Address: 100 Universal City Plz Zipcode: 91608 Phone Number: 800-UNIVERSAL Website: http://themeparks.universalstudios.com Universal Studios Hollywood was a brilliant marketing idea: Develop a theme park to promote your studio and its films. The backbone of the park, the studio tram tour, spends as much time showing visitors old sets – the Psycho house is a longtime favorite, the Desperate Housewives set is a newer one – as it does simulating being in a movie. Jaws leaps out at the tram, King Kong gives it a good shake, the Red Sea parts as the tram drives through. For this reason, people hoping for an authentic “behind the scenes” experience will be disappointed. But they are usually won over by the other rides and live shows that seek to create “movie magic” (“special effects” to the rest of us). You’ll be attacked by T-Rex and other large dinosaurs on the Jurassic Park ride, or assaulted by pyrotechnics at Backdraft. The WaterWorld stunt show has live actors battling on jet skis, as well as fireworks and a climactic plane crash. Locals come out at night to go to the adjacent Universal CityWalk, a giant pedestrian mall full of synthetic Hollywood glitz and restaurants, clubs, street performers, a giant movie complex, and plenty of shopping.
