Theme park fans got very excited earlier this month when the state of California finally announced that theme parks could begin limited reopening starting April 1. However, even after all this time being closed, many parks were in something less than a hurry to get open. Disneyland Resort announced it would open at the end of April. Universal Studios Hollywood, that had only just begun a special food and beverage event at that point, originally stated only that it would not reopen on April 1, and while USH waited to announce its reopening date, it has now announced it will reopen to all guests before Disneyland, on April 16, and it will unveil a brand new attraction when it does.
Along with the reopening announcement comes the news that the dark ride attraction The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!, which was supposed to open last year, will be open on day one when guests come back. While everybody is welcome to come back to Universal Studios Hollywood on April 16, annual passholders will be able to be part of a special preview on April 15. Passholders are also being promised special "bonus days" during the first month of reopening. Tickets for those days will go on sale April 5 Tickets for the general public are set to go on sale April 8.
One other brand new item that will greet visitors returning to Universal Studios Hollywood will be a massive animatronic. A new Indominus rex has been added to Jurassic World—The Ride and guests taking the plunge when the park reopens will be the first to check out the new creation.
As is the case with other theme parks, guests will be limited to residents of the state of California initially. Ticket purchases will also include reservations for specific days in order to manage park capacity. Universal Studios Hollywood also reveals that, due to state guidelines, not all attractions will be reopening when the theme park opens the gates. Which specific attractions will not be available is not revealed, but several popular rides including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions, and the popular Studio Tour, are specifically listed as being among those that will be open.
Universal Studios Hollywood will apparently make a fairly quick turn around when it comes to reopening. The resort has been running a special ticketed food and beverage event, A Taste of Universal, on weekends as a way to bring guests into the theme park. That event is set to run until April 11. It will now be welcoming its first guests as a theme park only a few days later when it hosts its special passholder preview day on April 15.
Currently Los Angeles County is in California's red tier for covid, meaning that the park will be able to open at 15% capacity. It's possible, however, that by the time the park actually opens the county could drop into the next lower tier, which would mean the park could increase capacity to 25%.
