All things Universal Studios Hollywood

[CaptinEO]

Californian-In-Florida Reviews the Stella Nova Hotel at Epic Universe:
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I just got home from an overnight stay at the Stella Nova, the first piece of Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe expansion to open to the public. I had a blast.

A quick note about the unique exterior: It is dazzling in person—more vibrant and shimmery than most photos can really convey. And I was not expecting its night look:
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The building sort of fades into the night sky, featuring constellation lights with the glowing ufo entry as the focal point. Very surreal and fun.

Inside, the entire hotel has a fun optimistic sci-fi space theme—lots of white with blue accents in a world of sweeping curved walls and rounded corners. Looking part Star Trek, part Jetsons, and part Men In Black, the overall effect is clean, fun and welcoming.

The place was packed with Vloggers, so there is no shortage of thorough video tours on YouTube. I’d recommend checking one or two out, as still photos of the lobby areas don’t capture the impact of walking through the wonderful asymmetrical areas; it all ties together for a very pleasing, comfortable take on futurism.

The guest rooms, with their fun lighting, galaxy headboard murals and rounded portal windows, strike a perfect balance: They’re themed enough to be fun and unusual, but never at the expense of comfort and practicality.

The pool is basic, but very large.

The shop carries a fun selection of Epic Universe souvenirs, with many items I’ve not seen at Citywalk’s preview center.

The Cafe is fantastic, with a wide-ranging menu. I had lunch, dinner and breakfast there, and it was all delicious.

The staff was wonderful.

The hotel’s bus service to Citywalk/Studios/IoA is very quick, and will get even more efficient when the huge elevated roundabout opens.

I plan to return to Stella Nova in the future. It exceeded all my expectations, the pricing is very reasonable, and I enjoyed every minute of my stay.

Is this a sponsored review/stay? Or did you go out of curiosity?

 

[Rich T]

Is this a sponsored review/stay? Or did you go out of curiosity?

I went as an unsponsored fan who had never gone to an opening day theme park hotel event (made my reservation the moment they became available last year). I paid about $150 for the room.

I’m glad I went: The opening was super fun: The hotel entrance features a huge revolving door, which prevented unsuspecting early birds from seeing that on the other side, dozens of hotel staff and costumed astronauts were waiting to cheer and applaud everyone entering during the hotel’s first 15 minutes. It was overwhelming in the best way (and the free space punch was delicious! )

I’d never visited the EU area before, so it was also a great chance to get my bearings on how the resort is laid out. And it was great to give the shuttle a try; I’d compare the ride from the hotel to Citywalk drop off to a well-timed WDW bus park hop.
(Edit)
Man, I just reread that and I really do sound like a prescripted PR plant or something. Sorry about that. I try to sound natural, but old work habits are hard to break. I promise everything I post here is unsponsored and from the heart (and often clumsy and ineffectively phrased ).

 

[Rich T]

While over at Disney, the Galactic Starcruiser hotel is an industrial warehouse box with no windows and interior that looks nothing like Star Wars.

While writing my thoughts on Stella Nova, I was so tempted to say something in that direction…

I’ll just say this: I believe an equivalent to Stella Nova (a budget-priced, non-larp-focused, pleasantly themed sci-fi hotel) at WDW —with the classic Star Wars characters— Could have been a roaring success for Disney.

But nooooooooooo….

 

[Phroobar]

While writing my thoughts on Stella Nova, I was so tempted to say something in that direction…

I’ll just say this: I believe an equivalent to Stella Nova (a budget-priced, non-larp-focused, pleasantly themed sci-fi hotel) at WDW —with the classic Star Wars characters— Could have been a roaring success for Disney.

But nooooooooooo….

Disney budget-priced? I don't think those words go together.


How hard can it be to have a scheduled stunt show in the lobby?

 

[AlexMBush]

A Sneak Preview of Universal Fan Fest Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood

It’s time to get ready to “Really Go There” as Universal Studios Hollywood prepares to soon welcome guests to the inaugural Universal Fan Fest Nights – a brand-new after-hours event designed to take fandom to the next level by transporting guests into numerous immersive in-world experiences tapping

www.insideuniversal.net

Tickets are now on sale for Universal Fan Fest Nights, with all of the experiences now detailed and in some cases; given special titles and logos.

In-World Experiences (The Core Attractions for Universal Fan Fest Nights)

• Dungeon's & Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep- Located in SS15, Join the Harpers as they plan to foil a plot by the beholder Xanathar. The Experience will contain seven rooms; with Xanathar The Beholder being curated by the legendary Jim Henson Creature Workshop
• Star Trek: Red Alert - Located within the Universal Boulevard Entertainment Venue, the experience will be a pulse-based walkthrough attraction where guests join in on an adventure aboard the USS-Enterprise NCC-1701-D to prevent a galactic threat while being attacked from those unknown. The experience will include various special effects and highly detailed sets; including the bridge from Star Trek: Picard S3 that guests will be able to walk around.
• Back To The Future: Destination Hill Valley - Board the Fan Trams on a trip through time; and be dropped off in the heart of the Universal Backlot as you get to walk around Hill Valley, otherwise known as Courthouse Square. Reenactments of iconic sequences from Back To The Future: Part 1 will be occuring during the night, including a grand finale reenactment of the climax of the original film.
• Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of The Cursed - Originally debuted at Universal Studios Japan, this Cinema experience located at DreamWorks Theater will immerse guests to the world of the anime; as we follow Yuji Itodori and his friends on a large scale battle. This experience debuted at Universal Cool in Japan, and is a full on overlay of DreamWorks Theater
• Magical Creatures & Hogwarts Always in Hogsmeade - Originally debuted in Japan, Magical creatures will be roaming about in the village of Hogsmeade; with the originally debuted show from Universal Orlando Resort, Hogwarts Always; making it's debut.
• One Piece: Grand Pirate Gathering - Located in New York Street, Luffy and the Straw Hat crew will be arriving to Universal Studios Hollywood in a exciting bout of photo opportunities and meet & greets of Luffy, Nami, and the rest of the gang.
• Yoshi in Super Nintendo World - Making his first debut for Super Nintendo World, Universal Studios Hollywood welcomes and celebrates the arrival of Yoshi! Yoshi will be out and about for meet and greet opportunities alongside a egg hunt; and alongside that--drones will be flying above Super Nintendo World at night.

 

[Phroobar]

Anyone going to FanFest at Universal Studios in April and May? It sounds like a blast. There are two mazes (Star Trek and D&D) and a scare zone (One Piece), get to walk around Hill Valley (Marty go back to the future, go to the enchantment under the sea dance), meet & greet Yoshi and Fantastic Beasts and see Jujutsu Kaisen: Hunger of the Cursed 4D movie. Too bad they didn't add more walk around Transformers and dinos.

https://www.micechat.com/395787-universal-hollywood-fan-fest-nights-revealed-a-sneak-peek/

 

[Disneyland/DCA]

Got my ticket. I'm surprised they didn't get the film division's marketing dept to pony up some cash for a small Jurassic rebirth setup.