Southeast Asia – Day 2: Singapore – Day 2

Friday – September 15, 2023

Since, Thursday was our arrival day and a half day at best, this was set to be our first full day in Singapore. That said, since we were spending basically the whole day at a theme park, I don’t really count this as one of our days so the “real” day one would be Saturday.

Since Brad and I hadn’t bought tickets and wanted to be at the park when it opened at 11:00, we woke up at 7:30. I had gotten up to pee at 4:30 and couldn’t really get back to sleep so I was starting off on the back foot.

We then went down to the first floor to get breakfast. We had paid extra for it to be included in the price of the hotel but as I’m writing this, no one was scanning our room keys to check if we were allowed to be there so we probably didn’t have to pay more for that, but oh well.

At 8:50 I FaceTimed Kyra since it was almost 21:00 back home. We had a brief conversation about the flight and what we had done the night before.

Hotel G to Universal Studios via MRT

A little after 9:00 Brad and I walked to metro and took the Downtown line from Bencoolen towards Bukit Panjang to Chinatown. There we switched to the Northeast line and took it to HarbourFront. Once there we exited into a mall where we were to transfer to the Vivo City Station monorail to Sentosa Island.

We got a little lost, thanks to me, finding the monorail, but it was a quick course correction and we were there in no time. The great thing about the MRT and the Sentosa Express was that it took Apple Pay or contactless credit cards meaning you didn’t have to use a vending machine to buy a metro card and load it with money. I just used my phone to pay and I never thought about it.

Universal Studios Singapore

We arrived at 10:00, exactly 1 hour before the park was set to open. We walked to the entrance and took the obligatory photos in front of the Universal globe. The next plan was to grab tickets. I assumed there’s be a ticket booth like when I bought tickets at DisneySea in Japan. However, even easier, there were ticket kiosks right in the entrance plaza before going through the main gate. We purchased tickets and were all set. Now it was just a matter of killing the next hour.

The first thing we did was to go into the Lego store. We checked out all of the sets as well as the specific things that had been built just for that location. Next we walked around the area nearish to the entrance of the park. It was very hot, I was wearing all black and was feeling pretty thirsty.

We then meandered back to the park to find that despite it not being 11 yet, the gates were open ad shorty they started letting people in. The first thing we did was to make a beeline for the Battlestar Galactica coaster. I have never seen the show and couldn’t give fewer shits about the IP but I’ve known about the coaster for years and was finally about to go on it.

Battlestar Galactica

In typical Universal fashion, they made us store our loose items in a locker rather than just using bins on the other side of the loading platform. Luckily the lockers were free for 40 minutes. The Battlestar Galactica coaster is a dueling/interlocking coaster with a red track for Humans and a Blue track for Cylons. We rode the Human track first.

The ride was a walk on, we literally had 0 wait. The Human side is a regular steal sit down coaster with a lot of twists and turns but no inversions. The one cool thing is that the lift hill uses LIMs to launch the ride quickly up the lift hill rather than a slow traditional chain lift. It was pretty fun and afterwards, we got in link for the Cylon side.

The Cylon side is an Inverted coaster with 5 inversion- cobra roll, corkscrew, loop,  and a zero G roll. We asked to wait to sit in the front so we could get a good view and it was worth it. The one dumb thing was the process the attendant was using to get people in their rows. She made us stop at the end rather than filling them all up. It was bizarre and seemed less efficient.

Regardless, this one was even better than the other and so, since there was time to spare on the licker, we rode it twice in a row.

Revenge of The Mummy

After getting our items from the locker, we continued counterclockwise through the park to The Mummy coaster. We checked our items in the locker but seemingly didn’t need to since the guys checking the entrance were way less strict than the folks at Battlestar Galactica.

Anyway, the line said 5 minutes but there was no wait. It took about 5 minutes to just walk through the queue. Even though this is the shorter version of the ride like in Hollywood and not the longer better version they have in Orlando, this ride never disappoints.

I always forget about some of the elements and since it’s indoors and in the dark, the twist and drops come out of nowhere. It’s much more thrilling than it has the right to be.

That said, after basically riding 5 coasters in a row with virtually no break, I was not feeling well. I think the heat, my lack of sleep and the lack of hydration combined with the fact that I’m not 12 years old anymore meant I my body could not keep up.

Treasure Hunters

Brad and I grabbed drinks at the food stand across the way, then drank them in the shade. I sort of helped, but not really. Continuing through the park, we came to a slow moving olde timey jeep explorer ride. It was for families and children and was the only speed I could handle at the moment.

We got about half way through the track when it broke down. Mercifully it was under a bridge at the time so we were in the shade. I took the five minute breakdown to close my eyes and try to rest off the nausea. It didn’t really help and soon the ride was moving again.

Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure

When it was down we made our way into Jurassic Park. The river adventure is the staple of every Jurassic Park. However, what sets this one apart from the others is that it is a rapids raft ride rather than a river “shoot the chutes” boat ride. The line was about a 10 or 15 minute wait.

Once in the raft, the thing I forgot was that these things spin with the rapids. I kept spotting so try and relieve myself from getting dizzy. Because I had never ridden this version before, the ride came to a part I was not familiar with. Before I knew it we were in a “hydro lift.” At the top, the lift dumps you out down a steep drop and into the river.

The side I was sitting on was the side that hit the water first and try as I might to avoid it, I got soaked. I didn’t mind that my shirt and pants had gotten wet, but I was upset that my sneakers were soaked too and so I was doomed to spend the rest of the day walking around in wet sneakers.

The two positives were that the gift shop had a towel so I could dry my phone and the woman at the check out counter was kind enough to give me a small plastic bag to put my phone in so it would stay dry in my damp pockets.

WaterWorld

After JP we went over to wait for the WaterWorld stunt show. After waiting for about 5 or 10 minutes, we were told there would be a delay for the start of the show. I then went to sit in the shade while Brad went to grab a Icee he’s seen earlier when walking through the park.

When he got back, we tried again to find it was open. We grabbed seats near the last row on the right side. As usual, it was a fun show.

Canopy Flyer

We then doubled back to Jurassic Park to ride the Canopy Flyer. Orlando has Petradon  Flyers but only adults accompanying children are allowed to ride. Long story short, it was cute and much short in duration than I thought it would be.

Far Far Away

Afterwards we made our way to Far Far Away, the Shrek section of the park. There was caught The Dance For The Magic Beans show which becomes a dance off between Puss in Boots and a female cat.

After that we saw Donkey Live, a show featuring Donkey from Shrek. It was basically a stand up comedy routine with a Donkey on screen voice by an actor backstage. If you know Turtle Time with Crush, from Disney World, it was like that.

One thing that stood out was when the MC asked where people were from; he’d say a country and people would vote by cheering. I didn’t even think about that fact that places like the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia and China would be so prevalent. He never even asked about the US, he eventually just said, “the rest of the world.” It was a humbling reminder that the US is not the center of the universe.

Friar’s Good Food

After watching the show, we went to the xxx to grab lunch. I got a pork fried rice meal with a coke. We sat inside and chilled and ate. I had been going up and down all day in terms of feeling well verses feeling nauseous. The food I think ultimately helped me to feel better.

