USA Trip 2011 Park #5
23 – 24 August 2011
The amazing theming from Island of Adventure continued throughout the main hub of Universal Studios. Some adults say that a trip to Disneyland is like reliving their childhood, but for me, Universal played this role. I adored the ET ride, The Simpsons ride, the Jaws ride and more. While these were not roller coasters, the nostalgic vibe made them worthwhile. I was like a kid in candy shop in the Kwik-E-Mart, investing in Duff beer and a Flaming Moe, which were just energy drinks. In addition to wanting to ride every roller coaster in the world, another life goal is to visit tornado alley during storm season. So it will come as no surprise that I am also a fan of the movie Twister. I loved every detail of the Twister backlot experience, from the flying cow to the wind factor!
Universal Studios had a really diverse international vibe compared to the other parks I had visited at that point. Kyra and I enjoyed chatting with people from every corner of the globe, especially the gorgeous family from Dublin Ireland, who were almost as excited as us to visit Krustyland.
Back to the coasters, Rip Ride Rockit was a cute addition to the park. The lift hill was a vertical trip towards the sky, before a great drop and a decent length track. The main selling point was that the train had inbuilt speakers, and you got to choose what music tracks played. At the end, you could then buy your ‘music video’ of your ride experience.
The other quality coaster in the park was Revenge of the Mummy. This indoor coaster was another good effort, joining the ranks of Space Mountain (Disney) and Flight of Fear (King’s Island) as impressive compact fun trains.
I dislike animals in zoos with inappropriate environments, and get sad at wild animals doing party tricks, but have no problems with the domestic cat and dog doing cool stuff. Universal was our first experience with an animal show in the states, showing us how trainers get their furbabies to behave for TV and film. We all know dogs will do anything for a treat, but there were cats doing what they were told! They were weaving between legs, climbing high wires, jumping, spinning and more. I left determined to return home and train my cats to do cool stuff. Edit: They eat the treats but do whatever they want. Jerks.
It was a really busy two days at both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and so we didn’t get to see many of the stage shows. There was an impressive amount of sing-a-longs, 3D/4D films and movie-based experiences. Blue Man Group was also playing, but you had to pay extra for that one (have I mentioned it took years to budget for one of these trips and so we had to cut costs wherever we could?!)
In terms of movie based theme parks, this one sits at the top of my list.
Roller Coaster Ramble 