Part 2
Southern California isn't just Disneyland - I'm sure you've seen the advertisements! After two days exploring Disneyland, we took a side trip to Universal Studios, Hollywood. Not wanting to deal with traffic, we used a bus service to get there - it took about an hour through Los Angeles traffic, and our driver was an absolute comic. He kept us rolling in the aisles all the way to Universal Studios. The studios are situated on 492 acres of the Hollywood hills. The majority of the Theme Park and CityWalk are on the upper level, and the studios themselves are at the bottom of the longest escalator we have ever ridden.
On the recommendation of our travel agent, we booked the VIP tour. After a sumptuous buffet breakfast, our guide Jon took our group of 10 on a 'Front of the Line' tour of some of the rides. Due to the limited space at Universal Hollywood, most of the rides are video depictions of events, coupled with a fully gimballed 'car.' I'm personally fascinated by these rides, as the sensation of motion is present, and the animators can create visual rides which would be physically impossible create. When well designed and presented, they can seem amazing realistic. Our tour included Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, The Simpsons Ride, Transformers, Revenge of the Mummy, and an introduction to animal actors and how they are trained.
Following a spectacular buffet lunch, we continued to the studios themselves. We toured one of Universal's sound stages - this once containing a replica of the US Whitehouse Oval office and press room, we were also shown how a parking garage was converted to a cliff face for Jurassic Park, and toured Wisteria Lane. The history of this set was fascinating, as we were introduced to the Animal House frat house, the Cleaver's house from Leave it to Beaver, and Marcus Welby's house. Houses on the set are repainted and repurposed though time to meet the needs of various shows and movies. The Props warehouse was another fascinating stop; it's like a lending library for 'stuff'. Also on this tour was a set of old Europe, New York City, Amityville, and other famous locations. The coach we rode in also toured us through the King Kong 3-D experience, a Subway station during an earthquake, and a flood in a Mexican village.
Our tour ended with great, dry seats for WaterWorld, a live action packed show, set in a "Beyond ThunderDome" future, and included a number of the audience getting VERY wet. It was a great audience-involving show. Before exiting the park, we took in Shrek 4-D, another animated experience. In the hour left before the bus returned to pick up the group, we took a quick walk through CityWalk, Universal's Nightlife district. At 6:00, it was just getting started, and we missed much of the excitement, due to our departure time. Based on our experience, I'd recommend staying one night at one of the on-site hotels, spending the first evening at CityWalk, or getting a two-day pass and enjoying CityWalk after your first day of Universal Studios.
To be continued.......