Puss In Boots Giant Journey

After finishing lunch, we backtracked a little bit to ride Puss In Boots Giant Journey. This is a suspended coaster unlike any I had ridden before. It was set up to have individual cars that were like little boxes hanging from the track above. Furthermore, it used a spiral lift hill system with a central spoke that just pushed the car to the top.

Once at the top it was a cut little ride with small drops and turns. There was some story about a goose and her babies but I couldn’t follow it that well. One thing that did interest me was that there was a guest who had been on Podcast: The Ride, a theme park podcast I listen to, who did the voice acting for Antonio Banderas as Puss. It was cool to have had the backstory about him and the process of getting and doing the job.

Enchanted Airways

Afterwards we continued through the park and rode that small, off the shelf, family coaster that was timed around the dragon and Donkey’s flying kids.

Lights, Camera, Action!

We then pushed on, completing the small loop of the park. Back near the entrance, we ducked into the Lights, Camera, Action show. It’s hosted by Steven Spielberg and in the first room he gives an intro about how stunts and special effects are made in movies. It’s basically just a supercut of his movies that he talks over.

You then go to the next room, a “sound stage” where they’re “shooting a scene” of a hurricane hitting Manhattan. We are in a boat house on the west side of the city. Not unlike, Twister: Ride It Out or Backdraft, you basically just stand there while effects such as things falling and breaking or catching on fire happen around you.

There were a few things that stood out. The first was when a giant boat breaks through and into the boathouse and nearly crashes into where people are standing. The one thing about that I thought was stupid was that the doors it crashes through were open already when you got into the sound stage so it wasn’t a surprise. It’s unclear if it’s always like that or if it hadn’t reset properly from the previous show.

The other thing that stood out was when one of the ceiling support beams crashed into the water right in front of me and splashed me. I was not expecting that and it bummed me out because I was just drying off from Jurassic Park. Lastly, it did the same trick from the Twister and the Terminator ride in Orlando where the floor drops down suddenly a few inches. That however, I was expecting.

Transformers: The Ride

We then continued around to the Transformers ride we had blasted past earlier in the day. This is a classic simulator attraction I know from both Orlando and Hollywood, it was one we had to ride. Though I have found that these types of rides are harder for me to do than when I was younger, I was feeling well enough to handle it.

Photo Lap

Afterwards we took a photo lap around the park. We had been in such and go, go, go, ride, ride, ride, mode that we both discussed hitting everything first, then going back through and getting pictures. Along the way, Brad wanted to ride The Mummy again. I probably could have handled it but decided to sit it out and get some pictures while he rode. He was off in no time and we finished the loop of the park by around 17:25.

At that point I was done. The park was set to close at 18:00 anyway, we had ridden everything we wanted to- which may have been every ride in the park, and I was still soaked. Mainly just my shoes but it was very uncomfortable and was hurting my feet. We had already planned to split after the park- Brad wanted to check out Sentosa and I wanted to go to Free Practice 2 for the Grand Prix so when we got back to “main street” I went back and he stayed to close out the park.

Universal Studios to Hotel G via MRT

I left the park and walked back to the Sentosa Express and took the monorail the one stop back to HarbourFront Station. I rode the train back to Chinatown and when doing the transfer, was in a hurry and forgot where to go. I then asked two attendants who told me the way but I still took the wrong route. I was tired and my feet were wet, it was rush hour and I was getting frustrated. I finally figured out where I needed to go and took the train to Bencoolen and walked back to our hotel.

Once there, I got showered and changed. I then laid down for a bit and suddenly the lights in the room went out. I tried removing the key card and putting it back but it didn’t fix the issue. I went down to the front desk and explained the issue. They checked the card and sure enough it had deactivated so they issued me a new one.

Free Practice 2

I the went to 23, the burger joint Brad had ate at the night before. I ordered a chicken sandwich to go because I wanted to get to FP2 on time. The chicken sandwich I ordered took 25 minutes which really pissed me off as I was hangry and tired from the day. I then walked 20 minutes to the “track” and sat on the curb by my entrance gate and ate the sandwich since outside food is not allowed to be taken in.

Once inside. I had trouble finding my grandstand. I was told to take the underpass but when I popped up on the other side, I was told I was in the wrong area. I then crossed back only to be told I needed to take the underpass. Eventually I realized there were two separate exits and I had been using the wrong one. Annoyed and tired from going back and forth, I finally found my grandstand and my seat.

I was seated in the second row at the aisle. In terms of position on track I was between the 100 meter and 50 meter breaking board leading up to turn 14. It was cool to be back at a race and because we were in the breaking zone, we occasionally were sprayed with break dust, sparks and debris.

The Cathay

After FP2 was over,  I bolted out of there. I knew from my three previous race experiences that if you are not one of the first to start leaving, you’ll get stuck there for an hour or more. Now granted, my walk to an exit gate was much closer than at any previous race I’d been to and I didn’t need to really on a cab or public transportation to get back to my hotel which made a big difference.

I was out of there in no time and since I was already out, decided to take an excursion before heading back to the hotel. I had seen a place called The Cathay on Google Maps when researching this trip which looked like a 1920’s movie theater. I love interesting or unique architecture -another staple of my trips, like going to places featured in movies and TV.

When I got there, all of the lights were off. I get that it may have been closed for the evening, but it looked like it may have been closed for good. Bummed I couldn’t see it all lit up, I took a few pictures anyway and then went back to the hotel and was there by around 22:30. Brad got back later than me which I was not expecting. We compared the rest of our days and then went to bed around 23:45.

All The Things

Here is a condensed list of all the things that I’ve done since moving to LA. Because I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, I’ve been essentially treating this like a vacation. So, whenever I have a day off -unless I have errands to do- I try to either do something new or something active.

The Row DTLA – The first place I biked to one of my first days in LA was The Row. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to find there was a 4×4 Car Show going on that featured a bunch of old off-roaders such as the Land Rover Defender, Ford Bronco and Toyota Land Cruiser. The main reason for my visit was to check out a store called Banks Journal which ended up not having any clothes that fit me.

CityWalk – Wanting a taste of theme parks while they were (at the time) still closed, I took the train to CityWalk at Universal Studios and just strolled around for a bit. 

Deus Ex Machina – I have been to the Deus store in Sydney and Tokyo, as well as a pop-up store while in Zürich, however, I’d never been to the one near Venice beach. I biked there one day and grabbed a light lunch just before they closed; they have weird operating hours.

Donut Media HQ – I rode down to where the Donut headquarters is listed on Linked In but I think they’ve moved because when I got there, nobody was there.

Race Service – I still sort of vague about what they actually do, but I biked there because I know they help design Daniel Riccardo’s race helmets. They didn’t let me in but at least I know where they are if they ever hold an event I can make it too.

Largo – I biked there during the time when Conan was still taping his show there and was hoping I would run in to him or Sona or Matt, but I didn’t.

Hiked to the Hollywood Sign – This was a convoluted adventure where I biked to the first Griffith Observatory. Then took the wrong hiking path. Then went down the wrong way. Then biked all the way up to the weird side path that took me a weird way but eventually got me to the Hollywood Sign.

