What is the difference between Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando?

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Anyone who remembers Universal Orlando Resort's early days may recall the slogan "Ride the movies." 

"That's such an apt way of describing what it was," said Kevin Perjurer, a theme park historian and creator of the Defunctland YouTube channel, which has more than 2 million subscribers. 

In many ways, he says, the cinematic experience remains.

"You know, you walk through Hogwarts," he said. "You walk through Super Nintendo World. You walk through Jurassic Park the same way that you do in the movies, and the rides are an extension of that."

Guests can immerse themselves in iconic entertainment franchises at both Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, but there are some key differences coast to coast.

Is Universal Studios in California or Florida?

Both. The actual film studios are located in Universal City, California, near Los Angeles. Universal Studios Hollywood is right next door.

Universal Studios Florida is just one of the parks at Universal Orlando and the first to open at that resort. 

Which came first?

Universal Studios Hollywood predates Universal Orlando by several decades, but the actual studio began letting tourists in on movie magic much earlier, in 1915.

"In the beginning, people were invited to cheer the heroes, to boo the villains. They were invited to be interactive in all of these productions because it was during the silent era, and it didn't matter," Jeff Pirtle, then-director of NBCUniversal Archives and Collections, told KCET's "Lost L.A." "However at the advent of sound in the late 1920s, there was a need for quiet sets. And so it's with that advent of sound that the studio had to cease inviting the general public to see how movies were made."

It wasn't until 1964 that guests would be invited back en masse for the opening of Universal Studios Hollywood and its Glamour Trams, which eventually became the World-Famous Studio Tour, according to NBCUniversal.

"It was truly an attraction," Perjurer said of the iconic tram tour, which he called "absolute magic" for people who had no idea how movies were made. It's still one of the park's most popular attractions. "Universal Studios Hollywood was very much a tram tour and then eventually a park that was built around real functioning studios, whose purpose was to make movies first and then you can tour them."

He said the opposite was true for Universal Orlando, which opened in 1990 and was designed as a theme park from the start, with Nickelodeon Studios on site to add to guest experiences.

"A lot of those (Florida) productions existed so you could see them being filmed there," Perjurer said. "They served a dual purpose, but it was definitely a reverse of Hollywood."

How many Universal parks are there in the US?

There are now five Universal parks in the U.S.

Universal Studios Hollywood is one park, though it may feel like two because it's split into two levels, Upper Lot and Lower Lot, by a long series of escalators down a hillside. Movie-making Universal Studios and CityWalk, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex open to the public, are next door. There are no onsite hotels, but there are partner hotels nearby.

Universal Orlando Resort has four parks: Universal Studios Florida, Universal's Islands of Adventure, Universal Epic Universe, and Universal Volcano Bay water park. The Orlando resort also has a CityWalk and 11 themed hotels on property.

Why do people go to Universal Studios?

"There's a lot of people that go to Hollywood and go to Universal Studios because they want to still see the magic of the movies," Perjurer said. "They want to actually be on a backlot. ... They want Tinseltown."

He said Orlando guests are looking for something else. 

"They want the food of the theme parks," he said. "They want the resorts. They want the highly themed thrills."

He said Universal Orlando delivers on those, while Hollywood aims for both.