Universal Studios Hollywood: The Home Movies

Universal Studios Hollywood: The Home Movies
24 April 2026

The Horror! The Horror!
2022: Story and Photos • Videos 2024: Photos & Videos 2025: Photos & Videos 2026: Psycho • Jaws

Logline: With Shohei Ohtani at Dodger Stadium and One Piece a new draw at Universal Studios Fan Fest nights, Mattopia Jones returns to Los Angeles for another whirlwind tour. Cameos include Susanna Hoffs and Emily Mortimer.

Bates Motel

THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
EXT. BATES MOTEL, CABIN #1
During the classic Universal Studios Tour, an eerie scene plays out as NORMAN BATES places MARION CRANE (wrapped in a shower curtain) in the trunk of her car.

Director’s note: We obviously need to replace the nuisance, on-going running commentary provided by the tram patron with something more thrilling.

Goreography IV: Part I

There’s a growing appreciation for what Universal’s doing in keeping various theme park experiences fresh.

For now, Universal appears to be winning the immersive experience race as it ups the ante with Epic Universe in Orlando, particularly in the Dark Universe and Harry Potter lands.

Universal Studios Hollywood has offered pleasant surprises for the past several years, starting with my first foray into Halloween Horror Nights and being absolutely thrilled to walk around the Bates Motel and that eerie house on the hill. Subsequent visits have offered different experiences. Most recently (24 September 2026) was a new spin on the classic Universal Studios Tour tram drive-by of the Bates Motel. Curiously, there's a classic 1950s car parked outside cabin number one, its trunk open. But there’s more, as captured here on a video shot with the Osmo Action 6 using a street grip.

Galactic Shifts

For the record, I argue the actions Disney is taking with updates to the Black Spire Outpost now including original trilogy Star Wars characters in its Anaheim location don’t qualify. That’s an unwelcome retreat from the original grand vision for the Batuu experience that now serves more as a nostalgic, pandering walkthrough that totally waters down a remarkably ambitious plan for a truly immersive and interactive experience. It’s also heartbreaking to hear Dok-Ondar’s antiquities market now shills mainstream, branded stuff instead of the much more exciting (and exclusive to the venue) “in-world” merchandise. It shouldn’t have gone in this direction, but perhaps it’s also a delayed trickle-down effect of having the ultra-expensive Galactic Starcruiser immersive experience go bust. The horrible lesson Disney seems to be learning is people don’t want to be a part of an experience, they just want to be entertained with the familiar. But that’s a whole different rant.

Setting it all up, Disney’s hype machine started early, with the publication of a Batuu-themed cookbook in 2019. As the area prepped for opening, they also published an in-world guide followed by an “art of” book that epitomized what it was supposed to be all about. Now, apparently, the stroller crowd has won this war and Disney has sacrificed the all-in experience the fans who travel around the world to its annual Star Wars Celebration event most certainly crave.