The Gamble House – I took the subway to Union Station, switched to the light rail and took the train to Pasadena. From there I walked to “Doc Brown’s house” from Back to the Future.

Downtown Disney – I was craving Disneyland and though I didn’t enter the parks, I did take the two hour bus ride all the way to Downtown Disney. It was a 90 degree day and the first day back since the parks had closed for COVID.

Elysian Trail – This is a hiking path near Dodger Stadium that I thought was a different trail but ended up being ok.

Airplane Landing View Point – I took the bus all the way to -near as makes no difference- just to do some plane spotting. I ended up meeting some fellow plane spotters which was cool.

Union Station – I took the subway to this train station just to see the “police station” from Blade Runner.

Angle’s Flight – This is a little funicular that I had ridden before, when I visited in 2011, but was cool to do again.

Area Under Hill Street – This spot is a famous location for photo and video shoots for cars.

The Grove – I had heard legends of this outdoor shopping mall and now have since visited several times.

Rodeo Drive – I took the bus there and walked the street basically just to check it out. It’s funny how I existed in a completely different part of town in the mental map in my head.

The Last Bookstore – This is featured on every “basic” girl’s Hinge profile. It’s a really cool spot with a lot of art and fun “easter eggs.”

Bodega – I’d been to the Boston location but never been to the west coast counter part of the streetware store. It was equally hidden and equally cool.

Rydell High – Actually Venice High School, I never would have realized that it was where it was based on how it’s portrayed in Grease.

Runyon Canyon – A nice short hike with good views of Hollywood. I’ve done this trail several times and it is always a fun little hike.

Bob’s Big Boy – I had eaten at Bob’s before but I’d never gone on a Friday night. It was cool to see all of the 50s/60s cars in the parking lot.

Little Tokyo – If you look at it just the right way and are in the right frame of mind, the shops, stores and restaurants in Little Tokyo can make you feel like you’re in Japan. It’s a really fun part of Downtown LA.

Mel’s Drive In – I happened to go on a Sunday afternoon just as a group of low riders were showing up. Like Bob’s it was cool to see all of these custom cars. The people I spoke to were all really cool. It was also just fun to eat at the place from “American Graffiti.”

Long Beach – I took my bike on the train and went there on Memorial Day. I really liked the area with the shopping and the food and the Queen Mary. I definitely want to go back.

Toretto’s + Toretto’s House – I biked over to the famed bodega from The Fast and the Furious as well as Dom’s house which is nearby.

Knott’s Berry Farm – On my birthday I was officially fully vaccinated and so I took the bus to Buena Park and went to Knott’s for the day.

1301 Collingwood – I had seen this house listed on Petrolicious and decided to walk up to just see it in person.

Broken Shaker – When I thought things were getting better, Covid-wise, I decided to go to a bar. I went to the rooftop bar at the Freehand Hotel downtown. Because I was a party of one, I had to sit by myself so that was lame.

Hollywood Reservoir Trail – I took the train to Hwood / Vine and bike from the station up the windy rode to the Hollywood Reservoir. I then rode around one side of the trail (it veers left and right) until it spilled out to the main road.

Suavecito Headquarters – Before getting my car I wanted to visit the Suavecito Headquarters, so I took a train from downtown LA to Santa Ana. I then took a Lyft to the store to buy Back to the Future pomade. I then took a Lyft to Disneyland to grab a free bus back to downtown LA.

Wonderview Trail – While Google Mapping, I came across something that said The Wisdom Tree. I ended up finding the Wonderview Trail which is a half hour hike that leads to “The Wisdom Tree.” The hike is kind of steep and kind of challenging but is really cool with good views.

Grand Central Market – After passing it several times I finally went there when my folks came to visit. We each grabbed food at one of the many food vendors there and enjoyed our meal. Actually, I forgot that I did go once by myself before they came to visit.

Tower Theater Apple Store – I had seen them doing construction on this building but I didn’t know what it was. I then saw an article on Hypebeast that this new Apple Store was open. I visited it the next day. It is maybe the most beautiful Apple store i’ve ever been in. It’s kind of sad that the Tower Theater is no longer a theater, but at least in this repurposed state it didn’t get demolished.

Cafe Brass Monkey – Again when things felt ok covid-wise, I took myself to a nearby bar for karaoke. I singed up at 9:30 and didn’t get up until 12:30. It was bullshit. Plus the place was trashy and the people were too. I also realized that I wasn’t super comfortable doing the bar thing yet… because of covid.

Museum of Neon Art – This was a HUGE waste of time. They have very little on display and it’s all contained within one room. There were no exhibits about the history of neon, nothing. Very disappointing.

The Americana – I basically just strolled through here because it was across the street from the MONA. This was kind of nice, like The Grove or Disney Springs if you’re looking for a bougy elevated outdoor shopping experience. 

Venice Ale House – I had been wanting to check this out ever since it was featured on Best Bars in America(?). The thing that I wanted to try was the beer flight served on a longboard skateboard. It was cool, good food, went with a small squad which was nice. We were there right at sunset which was really cool. I’d for sure go again.

Brush Canyon Trail – I’ve now hiked this several times. This is, in my opinion, the best hike to get you to the Hollywood sign. It’s kind of steep at points but overall not too difficult. It takes about an hour to get to the top.

The Motoring Club – I thought this was like the Classic Car Club in Manhattan but it’s a little different. The “clubhouse” was pretty cool but I would never pay to be a member. I don’t own a cool car and I’m not interested in driving all the way to Playa Vista to hang out with a bunch of douchbags.

Period Correct – This was a cool shop that has a bunch of overpriced merch all centered around classic cars and racing.

Bronson Canyon Trail – This ended up being a disappointing hike that lead to some caves that were gated off.

Puente Hills Mall – I drove all the way out to this shitty mall just to see the parking lot where the Delorean time machine first travels through time in Back to the Future. I also went because they still have the Twin Pines Mall sign that was featured in the movie.

Funko – I do not give a shit about Funko Pops, however, I had been informed that the Funko store on Hollywood Boulevard was like a theme park with themed rooms based on the franchise they were promoting. It was really cool but sort of dumb that you had to wait in line outside just to get in.

Blue Jay Way – I trekked all the way up through the Hollywood hills just to go to Blue Jay Way, the subject of The Beatles song of the same name.

Critical Mass – The monthly group bike rides where hundreds of cyclists take over the streets of LA. I’ve done a few of these group rides and they’ve allowed me to explore places I may not have naturally gone to.

Exposition Park – This is one of the spots we went to during a Critical Mass ride. It is home to three(?) museums as well as having several aircraft on display. It’s home to the LA Coliseum and is where I happened upon Hot Import Nights.

76 Gas Station Beverly Hills – I saw this featured in an episode of Entourage and though a gas station may seem dumb, this one is really cool looking.

The Broad – This is a modern art museum in DTLA. The architecture is really cool both inside and out, and it’s free to visit.

Marina Del Rey – I biked through this area while on my way to Manhattan Beach. Not much to say.

Manhattan Beach – It’s a beach. I biked there all the way from my apartment on a hot day in July. Bad idea.

