Universal Studios Singapore

Everytime I went to Japan, I’ve always wanted to go to Osaka. Why? Because the Universal Studios Japan is there! But my office in Japan is in Shinagawa, and the journey to Osaka would take approximately 2 1/2 hours. Only 2 1/2 hours. Sounds near right? But that is only if you take the JR Tokaido Shinkansen and the fare is a whopping 20000++ yen for a return journey. T_T

I’m saving that for a later trip I guess. Spending 20000 yen only for a day trip or a weekend getaway doesn’t sound good to me. I’ll make sure I make the most outta the 20000 yen transportation cost. Like a week trip exploring Osaka and Kyoto. Baru puas hati ok.

So, with that, I put USJ at the back of my mind for a while. Plus, there is a nearer Universal Studios to home. Who is the happiest person when Universal Studios Singapore opened last year if not yours truly? I am a theme park junkie if you must know.

December is a school holiday season for Malaysia and Singapore. Thus, getting tickets for that period was hard. Luckily my sister managed to get the tickets for us from KL Resorts World OneHub in Wisma Genting. I wasn’t sure if they have some tickets allocation for Malaysians or what, because the online purchase system stated the park’s ticket had already been sold out for that period.

Anyway, be warned that if you plan to go to Universal Studios then you must buy your tickets in advance. You can’t simply go to the gates and buy tickets there, at least for now. People are still hyped up about it. Give it a year or two, then I guess when we are in Singapore and run out of things to do, we can just decide, hey let’s have fun in USS! But for your own peace of mind, just buy it in advance. Save your time somemore, like I always do for all my Disney trips. Why waste your time queuing for the tickets when you can be inside the theme park enjoying the rides. Hehe.

We arrived there at about 9.30am and the gate hadn’t opened yet. The entrance was already packed with people in lines. I thought they were queuing to buy tickets so I was laughing while walking passed them. Hahaha screw you, I got to go in first. But screw me later because it was actually the lines to enter the park. Paiseh. At exactly 10am, the park opened. 

Once you’re inside, you can collect the dining and shopping vouchers. The entrance fee to enter Universal Studios Singapore is SGD65, but you get a complimentary SGD5 voucher for dining and another SGD5 for shopping. Not sure though whether it’s a seasonal promotion or a permanent offering.

I got to run inside the park while running the Standard Chartered Singapore marathon, so I wasn’t that jakun la. Hehehe… But still, the first thing we did when we entered the park, of course, camwhored! 

Spotted Winnie Woodpecker and immediately we lined up to have a photo with her. The characters will make random appearance at their areas for the daily meet and greet sessions. Just look around and if you're lucky, you'll spot them. If you're more lucky, you get to take pictures with them because the queues are long and their appearance have a time limit. 

Since USS does not have FastPass like Disneyland, I already planned which rides we should go first to avoid the super long queues. But then we stopped at everything and camwhored every 10 steps. Hehehe…

The attractions in the park are spread across 7 zones.

New York

The only attraction we went at New York was Lights, Camera, Action! 

 

Hosted by Steven Spielberg, it is a showcase of what happens to a boat house in New York City during a category 5 hurricane. 

 

The special effects were great and the sea looked very realistic from the fake windows. The show is truly mind-blowing and gives a peek into the world of cinema special effects.

Sci-Fi City

I was so frustrated as the biggest attraction of USS was closed. 

Battlestar Galactica, the world’s tallest dueling roller coaster was closed after just only a week USS opened last March, due to a technical glitch. 

The problem must be really big as it has been 9 months and yet, it is still closed? 

The only available ride here is the Accelerator. Don’t let the name blinds you into thinking it’s another roller coaster, it is actually the Tea Cup ride. Hohoho… 

Ancient Egypt

My favorite ride of the day was the Revenge of the Mummy! 

It’s a high-speed indoor roller coaster in total darkness, which also consists of an elevation and a reverse fall. 

screaming my lungs out.. hahaha

On my scare level rating, it can challenge Space Mountain ride in Disneyland. It was freaky, but definitely a fun ride! I wanted to ride it again but due to the serpentine queue that just never seemed to end, I had to pass it. Seriously, the queue was so long, with lots of turns and corners and each turn seems like you are almost there, only to see another long line of restless people ahead of you. So I suggest once you entered USS, come here first! 

