Universal Studio’s

Once we had got the satnav going we set off for Universal Studio’s which was only a couple of miles away but with plenty of turns to make. The choice of parking is $20 for Premium parking where you are closer and easier to the attractions or $14 for standard parking. Take the standard because everyone parks in the same car park. Before you even get into the studios there are plenty of shops, restaurants and other things to do like a cinema. They even have a Flip Flip shop and a Hard Rock Café; I particularly liked the “Bubber and Gump” shrimp Co as they played Forest Gump all night every night on one channel while we were in Vegas.

We arrived at the Studio gates and the standard price is $69 each but we had an $8 off ticket so we queued up for a while but it didn’t move so we opted for the self service ticket machine but couldn’t use the discount voucher. Our first stop was The House of Horrors but you have to walk through which is worse than a ride because it’s very dark and you don’t know which way to go. We were frightened as things kept touching you and making loud noises and sometimes jumping out in front of you. I won’t be going on that again!

Claire looked good on the Terminator bike and the Simpson’s grabbed me before we went on the Simpson’s ride. They shuffle you from room to room for a while with mild entertainment and then the ride proper starts. It’s one of those where they move your seats around violently whilst showing a big screen where you keep falling and crashing into everything. I must say that they have improved since the first time I went on one of those and I had my eyes shut most of the time at the beginning. Claire loved it but I won’t be going on that again!

They still had the Jaws shark hanging up which they had when I was here last time 30 years ago. They also had a Jaws ride where he keeps attacking the boat but that has finally disappeared. You have to go down plenty of escalators to get to the lower level where all the scary rides are. On the way they had an Apollo 13 set which I liked. The Jurassic Park ride looked the scariest where you go on a boat and get soaked with an 84 foot vertical drop at the end to escape the raptors which have escaped. Most of the Dinosaurs seemed to squirt water all over me; somehow Claire escaped most of them. Luckily our boat wasn’t full so we could sit in the middle so at least we weren’t sitting on a wet seat but every water jet seemed to be aimed directly at me. For me this was the best ride except for the end where you drop down. To make things worse, just before the waterfall drop a T Rex is trying to bite you from above so you are ducking underneath him and are taken by surprise when you fall. They have the customary photo when you are at your worst, screaming with your eyes closed so we didn’t buy it even though we had a laugh looking at it. Thinking about it afterwards, I should have taken a picture of the photo so I could post it.

We also went on the Backdraft feature which was good but you had to stand the whole time but at least there was lots of fire to warm us up as it was a cold day with winds from snowy mountains. We went back up the escalators to the top level and Claire couldn’t walk past the Irish pub but they charged $10 a pint. Naughty Claire stole the pint glasses that they were served in because she thought that the price must have included them. We relaxed and killed 30 minutes before going in the Terminator II 3D show which was excellent. They show it every hour and have actors mixed with 3 large 3D screens and your seats move, you get sprayed with water and spiders run up your legs. Lots of explosions and ducking going on but they have done a very good job of it with Arne riding around the stage on his bike at the beginning and actually drives through the screen where you are transported into the action. Oh, we also went on the Shrek ride earlier where the seats also move around and you have water jets and things tickling your legs. All the rides here are very good and we had an excellent day in the cold.

By this time we were starving and went for lunch at Tony Roma’s which was good value for money and we ate it all. We then had the long walk back to go on the tram which drives you around the Studio’s showing you the sets. Unfortunately they had a fire a while back and lots of it was being rebuilt so it should be even better in a few months time when it’s finished because they have incorporated lots of new technology. There were some good bits like the Mummies Tomb where you appear to turn around inside the cave. Also they have a flash flood and water comes cascading down the hill and I got soaked again. I particularly liked the crashed plane set where they had used a genuine aeroplane and stripped it down to look like a crash and they still had burning parts and lots of detail.

We were worn out at the end of the day because you are walking around all day in the very fresh air and then we had to wait for about 15 minutes while the satnav played up again before finding our way home. Before we left this morning there had been a problem next door with the water and electric supply and workman had been working on it all day. It had been caused by a large tree at the side of the road that had overgrown roots that had broken some main supplies over time. Our elevators are not working so; being n the fourth floor had a lot of climbing up and down to do. We went back to our favourite bar called Little Devils for a couple before retiring to our room for the evening. They have an incredible choice of beer to try and I found one called Bear Republic racer 5 which is an American IPA which is 7% ABV and not bad for $4 a pint. I would come back here again!