
19:21
So, today's going to be kind of a chill
19:22
day by myself.
19:25
We can zoom in down here.
19:29
See the coaster there. Oh, that looks
19:31
like a loop right there. Look at that.
19:35
Yeah, that's like a loop right there.
19:37
Got Super Nintendo World down there as
19:39
well. Got the Transformers ride.
19:49
The Mummy, formerly ET.
19:49
Secret Life of Pets is over here.
19:53
Yeah, I didn't go on any attractions
19:54
today, but I will rectify that soon.
19:58
Not today. There's the former Back to
20:00
the Future ride. Now, Simpsons. It be
20:02
interesting to see what happens with
20:04
this when the Simpsons area Springfield
20:07
gets removed. Also, Warner Brothers off
20:10
in the distance there, center of the
20:11
screen.
20:13
Then you got the Harry Potter area.
20:15
Beautiful castle there. Griffith Park.
20:19
Oh, you know what? Look at this. I just
20:22
saw Helen
20:31
go across the rope down there, which
20:31
means might be seeing some pyro down
20:34
at the water world show. Maybe I'll just
20:36
keep it going till the pyro starts.
20:43
Maybe maybe I have the timing off. It
20:43
might not be till a little later in the
20:45
show, but the show's Water World's
20:47
happening down there. Come back to there
20:49
momentarily. Citywalk
20:55
and evidently right here where there
20:55
used to be a western bar right down
20:57
here. Saddle Ranch I think it was called
21:00
I believe right in that area they're
21:01
going Universal is going to be building
21:03
their own hotel.
21:05
And if it is there that's really close
21:07
to the park and if it's going to be a
21:08
high-rise you're going to get better
21:11
views than what the Hilton offers.
21:15
There's this whole area here. It also be
21:17
interesting to see if this whole parking
21:18
lot stays the same or if they'll go
21:20
vertical. Some sort of parking structure
21:23
there as well.
21:36
Fast and the Furious
21:36
ride track laid
21:43
also where Warner Brothers is right
21:43
there, which I did the tour there
21:45
yesterday.
21:46
behind it is
21:49
the Disney Studios, ABC of the Disney
21:51
Studios.
21:53
Okay, it's about to happen. I can see
21:55
from here barely see the little basket
21:57
going down the rope.
21:59
And then right after that, the deacon,
22:03
he ends up fire like a rocket launcher
22:05
off and it goes the wrong way. It hits a
22:07
C plane. That's all happening right now.
22:10
So, prepare yourselves. Right in the
22:11
middle of the screen. Should get the C
22:13
plane. It's like kind of far away, but
22:15
watch this.
22:17
5 seconds maybe. 4 3 2 1.
22:25
There's the one rocket. Now it goes the
22:27
other way. Off to the other side. There
22:29
it is. C plane in five 4 3 2 1.
22:37
My timing was off, but here it comes.
22:41
Here it is.
22:57
Oh, here's the firefall
22:57
again. Not went really far off, but
22:59
there he is about to do the firefall and
23:03
dropped in
23:06
grand finale.
23:14
All the w water go gets goes completely
23:14
ablaze
23:54
And that's going to do it for today.
23:54
Thanks for watching. I'll see you in the
23:55
next video. The vlog
23:57
is over.