I finally fulfilled my duty as a Singaporean by paying Universal Studios a visit. Our nation’s first theme park and I made it past the gates for their rides.
Manmade town.
Truth be told I am no theme park person, roller coasters are freaky-hair-tearing affairs and I had my eyes closed throughout the cardiac-arrest-inducing journey. Nonetheless, food was also the reason why I was keen to check it out. Theme park food hardly appeases…well, unless you go hungry in the happyland but then again, eating theme park food in a theme park does make it taste tons better. Be prepared to pay through your nose for simple food – well that’s the rule of thumb of any themepark. Churros without a bunch of shrieking kids is meh, just as a mountainous burger without annoying tunes repeating and the roller coaster swirling is just o-r-d-i-n-a-r-y (unless of course Chef Bruno Menard is helming the kitchen).
Here's a peek at the snack trucks that are available.
Churros ($3.80)
No theme park is complete without one. Cinnamon
sugar dusted and warm to clutch, this chewy snack was impressive. Better
than those I’ve eaten at Disney or even Spanish Tapas bar…something
must have gone wrong. Maybe the dollar tag I paid
to gain entry made everything taste good. Chewy and just the right
flavours – YUM.
Fossil Fuel
Chilli Dog
Chicken Tenders
Coated with scrummylicious crumbs, this chicken tender would have shown KFC flapping to the door. Undermined goodness.
In Far Far Away is this burger-fried chicken joint
that also sells Ben and Jerry’s Icecream that we ended up with a
milkshake ($7.90). Two flavours churned into one and truly it was more
banana cheesecake that came out of Chunky Monkey
and Strawberry Cheesecake. A tad watered down too, so stick with just
their scooped icecreams or brownies. Ben and Jerry’s is available
throughout various joints in USS though.
Hints of halloween.
Trophies for the perfect girlfriend, boyfriend...mom, dad...almost every other character alive.
Conquered!
Waiting
A ridiculous $5 price tag for drying yourself after a wet ride!
The elusive Puss in Boots whose minder refused us contact.
I have the admit Universal Studios surprised me...so much so a second visit is in the works.
I have always been on the fence about Halloween, particularly so when my stand about scaring myself is – why pay to scare myself. Last year I plucked enough courage to want to take on Night Safari and they pulled out the show last minute. Hence, the attempt at Universal Studio’s Horror Fright Festival. Day before my visit I spotted a facebook shoutout – 4 hours horror night but 2 hours waiting time each! I guess that’s why USS decided to extend the opening hours by an hour the following day which aided matters a weebit. We were only allowed entry at 8pm so that meant the interim time from the park closure to the start of the horror night we could not roam around or have a spooky dinner.
Sold out.
Halloween fun!
Shots and refillable jugs for fun.
How about some lighted horns?
Big Easy
Elements of spookiness.
Steak was way too rubbery and tough for simple enjoyment even when it was ordered Medium rare. Portions of coleslaw was pathetic and truly, not a great start to this adventure.
Let the spooky journey begin!
Scary displays of dolls.
Made up to spook people yet sell drinks at the same time.
The long wait for the first haunted house allowed me some time to enjoy this Water World attraction.
With tons of characters to take photos with, we
possibly wasted a fair amount of time getting into the mood than heading
straight to the haunted houses which is actually the whole point of
this visit. Being a smart alec, we decided to take
the opposite direction from the rest and start with the last haunted
house. Joy is us when the rides were also open and waiting time was only
5 minutes each! This happiness did not last long though for by the time
we left, waiting time was almost an hour for
every single one of them. Taking rollercoasters at night was breezy yet
a different experience altogether – am still not fan of them!
Insanitarium at Waterworld drove us crazy
with the wait. 1 hour of inching and shuffling feet, tempers frayed and
ventilation was not super…it was just okay, hardly scary though the
screams that pierced through the night were possibly
prepaid. If anything I was terrified of the insane patients running
amok outside the haunted house.
Death Alley, New York Harbour and Sting Alley ended
up a favourite with setting in Chinatown and slightly scarier with
butchering and limbs flying all over. The 45 minute wait was somewhat
more bearable after Insanitarium.
Dungeon of Damnation, Soundstage 28 was supposedly the best but the hour long wait waved us off – dang!
Trust the organizers to have merchandise related to
Halloween. Most spotted annoying flickering neon coloured horns as did
my companion! There were bloody concoctions of shots or juices up for
grabs – by the time I wanted one it was close
to end but it was free refill, what a waste anyway!
The first attempt and somewhat spooked but am willing to tryout next year’s!
Nice Photos :) The B&J Cookie Ice cream looks really yummy. Didn't see it when I was there the other time
ReplyDelete@Carys: thanks! yeah it does....maybe it's a special? Prices are higher than regular B&J shops though!
ReplyDeleteDoes one churro cost $ 3.80 or a few churros cost that much
ReplyDeleteHi Kim On, $3.80 is for one churro.
DeletePrice has been increased to $4
DeleteIs there Indian restaurant inside universal studio. Did they allow outside food?
ReplyDeleteHi Rakesh,
DeleteNot that I remember there are any Indian restaurants inside. Outside food is allowed inside.
Now they will check your bags at the entrance. Only those carrying small bags they wont check.
DeleteThere is, it's at the mummy ride area
Delete