It was a 45 minute drive into Universal Studios and they
have parking for RVs, but right down the very far end of the complex. The
security is very intense. Steve had to give the guard his licence, and the
guard spent about 5 minutes checking the number plates and registration details
of the van before we were allowed to proceed to the parking lot. And that was
just to park the van. It was a bit of a hike to the gates, and more security –
more like going through airport security this time. A metal detector gate and
running all your bags through a scanner. Even though it was a weekday, it was
pretty crowded.
That got us onto the City Walk, with shops and restaurants,
a movie complex, and lots of souvenir booths. We spoke to a concierge, who
suggested that we start with Universal Studios then move to Universal’s Islands
of Adventure later. At the gates we opted for express tickets that get you into
the fast lane for the attractions. Very glad we did. It must have saved us
hours of queueing. With most of the attractions the express line took you right
to the front of the queue and straight onto the ride. Sometimes we walked past
400-500 people in line.
Being Harry Potter fans we went first to the Wizarding World
of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley. And we were not disappointed! It was just like
the movie, with so much to see. The animations are brilliant, and the attention
to detail makes for an immersive experience. We looked at wands in Ollivander’s,
dropped into the Leaky Cauldron and drank butterbeer (really tasty, kind of a
soft drink with foam on top which we think is butterscotch flavoured cream). We
visited Knockturn Alley, browsed through Fred and George Weasley’s joke shop
and looked at the all flavoured jelly beans and chocolate frogs in the lolly
shop. When we had seen everything we went to Kings Cross station, and platform
9 and 3/4 for the train to Hogsmeade (in the Islands of Adventure park).
The train was amazing. We expected just a train ride, but
the windows are screens that show you an abbreviated version of the scenery on
the way from London to Hogwarts. Hagrid flies alongside the train on his
motorcycle, Hedwig soars alongside for a while, and the Weasley’s flying car
makes an appearance too. The doors of the cubicles are also screens and on the
door side, you can see people walking and talking in the corridor - Harry,
Hermione and Ron buying food from the food trolley, the Dementors attacking the
train, and chocolate frogs escaping and climbing up the door.
At Hogsmeade we had lunch at the Three Broomsticks and then
headed up to Hogwarts castle for “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey”.
Again, it was done brilliantly, with a mix of 3D big screen, and moving roller
coaster style cars, that took you through the castle, following Harry and Ron
on broomsticks as they soared over the rooftops, played Quidditch and outran
dementors. We got whomped by the Whomping Willow and raced through the
Forbidden Forest. Even though there was a lot of movement of the cars, most of
the effect was created by the screens and the 3D. It was very cool.
We headed into the rest of the park to see what else was on
offer. First was Jurassic Park, with animatronic dinosaurs. Then we went on “Skull
Island: Reign of Kong”. Another very well done ride, with 3D effects. The truck
we were in was attacked by dinosaurs, but Kong came to the rescue and fought
them off.
Toon Lagoon was fun to walk through, then Marvel Super Hero
Island, where we went on “The Amazing Adventures of SpiderMan” ride. Another 3D
simulator, again, very well done. The special effects and 3D is very realistic.
We walked through Suess Landing, and had a ride on “The Cat
in the Hat”- made for kids, but a bit of fun. Then The Lost Continent, where we
had intended to try out “Poseidon’s Fury” but the ride was having a break for
another half hour and it was getting late in the day, so we headed back to the
Hogwarts Express.
On the return journey the movie experience was different and
we saw the Forbidden Forest with centaurs racing alongside the train.
When we got back to Diagon Alley, we went to “Harry Potter
and the Escape from Gringotts”. The ride followed the section in the movie
where Harry, Ron and Hermione are caught sneaking into Gringotts and escape on
a dragon. A mix of 3D screens, animatronics and roller coaster made for a
thrilling ride.
Back to the RV, and the trip back to the RV park.
The next morning we left earlier to make the most of our
second day. We started back at Universal studios at Production Central for
“Despicable Me Minion Mayhem”. The premise of the ride is that you are minions
in training. A bit like a version of the Minion Rush game. The 3D big screen
combined with the movement of the seats gave a very realistic ride through
Gru’s lab, dodging obstacles, bowling over other minions, chasing bananas, and
lots of falling over.
After that we tried out “Shrek 4D”, which had normal cinema
style seats that jolted a little, so most of the effects were via the screen,
plus sprays of water and air. We rode with Shrek as he rescued Fiona from
certain death. At the last minute Donkey and Dragon saved the day. All good
fun, but the technology was definitely a step down from some of the other
rides.
Steve then rode the “Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit”
rollercoaster. Ros isn’t a fan of rollercoasters and sat this one out. It loops
and spirals across the park and Steve came back with a huge grin.
We then went to “Race Through New York”, another brilliant
combination of 3D and moving seats. We raced through the streets of New York,
past the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and then a virtual rollercoaster to
the moon and back. Lots of fun.
We took in lunch at Lombard’s Seafood Grille in San
Fransisco, then we tried out “Men in Black: Alien Attack”. It was a shooter
style game where the cars run you through the city and you shoot a laser at the
aliens that pop up.
That was all the rides that we had wanted to do, except for
the “Incredible Hulk Coaster” – Steve again, because it goes upside down.
Following that, we skipped around the parks repeating rides that we had really
enjoyed.
On the “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey”, we
experienced a breakdown. Luckily we were leaning back at the time, not tilting forwards
or to one side, so it was reasonably comfortable to just sit there. The lights
came on and we were interested to see how the ride was constructed. The pods of
4 seats each are on robotic arms that lift and twist them. At the time, we were
about 10 - 15 feet from the ground, being attacked be a dementor, who wasn’t
nearly as impressive frozen still.
Ros was sitting next to a little girl, maybe 7 or 8 years
old, who was frightened and was crying quietly. So Ros held her hand and talked
to her to keep her calm. She was visiting from Brazil and her family were on
another car. We were strapped in with full body lock in bars, so there was no
danger of falling, but she was getting very anxious as time ticked on. It
seemed like a really long time, but realistically might have been 10 minutes,
and then the ride suddenly kicked in again and we were moving. We made sure the
little girl found her family when we got off. Really, she was way too young to
be riding by herself.
On the way out Steve had one last rollercoaster and we did
the Minion ride again. We finished the evening with dinner at The Cowfish sushi
and burger restaurant, with some burgushi rolls – sushi rolls made with burger
ingredients like steak and mushroom. Very tasty!
