Universal Studios Hollywood played host this past weekend to the Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary Celebration bringing nostalgic fun to commemorate the iconic film. The hard-ticket event took place after the park closed and gave access to the lower lot attractions including Jurassic Park – The Ride and offered a host of special entertainment offerings including filmmaker panels, costume contest, and more.

Take a look at the goings on for this very special event!

The Movies Came Alive

The event created a great environment which brought the world of the movies to life in the park. Sure, the ride and supporting buildings are already there but the event further accentuated the experience with walk-around characters and entertainment moments which helped create a sense of being in Jurassic Park, not Universal Studios.

Jurassic Park – The Ride

The ride was open all night with pretty short waits the whole evening.

Adding Character

Our paleontologist host and emcee for the evening helped move things along inbetween each event. Throughout the entire evening there were several film characters walking around including Dr. Hammond, Dr. Wu, Dennis Nedry, and Ian Malcom.

Raptor Attack!

Blue and Zulu made a few escape attempts during the evening leading to chaos that required several trainers and special opps to help keep guests safe.

A Taste of the Flims

While there was no Chilean sea bass by Dr. Hammond’s personal chef Alejandro, the event did offer some other flavors to enjoy. If you have a sweet tooth or like to drink, you were in luck.

Amber Mosquito Jell-O was probably the most unique offering of the evening with Apple Juice flavored Jell-O and a chocolate mosquito inside which we assume was stuffed with dino DNA.

Other treats included Jurassic Cookie, Footprint Cookie, and Chocolate Mousse Globe with Dinosaur Egg.

Event Offerings

Filmmaker Panel

A special panel discussion took place on the main stage. The chat was moderatored by director Colin Trevorrow, VFX Supervisor Dennis Muren, Asst. Director John T. Kretchmer, and Cinematographer Dean Cundey.

Costume Contest

Tons of fans dressed up and there was a costume contest with prizes!

I was a runner up and got a free T-shirt. I guess I didn’t say the magic word to lock in first place.

Jurassic Partners

There was a little festival of sorts featuring various Jurassic partners with franchise based games and offerings.

Photo-Ops in good measure including a green screen offering.

Great signage paying homage to the old park.

Costumes, Props and Concept Art

 

Shopping

Film Screening

For true cinephiles, the highlight of the event was the tram-ride at the end to the theatre at City Walk to see the actual film. On display in the lobby were more costumes and prop items.

Final Thoughts

Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary Celebration was a fully loaded event offering fans of the film a truly fantastic way to immerse themselves into the franchise. The casual setup made everything easy to take in and the crowd levels were about perfect.

The variety of offerings for an event like this is so important so the robust selection of things to do here made for a really pleasant evening. The only drawback, if I had to pick one, was that all of the special food items and drinks were extra cost.

Since this was already an extra-cost hard-ticket event, it seemed that complimentary refreshments would have been a really nice touch or even a voucher redeemable for one free snack and one free drink would have really set the event over the top. Even just a free cupcake with the JP logo would have better rounded out the event… and even encourage some extra selfies and Instagram posts.

Regardless, the event seemed to play out without a hitch. The clearly printed schedule on the waitboards was super helpful and overall the low-stress feel of the evening made it a really delightful experience that was only dampened — literally — by the misty weather which oddly added another layer of authenticity to the experience. You almost expected a soggy T-rex to round the corner at any moment!

I hope Universal found success in this event as offerings like this could be truly unique with the legacy of the films with which the studio has access. Looking forward to seeing what else the Universal special event teams cook up next!

Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary Celebration was definitely a fan event of dino-sized proportions!