Universal Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood
A working studio backlot with a theme park built on top, and one day is genuinely enough.
24 attractions9 height limits35 tracked snacks
Universal City, California
Universal Studios Hollywood
One park on a working studio lot, doable in a day, built around a tram tour nothing else replicates.
Universal Studios Hollywood is the original, opened as a studio tour in 1964 and still built around one. It is a single park on a genuine working lot, which is both its distinguishing feature and the constraint that shapes everything else about it.
The park is split across two levels connected by a long series of escalators locally known as the Starway. Upper Lot holds the entrance, the Studio Tour, and most of the show buildings; Lower Lot holds the bulk of the roller coasters. Budget real time for moving between them, especially with small children or anyone who tires on stairs.
One day is genuinely enough, which makes it a different proposition from Orlando. It works as a half-day add-on to a Los Angeles trip rather than a destination in itself, and it is the one US Universal park a visitor can reasonably do without a hotel stay.
The practical bits
- Getting there
- Burbank (BUR) is closest and easiest. LAX is cheaper to fly into and 30 to 60 minutes away depending on traffic. The Metro B Line stops at Universal City with a free shuttle up the hill, which is the rare Los Angeles attraction genuinely reachable without a car.
- Getting around
- You walk, and part of that walk is vertical. The Starway escalators between Upper and Lower Lot take several minutes each way. Plan your day to minimise round trips rather than criss-crossing.
- How many days
- One. A second day only makes sense if the first was cut short or you want to repeat the Studio Tour, which does change with the seasonal overlays.
- When to go
- Weekdays outside Southern California school holidays. The park is compact enough that crowd levels are felt more sharply here than at a sprawling Orlando park.
The 1 parks
The question everyone asks first
Height requirements across the resort
Every ride at Universal Hollywood with a minimum height, shortest first. Sort any column.
| Attraction | Park | Height | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash | Universal Hollywood | 34" · 86cm | Dark ride |
| Flight of the Hippogriff | Universal Hollywood | 39" · 99cm | Roller coaster |
| Despicable Me Minion Mayhem | Universal Hollywood | 40" · 102cm | Simulator |
| Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge | Universal Hollywood | 40" · 102cm | Dark ride |
| The Simpsons Ride | Universal Hollywood | 40" · 102cm | Simulator |
| Transformers: The Ride-3D | Universal Hollywood | 40" · 102cm | Dark ride |
| Jurassic World — The Ride | Universal Hollywood | 42" · 107cm | Water ride |
| Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey | Universal Hollywood | 48" · 122cm | Dark ride |
| Revenge of the Mummy | Universal Hollywood | 48" · 122cm | Roller coaster |
Express Pass here
Universal Express is sold here too, priced per day and varying sharply by date. There is no hotel tier that includes it the way Orlando's does.