universal studios, hollywood california.. 09JUN07

[jayman]

well... today we went to universal studios.. every year or so we all go to a theme park together, last year we went to magic mountain for my freind iain's bachelor party, so this year we went to universal for his birthday.
i hadn't been for 25 years, and boy, this place changed.
the first thing we checked out was the "new" horror movie walkthrough thing ... this was much like a maze at scary farm, but permanent, and less thrilling.. not very scary, but well themed.
then we went on the studio tour.. this was pretty cool, alot hadn't changed here, except for the king kong, earthquake,war of the worlds(that WAS creepy) and mummy parts, other things were gone, but there's still ol' jaws , the flash flood and the crossing of the red sea(sorta) seeing those back lots in person is kind of interesting.. more about that later..
we rode the back to the future simulator, alot like star tours and the one in sea world, except i liked the idea of several , smaller, stage areas.. really nice if you like simulators, and since there isn't a whole lot here there's not really a reason to skip anything..
there are only two rides , technically speaking, in this park, we hit those after lunch..
first was mummy, i guess i can add it to my list now, even if it is sort of a "higher speed dark ride".
as far as indoor roller coasters go i only have space mountain to compare it to,and i think space mountain is better..if that's all that's being compared... BUT.....i liked it , i liked the idea, i really appreciate the technology, i really hope other parks will take this idea and put it to good use.most of the theming was great.. untill the "high speed" part. then it was just alot of flashing lights, and the direction change was great. in our opinion it ended tooo soon, in fact we all were convinced that the part just before the very end was the beginning of "the good part" honestly, rollercoasterwise, i left this ride feeling let down, like they only gave me half of what i came for.. but i really like the concept and the theming made up for it.


next was jurrasic park...
i have a soft spot in my heart for water rides.. some of my earliest memories are of the timber mountain log ride, pirates of the carribean, and the log jammer and jetstream. this ride was the best of the two here. the theming was campy at best, but still nice, and the drop was great!!!
after that we saw the backdraft exibit and the shreck 4d thingy..
we were done and went home...

to be brutally honest i'd say that this IS NOT the park to visit if you are only gonna have time for one in the area..i'd choose disneyland , and if you wanted non stop thrills, magic mountain, and if you wanted unique (and the best darn wooodie on this coast) knott's...
however, if you had the time it's really nice.. the crowds aren't too bad,and there's neat stuff to see.. plus if you're into the movies(iain's a post grad level film student, that's why we went)the place is wonderful. unlike the other parks in the chain this place is the real deal. it really IS a movie studio, and that's what makes up for it's lack of rides. the tram really does go through genuine tv and movie nieghborhoods, and it's crazy to see the sets so close together..
plus you can buy beer.. yep.. you can buy a 20 oz. bottle of corona, or even a tall boy of modelo especial(now we're talkin')and other beers too.. the downside is that they wanted 9 dollars for a beer, so if you want to get a buzz, start saving now..(security wasn't like disneyland or six flags, you shouldn't have problem bringing a small drop o' hooch in with ya..)
in all i'd say this was fun, if you live here.. or REALLY like the movies and tv that universal puts out, and we had a good time.
there might be pictures, but i can't promise.. there was a disposable at one time, but it ran out of film..

Great review. Sounds like lots of fun. I didn't renew my pass this year. It's not a "season pass" type of place.

[jayman]

exactly .. i was thinking "who'd buy a season pass to this place?"

[Oscar]

and you did not invite us! how sad!

[jayman]

[B)]sorry.. my bad.. i didn't think of it as the place for a meet.. my bad.. bad jayman, bad...

[coolbeans326]

I would. I enjoy the place a lot actually. And the passes aren't so outrageous that you have to make a lot of visits to get your money's worth. You just go 3 or 4 times and its good. Not to mention you also get discounts on the HHN event which is the best excuse to go to Universal Studios. You all probably think I'm crazy, but I really do like this place.

[jayman]

DAMMIT!!! now i really feel like crap.. [V][V] now i will have a drink to honor my self loathing..
seriously though, i like the place too, the people i went with had fun too, but they're the kind of folks that have LOTS of troble keeping up with me at these placesw.. they're all a couple of years younger than i am, but they still spend more time "resting" than actually doing anything.. if i wanted to sit around at a mall i 'd stay home, not drive 125 miles and spend 50 bucks to do so..