A Taste of Universal opened today at Universal Studios Hollywood, giving Los Angeles-area theme park fans their first chance to walk through the gates of the park in one year.
The cliche is that the only thing that will stop fans in southern California from visiting open theme parks is rain. But today's rain would not stop the thousands of fans who bought up every ticket to the food festival's opening day. For a quick tour around the park, check out our new TikTok account.
@themeparkinsider A Taste of Universal! #lifestyle #universalstudioshollywood #foodtiktok #foryou #themepark
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Your $44-54 ticket (depending upon day) gets you five food or beverage items from select restaurants on the Upper Level of the park, including The Three Broomsticks in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Krusty Burger in Springfield, and the new Minion Cafe in Super Silly Fun Land. Socially distanced queues moved swiftly and visitors were directed to sit in one of the many designated outdoor dining areas to eat.
Universal opted for a menu featuring its most famous and popular food items for this event, rather than concocting new dishes. I headed straight for the Butterbeer and a plate of fish n' chips, then brought home a Lard Lad donut on my way out.
Select merchandise locations across the park also are open for the event, giving us today our first look inside the new Pets Store, at the exit of the upcoming The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! ride.
A Taste of Universal runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through April 11. A few dates are already sold out, and it does not seem likely that Universal will extend the event, given that it will get approval to reopen as a theme park as soon as April 1. Universal officials are mum on a specific reopening date, however.
"Universal Studios Hollywood is developing its reopening plans and will share more information soon," a spokesperson said. "In the meantime, we are excited about our 'Taste of Universal' event which is the first step in our reopening."
No word yet either on if Secret Life of Pets will reopen with the park. Looking ahead at Universal's next project after that, I couldn't get a good photo of the Super Nintendo World construction site on the Lower Lot, due to the rain during my visit. But from what I could see, the project remains far from complete, putting a mid-2022 debut much more likely than anything this year.
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A touch of Disney. A taste of Universal. Next up will be a smell of Six Flags.