Magnus Walker – Famous for his Urban Outlaw Porsches, I biked to his garage only to get there when it was closed. I wanted to meet him like I had Nakai at RWB but it’s fine. I at least know where it is.

Disney Concert Hall – Though I’ve never seen a show there, I have taken a tour of it… twice. They’re free which is nice and the building, both inside and out, as well as the grounds, is beautiful.

Angel’s Flight – This is a funicular. It’s kind of dumb and touristy but also kind of cool.

Labrea Tar Pits – This was a little underwhelming but I wanted to show my parents because they know it from Big Bang Theory.

LACMA – I took my folks there and had heard it was one of the best art museums in LA. It was fine.

Venice Canals – I showed my parents these cool houses on these manmade canals because… they look cool I guess.

Disneyland – I’ve said it all, read my post.

Disney California Adventure – I’ve said it all, read my post.

Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area – I forget why/how I heard about this. It was kind of a cool weird area to hike in the middle of nowhere.

Griffith Observatory – The the observatory itself is kind of old and boring, it’s nice that it’s free and there are great views of the city.

LA Live Steamers Railroad Museum – I biked all the way to the back side of Griffith Park to see this miniature and full scale railroad museum only to find it was closed when I arrived. It is also home to Walt Disney’s Carolwood Barn where he built his model trains.

Travel Town Railroad – While in the area, I went to the nearby Travel Town Railroad to see the display of a bunch of old and rotting trains.

Walt Disney’s first house – I was Google mapping one day and I saw this listed so I biked over to it. The house next door belonged to Roy Disney.

Ernest E. Debs Regional Park – I drove out there to go on a hike. With the exception of this pond that was surrounded by trees, the area at the top was pretty desolate.

Biked down Mulholland Drive – I walked by bike to the top of Runyon Canyon just so I could bike down Mulholland drive.

Angel City Brewery – This was a cool indoor/outdoor brewery in downtown LA with a food truck. I biked there one day just for the hell of it. Good beer, good food.

The Smell – Ever since finding out about The Linda Lindas I’d wanted to see them in concert. This was my first concert since the start of Covid and also, so far, the last. This venue was a dingy punk spot downtown and I got to meet band.

The Academy Museum – I had known about this since it was announced during the 2020(?) Academy Awards and had been wanting to go. I went on October 1st, the day after it opened and I spent I think around 6 hours there. I loved it, it’s great, you should go.

Culver City – I biked to Culver City just because I wanted to explore that area. It was pretty nice and there were a lot of cool shops in the area.

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook – After visiting Culver City I rode to the Culver City and walked/hiked all the way to the top. Great views of Century City and Downtown LA.

TCL Chinese Theater – Later that evening, I want to see No Time To Die my first movie back in theaters since Covid. What’s more, it was at one the most famous movie theaters in the world. It was a great experience and I loved the movie.

Chinatown – I biked to Chi-town just to explore it and ended up finding the restaurant from Rush Hour. It’s a cool little area although when I was there, nothing was going on, it was a ghost town.

Lake Hollywood Park – I saw this on Google maps and decided to bike to it. It lies beneath the shadow of the Hollywood sign and is this big grassy area that is also a dog park. It’s near Mulholland Drive and the end of one of the Hollywood Reservoir trails.

Los Angeles State Historic Park – This is a wide open green space near Chinatown but kind of in the middle of nowhere. There is a dirt track for walking around the green space. Not recommended for biking.

Heinz Halloween Store – I found out about this pop-up shop via Hypebeast. It was a store dedicated to making simple blood-themed Halloween costumes using ketchup as blood. There was also free food inside while “blood” dipping sauce.

Rivian Showroom – It’s no secret that the reason I moved to LA was to work at the new Rivian showroom in Venice. Though that didn’t end up working out, the space is actually really nice once it finally opened in October, initially slated for June.

AMC at The Grove – I had seen the AMC the first time I went to the Grove but it hadn’t reopened yet. It is sort of a centerpiece if the architecture there. I went to see The French Dispatch there and both the movie and the movie going experience was bad. However, I got a free pin out of it.

MOCA – The Museum of Contemporary Art was a free way to kill time, the weekend before my sister came to visit. Apart from one cool interactive exhibit, nothing really stood out to me and the amount of galleries and exhibits on display was pretty small.

Neptune’s Net – I knew about this restaurant from The Fast and The Furious. It’s a pretty simple seafood/fried food restaurant on the scenic CA Route 1.

Olivera Street – This is a Spanish themed street on the outskirts of DTLA with a lot of booths for buying various items from Spanish/latin/Mexican culture.

SpaceX – My friend and I drove down to Hawthorne mainly so I could see the Falcon 9 rocket on display outside SpaceX.

Common Space Brewery – (Cont’d from above) We then drove down the road to the  Common Space Brewery which was a really cool spot with both indoor and outdoor seating and a food truck with solid Mexican food.

Frank and Son Collectible Show – This is basically like a Comic Con where all these merchants of nerdy stuff from toys to collectibles have booths for patrons to buy crap they don’t need.

San Diego – I’d always wanted to go to San Diego so one day on my day off I drove myself there. I hit the Giant Dipper (roller coaster) at Belmont Park, ate at Morning Glory and got a Ramos Gin Fizz and checked out Super7 and other cool stores.

Yamashiro – This is a big and fancy Japanese restaurant overlooking Hollywood. I only got a pricy drink there but it was good and the space itself was really cool.

Temescal Canyon – Though I somehow managed to miss the waterfall and the skull rock during my hike, the views from the top of the mountain(?) were excellent. You could see down the coast to Santa Monica, Venice and LAX and up the coast to Malibu. You could see Century City, downtown LA and the mountains in the distance.

Alamo Drafthouse – I was familiar with Alamo from my many visits to the one in Brooklyn. This one is not really different although there was a cool display of the twins from The Shinning. I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home there and it was fine. The food I had was good and though my server seemed a bit grumpy, when I asked for booze in my shake, he delivered.

Ballast Point (Long Beach) – I really like this beer. They have excellent branding and are based in San Diego. However, they have tasting rooms through SoCal, and the one in Long Beach looked the coolest. It’s right on the water and both the inside and the outside were very nice. The inside was huge and would be great for a function like a wedding. I went with my friend Alyssa and we had a good time.

Universal Studios Hollywood – I had been wanting to visit Universal, along with the other theme parks in the area, ever since moving to CA. I finally just went for it on one of my days off. Since it was in February, the off season, the park was not very busy and I was easily able to ride every ride in the park. I drank at the Isla Nu-Bar and ate at Hogsmead. I took the famous studio tour but didn’t get to see the Hill Valley set. Otherwise a pretty solid day.

