Taking it back to the JURASSIC in Hawaii with the cast of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Aug 5

I’m a little late on this one, but I figured this was a great trip to kick my blog off with. First of all, let me say this was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I am so incredibly grateful to Universal Pictures, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom and Studio Movie Grill for giving me the opportunity to do what I love.

Get ready…I’ll be gushing throughout this entire blog post. Honestly, I can’t help it. I just really love what I do and the people I get to do it with.

I LOVED Jurassic Park as a kid. It’s still my favorite franchise to date, so when I got an invitation from Universal Pictures to join the cast in Hawaii I almost lost my mind with excitement. All of my dino loving days as a kid came back and I was a giddy six year old all over again. Not only did I have the chance to interview the cast, I was getting to do it in Hawaii where most of the Jurassic Park & Jurassic World films have been shot. I. Was. Freaking. Out. Hello inner movie nerd screaming with joy.

When you travel as much as I do, you will always run into delays, cancellations and all sorts of wonderful travel issues. This trip was no different. Even though I was flying high on a dino cloud of joy, the beginning of my travel started of well, a little slow. As in stuck on an airplane for three hours because it started raining slow. Did you know that the tiniest little drops of rain can delay a flight for hours or even cancel it…now I do! Luckily, right before they were about to have to take us back to the terminal because we had hit the three hour marker, we were cleared for take off.

First stop the Hilton Wakiki resort. I decided to fly in a day early to give myself time to adjust and to enjoy a few hours of down time in Hawaii. It was late when I arrived due to the delay, so all I could squeeze in was a nice long walk on the beach and a tropical dinner overlooking the ocean. Not bad though, right? Oh, and ice cream. Fresh hand cranked ice cream in a waffle cone that was made right before my eyes. Definitely the perfect cap to my first day in Hawaii.

The next day, before heading to the next hotel I decided to take a turtle snorkel excursion, which let me tell you was worth EVERY PENNY! I’m a scuba diver, so the ocean is kind of my happy place, which is why as tight as I was on time I squeezed the adventure in. To start they take you out on a sailboat about a mile off shore over the reef. There you are free to swim over the reef, take pictures, and just have fun. Turtles were everywhere! I think I saw a total of eight in just under an hour. When you are tired the captain and crew have lunch, snacks and several tasty alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available to enjoy. Then when everyone is done snorkeling the crew takes you on a boat ride down the coast where you can enjoy clear blue water and the beautiful mountain scenery on the island. I haven’t felt that peaceful in such a long time. It was breathtaking.

Next stop The Kahala Hotel and Resort. Holy cow was this place beautiful. When you arrive they greet you with a fresh orchid lei and a soothing hand towel soaked in eucalyptus oils. It’s divine. The lobby space was super swanky. Tropical flowers, beautiful chandeliers, Polynesian art everywhere you look and the staff was warm and welcoming. From the second I walked through the doors I felt relaxed and happy.

This resort is a lot smaller and calmer than the Hilton. If I had to choose between the two, I would choose The Kahala. Just more my style, less touristy. They did, however, have turtle and dolphin experiences available. I decided to try the dolphin experience, which was a lot of fun but in my opinion not worth the price. They also charge you separately for any of the photos that are taken during your experience, which I thought was a little much given how much it costs in the first place. Buuuut dolphins do eat a lot and those fish have to come from somewhere, so I get it. I've added a few of the pictures from The Kahala's site to give you a better idea of what the hotel looks like.

Finally, 24 hours in my Jurassic World experience begins with a screening of JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM. We are the second group to see it, as the international press has already started their leg of the junket. Like I said at the beginning, I’ve been a huge fan of the Jurassic Park franchise since I was a kid so I had been looking forward to seeing this film since the last one came out. Needless to say I was excited. I watched the entire thing wide eyed with a huge grin across my face, except for that one scene. For those of you who have seen the film you know exactly what I am talking about, the one with the brontosaurus. I cried, as lame as that sounds…I did. I’m a sucker for a sad scene and I’m a huge movie crier. I will ball like a baby in the middle of a movie theater with zero shame. That said, never take me to a sad movie because I will embarrass you with my sobbing. You’ve been warned.

The next day was THE DAY. The day that I got to interview the whole cast where it all started. Because it was in the mountains we had to take a bus to reach the park, which was about 45 minutes aways. When we arrived, the scenery was breathtaking. Mountains jetting up on both sides with the ocean behind you with clouds looming over the tops of the mountains. I felt like I had just stepped into a new world.

