Today we were all back together in LA and had our last full day before we flew out tomorrow. Rather than rest and take it easy, we headed out to Universal Studios.
Universal Studios is still a functioning film studio, one of the oldest in Hollywood still in use. As with Disney, Universal received requests for studio tours and built the theme park around it. The Studio opened in 1912, the studio lot in 1915 and the themepark in 1964.
The park consists of three distinct areas - the upper lot, lower lot and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter:
Upper Lot:
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem – Motion simulator ride.
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift – Spinning launched rollercoaster
Silly Swirly Fun - Aerial Coaster over Super Silly Fun Land
Super Silly Fun Land – Play area
The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash – Dark themed ride
Studio Tour – Tour including King Kong, Earthquake, Jaws etc
Dreamworks Theatre – Film
The Simpsons Ride – Motion Simulation
WaterWorld – Stunt Show
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:
Flight of the Hippogriff – Roller Coaster
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – Dark themed ride.
Ollivander’s Wand Store – Interactive Gift Shop
Frog Choir – Live Show
Triwizard Spirit Rally – Live Show
Lower Lot:
Jurassic World: The Ride – Water Chute ride - Closed for our visit
Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride – Enclosed Roller Coaster
Transformers the Ride -3D – Dark Ride with 3D
Raptor Encounter – Live Show
DinoPlay – Play Area
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge – Augmented dark ride
Power-Up Band Key Challenges – Interactive, sold separately
We parked in the ET parking lot and walked through the Universal CityWalk to the park:
Our first goal was the Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift ride for several reasons - it was the most exciting ride, it was the newest ride, the line times could get terrible and we wanted to get Brett on it before he overthought it (he wasn't super experienced with rollercoasters).
Similar to Disney, we were allowed inside early and waited in a holding area before they opened the park and rides.
When we were let in, we raced to the ride and ended up only having an half hour wait to ride. The ride was a step above what we had ridden before - all loose items needed to be stored in the free lockers before we could head up to the platform. The ride was a set of cars that turned as they went around the track to simulate drift.
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| Looking down at the Lower Lot and Nintendo World |
When we got to the top, the boys and I were pulled aside because of our heigh and asked to sit in a test seat. Cam and Tom were cleared, but I found that the combination of my high and the size of my shoulders meant that the seat harness couldn't close. New rules meant that the operator couldn't push down on the harness to seal it, so it was only what pressure I could put on it by pulling down. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to light up green, so I was directed to an elevator to head back down. I was a bit disappointed to not be able to ride and having wasted a fair chunk of time in the line, but everyone else rode the ride and loved it, so it was well worth it.
From the ride, we headed to the Harry Potter World, which was very similar to the one in Florida Universal, but quite a bit smaller. The kids hadn't bought their wands from Florida, but there were the magical windows the same as in Florida as well as the wand shop.
Everyone had a ride on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, except the seats were extremely narrow and again I could not get my shoulders in them, so I sat that ride out also.
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| Butterbeer |
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| In a flashback to the "Bird Toilet" incident in Mackinac, Alana had a Butterbeer incident.. |
We decided our next step would be to head down to the Lower Lot, but to do so, we passed through the Simpsons area:
We took a set of escalators down to the Lower Lot - giving a good view of the areas below:
We passed the Jurassic World area, which was closed for maintenance (there were guys welding the tracks):
Tara bought some souvenirs for her friend as well as a T-Rex drinking cup:
We then headed to the Mummy ride. There was a test seat for the ride and after the disaster of the last few attempts, I decided to try the seat. While I was testing (easy pass) one of the attendants came over and confirmed it was good. I mentioned that I'd not been able to ride the Fast and Furious or the Harry Potter ride, so she pushed our group of 7 into the express line and we were able to skip the 30min wait and get straight onto the ride.
Next, we jumped on the Transformers ride:
After the ride, we headed to an area that the boys and I were super excited about - the Nintendo World.
