Universal Studios Hollywood

Hard-core Harry Potter fans who devoured the books, camped out for the movies and trekked through the theme park now have a new way to relive the boy wizard's adventures. PHOTOS: Making of Harry Potter studio tour Debuting Saturday, the Making of Harry Potter behind-the-scenes tour at theWarner Bros.studios in England will let wizards, mudbloods and muggles pull back the curtain on the movie-making secrets of the most successful film series of all time. Located 20 miles outside of London, the three-hour self-guided tour will take visitors past sets, props, costumes, models and special effects exhibits from the eight "Harry Potter" movies.

The new knock 'em, sock 'em Transformers ride at Universal Studios Hollywood is an immersive, in-your-face experience that ranks among the top theme park attractions in the world. PHOTOS: Behind-the-scene tour of Transformers ride The Transformers 3-D ride is now in technical rehearsal mode at the movie theme park, meaning the ride can open or close at any time in advance of the May 25 grand opening. I got my first ride on the new attraction over the weekend and found myself only slightly let down from my astronomically high expectations.

Winter always gets me thinking about going to theme parks in Southern California, even if I don't have visitors underfoot. The prospect of cooler temperatures and lighter crowds in February and March sends me looking for discounts on the high cost of tickets. I found that the Southern California CityPass -- with a flat rate for admission to Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood and SeaWorld San Diego -- offers good savings, even when compared with incentives for SoCal residents.

I took a behind-the-scenes tour Friday of the new Transformers ride opening in a few weeks at Universal Studios Hollywood. PHOTOS: Behind-the-scenes tour of Transformers ride For those of you who have never experienced Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or the rebooted Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at Florida's Universal Orlando (or traveled to Universal Studios Singapore where Transformers opened in December), you're in for a real treat when the new motion-simulator dark ride with high-definition 3-D images officially debuts on May 25. For the better part of a decade, the Spider-Man ride was widely considered the best theme park attraction in the world, until the Wizarding World of Harry Potter came along and the Forbidden Journey reset the bar for attraction supremacy.

While most of us have Christmas on our minds, Universal Studios Hollywood is already planning for next Halloween. > Halloween Horror Nights 2011: Review | Photos | Celebrities   Universal has been conducting an online survey to gauge fan interest in 50 movie and television properties as potential haunted maze themes for Halloween Horror Nights 2012. The annual post-Halloween poll offers fans a glimpse into what could be on the horror horizon at Universal.

With frosty mugs of Butterbeer raised in a toast, Universal Studios Hollywood officials announced plans Tuesday to bring the wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter to the California theme park. Details were limited but officials did say the California park would see a Hogwarts Castle and visitors would ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the marquee attraction at the Florida park. Wizarding World will be built within the existing California theme park, but it was unclear if the new land might be located at least partially on the studio's back lot. > Photos: Top 10 Wizarding World of Harry Potter rides and attractions Wizarding World proved an instant hit when it opened in June 2010 at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park.

Recruits on the new Transformers ride opening at Universal Studios Hollywood in spring 2012 will join the heroic Autobots in an intergalactic battle against the villainous Decepticons. The five-minute Transformers motion simulator dark ride with high-definition 3-D images, special effects and animatronics will feature an original storyline starring the shape-shifting robots capable of changing into cars, trucks and planes. > Photos: Transformers ride at Universal Studios Hollywood Hyperbolic Universal officials are already calling the new Transformers attraction "the greatest ride in theme park history.

Halloween Horror Nights gets bigger, better and busier every year -- so much so the annual theme park event seems ready to burst like the bloody entrails spilling from the guts of so many hapless victims at Universal Studios Hollywood. > Halloween Horror Nights maze-by-maze preview | photos Horror Nights 2011 has grown to six mazes, many with hourlong waits during my visit on opening night, but the increasingly popular event probably needs twice as many mazes to handle the bloodthirsty hordes that crowd the park to capacity on the busiest evenings.

