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- Jan 7, 2005
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Universal 5/30 Trip Report
I thought I would post a trip report of Universal Studios Hollywood here because it seems that so many people have been posting threads on the neighboring Disneyland board about whether they should visit Universal too, or how many days to spend there, etc. As a caveat, while I have read many trip reports of Universal Florida, I haven't read too many about this park, so I apologize for anything that might be repetitious. I went with my wife and 10 month-old-old son.
The Mummy. This ride is absolutely incredible, and it is almost embarrassing that Disneyland and DCL are missing a ride this fun. I'm not big on roller coasters because I don't like the big drops, and this one has just a couple of small dips, but it is FAST. I won't ruin the surprises of the ride, but it really is the perfect union of a dark ride and roller coaster; calling it "Pirates for adults" just doesn't do it justice. It really is worth a trip to Universal just to go on this ride; it's one of the best theme park rides anywhere. If you've got a small child, you will be absolutely amazed how the child swap works here. There is actually a room, believe it or not, with toys, Arrowhead bottled water in a cooler, and a TV where your party waits while you go on the ride--and you go right in, no wait at all. There are actually three levels of waiting: the public waits on a (frequently) long line; the front-of-the-line (FOTL) people go to a gate A, which gives them a fastpass type of priority, and the child swap people, who go right to the head of the line, like the disabled and VIPs do at Disneyland (and probably here, too). The crew members don't always tell you about this room, so make sure you ask. Needless to say, my wife and I both rode this twice.
Jurassic Park. I've been on this ride before, and the drop is pretty terrifying--84', compared to 50' for Splash Mountain (and 42' for Knott's log ride). My wife went twice, though, and she loved it. The child swap area is disappointing, though. Those not going on the ride wait in a shaded area, but there is only a TV playing videos, with none of the other amenities of the Mummy ride wait area.
Shrek 4D. The movie part of this attraction is a lot of fun, and you've got to love the opening in which Tinkerbell is eaten by a frog. However, the mechanics of the "ride" is a disappointment. In an apparent effort to out-do other 4D movies, which seem to be de rigeur in every theme park nowadays, the ride's designers don't let a moment pass without some kind of effect, be it an extremely bumpy seat movement, air blown on you, or water sprayed on you. It was refreshing in the few moments when nothing was going on to just enjoy the movie--after all, we're talking about Shrek here, not some typically cheap and cheesy theme park movie (like HISTA; sorry, Disney). Without revealing the great ending to Terminator 3 4D, it's too bad that Universal execs didn't learn the lesson from that attraction that less is more, at least in as far as seat movement is concerned.
Studio Tour. Aside from The Mummy, for which my interest was really piqued by trip reports from people who visited Universal FL, the other thing I had been looking forward to was the studio tour, and specifically, the chance to see Wysteria Lane in person. I knew from previous tours down suburbia row, when the houses were either in their "classic"("Leave it to Beaver," "Munsters," etc.) state or as they were in Tom Hanks' "the burbs" (I guess I'm dating myself here), I was interested in seeing how they had been transformed into Wysteria Lane. Luckily, since filming had stopped for the series, the tram did give us views of both sides of the street, and it was fun to see all those homes that were so familiar to me from "Desperate Housewives." I was really impressed how what seems like such a long block on the series is a really, really small piece of real estate; kudos to the production designers. The other new part of the tour that really made my mouth drop was the scene from "War of the Worlds." It was as if you were viewing the site of a plane crash which decimated many houses immediately after it happened (minus the bodies!). It was an absolutely incredible set and really something worth seeing.
Characters. After being inoculated by Disneyland to expect long lines for character greets, it was an odd experience to have a CM approach us and compliment our son and say, "I'm going to bring over a big monkey to see you." Sure enough, she brought over Curious George who spent some time with our son. Similarly, while enjoying our excellent meal from Mel's Diner, Chico Marx decided to join us and got into a lengthy discussion mostly about our jobs which was interspersed w/Marx Bros. jokes; an unexpected kind of character dining experience. Since my last visit, in an obvious nod to Disney's success in this arena, they have beefed up the number of characters wandering around the park and even have installed Donkey's house of waffles, sort of a cross between an animitronic character and a "Talk to Stitch"/"Turtle Talk" kind of experience. The donkey was always surrounded by crowds whenever we walked by his stable.
All in all, I was really surprised at what a great day Universal offers. After they dropped any special activities for either Halloween or Christmas following the NBC merger, my expectations were pretty low about what to expect, but if you are coming out-of-state to visit Disneyland (and especially if you are a local who hasn't visited in a while, like us), you will really be in for a great day.
