Universal Studios, Hollywood. Planning and Execution.

Most people think that Amusement parks are places where you can just land up and have good time.

My brother in law  Rahul would love to tell you how much planning is required to enter this world of Amusement parks. He wanted to visit Orlando this year and he planned and planned and the end of it turned to me in exasperation for advise as I had visited Orlando in 2009 and had done it all. He did Disney Parks and Universal Studio  in Orlando over a 5-6 day period this June. He had to plan for his stay near the parks; he had to look for correct ticket combos; he had to book flights; and he had to ensure that he and his family did not collapse with exhaustion in the blistering heat of Orlando. Eventually he came out trumps as he planned the schedule well and did research before he entered Orlando. He learnt the intricacies about which rides to take; how to use fast passes; what to eat; and how much time to spend in each park.

I was Lucky this year. I took the kids to just one amusement park and that too in Los Angeles. The weather in LA was brilliant and I didn't have to take a special flight or hotel for this venture as we were in any case spending around a week in LA and had a comfortable house to stay.

I think I should consider myself to be a pro in visiting Amusement parks. The cities where I have been to Amusement parks and water parks are :  Gold Coast,  Hong Kong; Singapore; Genting, KL, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Bali,  Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Madrid,  Paris,  London, Orlando, and LA. I have realised one thing after visiting all these parks - that if you do not plan in advance, you will miss out on a lot. 

I had last Visited Universal Studios, LA in 1996. I remember being pretty impressed with it as there were some terrific shows. I was also very disappointed that a much publicized ride called Jurassic Park was opening a week after my visit. This ride had been designed by the master himself- Steven Spielberg. I didn't think at that time that I would have to wait for 17 years to get onto that ride.

Our visit to Universal Studios in Singapore in 2010 was good but it was too damn hot there and Jurassic Park was shut for maintenance. The park in Singapore is much smaller than the other parks in Orlando and LA. The LA park is very special as it is at the site of the actual film Studio in Hollywood. If you are lucky, you may be able to spot Bradd Pitt shooting for one of the films !

Planning for Universal Studios

The planning was extremely simple in this particular case. As we had reached LA the previous evening, all we had to do was reach the park and get into action. Yet, there had been some planning.

1)      The date for visit had been decided in advance and tickets purchased online. There is a hefty discount if you buy a 2 day ticket which could be used twice in a month. They just charge around $10 more for additional day. We didn't require it. 

2)      After some deliberation we decided to buy the ‘front of the line’ pass. This made tickets 60% more expensive and this facility allowed you to get to the front of the line once (just once !) for each ride. So instead of $ 80 , we paid $ 130 per ticket. I was in no mood to stand in queues for hours just to get onto a ride.  

3)      We had decided to reach the Studios on time in the morning so we could be there before most people.

4)      I did make a note of most popular rides so those could be tackled before the crowds arrived.

5)      As my kids are teenagers, we decided not to waste any time in rides and shows meant for small children.

The Universal Studios

The place is huge and it is not on one level.

The moment you get to a popular amusement park, the festivities grip you. The color; the music; the bustling people; colorful balloons; and the layout of the park engross you. You get into a different zone altogether. The festive mood all around does a lot to raise your spirits. For the next few hours all you are thinking of is what to do next!

Tip : As you enter, pick up the map of the park and schedule of the day at the entrance. It will help you all the day long.

The schedule becomes important as big shows like ‘Water-world’ etc are held at specific times. You need to be at the arena at-least 15 minutes before the commencement of the show to get proper sitting places.

We arrived at the park at 10 AM. This was a good time to enter as the park had just about opened and it wasn't all that crowded. The kids entered the ‘House of Horrors’ as it was quite near the entrance. I followed them and frankly speaking none of us found it very scary. They actually had live people dressed as demons and they try to scare you in dark environs. But the kids said that they had enjoyed and would come back for a second round later.

We were walking with the flow and realized that we had taken a short escalator down and were standing to board the bus for ‘Studio Tour.’ I realsied that this is not what we should be doing at this stage. The studio tour would have taken around 45 minutes to an hour. We should first do the most popular rides!

So, we exited the Studio Tour line and went towards the main popular rides which are in a different  section of the park . For that we were told we had to go down the escalators. It wasn't just one long escalator but several escalators which transported us to this section. It was actually a never ending ride. We could see other film studios and a Golf course as went down.

