Universal Hollywood

Welcome to the original home of Mario & Luigi in America!

Ah, we love Universal Hollywood! Where else can you move from Super Nintendo World to Jurassic World and Harry Potter in minutes? Universal Studios Hollywood, unlike its cousin in Orlando, is a single theme park in California that features lots of rides, restaurants, stores, meet & greets, and just about anything you can think of that makes this one a must-see destination if you are near Los Angeles.

Universal Hollywood is actually quite big and features eight different themed areas: Super Nintendo World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Minion Land, the Studio Tour, Springfield, Transformers and WaterWorld. If you’ve been to Universal Orlando, you will see some familiar names listed above. Universal Hollywood is almost like an “editor’s pick” of some of the best attractions you find at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure and does a great job overall with its lineup of rides.

Super Nintendo World injected new energy into Universal Hollywood and includes Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, several meet & greets and a gorgeous setting that does look like the Mushroom Kingdom. There are even mini-games scattered around the land that are awesome to play with your kids and family. Bowser’s Challenge is extremely nostalgic and will bring back all those memories of you being hit by a red shell just before you pass the finish line. If you are a Nintendo fan, this is enough reason to visit Universal Hollywood.

It is not only Super Nintendo World that deserves your attention, even if Mario and Luigi are the new stars of Universal in California. Some other popular and great rides are Revenge of the Mummy, Transformers 3D, Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, WaterWorld and the Studio Tour. Revenge of the Mummy and Transformers 3D are great rides that also exist in Florida and, as you will see in our guides, definitely deserve your attention.

Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash is unique to Universal Hollywood and an amazing option for families with kids since the visuals are so charming and the storyline is so cute. It also features dogs, so that is a win, right? The animatronics here are amazing and rival some of Disney’s best and most recent rides. You also can’t miss WaterWorld (the longest-running show ever at Universal!) and the Studio Tour.

The Studio Tour is actually very impressive. This is a fifty-minute guided tour through real Hollywood sets where you can see locations used in movies like Jaws, War of the Worlds and Back to the Future. It is definitely a must-see and a landmark when it comes to Universal Studios rides. But, hey, no need to talk about all of this now; our guides explore all these amazing attractions in detail.

Universal Studios Hollywood suits all ages and is generally more adult-friendly than Disneyland. Save a full day to come here, explore Hogwarts and Super Nintendo World and make sure to have a lot of space on your phone for pictures. And relax, I won’t blame you if you are playing the Mario theme in your head for a full week after coming here.