Usually when a theme park has something new on the horizon, there’s a great deal of press and promotion that goes along with it. However, Universal Destinations and Experiences has been known to sometimes go in a very different direction. Apparently, when it comes to Jurassic Park, the feeling is that little to no promotion is needed.
The Jurassic World Velocicoaster was mostly completed at Universal Islands of Adventure before Universal Orlando resort ever confirmed that’s what it actually was, and now a new Jurassic World experience has begun at Universal Studios Hollywood, complete with (via Inside Universal) Dr. Ian Malcolm explaining chaos theory to guests. I’m sorry to say, however, that he is not, at least currently, “shirless Jeff Goldblum.”
Jurassic World: A Journey Through The Eras is currently a “special event” at Univesal Studios Hollywood that opened this week completely without any official announcement. It’s essentially an outdoor walkthrough attraction. It includes some animated dinosaur characters, as well as actors performing the likes of Ian Malcolm, Dr. John Hammond and Nedry. Guests can interact with all of them in character.
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While details have not yet been confirmed, it appears that Journey Through The Eras is meant to be an offering at this year’s Fan Fest Nights, an after-hours ticketed event starting next month. If that’s the case, then this is essentially a soft opening/technical rehearsal, likely meant to make sure that everything is in working order.
The title of the event Journey Through the Eras would seem to indicate that the full experience will include not just Jurassic Park characters but Jurassic World characters as well. Thus far, only the former have appeared at Universal Studios Hollywood. Perhaps there is a lot more being kept behind the curtain for Fan Fest Nights.
If this is an official Fan Fest Night offering, then it’s also likely that not everything that will be part of the experience during the event is on display now. I’m not saying that shirtless Ian Malcolm is definitely going to happen at Fan Fest Nights, but it is an “after-hours” event, right?
Honestly, if they stage an interaction that has Dr. Malcolm inclined and with his shirt open, I might actually die laughing. That would be hilarious. That said, I won’t be convinced it’s not happening until Fan Fest Nights get started.