Mom’s Spaghetti – Hypebeast informed me of this pop-up of Eminem’s Detroit based restaurant. It was in town for a limited time leading up to the Superbowl. I went down to check it out after work  the second day it was there. The line was about a block long and took around an hour to get to the front. I ordered the spaghetti sandwich which was just some basic spaghetti on two pieces of garlic bread. I was hoping for a sub roll, like a meatball sub but its not what I got. I asked for meatballs but they refused to give them to me. However, I had some at home so I got my way, haha, they can suck it. To be honest, except for the Instagram, price-wise and taste-wise it was not worth it.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Ever since moving to LA I have been wanting to visit Universal Studios. I’ve been to the one in Florida before and though that is the better theme park -bigger, more rides- this one is park of the actual studio where they make movies and TV shows. After an attempt to go with a friend failed and self imposed delays due to Omicron, I decided to finally go on my day off.

I’ve always wanted to visit a theme park during the off season because in theory you should have the place to yourself. The good thing about Universal is that they don’t open until 10am so you don’t have to get up super early. Also, it’s accessible by the subway so I didn’t have to drive. The only downside is that they have shorter hours and are only open until 6pm. However, since they’re a smaller park with fewer rides, I figured it would be a problem.

I headed downstairs from my apartment at 9am only to realize I’d forgotten to get sunglasses. So I had to go back up to get them. Then, while walking to the subway, I randomly got the thought that my mask was going to break or I was going to lose it. As I approached the subway, I took it off from around my arm and sure enough, the left strap broke. I was able to tie it around my ear and figured if necessary that I could buy a new one at the park.

One good thing that Universal is doing that Disney is not, is checking if patrons are vaccinated or if they have a negative COVID test. Though not full proof, it still made me feel better about my decision to go. I got to the park right as they opened at 10am. I made my way to the Tram Tour for my first “ride.”

Tram Tour

I wanted to do this first for a few reasons, one being that I wanted to “get it over with.” I knew I might not want to do it later in the day. The other being that I knew it was long, the tour is about an hour so if it was going to take a big chunk of my short day, I wanted it to be right at the beginning. I sat on the first tram car near the front.

Our tour guide was really good; older but full of energy and filled with Dad jokes. One let down was that the one thing I really wanted to see, the Hill Valley set, was unavailable because they were filming something in that area. I learned however as the tour went on that the middle of the third car is probably best spot to be.

There is a section of the tour where you get caught in a “flash flood” but we were completely unaffected because the tram is so long. Also, if you want a good view of movie cars, ride on the left. If you want to get attacked by Jaws, ride on the right.

After the tour, I took a quick restroom break before making my way to The Simpsons Ride. I got in line right as they announced the wait time was 45 minutes. Though that typically is not too long to wait for a ride at a theme park, seeing as everything else had a 5-15 minute wait, I decided to bail and headed over to Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

I had been a little nervous that this was not going to be open since, while checking the app the day before I had seen that it was “temporarily unavailable.” Being that this is one of their big attractions it would have been pretty disappointing, however, it was open and was essentially a walk on.

Though I’d ridden it before in Florida I still wanted to ride it again since it had been a long time. I was a little nervous since it previously made me feel a little motion sick. When I got on, I noticed that there was a constant stream of cool air being blown towards you. I didn’t remember this from the last time I’d ridden it and wonder if it was added as a way to mitigate motion sickness if others complained about it.

As we went through the ride, I got to one section where I poked my head forward to look back at the other ride vehicles, I’m still in awe of how this ride works. Shortly after doing this, the ride broke down. I wasn’t sure if it was related to the fact that I had done this or just a coincidence. We were on our backs, half upside down right near the Whomping Willow.

The funny thing was that the audio from the ride kept going but we weren’t doing anything. Eventually the audio stopped and shortly after, we kept moving. However, when we got to the next screen since the dialogue for the scene had already happened, we didn’t hear anything. We continued to go through the ride and when we got to the last screen, it broke down again. Eventually it got going again but there was no video so the ride was moving but we had no idea what the movement correlated with.

It then transitioned to the last scene where we were being congratulated for doing… something. It was really funny. The one thing that I remember from the first time that I have never seen during subsequent ride throughs was this crazy effect. It was this effect where earlier in the ride that take your picture and later when the dementors are sucking your soul, or whatever, the image of your face is projected onto smoke. I only saw this the first time I rode it which makes me think I made it up or that it was too difficult to keep going so they stopped doing it. I don’t know.

Flight of the Hippogriff

After getting off, I walked across the way to the kiddie coaster, the only other ride in the Harry Potter section. I’d never bothered to ride it in Orlando but since there are so few rides at Hollywood, I decided to give it a shot.

I basically got to walk right on and it actually surprised me with how fun it was. Once I was finished, I made my way to the series of four escalators that take you down to the Lower Lot and the rest of the park.

Revenge of The Mummy The Ride

The first ride I did was Revenge of The Mummy. I chose this because in the days leading up to my visit, it had been closed. As is the case with Forbidden Journey, if this is down it’s a big loss because of how few rides there are. To my surprise it was actually open so I wanted to hit it before it got the chance to close on me. The line was basically non-existent and I got on in maybe five minutes.

I had been warned via Podcast: The Ride that this version of this ride pales in comparison to the one on Florida. Luckily I was expecting this so I wasn’t that disappointed by it. The main thing is that it’s shorter and doesn’t include the fake out ending that the Florida one has. It ends on a weird note where it’s implied that the mummy succeeded in taking your soul. Lot’s of soul sucking going on at Universal.

The other thing, and maybe I’m making this up because I haven’t ridden the one in Florida in 8 years, but the theming objects once you’re speeding through the tomb are really lame, like these blacklight mummy’s with swords that look like they belong in a carnival. I don’t thing the Florida version has them. I feel like it has more generic lighting effects that actually look much better.

Jurassic World The Ride

After getting off The Mummy, I went across the way to the updated Jurassic World ride. Previously themed to Jurassic Park, this version adds dinosaurs and characters from the new series. I actually really enjoyed it.

The section with the swimming dinosaur that goes underneath you and splashes you and bangs into the glass is really cool. Even though it’s screens, it looks fairly realistic and is an interesting illusion.

Later in the ride when you’re climbing the lift hill and then are inside the building there are, I think, much more dinosaurs than the original version had and it’s truly scary. Low key, this might have been my favorite ride.

Transformers The Ride 3D

Upon exiting through the gift shop, I made my way to the nearby Transformers ride. This was basically a walk on; most of the wait was due to the amount of time it took to physically walk through the line. I had ridden this before in Florida and as is the case with a lot of the rides, I had no idea what was going on or what we were trying to do. The ride is kind of cool but I remember liking it more the first time I rode it.

Isla Nu-Bar

After banging out all three rides in the lower lot, it was time to reward myself with a drink. I had heard of Isla Nu-Bar, a play on Isla Nublar, the island from Jurassic Park, and knew they had a beer that was exclusive to the park. I was tempted to try one of their mixed tiki drinks but stuck to my guns and got the Isla Nublar IPA. I’m not usually an IPA man but I had to get the exclusive beer. And, because it was fruity flavored, it was actually quite enjoyable.

Having banged out six rides before 1pm (it was 12:42pm) I decided to take a well deserved break and give my Mum a call. I always call her on Fridays, so it was fun to update her from the park, which she wasn’t expecting. Being that I had 5 hours left in the day, I had just done 6 rides in 3 hours and I only had 4 rides left to do, I was cocky that I might have time to hit a bunch of the rides twice.

