Universal Studios Hollywood!

Let me explain...no, there is no time...let  me sum up! In my earlier post I said I would blog about my trips this year, well some things didn't exactly go to plan. I did go to California over President's weekend and had a wonderful time with Lisandra and Chico but nothing major happened to where I would post about it other than our dog beach day which was fun and Charlie had a blast. Then I had plans to go to Disneyland over spring break with a friend but friend got sick 2 days before we were to leave and so the trip was cancelled. :( Which now leads us to this amazing trip!

Over the holiday weekend, DeMarco (Chico) and I went to Universal Studios! But the trip report needs to begin...at the beginning!
So here's some background info: Since the plan was going to the theme park over the busy holiday weekend, I thought about upgrading our tickets to the Front of the Line pass which allows you to skip the line 1 time for each ride and show. The other option was the VIP tour which includes a guide, food, front of the line of the rides and shows and a more in-depth tour of the Studio Tour (tram ride). The major benefit of this is that you can use your VIP status to go FOTL on the rides as many times as you want after the guided tour is over. I'm sold! So I bought our VIP passes for 9:15 on Saturday.

Well, if you don't drive the next best option is public transport  (which in this case is the train) and there is a convenient Amtrak station in Oceanside (about 10 minutes away from Lisandra's house) and drops us off at Burbank airport. The hotel is just a 1/2 mile walk from the station and the hotel provides a shuttle to the theme park (which we later didn't use). We left on an evening train on Friday.

Here is a video of our train arriving at the Oceanside station.

Because of the holiday weekend and that you are NOT guaranteed a seat in Coach class, I paid a little extra for Business class which guarantees you a seat. We climbed on with no issue and a few minutes later an attendant asked us what we wanted to drink. After we placed our order he returned with drink and snacks.

The train ride was about 2 1/2 hours long which went by pretty quickly since there is a lot to see out the window, especially when riding along the beach. After getting off, we walked over to our hotel.

Once checked in and told that the shuttle was full the next morning (we would have to take a taxi) we settled in for the night and ordered room service. Burger and fries for Chico and I got the fish and chips. Food was served hot and plentiful. We watched League of Extraordinary Gentleman for a little while then went to bed.

Next morning, excited and ready to go we took the expensive taxi ride to Universal Studios! We arrived just a few minute before our tour time (which was my fault since I set my alarm later than I what I thought). We went through the VIP door and a castmember greeted us cheerfully. We gave her our name and she gave us our VIP badges then told us to head upstairs and enjoy the continental breakfast until our tour was announced. We rushed upstairs and tackled the breakfast.

Not shown is a table full of cold bottled water so I grabbed two and stuffed them in our backpack to drink for later. A few minutes after eating, a guide by the name of Tony asked who was waiting for the 9:15 tour. We quickly joined our group (another family was from Tolleson) and he handed us these small packs. Inside is lip balm, mints, anti-bacterial gel and handi-wipes.

He also gave us a small pouch which entailed our plastic poncho to use for the Jurassic Park ride. After explaining briefly our plan for the day: rides first - lunch - studio tour - shows we headed off to the first ride of the day....
Simpson's!

 

 

Having motion sickness issues and this being the first ride, I was a little apprehensive (flight simulators are usually the worst on my motion sickness but that still doesn't keep me from doing Star Tours over and over and over) but I did take some Bonine that morning and all was well with no urge to throw up. After the ride we headed to the never-ending escalators. After a brief stop on a platform where Tony pointed out various landmarks and the acreage Universal covers, we made our way to Transformers. We did another quick stop in a small museum-like building near the ride where they have different movie artifacts. Here is one of the DeLoreans from Back to the Future.

Finally onto Transformers!

Okay, so I read that this technology pretty much mirrors the Spider Man ride at Universal Studios Florida so I kind of had an idea what to expect. So to sum up...
Transformers was AWESOME!!!! It had elements to the ride that Spider Man did not and there are some aspects of the 3-D that really made this visually disabled girl really enjoy the ride. Now, out of all the rides that I've been on Disney and Universal combined, the top ride is Harry Potter but Transformers is #2 in regards to incorporating the highest technology. On our way out we saw Optimus Prime greeting people. Here is a short video of him talking to some children. (It's a little off-center since I didn't want to be recording the kids). Very cool.

Next came Jurassic Park.

To quote Tony at the ride entrance "Now everyone, you'll be going to Jurassic Park which is not like the other two parks...so of course nothing can go wrong!" Ha ha! We pulled out our plastic ponchos and meandered to the FOTL where Chico and I sat in the very front. Nice. It was fun until water spilled over the top of the boat in the middle of the ride and soaked my legs and then of course the shower at the end of the ride. But I'm being dramatic. Tony did tell us this one interesting thing...
When Jurassic Park first opened, the water was the only thing that stopped the boat at the bottom of the long drop which caused a huge 40 foot wall of water and therefore drenched everyone inside. Later they implemented a brake system to stop the boat. Water cannons were added to add that "splash" and to soak a few people. On really hot days, they will disable the brake system...and well you can imagine what happens.