The Golf Course next to Universal Studios where top directors must be teeing off.

The Thrilling Rides

Jurassic Park had made me wait for 17 long years so that was the first priority and we stood in the normal line for the ride. We were in our floating car in no time at all as it still wasn't crowded. 

Tip : The idea of coming early in the morning was to get on to the popular rides before they got crowded. Once they got crowded – only then we should use the 'front of the line' pass !

Jurassic Park was brilliant ! You are exported into the Jurassic world with amazing visuals and a great design. The Dinosaur’s look real. You float around for around 10 minutes enjoying the great design of the ride. Just when you are trying to save yourself from the big T-Rex who had appeared from nowhere and come into your face – you go hurtling down 84 feet into water. We were sitting right in front of the boat. My body screamed NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO as we dropped down into the water. I think I got a crick in my neck due to tension. Luckily, I was carrying a pain killer in the bag pack. I looked like a mess in the photograph which had been secretly taken when the boat was hurtling down the waterfall. “Thank God its over”, I said. Little did I know at that point that I would go on to do this ride 3 times more before 5 PM !

The Transformers

Transformers is a new ride based on the hit movie of the same name and it’s all 3D with a lot of action. It used the 3D technology and mixes it with flight simulation technology giving you an effect of flying over cities and transformer world. The flight gives you a thrill for which you have gone into the ride. This ride was also done 3-4 times that day.

The Revenge of the Mummy is another scary ride and a must do. Set in an Egyption environment, it takes you through a fast car ride in near darkness. The speed, the turns and the sudden breaking do jolt your inners. This again was done 4 times by me.

How did we manage to do each ride so many times ? The kids went even more times than me. Well, below is the tip on how to tackle this.

Tip : You could do a popular  ride a couple of times before the place gets crowded as waiting is not too long. 

Then , when the place gets crowded, you could use the front of the line pass if you have indeed invested in it.

 Another way of beating the lines is as a ‘single rider.’ Normally people go in a group and they like doing rides in a group. The parents like doing rides with their children. All this can be done together in morning. When it gets very crowded, one can go separately in the ‘single rider’ queue. This queue moves very fast and is for those who are not in a group. A single person could be seated anywhere so they are accommodated in odd places or with other groups wherever there is a seat available.

As mentioned earlier, there would be one or two live shows happening. Please note the time and make sure you reach on time for these shows.

 ‘Waterworld’ was live action in an arena and had actual boats, fire, guns and even airplanes. It is full of stunts. Those who sit in front are guaranteed to get soaked as we were. There was a literal water fight between audiences while we waited for show to begin. You will feel that you are watching a motion picture once the show starts. 

Another show which is based on timings is ‘Special effects Stage’ where they show you how films are shot using special effects in studios. They tell you about CGI, stop motion, motion capture and 3 D technology. It was very entertaining and informative. Don’t miss it.

The Studio Ride

What makes Universal studios in Hollywood different from other Universal Studios theme parks is a ride called ‘Studio Ride.’ The bus takes you around the actual studio where actual shooting and sound recording and special effects are taking place. You do feel good to be inside the studios where at that very moment Spielberg or Penelope Cruz or Tom Hanks might be shooting.

CRASH ! Film props.

On the way they have actually created a tunnel where you come across a 3D King Kong and the Jurassic creature T Rex. This amazing visual has been created by Peter Jackson and you are stunned by what is happening around you as the big animals fight each other furiously and  they are so huge that they totally envelope you and the bus.

On this ride you see the ‘jaws’; the horror house and bates motel of ‘Psycho’ ; the crashed aeroplanes and cars; they show you how floods and fires are made.; They show you where the popular soaps have been shot ; When they show you the place a particular shot from a movie was filmed, the actual scene of the movie is shown to you on the screen in the bus !

The Bates motel and the Psycho House

For a movie lover, the ‘Studio Ride’ is something very special. I should have done it twice.
So, Universal Studios turned out to be a very simple affair compared to the Disneyworld, where we had to negotiate 4 parks over for days. Many have found the blog on Disney informative though things must have changed in 4 years. The link for blog on Disney Parks, Orlando is http://rohin-arora.blogspot.in/2009/07/disney-magic.html