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‘The Walking Dead’ Walkers To Be Permanent Attraction At Universal Studios Hollywood

By Val Powell
Published on: 00:10 PST, Mar 14, 2016

The Walking Dead fanboys and fangirls alike are being treated with more walkers that they could see and visit anytime, as it has just been announced by Universal Studios Hollywood that the zombies will have a permanent residency at their theme park.

As per reports, the Walking Dead walk-through attraction, which is offered by Universal Studios Hollywood only during their annual Halloween Horror Nights, will be a fixture at the park all year round. As opposed to the previous setup, the walkers were only part of the maze during the aforementioned event, but now that it is no longer seasonal, the theme park promises that the attraction will be an enhanced and reimagined version of the attraction.

The announcement about the permanent attraction was released this Sunday on the show Talking Dead, which airs after the much-loved AMC zombie series. A promo for the attraction has been uploaded on YouTube.

According to press releases, the latest attraction is more intense compared to its original Halloween version. Universal Studios Hollywood shared that it will be a stomach-churning walk-through experience and that authentic walker make-up effects will be showcased, in addition to “sophisticated animatronic works, substantially more detailed set design and costuming” as well as highly recognized props that were seen from The Walking Dead. It remains unclear if there will also be walkers from the AMC spin-off Fear the Walking Dead.

The creative team at Universal Studios Hollywood will reportedly be working with Walking Dead producer, director, and effects guru Greg Nicotero. Nicotero also tagged his KNB EFX Group, a special effects make-up team, to help with the project. Aside from animatronics, there will also be live performers in the Walking Dead attraction as well as some of the characters from Season 1 to 6. However, Nicotero pointed out in an interview that they will be focusing on the zombies rather than the survivors.

Nicotero also explained that instead of a maze, they want to create a permanent attraction that will allow them to recreate moments from the television series. He added that a lot of things from Seasons 1, 3, and 4 will be showcased, so it could also serve as a “memory lane” for fans of the show.

The president of the theme park, Larry Kurzweil, also said that the latest attraction is just inside the main entryway of the establishment. He pointed out that The Walking Dead has successfully affected the “psyche of viewers” since it launched in 2010.

The walkers, which gained popularity because of the AMC series, will be open for viewing by summer of 2016. The permanent attraction’s launch will come shortly after the arrival of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which will be opening this April. The other additional attractions are based on The Fast and the Furious and The Simpsons.

Meanwhile, for the latest episode of The Walking Dead, fans were able to see more of Carol being a badass. However, the latest episode of the AMC series shows her struggling with her past and present identities. She was a mother to a young daughter and a wife to an abusive husband, who both turned into walkers during the course of the show.

A group of Saviors managed to get Carol and Maggie, and they are bargaining with Rick to have a prisoner exchange. Rick and his group are able to get a guy named Primo back to the compound. However, the group’s leader, a woman named Paula, is cold as ice and thinks that the prisoner exchange is not the best way to go. She also does not care when Carol tells her that Maggie is pregnant.

After the interrogations by Paula and the other Saviors, Maggie and Carol are able to escape after the rival group’s leader gets bitten by a walker following a fight with Carol. The other Saviors, who were on their way to pick up Maggie and Carol, are then lured into another room and doused with gasoline. Rick and Daryl then appear as just in time to help Carol and Maggie.

Back at the compound, Rick questions the hostage and asks if Negan was inside the compound. The man then claims that he is Negan and Rick kills him with one bullet. However, Rick does not know that he is not Negan and that the leader of the Saviors is coming for them in the show’s upcoming episodes.

[Image via YouTube]

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