I took in a bit of the raptor demo before making my way back to the Upper Lot. Since I’d been sitting for a bit and taking my time, by the time I got up there it was almost 1:30pm. I knew there was a Waterworld show at 1:45pm so I made a quick restroom pitstop, then headed in to find a seat.

Waterworld

I was pretty buzzed from the beer being that I hadn’t eaten very much. I got a seat a few rows behind the splash zone and was low and centered. The show soon started but after a few minutes it stopped due to technical difficulties. Seemingly there was an issue with the villain’s microphone. A couple of minutes later it was back up and running.

The woman behind me had been talking about it and I knew she’d seen it before. I asked her when the plane stunt was because I wanted to get a Boomerang of it for my Instagram. She told me that the villain cued it and that was all the heads up I needed. I ended up getting a great shot of it.

After the show ended, a little after 2pm, I took another quick bathroom break before heading to the parks newest ride, The Secret Life of Pets Off The Leash.

The Secret Life of Pets Off The Leash

I was excited to ride this because even though it’s for kids and I’ve never seen these movies, it’s not often you get a chance to ride a new ride. The queue was really cool. You walk through a New York City apartment and see all of these vignettes of the pets doing silly things.

The ride itself was cute. The idea is that you’re a pet, a dog, a cat or whatever, and you’re trying to get adopted. They have these screens that show what you look like as a pet, in my case, a dog. At the end you see a family that wants to adopt you. It was really sweet and my grinch-like heart grew three sizes that day.

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem

Afterwards I crossed the way to Minion Mayhem. This ride exists in Orlando, but I’d never ridden it before since they have so much more choice in attractions. The queue was pretty short, maybe a 10 minute wait. The premise of the ride is that Gru turns you into a Minion and then you go into a theater where you undergo Minion training via a simulator ride. It was ok but now that I’ve done it, I don’t need to do it again.

The ride exits you into Super Silly Fun Land which has a water play area for kids and a spinning ride like Dumbo the Flying Elephant. This is the only ride I skipped. Partially because I didn’t want to do it and partially because I would have felt weird doing it.

Three Broomsticks/Hogs Head Pub

I then crossed the park to go back to Hogsmead to hit the restroom… again, and finally grab some lunch. Quick note on the restroom, the entrances were listed as Boys and Girls but I was surprised they weren’t Wizards and Witches, seems like a missed opportunity.

In any case, I got in line to grab food at The Three Broomsticks and though the line wasn’t too long there was only one cashier so the wait was as long as if it were busy. Plus no one seemed to know what they wanted to order and kept asking all of these dumb questions.

Finally another cashier came, but he took the people behind me instead of taking me. Once he finished cashing out the people behind me, he called me over seeing as I was still waiting. I ordered a shepherd’s pie, sticky toffee pudding and a Hogshead brew. I gave him a little attitude for having not taken me first but oh well. Sorry guy.

As it turned out, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I finished my pie and half my dessert and maybe half of my beer. I felt bad because I was sort of rushing. At this point it was 3:15pm and I still had two rides to do. I probably could have taken my time but I also knew that taking my time probably would help me finish my dessert or beer. I threw the rest of the dessert away, which killed me and took my unfinished beer over to The Simpsons Ride.

The Simpsons Ride

This is clearly the most popular ride in the park as the wait was at 35 or 45 minutes all day. I took my beer into line and got to a point they told me I needed to finish it before I could keep going. I tried to finish it quickly which was a bad idea and made me feel gross. Eventually I gave up and just poured the remainder in the trash.

I should have either sat outside and finished it slowly or just tossed it sooner. In any case, the line ended up not being too bad and I got on in about 20 minutes. I’d ridden it before but there had recently been a PTR episode about it so it was fresh in my brain. Every time I think about the Institute of Future Technology, the former Back to the Future ride that used to be there, it makes me sad that I only rode it once and I closed my eyes half the time. This is yet another screen simulator ride and as usual, it was fine.

Kung Fu Panda Adventure

Finally, I made my way over to Kung Fu Panda. There was basically no line for this, you really just need to wait until the group before you pours out the the pre-show so you can pour in. Then, from the pre-show, you need to wait until the actual show ends for your group to enter.

The pre-show was pretty entertaining although some of the characters were clearly not voice by the original actors which was kind of lame. The show itself is basically just a Kung Fu Panda short where your chair vibrates with the action. I have no idea what was happening but there were some cool effects that happened with projections and the theater which was kind of interesting. Not the strongest of notes to end it on, but nevertheless, it was my last ride of the day.

Conclusion

At this point I was basically running out the shot clock. It was 5pm and the park was set to close in an hour. I didn’t really have enough time to go back to the Lower Lot and ride one of the cool rides again. I didn’t want to leave yet, so I looked through some of the gift shops on main street and restrained myself from buying crap I didn’t need. I then sat at a table and posted an Instagram story before a final bathroom break before leaving.

I had accomplished my mission of riding every* ride (10 + the Waterworld show) in the park in one day. Not a huge accomplishment, but an accomplishment nonetheless. One regret is that I didn’t go with anyone. Theme parks are more fun when you’re not alone. Also, I regret the fact that I kind of rushed through the park rather than drinking it in and looking at every nook and cranny. However, if I ever go back I’ll learn from these mistakes and hopefully resist the temptation to run from ride to ride.

Once exiting the park, I took a picture of the classic Universal Studios Hollywood sign. I contemplated taking a lap of CityWalk but by that time I just wanted to leave. I waited for the shuttle back to the subway and then grabbed the subway home.

*The only thing I didn’t do was the Super Happy Fun Land spinning ride.

Worth the wait…? – Day 5

Wednesday 8/13/14 – Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure

In a word, No. No it was not worth the wait. What, you ask… the Gringotts Bank roller coaster at the new Diagon Alley section of Universal Studios, but more on that later. To start I must warn that there will be spoilers in this post. So, if you do not want to know things about the ride or the new section of the park, Stop Reading Now.

I drew this picture of Nemo while waiting for the Mears bus.

Kyra and I started our day by waiting for the mears bus. While outside our hotel I saw three easels with instructions on how to draw Nemo. Since we had nothing better to do and were just killing time, I decided to try it. After I was done and we were just standing around waiting, I noticed the guy in front of me had a cool backpack. I took a picture of the lable and when we got home I looked into the brand; they have some pretty cool stuff.

Eventually, the slightly late Mears bus arrived which was set to take us from our hotel to Universal Studios. We stopped at one other hotel and dropped people off at Sea World before finally arriving at Universal Studios at 9:30am. Upon making our way to the entrance to the park, I had to wait for Kyra to buy a second ticket in order to be sure she’d be let in. It’s a long story involving over-thinking things and buying tickets at AAA and wrong names on tickets and more crap than I care to get into all for what ended up being unnecessary.

Crappy overview of London.

So, becasue of all this, we didn’t get into the park until around 10am. I was already frustrated at the whole situation and we hadn’t even gotten on a ride yet. The first thing we did was to make a beeline for the new Diagon Alley section of Universal Studios.

Slightly less crappy overview of London with random people in the foreground.

