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.

Movies and TV – February 2022

Apple TV+

The After Party – This follows the story of a murder that takes place at an after party of a High School reunion. This is a classic “who dunnit” story where we get to see how the events of the night unfolded through the lens of the various people involved. It’s a comedy though so it’s fairly light and as usual I have no idea if my predictions about the murderer are correct. I’m intrigued and I’m enjoying it so far.

LAPL

WaterWorld – After seeing the famed stunt show at Universal Studios, I was intrigued and decided to check out the movie from the library. I had heard nothing but bad things so my expectations were pretty low. To be honest, the only real problem I had with it was that the pacing at point was a little slow and could have done with a bit more editing. That said, it’s basically like Mad Max except on the water. It was fine.

Netflix

Inventing Anna – This is a dramatization of the Anna Delvey story; a con artist who worked her way through the New York social scene. It follows the journalist who wanted to tell her story and learned how she got to where she ended up, in jail. I’m always impressed by con artist stories because though it is not something I would do, I’m fascinated by how it is done and how people get away with it.

Cuphead – I don’t have much to say about this show. I watched the first episode but I was a little bummed it was only 15 minutes. I love the animation style. Seemingly it is just going to be like the classic WB and Disney cartoons. It was fun but not fantastic.

Regal Cinema

Licorice Pizza – I had been wanting to see this for a while but kept putting it off or having things come up or get in the way. Finally on Super Bowl Sunday, I went to LA Live and was literally the only person in the theater for the screening. It was nice because I didn’t have to be afraid of Covid and there was no one to ruin the experience by being loud or on their phone.

As to the movie, I’m torn. I didn’t really like it but I didn’t really dislike it either. I think my biggest issue is that the way the main characters get together doesn’t seem realistic. Also, some of the ways they act or the things they do don’t seem to make sense or get resolved. I’d be curious to watch it again once it’s streaming to see if, now that I know what it is, I like it better.

I’ve found that a lot of what leads to me liking a movie or not is the expectations I bring to it. The trailer made it seem like I was getting something that was slightly different than what I got. Or maybe it represented it fine, but the execution was not as good as I was expecting it to be.

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.