Welcome to the ultimate guide to Universal Studios Hollywood. In this guide I am going to break down everything you need to know when visiting Universal Studios Hollywood. I will also leave a detailed 54 minute Youtube video I made on this topic down below if video is a better medium for you. So let’s get started…
Universal Studios Hollywood Ticketing Options
There are several different ticket types you can use to enter the park.
- 1 Day General Admission ($109-$149)
- Buy 1 Day, Get A Second Day Free ($109-$149) (SPECIAL PROMOTION THAT ENDS 12/17/2025)
- Universal Express One Time (Add On, must have general admission ticket as well. Good for a one time use of the express line at each show and attraction in the park) ($189-$309)
- VIP Tour (Guided Tour, Unlimited Express Pass, VIP Gourmet Meal, Free Valet Parking, includes 1 Day park admission) ($359-$409)
- 2 Day General Admission ($149-$184)
- If you are a local, there are multiple annual pass types such as the California Neighbor Pass, Silver Pass, Gold Pass, and Platinum Pass. For more info on each of the annual pass perks and to buy tickets click here.
The Entrance Experience
There are multiple ways you can get to the park if you are not staying at the nearby Hilton or Sheraton hotels. If you are visiting and staying at an offsite hotel, you can take an Uber or some of the hotels have shuttles to Universal. One hotel that is pretty nice and has a shuttle is The Garland Hotel. If you are staying in Downtown Los Angeles or in Hollywood, you can easily get to the park via L.A Metro. You just take the B line to the Universal City station. You then cross the pedestrian bridge and take the free shuttle or walk up the hill to the park entrance. If you are coming by car, then you would get off the 101 freeway at either the Lankershim Blvd exit or the Universal Studios exit and park in either the Jurassic, Frankenstein, Curious George, or E.T parking structures.
Universal Citywalk
Once you arrive on property you will have to walk through Universal Citywalk to get to the park. Universal Citywalk is a shopping, retail, and entertainment complex that hosts numerous shops, restaurants, and a movie theater with the largest IMAX screen in the state! You can also find newly opened escape rooms at the back end of the complex as another entertainment option.
Universal Studios Hollywood
So once you have passed through Citywalk, you will get to the security checkpoint, which is in the process of being moved to the parking structure and that will be complete in 2026. You will go through security (usually the right most lines or the left most lines are the shortest) and then you will head to the park entrance. At this point you will have a chance to take a picture with the Universal Globe and you can take a picture in front of the archway on the red carpet. Then you will have your choice of several turnstiles, again the turnstiles to the very right usually have the shortest lines, and then you are now in the park!
Hollywood Blvd
Now I am going to go over each land and its attractions so you have an idea of what the park offers.
When you enter the park, you are on Hollywood Blvd and to the right are the guest services, lockers, and photo package locations.
To the left is the Universal Studios Store which is the park’s main retail shop. It houses merch from Harry Potter, Nintendo, Jurassic World, Minions and much more.
The land’s only attraction is Waterworld which is an outdoor stunt show and a MUST SEE when you visit the park. This show is great for the entire family! On the lower rows (green seats) you WILL get wet so keep that in mind.
Lastly for retail, you have the Illumination store, which is a large store featuring merch from many Illumination properties.
There are several meet and greets in this land including Beetlejuice and Marylin Monroe.
The lands only dining location is Hollywood & Dine. Each restaurant will have a hyperlink to check out the full menu.
Production Plaza
This land is the heart of the park. Like its name implies it has a large plaza in the center that is a seating area most of the year but is also used for special events such as Halloween Horror Nights and Grinchmas.
This land has one but soon to be two new attractions as well as a couple of dining locations.
Starting off with the attractions, there is the Dreamworks Theater which is currently playing Kung Fu Panda Adventure. This attraction is a 4D theater with moving seats, fog and mist effects and more.
The second attraction which is slated to open in 2026 is a high speed roller coaster with four inversions themed to the Fast and Furious franchise.
Going on to the land’s three dining locations, we will start first with Palace Deli and Market.