After admiring and taking pictures of the outside, we stepped through the brick wall and into Diagon Alley. In hindsight, with a non angry mindset, I can say that I was blown away.

The first thing you see when entering Diagon Alley. Go back and watch Sorcerer’s Stone, then look at this picture, your mind will be blown.

The detail of everything was out of control and, regardless of weather or not you know about or care about the books and movies, the architecture and world you step into alone is very impressive. But I didn’t care about any of that at the time, I wanted to get in line for the Gringotts Bank coaster. We went straight there and saw that already the line was out the door. We thought we saw a wait time that said 100 minutes.

More of Diagon Alley.

After a few minutes we noticed employees going up to various people in line and telling them somehting. We couldn’t hear what it was, but it didn’t seem good. I asked the woman in front of us if she knew what the deal was. Apparently the ride wasn’t even working yet and they weren’t sure how long it would be until it opened. Frustrated that I might spend my entire day waiting in line for one ride, I told Kyra, who is a huge Potter fan, to look around and that I’d text her if there were any updates or if the line began to move.

By the way, the dragon actually breaths fire!

We stood around for about 10 or 15 minutes until suddenly they began letting people in. Just before entering the building, I heard an employee say that the wait would be at least two-hundred and forty minutes! This made our original panic at the thought of a 100 minute wait seem laughable. I texted Kyra and she soon joined me in line. Shortly after though, I got the urge to pee. Seeing that I wasn’t going to hold it for 4 hours, I got out of line. At the entrance, I explained the situation to the employee. She said it was no problem and handed me a ticket to show I had a place holder so that when I came back, it wouldn’t look like I was cutting. This I thought, was a smart idea.

Took the pics of Diagon Alley while Kyra was holding our place in line.

After going to the bathroom, I decided to walk around for a bit to explore a little bit of the new section. What did they care how long I was out of line? After a couple minutes I made my way back to Kyra and the real waiting began. We went up and down endless switch backs. About an hour and a half in there was an announcement, the ride had broken down. Morale fell. A little while later it was operational again. More waiting. Another announcement. This time they predicted the ride might be down for a half an hour.

These pictures aren’t going to be in an order that co-insides with the story, but they will at least help to break it up.

Kyra left me to do more exploring while I sat and waited. By the time she got back there had been no progress. There was talk of an exit strategy. How long were we willing to wait? How much of our day were we willing to sacrifice? Though I didn’t want to waste my entire day in line for one attraction, I didn’t want to give up on all the time we invested. We agreed on 3pm, but I had it in my head that I was riding that ride. I then decided to tag out and told Kyra to text or call if the line started back up again. I got all the way to the front and was taking my re-entry ticket when I heard the announcement, “Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is once again operational.” In spite of this I continued walking around and exploring. There was no way she was going to make it to the front by the time I got back.

I then explored Diagon Alley in more detail, going into the shops, taking pictures of the facades, and even taking a stroll down Knockturn Alley. It was nice to be in the sunlight, to be free to walk around, to feel like you were accomplishing something. By the time I got back, about 15 or 20 minutes later, Kyra had made it out of the switchbacks and into the straight bit that leads to the first open and themed section of the queue.

Gringotts Bank lobby.

After being forced to step out to put bags and loose items in the free lockers provided, we got back in line and were finally able to appreciate some theming. Again we were over whelmed with the details but were torn between stopping to take pictures and running down the open section of queue. While I waited towards the end of the bank lobby, I looked down and notice $20 on the ground. I looked around and saw no one looking for money, then reached down and put it in my pocket.

Goblins hard at work.

I felt and still feel sort of bad about the whole thing. I could have done the right thing and handed it to an employee to put in lost and found, but how does one claim lost money? How do you prove it’s yours? “Did anyone turn in a $20 bill?” “Yes, could you describe the bill sir?” “Uuuhh…” “Do you know the serial number?” I dicided to just keep it. It was payment for all the waiting I was doing. I really shouldn’t have been surprised I found money, this was a bank after all.

After the lobby, the queue moves into a long hall section. There are paintings of famous goblins and gold bars stacked behind bars. We heard from an employee that we were fairly close to the end of the line. All we had left was a pre-show, and elevator ride and then the last little section of waiting. He said we were about a half an hour away. This got us both very excited as half an hour seemed like no time compared to what we had gone through. Eventually we got to the room with the pre-show.

Wand shop.

A goblin got out from behind his desk and began talking to us. I was very surprised by this becuase I thought, “Wow, they have a live actor here all day to do this pre-show!?” It wasn’t until one of the effects happened that I realized this wasn’t a live show, this was some sort of hologram projection like when Tupac performed at Coachella. I was blown away by how real it looked.

Talking heads in Knocturn Alley.

After this we moved on to the next room where we were loaded into an “elevator.” I say “elevator” because it was clearly just a staging area. The floor bounced up and down to make you think you were moving, but really you were just staying in the same place. The “elevator room” in the Haunted mansion is much more convincing.

The Night Bus.

When the doors opened we exited to the basement level of the bank. It looked like a dungeon and this was where you got your 3D glasses. You then got in one of two lines that lead to a staircase the brought riders to a duel loading station. Soon we were at the top of the stairs and before you know it we were finally on the ride. As the ride pulled out of the station I yelled “Four. Hour. Wait. Wooo.”

The interior of the Night Bus.

The ride basically takes you through the vault and cave section of Gringotts where you have run-ins with Voldemort, Bellatrix and Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The ride is a combination of a roller coaster and an immersive movie expirence. You move through actual environments but the rest is completed by the giant movie screens. The 3D is incredible and you’d swear that the actors were really there. Soon it was over and we exited the ride.

After getting off, all I could do was think about the countless other things I could have done in four hours that would have been a better use of my time. The ride was good and unlike anything else I’d ever done, but definitely not worth the wait. (This however was apparently nothing compared to the supposed 7 hour wait times people dealt with when the ride first opened!) The thing that disappointed me was that I thought it was going to be this crazy fast roller coaster though Gringotts with barrel rolls and stuff. In reality, they probably could have used any sort of ride vehicle to give the same experience. I checked my phone and it was 2:29pm. I looked at the text I had sent Mom when we first got in line and the time stamp was 10:25am; we had in fact been in line for four hours.

—The Rest Of The Day

After being freed from the prison that was Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, we made our way out of Diagon Alley and over to Kings Cross Station to take the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmead. Your theme park ticket serves as your ticket to board the train. We got in the 45 minute line and after about 15 minutes of waiting, we got an announcement that we’d become so familiar with. In short, you guessed it, the ride had broken down. We waited through a few more of this same announcements before bailing. I was not going to spend my day waiting in line for unreliable rides. The Hogwarts Express breaking down was a blessing in disguise (though I didn’t know it at the time) as I had more to see at Universal Studios before heading over to Islands of Adventure and I figured it made more sense to finish one park before making our way over to the other.

Optimus Prime.

I angrily lead us towards the Transformers ride. I knew that this was basically the same ride as the Spider-Man ride they have at Islands, only with newer technology and Tranformers themed. However, though I don’t give to much of a shit about Transformers, this ride was relatively new to the park and 100% new to both Kyra and me, so I wanted to check it out. My thought was this, if the wait time is reasonable, like 15 minutes, I’ll do it. If it’s crazy long, I can skip it for now. I did want to do it just to say I did it and because it was new, but after that wait, I just needed to get a second ride under my belt.