I thought I would post a trip report of Universal Studios Hollywood here because it seems that so many people have been posting threads on the neighboring Disneyland board about whether they should visit Universal too, or how many days to spend there, etc. As a caveat, while I have read many trip reports of Universal Florida, I haven't read too many about this park, so I apologize for anything that might be repetitious. I went with my wife and 10 month-old-old son.
The Mummy. This ride is absolutely incredible, and it is almost embarrassing that Disneyland and DCL are missing a ride this fun. I'm not big on roller coasters because I don't like the big drops, and this one has just a couple of small dips, but it is FAST. I won't ruin the surprises of the ride, but it really is the perfect union of a dark ride and roller coaster; calling it "Pirates for adults" just doesn't do it justice. It really is worth a trip to Universal just to go on this ride; it's one of the best theme park rides anywhere. If you've got a small child, you will be absolutely amazed how the child swap works here. There is actually a room, believe it or not, with toys, Arrowhead bottled water in a cooler, and a TV where your party waits while you go on the ride--and you go right in, no wait at all. There are actually three levels of waiting: the public waits on a (frequently) long line; the front-of-the-line (FOTL) people go to a gate A, which gives them a fastpass type of priority, and the child swap people, who go right to the head of the line, like the disabled and VIPs do at Disneyland (and probably here, too). The crew members don't always tell you about this room, so make sure you ask. Needless to say, my wife and I both rode this twice.
Jurassic Park. I've been on this ride before, and the drop is pretty terrifying--84', compared to 50' for Splash Mountain (and 42' for Knott's log ride). My wife went twice, though, and she loved it. The child swap area is disappointing, though. Those not going on the ride wait in a shaded area, but there is only a TV playing videos, with none of the other amenities of the Mummy ride wait area.
Shrek 4D. The movie part of this attraction is a lot of fun, and you've got to love the opening in which Tinkerbell is eaten by a frog. However, the mechanics of the "ride" is a disappointment. In an apparent effort to out-do other 4D movies, which seem to be de rigeur in every theme park nowadays, the ride's designers don't let a moment pass without some kind of effect, be it an extremely bumpy seat movement, air blown on you, or water sprayed on you. It was refreshing in the few moments when nothing was going on to just enjoy the movie--after all, we're talking about Shrek here, not some typically cheap and cheesy theme park movie (like HISTA; sorry, Disney). Without revealing the great ending to Terminator 3 4D, it's too bad that Universal execs didn't learn the lesson from that attraction that less is more, at least in as far as seat movement is concerned.
Studio Tour. Aside from The Mummy, for which my interest was really piqued by trip reports from people who visited Universal FL, the other thing I had been looking forward to was the studio tour, and specifically, the chance to see Wysteria Lane in person. I knew from previous tours down suburbia row, when the houses were either in their "classic"("Leave it to Beaver," "Munsters," etc.) state or as they were in Tom Hanks' "the burbs" (I guess I'm dating myself here), I was interested in seeing how they had been transformed into Wysteria Lane. Luckily, since filming had stopped for the series, the tram did give us views of both sides of the street, and it was fun to see all those homes that were so familiar to me from "Desperate Housewives." I was really impressed how what seems like such a long block on the series is a really, really small piece of real estate; kudos to the production designers. The other new part of the tour that really made my mouth drop was the scene from "War of the Worlds." It was as if you were viewing the site of a plane crash which decimated many houses immediately after it happened (minus the bodies!). It was an absolutely incredible set and really something worth seeing.
Characters. After being inoculated by Disneyland to expect long lines for character greets, it was an odd experience to have a CM approach us and compliment our son and say, "I'm going to bring over a big monkey to see you." Sure enough, she brought over Curious George who spent some time with our son. Similarly, while enjoying our excellent meal from Mel's Diner, Chico Marx decided to join us and got into a lengthy discussion mostly about our jobs which was interspersed w/Marx Bros. jokes; an unexpected kind of character dining experience. Since my last visit, in an obvious nod to Disney's success in this arena, they have beefed up the number of characters wandering around the park and even have installed Donkey's house of waffles, sort of a cross between an animitronic character and a "Talk to Stitch"/"Turtle Talk" kind of experience. The donkey was always surrounded by crowds whenever we walked by his stable.
All in all, I was really surprised at what a great day Universal offers. After they dropped any special activities for either Halloween or Christmas following the NBC merger, my expectations were pretty low about what to expect, but if you are coming out-of-state to visit Disneyland (and especially if you are a local who hasn't visited in a while, like us), you will really be in for a great day.