The area had one ride - the Mario Kart ride (that I had read had super-tight requirements for fitting the harnesses, so I had little hope I could ride it) and a bunch of themed games you could play if you bought a power bracelet:
After having a quick look around, we joined the queue for the Mario Kart ride. There was a test seat tucked around a corner and after we kicked out (or actually politely asked if they could move) a bunch of girls who were using it to touch-up their makeup out of the direct sun, I tested it and it was an easy fit! Woohoo!
The theming for the ride line was amazing - We started by going through the dark mushroom caves:
Then through a pink Princess area (that reminded me slightly of Squid Game.. I expected to hear the Blue Danube playing...)
Then outside, overlooking the park and around the edge of Bowser's castle:
Then back inside Bowser's castle through the mouth:
Past a giant Bowster statue:
Down a corridor with the Mario Kart tracks and prizes:
Into Bowser's Study:
and into his laboratory:
and then into a room with screens that explained the ride. We all needed to put on Mario Kart visors and when the ride arrived it was a set of four seats with 3D glasses. The glasses snapped onto the visors and superimposed images such as enemies, other karts and shells etc. Throughout the ride we needed to do some limited steering (it was on a rail but if you didn't all steer the correct direction at the right time you slowed down), collect shells (this was automated at various points) and fire them at enemies (by looking at them and pressing a fire button). Tara, Brett, Cam and Tom ended up in one kart and Kris, Alana and I had another:
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| The exit |
Our kart was soundly defeated by the evil alliance of Cam, Tom, Brett and Tara, but I'm pretty sure it was rigged...
We spent a bit more time wandering around the Nintendo World:
We then headed up to the Upper Lot to grab lunch at the Krusty Burger:
After lunch (which was surprisingly good), we headed to the Studio Tour:
The tour took us through the Backlot, including Sound Studios that were still in use as well as sets that had been used for many TVs and movies such as Back To The Future and The Good Place. There were also a few special effects sections:
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| Universal Studio counts as its own city so has its own Fire Department |
After the first few sound stages we headed through the sets, including a hospital (used for St Denis Medical) and a Town Hall that had been used for Back to the Future.
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| Town Hall |
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| Hospital Entrance |
Despite looking like they are made of brick and stone, most of the buildings are wooden with facades over the top as you can see on the wall below:
We then went into the first scene, a Jungle where we encountered King Kong who fought over several T-Rexs while the bus shook and moved:
We then continued on through more sets and past a big mural celebrating the monsters of screen:
We then passed Lyon Estates from Back to the Future and saw the DeLorean as well as the town square from The Good Place:
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| Town Square used in the Good Place |
From there we entered our next special effects event - an underground subway with a simulated earthquake and flood:
From there we passed through a few more scenes and then our next special effects event - Jaws:
From there we passed into a wild west town, where it was demonstrated how weather effects could change the area from sunny, to rainy to flooded:
Next came a display of vehicles that had been used in various movies:
We then passed through some horror theming for Halloween as well as the Bates house from Psycho:
and into a simulated plane crash set from War of the Worlds (2005):
Next up was Jupiter's Claim from Nope (2022):
The final part of the tour was a giant blue screen and water pit used in Odyssey (2026) as well as one of the boats from the movie:
Once the ride was over, we headed back to the Simpsons area to ride the Simpsons ride:
Afterwards, we headed to The Secret Life of Pets Ride. Despite being a very tame kids ride, I found that once again I couldn't get the lap bar over my legs and so Kris and I went to explore while everyone else rode the ride:
They then rode the Minions ride:
When they finished, they went back to the entrance to get a pic with the bus from Fortnite:
Meanwhile, Kris and I checked out Super Silly Fun Land - it was a kids play area but had some interesting shops:
We then took Tom to Olivander's wand shop to look at the Harry Potter wands.
After this, we all met up at the entrance and headed out, checking a memorabilia shop on the way:
After that we picked up dinner at a KFC and then headed back home to pack, ready to be heading home tomorrow.
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