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The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Permits, Annual Passes, HHN 35, and Fan Fest News (Ep. 97)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Tv & Film

4.71.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jim Hill and Eric Hersey return with a jam-packed, news-heavy episode as they break down a wave of updates from across Universal Parks and beyond. From Epic Universe expansion permits and annual passholder strategy to Halloween Horror Nights reveals and new Vegas experiences, this episode is wall-to-wall news. If you’ve been waiting for a full download on everything happening at Universal right now, this is the episode. NEWS • Super Mario Bros. Galaxy opens with massive box office projections, signaling strong synergy with Universal’s theme park strategy • Universal FanFest expands with new experiences, including a Scooby-Doo and classic monsters walkthrough and a One Piece live stunt show • Jurassic Park walkthrough experience quietly opens at Universal Hollywood, featuring iconic characters and interactive elements • Universal Hollywood introduces a new all-day dining pass, raising questions about guest spending and in-park strategy • Epic Universe expansion permits reveal new land development, including a briefly leaked “future attraction” • Universal begins hiring for nighttime show roles, hinting that Epic Universe entertainment is moving closer to launch • New Epic Universe annual passholder surveys explore multi-year passes and limited-access tiers • Universal continues to balance demand with controlled attendance as Epic Universe prepares for opening • Halloween Horror Nights 35 announced with Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow returning in a shared house • New “Scream Early” ticket offers guests early access to select houses before the event officially begins • Universal offers discounts to returning Premium Scream Night guests after last year’s mixed debut • Rumors swirl about a potential Fortnite-themed Halloween Horror Nights house • Universal Horror Unleashed introduces discounted “Freddy Cat” tickets for non-house access experiences • New seasonal overlay “Feaster Grievings” brings a horror-themed Easter event to Las Vegas HOSTS • Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia | X: @JimHillMedia | Website: JimHillMedia.com • Eric Hersey - IG: @erichersey | X: @erichersey | Website: strongmindedagency.com FOLLOW • Facebook: JimHillMediaNews • Instagram: JimHillMedia • TikTok: JimHillMedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - Strong Minded Agency SPONSOR Planning a trip to Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World? Save on tickets and Express Passes with Unlocked Magic If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome back to the Epic Universal podcast. I'm entertainment writer Jim Hill, and this is the podcast where we cover the latest universal news, rumors, and history. And as always, I'm joined by Eric Hersey, who has something he'd like to ask of our audience. Is that correct?

0:18.4

Well, a little bit. I mean, we have, you know, Jim,

0:21.1

you and I have recorded in person, so I've got to get warmed up here for a second. We haven't

0:24.4

done it virtually like this over the last couple episodes. So hopefully everybody has

0:28.6

liked the walkthroughs and our reviews of Hollywood and Unleashed. But, Jim, did you know we're almost coming up on 100 episodes?

0:40.9

97, right? Is that where we are now? You know, unless we miscounted, and that very well could

0:45.5

have been the case, too, because I'm the one pushing the buttons on the back end. But I think this is

0:48.4

episode 97. But one thing that we never really do, but almost all podcasts typically do, because it does actually help is ask for reviews.

0:57.0

So I figured maybe it would be a nice time to see if, hey, anybody out there that's been listening.

1:02.7

And I know there's quite a few of you out there just because we see the analytics.

1:06.9

Right now we're sitting at a solid, I think 80 reviews on Apple.

1:10.5

And since we're getting close to the 100, I thought it would be cool if we could get to 100 reviews and see. And I'm asking for everyone's help at the top of the show to see if that's something we could do. And I kind of made it easy for you. If you want to go to jimhillmedia.com backslash epic, EPIC, it actually take you right to the apple uh page to leave the

1:30.3

review and i think that we can read some of uh some of the reviews on upcoming episodes so

1:35.9

if you want your name mentioned or if you have something and more importantly if you have

1:39.1

something that you would want us to cover this is a great opportunity to get our attention

1:42.2

really quick and maybe we'll make a show but uh either way, that is something I thought would be nice to help us jump up in the

1:50.1

algorithms and or let more people know about the show. So yeah, figured why not mention at the top

1:55.8

of the show. But review or not, thanks for listening, of course, in support and sticking around with us.

2:02.2

And truth be told, you've seen a long growth from Eric Hersey, who didn't know anything about Universal and now has been on both coast, Vegas, and probably as soon as that Universal Kids, I'll even go to Texas.

2:15.9

Oh, very cool.

2:17.3

Again, thanks for doing that.

2:19.6

And again, folks would appreciate your help here in getting to the 100 reviews.

...

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