Every week is a busy week when it comes to Universal Parks news. To help you keep up with all the updates coming out of Universal Orlando Resort and other Universal resorts around the world, here’s our Universal Parks News Today weekly recap from August 23-30, 2020.

Universal Orlando Resort

• Universal Orlando Resort has just released a new playlist on Spotify to help listeners prepare for a night of fright — the #HHNForever Playlist
• During a “One Goal, One Florida” theme park roundtable, Governor Ron DeSantis stated that the state of Florida is “comfortable” with expanding capacity at the Central Florida theme parks, including Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort
• Following the “One Goal, One Florida” theme park roundtable that took place August 26th, Governor Ron DeSantis thanked both Universal Orlando Resort and the Vice President of Disney’s Hollywood Studios Jackie Swisher for their participation

Universal Studios Florida

• Check out our review of the Werewolf Chocolate Cake Pop available inside the Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store
• Or, if you’re looking for something savory, try this Pretzel Striped Foot Long Hot Dog
• We also reviewed the Annual Passholder Pizza Fries from Louie’s Italian Restaurant
• The Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store later released a Vegan Brownie Skull
• The brownie was followed by a Lemon Mummy Face Tart

• San Francisco Pastry Company reopened its doors to guests, albeit with reduced hours going forward

Universal’s Islands of Adventure

• A raptor figure has been added to the construction site for the upcoming “Velocicoaster,” and later in the week, a second figure appeared
• Check out the latest progress on “Velocicoaster” as the metal framework structure continues to grow
• In order to deter animals from nesting on the top of “Velocicoaster,” Universal wrapped the top portion of the track in plastic, but the ospreys tore through the barrier
• Aerial photos show the raptor figures placed in the “Velocicoaster” construction site

Universal Orlando Resort Hotels

• It was announced that over 1,000 employees would be laid off from Universal Orlando Resort hotels

Universal Studios Hollywood

• Check out this first look at the construction on Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal CityWalk Hollywood

• We took a long stroll around Universal CityWalk Hollywood as seen in our photo report from August 28

Universal Studios Japan

• We reviewed the summertime Minion Splash with ramune drink
• We got to feel the heat on Backdraft at Universal Studios Japan

Universal Beijing Resort

• Universal Beijing Resort is still under construction, but we got a look at some new concept art for the Jurassic World Isla Nublar area

New Merchandise

• A new “Trolls” themed face mask has arrived at Universal Studios Florida

• A scary amount of new Halloween Horror Nights merchandise hit shelves at Universal Orlando Resort

That’s all the Universal Parks news for this past week folks! Make sure you check back at the end of each week for our weekly recaps!