Note that you need to keep your belongings in the lockers as they won’t let you onto the rides with bags. Each zone has lockers near the rides and it’s free of charge for the 1st 30 minutes. After that you will be charged SGD3 for the next 20 minutes blocks and SGD2 for each additional 20 minutes blocks. If you’re lazy to carry your belongings the whole day, just leave it inside the locker and pay the maximum charge of SGD20.  

The other attraction here is the Treasure Hunters , a jeep drive for children. Another kiddy ride.

We had a late lunch around 3ish as all the restaurants were full house by noon. 

Worry not about the foods as you can refer to the Studio Guide for the choice of halal restaurants. 

Just an idea on how much it will cost you for the food.

We paid part of the meal with the SGD5 dining voucher so the price was OK. 

The Lost World

The Jurassic Park Rapid Adventure was fun. The queue was never-ending, but I like the fact that they put up dinosaurs info around the hall to keep people occupied. 

The ride brought us down the river, passing through dinosaurs that spit water at you. 

Be prepared to be drenched as the ride ended with a big splash. But I guessed no harm getting wet in order to cool off after a hot and humid day. 

Next, we rode the Canopy Flyer, which gives a bird’s eye view of the entire Jurassic Park. 

We passed Dino-Soarin as we wanted to chase other attractions. Another kiddy ride so we didn’t miss anything. Finally we went to WaterWorld arena. Unfortunately we didn’t get to watch the show as we didn’t aware the last show was at 5pm. 

Far Far Away

The attractions here are the Shrek 4-D Adventure, Donkey LIVE, Enchanted Airways and the Magic Potion Spin.

Donkey LIVE was fun. 

What enticed me was the enthusiasm of the host, she drove energy in everyone present and made the show fun. 

Of course, donkey made it fun too. 

We then continued with Shrek 4-D Adventure. 

They had excellent special effects, expect splashes of water, wind blowing and of course, the rocking seats. OK. I spoiled you with too many information. Tak suspense la.. heheheh.

Lastly, we rode the Enchanted Airways.

This is totally kiddy ride. 

I could take pictures during the ride (and got warned by the workers ;p). The queue was very short so we rode it a few more times. Kiddy pon kiddy la… hahaha. But we passed Magic Potion Spin. This ferris wheel is totally kiddy to the max. 

Madagascar

Park wise, the Madagascar area actually had nothing much. The Crate Adventure is still under construction, so currently the only attraction is the King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round which is a carousel. Kiddy ride. Thanks but no thanks. 

Just look at your show schedule for Madagascar Boogie! show times. Madagascar and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is my favorite animated movie. I can watch it over and over again and still laugh at Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, and especially the penguins: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. We waited eagerly for the show to start, securing the front row. 

I managed to record this video. 

 

Aren’t they super duper adorable? 

Hollywood

This is our final stop of the park, hoping to catch the Monster Rock show at the Pantages Hollywood Theater. We arrived there before the show time at 6pm, however we were denied entry as the hall was already full. 

Hollywood area houses the main souvenirs shops. So, with only an hour left before the park closed, we went on a shopping spree.

My SGD5 shopping voucher was put to a good use. 

This concluded our day at Universal Studios Singapore. We didn’t manage to enjoy all the attractions due to time constraints. To be honest, if I have more time, I’ll just ride those kiddy rides I passed. Hehehe. But I enjoyed every second and every part there. The only disappointment was the closing of Battlestar Galactica. That would have been the ultimate ride.

I read reviews and most people compared it with Universal Studios Orlando. I haven’t been there so I will not compare both of them. I only compare it with Tokyo and Hong Kong Disneyland. Haha.. Unfair right?

Before we headed out of Sentosa Island, we checked out Resorts World Casino. 

To get in here, just show your passport. It’s free for foreigners but Singaporean need to pay SGD100 admission fee. The government’s way of preventing the locals from gambling? Like it would turn anyone off. 

Made a quick stop at Hard Rock Shop to add my shot glass collection and we bid goodbye to Sentosa.