By Charly SHELTON

When you go to Knott’s Berry Farm, the theme park built on food, there is Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant – the best place to have a chicken dinner. If anywhere does it best, it’s Knott’s. When you go to Disneyland, the theme park built on the childhood magic of Disney, its immersive technology and sets make it feel really magical and transports guests to far away lands so completely they don’t feel like they’re in Anaheim anymore. If anywhere does this the best, it’s Disneyland. When going to Universal Studios Hollywood, the theme park built on movies, there is an AMC Theater. It’s like any other AMC Theater across the country, except bigger. This disconnect went unmentioned for many years as new upgrades to the theater came and went. But finally, earlier this year, the theater got the overhaul it deserved. Not just upgrades to the snack bar and fresh coats of paint, but a complete top-to-bottom redo that made it into a theater Universal Studios can be proud of.

Dubbed Universal Cinemas, this new 18-screen plus IMAX Theater is still operated by AMC but is very uniquely Universal Studios. Even the design of the entryway harks back to Universal’s opening logo, with a huge panorama of the world printed on the upstairs balcony wall and starburst lighting fixtures above to represent that first glint of light off of the metallic Universal logo as it glides across the world.

The upstairs balcony is a new feature as well. This is a 21 and older area called The Director’s Lounge that sits right outside the entrance to the balcony level seating of the movie theaters. Guests can imbibe a fancy cocktail, in some cases themed to the film playing, and take it into the theater with them. The first time I was invited to Universal Cinemas, it featured the Dark Temptation and Forbidden Fruit cocktails to celebrate the release of “Fifty Shades Darker.” Dark Temptation was a twist on a vodka-cranberry using Grey Goose La Poire (pear) vodka and sparkling soda.

Forbidden Fruit was a wholly unique cocktail using Cîroc Peach Vodka, sweet wine Moscato and cranberry juice. These switch out every week or two, the bartender told me, as new films come in and old ones fade away.

That’s all fine and good as icing on the cake but when I think of great movie-going experiences, I think popcorn, comfy chairs and big screens. Universal has the popcorn, available along with other new choices, in its Market Place concession stand in the lobby. If buttered popcorn isn’t your bag, then try the caramel corn, cheese corn or Chicago-style caramel and cheese corn. And while it has the classic hot dog and nachos typically found in movie theaters, these choices are expanded on with chili-cheese and chicken nachos, Frito pie, chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, fruit smoothies, an espresso bar, ice cream sundaes and those awesome mix-your-own soda stations from Coca-Cola. By the time ticketholders get to the theater, laden with snacks, it’s time to stretch out in a motorized reclining seat that converts almost into a bed.

These are all centered around the new projection system of Christie projectors. The details of why these new projectors are the best will bore most non-tech people, so suffice it to say these are high-end projectors not found at any old theater. Combined with the Dolby Atmos Surround Sound and a fully immersive movie-going experience, the audience is swept away. I saw “Beauty and the Beast” back in March and, let me tell you, if you can go to a movie as good as that, in a theater as good as Universal Cinemas, you will be ruined forever going elsewhere.

To make the experience even cooler, Universal brings in some costumes and props to decorate the lobby and surrounding areas. In February and March, it had the costumes from “The Great Wall” and “Beauty and the Beast,” tying into the release of the films. To celebrate “Fate of the Furious” being the number one movie in America, cars from the film were brought last week to be displayed outside the theater for guests to view as they made their way in to see the film. Then, last weekend, it held the official opening ceremony of the new Universal Cinemas with Jordan Peele, Jason Blum, Will Packer and longtime Universal friend Steven Spielberg.

  Charly Shelton