"Grinchmas" is returning to Universal Studios Hollywood this weekend, and a sleighful of celebrities have signed on for the twice-daily readings of Dr. Seuss' classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas. " Bob Newhart, Florence Henderson, Wayne Brady, Donna Mills, Fred Willard, Luz Rios, Tiffani Thiessen, Brandy and Nolan Gould (who plays Luke on "Modern Family") are among the performers who will be doing readings at the annual "Grinchmas" celebration. It also includes a snow-filled play area, a 60-foot Christmas tree, costumed singers, photo opportunities with the characters of the Grinch and his dog, Max, and a view from the tour tram of sets that were used in Universal's 2000 film adaptation of the book.

Hard-core Harry Potter fans who devoured the books, camped out for the movies and trekked through the theme park now have a new way to relive the boy wizard's adventures. PHOTOS: Making of Harry Potter studio tour Debuting Saturday, the Making of Harry Potter behind-the-scenes tour at theWarner Bros.studios in England will let wizards, mudbloods and muggles pull back the curtain on the movie-making secrets of the most successful film series of all time. Located 20 miles outside of London, the three-hour self-guided tour will take visitors past sets, props, costumes, models and special effects exhibits from the eight "Harry Potter" movies.

Winter always gets me thinking about going to theme parks in Southern California, even if I don't have visitors underfoot. The prospect of cooler temperatures and lighter crowds in February and March sends me looking for discounts on the high cost of tickets. I found that the Southern California CityPass -- with a flat rate for admission to Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood and SeaWorld San Diego -- offers good savings, even when compared with incentives for SoCal residents.

Shortly after Christmas, the same question arises every year: What are we going to do on New Year's Eve ? Here's what some California amusement and theme parks have planned for the last night of 2011: Disneyland in Anaheim will stay open until 2 a.m. with live bands, DJs and midnight fireworks. Across the way, Disney California Adventure will remain open until 1 a.m. with the ElecTRONica dance party and a midnight showing of "World of Color," the nighttime water spectacular.

While most of us have Christmas on our minds, Universal Studios Hollywood is already planning for next Halloween. > Halloween Horror Nights 2011: Review | Photos | Celebrities   Universal has been conducting an online survey to gauge fan interest in 50 movie and television properties as potential haunted maze themes for Halloween Horror Nights 2012. The annual post-Halloween poll offers fans a glimpse into what could be on the horror horizon at Universal.

After defeating Voldemort and his Death Eaters in seven bestselling books and eight hit movies, Harry Potter is taking on perhaps his greatest challenge yet: boosting the Los Angeles economy. Universal Studios on Tuesday took the wraps off plans to build a Southern California version of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which drove a 68% increase in attendance at its Orlando theme park during the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2010. Ron Meyer, Universal's president, said his company would spend "several hundred million dollars" to create the attraction, which is expected to include a re-creation of Hogwarts Castle along with Potter-themed rides, shops and restaurants.

While all eyes will be on Disney California Adventure in 2012, plenty of other theme parks in California will be adding new rides and attractions in time for the summer crowds. Our Top 10 for 2012 is dominated by new rides coming to DCA's 12-acre Cars Land expansion , the grand finale in the $1 billion extreme makeover the Anaheim theme park has undertaken during the past five years. DCA's transformation is so massive that even Disneyland is taking the year off as far as new attractions go, letting the spotlight shine on its younger neighbor.

With frosty mugs of Butterbeer raised in a toast, Universal Studios Hollywood officials announced plans Tuesday to bring the wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter to the California theme park. Details were limited but officials did say the California park would see a Hogwarts Castle and visitors would ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the marquee attraction at the Florida park. Wizarding World will be built within the existing California theme park, but it was unclear if the new land might be located at least partially on the studio's back lot. > Photos: Top 10 Wizarding World of Harry Potter rides and attractions Wizarding World proved an instant hit when it opened in June 2010 at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park.

Hogwarts is coming to Hollywood. Universal Studios is planning to build a replica of its successful Florida Harry Potter attraction in Los Angeles, said people familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly. A contract between Comcast Corp.-owned Universal and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., which made the "Harry Potter" movies and controls licensing rights to author J.K. Rowling's books about the boy wizard, is being finalized and should be complete within the next few weeks, the people said.