We walked up to the line and saw that the wait time said 60 minutes. I was literally in the middle of saying “Fuck that,” when the following announcement was made: “If you want to turn your 60 minute wait into a 5 minute wait…” -I assumed they were going to tell us to by their device that allows you to skip the lines so I skeptically kept listening- “…why not try our single rider line?” I looked to Kyra and we were both on board. We got in the single rider line and as it turned out, the announcement was true! It probably took less than five minutes for us to get on the ride and on top of that, the attraction was incredible. This really turned my mood around and got me to think that if we ran into more luck like this, the day might be salvageable.

Next we made our way over to the nearby Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster. This is one of my favorites and again we decided to do the single rider line. The wait ended up only being about 15 minutes and Kyra and I still ended up on the same car. We weren’t next to each other, but she was sitting right behind me. This helped to solidify my new found good mood. We were able to ride two rides in the same amount of time it took us to wait in 8.3% of our total wait time for Gringotts!

After that we headed for the exit of Universal Studios. Along the way I checked out the single rider wait time for the Rip, Ride, Rock-It roller coaster. At 75 minutes I was like “Fuck that” and we made our way over to Islands of Adventure.

—Islands of Adventure

Now I was really getting excited because though I had been to Islands twice before, Kyra had never been. Though she was hungry, I wanted to check the wait time for the Hulk roller coaster. When we got to the entrance, I was shocked at what I saw: 15 minutes! Everyone else must have been in line for Gringotts. I asked Kyra if she could do one more ride and that after I promised we could get food. She agreed and we shortened our wait to about 10 minutes by once again doing single rider. As usual, the ride did not fail to entertain. It is just filled with nonstop action. You’re always either dropping, turning, or looping and the ride never gives you a chance to breath. It’s really intense but I love it every time.

“Welcome to Executive Bathroom Island.”

After the Hulk, we went next door to Cafe 4. We got pizza and pasta at the Fantastic 4 themed restaurant before continuing our journey. The next stop on was Jurassic Park to ride the Jurassic Park River Adventure log (or in this case boat) flume ride. Yet again we did the single rider line, cutting our wait time from 40 minutes to about 10 or 15. I love this ride because you get to relax and enjoy a nice slow cruise, checking out some dinos along the way. Then, as is the case with rides like this, something goes wrong and you end up climbing a lift hill into the facility only to have to plummet 80 feet to the water below. It’s a pretty standard ride but I always enjoy doing it.

Just Hogwarts… nothing you haven’t seen before… move along.

After that we made our way to Hogsmead. Upon entering that section of the park, Kyra, once again, lost her shit. She got super excited upon seeing Hogwarts and this in turn made me happy. However, I was dreading the wait time for the star attraction in this area, The Forbidden Journey. To my shock and amazement, the wait was only 30 minutes! This blew me away because when I came in 2010, the wait time was 2 maybe even 2 and a half hours. Now granted that section of the park was new at the time and granted four years have passed since then and now everyone is more interested in the Gringotts ride, but still, I was blown away. We hopped right in line and began our relatively short wait.

Initially, before knowing that the wait time was going to be so short, I was all set to tell Kyra, “Look, I’ve ridden this ride before, I don’t need to ride it again, I already did one big wait today. I want to get other rides in, but I don’t want to prohibit you from being able to ride it, so why don you go on if you want, and I’ll bang out a few other rides.” But, as it turned out this wasn’t the case. I’m actually glad I got to ride it again for two reasons. 1) because the last time I did the single rider line and missed most of the queue, which turned out to be interactive and entertaining. And 2) because it is one of the most unique and innovative rides I have ever been on and I was glad to get the opportunity to ride it again.

Once we finished the dizzying ride, we made our way over to the Dragon Challenge roller coaster. Formerly Dueling Dragons, the coaster remained the same but was merely enhanced with some Harry Potter theming objects in the queue. Upon entering the line we were once again greeted by a surprisingly short 15 minute wait! There was basically no line at all and it was actually closer to only five minutes. We chose the blue coaster to ride first and it was, as usual, a lot of fun. The one thing that disappointed me was that they were no longer making the coasters “duel.” They used to run the two trains at the same time in order for them to pass by one another in near misses. Now however, they no longer do that. This is/was lame to me because that was a big aspect of what made the ride entertianing. Nevertheless, it was still fun.

After riding blue, we headed over to the Three Broomsticks (restaurant)/Hogs Head (pub). Kyra had been craving a Butter Beer, and I wanted to try a Hogs Head brew; a red ale specially crafted for the park. We got a table and sat and drank our drinks. Kyra was underwhelmed by her Butter Beer, as I sort of expected she would be, I didn’t like it the first time I went to the Wizzarding World either. My real beer on the other hand was quite good.

Dueling Dragons or Dragon Challenge.

After finishing our drinks I wanted to go on Dragon Challenge again in order to ride the Red coaster; which has a different layout from Blue. Kyra didn’t have an interest, so she waited and held my stuff and I got in line. Amazingly there was literally no wait! By the time I got to the front of the queue I walked right onto the ride.

After doing this we got on the Hogwarts Express and took it back to London/Diagon Alley. The ride was actually really cool. Rather than just sitting in a train, they make it an attraction. The windows are actually video screens that show you pulling away from Hogwarts and entering downtown London. The glass and doors project shadows of passengers walking by. Ron, Harry and Hermione even walk by and peek in, “Looks like a bunch of first years in there.” The cool thing was that when we left Hogsmead, there was still sunlight, but by the time we got to Kings Cross, it was dark out. This perfect timing made the ride feel more realistic; like we’d actually taken a long distance journey.

Kings Cross station.

When we got off the ride, Kyra and I parted ways. We didn’t have much time left before the park closed but we had separate things we wanted to accomplish. Kyra wanted to take one more walk through Diagon Alley and I wanted to see if I could squeeze in a ride on the Rock-it roller coaster.

I walked over to the Rock-it and saw the wait time for single riders was still 60 minutes. I got in and hoped that, as had been the case with most of the posted wait times, it was shorter than it said. The only reason it was a factor was that we had a bus to catch and I didn’t want to miss it. I got in line and though it wasn’t fast, it wasn’t going to be 60 minutes either. It ended up being closer to thirty and though the ride wasn’t as enjoyable as I remember it being, mostly because I didn’t remember it being so rough, I was still glad I was able to ride it.

After getting off the ride, I met up with Kyra who was waiting near the ride’s exit and we headed to the bus. The day ended up being much better than I expected it to be from the way it started out. I was able to accomplish all but two of the things on my list. One was the Spider-Man ride, which I’ve ridden before and the other was the Classic Monster Cafe. But a) it was closed by the time we got around to it, and b) I wasn’t hungry by that time anyway. It was a long day and stressful at points, but it ended up well and by the time I got back to the hotel I was cooked. I even fell asleep on the bus that’s how burnt out I was. All in all a solid day.