01 Oct: Universal Studios

 (5 year old memories and notes again!)

This place is spectacular. We had so much fun. Word of advice though, book the ‘front of line’ ticket. They only do a limited number for each day so you need to pre-plan and book at least a month in advance. We got on every single ride though. We met another Aussie lady just after lunch, and she had only managed to get on one ride. So it’s worth spending the money on.

We parked on the Frankenstein level of the carpark – it’s Halloween month and so everywhere you look there are Halloween-y type things. Made it past the big Universal globe and we ran straight into Beetlejuice. He harassed Jamie and was pretty disgusting (LOL) and Jamie said that even his breath was rancid. Next we ran into Scooby Doo and King Julien. I had a little boogie with the King and then he held out his hand for me to kiss – and then promptly turned and walked off!

We headed straight for Harry Potter World. Disneyland is my dream, HPW is Jamie’s. This is so well laid out and just a magical place (pardon the pun). I guess when you make movies, you know how to do sets and graphics! We made a beeline to the main HP ride and jumped straight on. This is pretty much the best ride ever invented. We started screaming/laughing from take off until the end – all three of us. I can’t say I’ve ever laughed so much on a ride. It was a mad ride through Harry’s world – flying cars, quidditch, talking paintings and broomstick rides. There were dragons and spiders and spectres and all things otherworldly. I’m unsure how they did it – I think it was just a big seat that moved around and there was a screen all around it so it really did feel like we were flying and falling. Just an amazing ride. When we got off, we were so excited and just wanted to go on it again. We raced around to the entry and ran inside. Jamie flashed her pass and was off and racing, and then the girl stopped us to say that we could only ride once on the ‘front of line’ pass. I stammered something about my daughter racing in (she had seen her run in) and then said “shhh, don’t tell anyone” and let us in. So we got to ride it a second time. Mindblowing. Must be experienced to understand.

After that, we went on a short and sweet mini rollercoaster ‘Flight of the Hippogrif’ and then spent an hour or so wandering around all the shops. Jamie bought a mug of butterbeer, we went to Ollivanders and watched the wand choosing ceremony. Jamie got herself a willow wand and a quill and was very happy!

Next, we wandered into Simpsons Land and started to hit all the rides. The Simpsons was a 3D ride and that was amazing as well. At one point, giant Maggie sucks you into her mouth with her dummy. This was a crazy, upside down ride as well – again, I’m pretty sure that the seat was just rocking and rolling with a huge screen around you, but it’s totally immersive and you are right there in the action. The Mummy ride was similar – just mind blowing in regard to movement and graphics. The Jurassic Park ride was fun in the middle of the day – it’s a water ride, so nice and cooling. Mark got the wettest of all of us and Jamie and I stayed reasonably dry.

The Transformers ride was closed (boo, but yay for maintenance) however Optimus Prime had a photo meet and greet out the front of the ride. That machine is HUGE! He chatters away to each person as they come up for a photo. We noticed that most people got their photo and then just took off without even saying thank you or looking back at Optimus – so we made a point of saying thank you to him. Then he thanked us for saying thank you and said that we were special people (made me feel really good). Machines are human too, you know.

We had a crusty burger for lunch (ick) and then wandered around and ran into Marilyn Monroe. I sat down with her to have a chat. She was so lovely! We talked about shoes and hair and the fact that I had never fund the right shade of red lipstick. I asked her the best way to pose for a photo and she told me all about putting your hand up beside your face and tilting your head back (I seemed to go forwards even after this sage advice).

Next up was the backlot tour. This would have been fab if we could see things – but we were right at the back of the train. Don’t do it if this is your only option, wait for the next tour. We missed out on the water rushing down the hill, Bruce from jaws jumping out of the water (we saw his snout sink back under) and we were sitting right over the engine, so we didn’t get to hear a word the guide was saying either. We did however, see the Bates motel and the War of the Worlds plane crash sight. They had a King Kong vs Dinosaurs thing which was up there on par with all the rides. It was inside a garage stop and it played out all around the outside of the train. It made the tour worthwhile.

On the way back for another look at HPW, we saw Optimus again but Bumblebee was with him this time. Jamie and I raced over to get in line for a photo with Bumblebee. When we got to the front of the line, Optimus remembered us and told Bumblebee how we were nice people and that we needed an extra good photo. Bumblebee played with Jamie’s hair (quite a mean feet for someone with hands as big as a giants head) and held my hand (or I held his finger) for the photo. We both talked to them for a bit as well, or Bumblebee made sounds at us while Optimus spoke. It was a really fun interaction. Be nice to characters people!

We found The Walking Dead walk through ‘ride’ and decided to head in. I was very brave until it got underway. It’s like one of the old ghost houses, where you walk through and people and things jump out at you. Real people – or in this case, almost real zombies. When the first one jumped out, Jamie and I started screaming and didn’t stop until we were outside. This of course, attracts zombies – so we discovered. Mark was in the middle of us and we both clung onto him like our lives depended on it – he was killing himself laughing, we were just dying in general. It was so much fun, but adrenaline was racing and it was quite terrifying! We survived though – most because Mark protected us, I’m sure.

Oh, and we hit the Minions 3D ride as well – I can’t remember it now but my notes tell me it was great fun.

I’d go back to Universal in a heartbeat – but only with that front of line ticket as it was crazy busy and their rides are not short ones, so it doesn’t move through as quickly as Disneyland can (and we all know how slow that can be, right)? Great rides, great graphics, great experiences and great fun. So much laughing and screaming in one day! 

I should note here - the previous night there was a shooting at the Harvest Music festival in Vegas where 60 people were killed and over 400 injured. We had left in the morning and were right by the Mandalay Hotel which is where the gunman was firing from. We woke up to many, many texts and facebook posts checking to see if we were ok. We had no idea. I try not to get too political here, but sheesh America - gun laws, fix them!

Have a look at our Universal pics here