We walked across the street to The Mummy!

Flashed our VIP badges and headed right to the front. There is a Mummy ride in Florida (which Chico and I have been on before) but I heard this was very different. The Florida ride was longer but this ride had more surprises. I don't want to give anything away but this was the ride Chico and I returned to repeat 2 more times. The Mummy is also the only roller coaster ride at USH. Outside I met this guy...

He was kind of walking slow and not really stopping for pictures but I was determined and kind of walked next to him so Chico could take a picture really quick. Then the "mummy" grabbed my hand and posed. Even after Chico took the picture, the mummy began walking with my hand still in his. It was awesome.

After experiencing the 3 main rides in the lower level of the park, we headed back up the never-ending escalator to see Shrek 4-D

This wasn't a new experience for me but the show is fun and something everyone could enjoy. Then it was off to lunch!

*Outside of the restaurant I ran into this hot guy. There was a line and as I got in it I told Chico "I can't believe I'm waiting in line to take a picture with a statue".

Our VIP status included a buffet lunch which was quite amazing. We were the first tour group to arrive at the private dining restaurant. Once we were given our seats, we headed to the buffet. The food was gourmet and there were many choices. There was also a cooler full of sodas and other beverages. I grabbed a San Pelligrino Lemonade which was delicious!

After a 45 minute yummy lunch we met up with Tony who then guided us across the park to the Studio Tour where we bypassed the standby line to our private trolley. Tony explained some in-depth stuff about several of the street scenes we passed. We didn't go by the famous Back to the Future courtyard since there was a music video being recorded so it was off limits. Tony claimed he didn't know who the musician was but I'm sure he knew. We did the King Kong experience which was fun and a little scary and the usual Jaws and Flash Flood and Earthquake.
Here is a stint they have to promote the new Fast and the Furious movie.

Here is a list of added stuff that was part of the VIP tour:

*Walked around a random street set

*Tour of the Prop department

*Walked down the street where they filmed outside shots of Desperate Housewives.

*Walked around the Plane/Destruction scene of War of the Worlds

*Walked through a set of Parenthood (the floor of the actual inside house was being redone so we just walked around it. I found this to be kind of boring)

The funniest part of the tour was when we drove by or rather stopped in front of the Bates Motel and house. As Tony was explaining the set, a man (actor) walked out and sort of stared at us then he brandished a huge knife and began walking (very quickly) towards the trolley. It was creepy and hilarious at the same time. The actor resembled Anthony Perkins very well.

After our studio tour we did House of Horrors which is just a walk-through maze like the ones during Halloween. It really wasn't anything great but we did run into some rather...questionable characters.

Then we had time for one more show before Tony was going to cut us loose. We walked over to Waterworld.

I remember seeing this show a very long time ago but it's still super popular. We sat on the highest row and center. Here is a short clip of the best part of the show. Keep your attention towards the left.

Tony then said goodbye and urged us to continue using our VIP badges to see the shows we missed and repeat the rides we wanted. Chico and I to headed down to do Transformers and Mummy again and we passed by the Special Effects show which was to begin in 15 minutes. Chico urged us to go and I seriously thought it was going to be boring. (I usually don't like shows where they have audience volunteers) but this show surprised me. It was super funny and I'm glad Chico made the call for us to go.

We then took the never-ending esclators yet again and passed the standby line flashing our VIP badge like Wayne and Garth with their backstage passes at an Alice Cooper concert. We got right on and enjoyed the ride once again. Then we went on Mummy two more times before calling it a day at the park. We stop briefly to take some pictures in front of the globe but they didn't come out so well since it was very crowded and virtually impossible to not get someone else in your picture.

Then we went over to the Citywalk to have dinner at Bubba Gump's.

We were seated on the patio which was nice because we could people watch and the weather was great. After ordering some drinks in these snazzy glasses

 we chowed down on an appetizer sampler and a shrimp sampler.

Full and happy we walked further down the citywalk to possibly see a movie at the AMC IMAX but the line to purchase tickets was incredibly long and Chico wasn't feeling so great so we meandered back to the front of the park and grabbed a taxi to take us back to the hotel.

After unwinding we settled in for bed.

The next morning we grabbed our stuff, checked out and walked across the street for breakfast at Denny's. After the Grand Slams, we walked to the train station and waited for our ride.

Lisandra was in Oceanside to welcome us back when we got off the train.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip! I had so much fun hanging out with DeMarco and although the tour was pricey I would definitely recommend it if it's in your budget.

Happy Travels

Next trip: Alaska Cruise in August