This location is a grab and go style market with prepackaged sandwiches as well as soft drinks and chips.
Mel’s Diner is quick service restaurant with your typical theme park burgers and fries.
Lastly is La Cocina Mexicana which is by far my favorite of the three dining locations in this land with delicious tacos and other Mexican dishes.
For a quick snack you can check out the City Snack Shop.
French Street
French Street is a small and decaying land at the park only consisting of one restaurant, some photo ops and a very nice seating area that called The Parisian Courtyard that is closed several months of the year due to a Halloween Horror Nights house being set up there.
The land has one restaurant, The French Street Bistro, which is a small quick service restaurant. The other dining location is for the VIP Tour. You can meet and greet with Bride and Frankenstein as well.
Illumination Land
Right next to French Street is the Illumination Land! This land is home to Minions and Secret Life of Pets. There are meet and greets with each of the Minions as well as Gru and the girls. There are arcade games as well as three play areas, one wet and two dry.
There are multiple rides in the area such as Super Swirly which is a spinner ride similar to the Dumbo attractions at Disney parks. Then there is Despicable Me Minion Mayhem which is a motion simulator and Secret Life of Pets: Off The Leash which is an omni mover attraction.
The restaurants in the land are Despicable Delights and Minion Cafe
Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade
Next up is Harry Potter. This land is one of the most immersive lands in the park and I will link a full tour down below. In this section we will go over the basics of the land.
The land’s main restaurant is the Three Broomsticks which has my favorite food in the park, the spare rib platter.
There are many shops and shows around the land as well as two major attractions. Flight of the Hippogriff is an outdoor kids coaster that races through the Forbidden Forest.
The land’s E ticket attraction is Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey which is a KUKA arm dark ride that sends you flying with Harry and his friends all around Hogwarts.
Here is a full tour of Hogsmeade!
Springfield
Another immersive land at the park is Springfield, home of the Simpsons. In this land you can meet many of The Simpsons characters, play several arcade games, eat at several iconic Springfield restaurants such as Krusty Burger, Bumblebee Man’s Taco Truck, Lard Lad Donuts, Duff Beer Garden, Moe’s, Cletus’ Chicken Shack, Luigi’s Pizza, Phineas Butterfat Ice Cream, and Sud’s Mcduff’s Hot Dogs.
The land’s ride is The Simpsons Ride which is a motion simulator that takes you on a hijinks with the Simpsons family all around Springfield.
Studio Tour
This is a MUST DO attraction if you have never been to the park before. This is the backbone of not just this park but the entire company’s theme park division. This historic attraction takes you to the front and back lot of the historic movie studio and includes some attractions within the tour itself!
Lower Lot
So now we have gone through the Upper Lot which is the majority of the park, In this section we will talk about the Lower Lot which has just a couple of restaurants and four attractions.
Starting off with the attractions, we will start off with Revenge of The Mummy. Mummy is a 45 mph indoor roller coaster that features a backward section. This ride does require lockers for larger items.
Next up is Transformers which is a screen based dark ride that takes you through scenes of the Transformers movies. This ride as well as the other simulator and screen rides in this park may make some people a bit queasy.
Next to Transofmers is Super Nintendo World. This highly immersive land features one ride, one restaurant, and several minigames that you can play with your power up band.
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is a shooting dark ride that features AR and and impressive sets and animatronics.
Jurassic World is the fourth ride on the Lower Lot. This ride is a water ride that WILL get you soaked and features many dinosaur animatronics and an 85 foot final splashdown.
The Lower Lot areas feature many large immersive meet and greets from Blue the raptor to several of the Transformers including Megatron, Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee, to Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Peach in Super Nintendo World!
There are also a few places to dine such as Jurassic Cafe, Mummy Eats, Toadstool Cafe, Studio Scoop, Studio Cafe, and Panda Express.
We have now made it to the end of this comprehensive guide to Universal Studios Hollywood. I hope this helps you plan your day at the park. If you want more of a visual, below is a video that shows everything that was mentioned above.
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