When we arrived we switched to a jeep to start our trek up the mountain due to the rugged terrain. I kid you not, I really though a T-Rex or a Velociraptor was going to pop out at any minute. It WAS Jurassic Park. We casually passed by movie prop after movie prop which had me totally nerding out. From the tree stump that Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard hid behind to the bunkers from ALL of the Jurassic Park films they were all there. There were even props from other films like KONG. Remember the green smoke scene with all of the skeletons? Yep, shot right here.

Once we reached the top where the “green room” was, I was able to really appreciate the views. A full 360 of mountains covered in green vegetation and mist with the bright blue ocean sparkling in the distance. You’ll see what I’m talking about in the backdrop of my interviews. Its so perfect that it looks fake, but I promise you it was all real.

The Universal team did an incredible job with the set up. There was a tent set up with Polynesian food, fresh coconuts, and all sorts of delicious goodies to keep us hydrated and fed. They also had a toy tent, which you know I hung out in all day. Favorite toy of the day was a mosasaurus and this large t-rex that actually ate people. That sounds terrible as I’m typing it out, but it was so cool! They also had the Jurassic Park experimental app available for us to check out.

This is me and Scott Carty playing around with the T-rex through the app. Yes I look like I have no idea what I am doing because, well I have no idea what I am doing.

Once the interviews started they began taking us to each station via Jeep. Because we were on a mountain, the roads were extremely rugged, muddy and wet. So it was kind of difficult to get around. This is a jungle after all. Just because Hollywood had rolled in didn’t mean the humidity, rain, mud or bugs went anywhere. Side note: you will absolutely be able to tell I had spent 8+ hours in a jungle from the state of my hair at the end of the day. It looked horrible, but we all kind of looked a little rough so I just kind threw my hands up and said whatever, I’m gonna go with it because I’m in Jurassic Park!

Side note: you will absolutely be able to tell I had spent 8+ hours in a jungle from the state of my hair at the end of the day. It looked horrible, but we all kind of looked a little rough so I just kind threw my hands up and said whatever, I’m gonna go with it because I’m in Jurassic Park!

The drivers made the experience of having to take jeeps up and down so much fun because they all dressed up like security from the park and had decorated the jeeps to match those in the film. They played the part all day like champs!

First interview of the day was with J.A. Bayona, then off to Colin Trevarrow, Jeff Goldblum , Chris Pratt & Dallas Bryce Howard and finally Justice Smith & Daniella Pineda. Everyone was really nice and excited to be there talking about the film, which is not always the case with junkets.

Imagine getting asked pretty much the same thing for three days strait, 8 hours a day. That’s why I try to spice things up or do something different when I can.

In this case that was the Jur-Ask it basket, thank you Chris Pratt for the name. I went out to Studio Movie Grill fans to see what they wanted to hear. The game was actually really fun! From lyftasauruses to Jurassic World jingles I laughed all day with those guys.

I’ve dropped some of the interviews below so you can check them out.

These interviews were especially cool because one they took place on the side of a mountain, literally. Universal built out platforms that jutted out from the side of the mountain to overlook the valley behind us. I took a video before my last interview of the day to give you a better idea of what I am talking about. Usually I wouldn't have time for a video like this, but we were all on a 5 minute break so I took the opportunity to give you guys a sneak peak.

After I finished my interviews I had the chance to record a few stand ups. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what stand ups are, that’s when a film host or new anchor teases a segment or records a little blurb to promote the content they are capturing. It just so happened that these stand ups weren’t like normal ones, they were on top of a mountain.

Remember how I said that the road up the mountain was really rugged and muddy? Well they decided not to chance it and took us up by HELICOPTER!!! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was. So, here are a few videos and pictures from my journey to the top of the mountain.

By the time we were done with our stand ups we had been in the mountains for 6-7 hours...which is why my hair looks the way it does. I'm pretty sure my mascara was also melting down my face, but I couldn't have been happier!

You'd think that would be the end of the day, nope! After we landed we were taken to the boat doc where the first Jurassic World mosasaurs scene was shot. There we boarded a boat that took us over to a private island for a luau.

The group in the picture above are just a few of the amazing people I get to work with when I do junkets. I always feel so lucky because they are such wonderful talented people who are just a joy to spend time with and definitely make all of our adventures all the more fun.

Plus they're all movie nerds just like me : )

The luau was amazing. Lights, music, fresh Polynesian food and island cocktails. It was the perfect way to end a long work day and an experience I will never forget.

I can't thank Universal, Studio Movie Grill and the whole Jurassic Family enough for inviting me to join them on the junket.

I will forever be a fan of the Jurassic World franchise and now I have my own memories of where some of my favorite movies were shot.

If you ever get the chance, check it out for yourself at Kualoa Ranch.