Sights & Sounds of Universal Studio Singapore

The journey started from Vivo City where we hope onto the Monorail that cost us SGD3 and it dropped us off at Waterfront Station. The entrance of the Universal Studio is just a few steps away from the entrance of the Monorail station so it’s quite convenient.

As we walked in, the first sight that greeted us was the huge Universal Studio globe near the ticketing counters. Naturally, it’s customary to snap some photos in front of the globe before heading in to the park. First impression when entering the place is that it isn’t that grand so it was a tad disappointing cause of the many great reviews it received on it’s opening day.

After we get past the entrance, the first sight that greets all visitors is the Hollywood stretch lined up rows and rows of restaurants and retail shops. Turning right at the T-junction leads us towards the New York stretch. But before we got into New York, we head into Pantages Hollywood Theater where a short 15minute performance featuring Universal monsters in a rock-n-roll musical.

What annoys me at this musical is, the host announced that NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY was allowed throughout the performance and we have all these smart alec guides constantly going towards anyone with a camera and telling us off by saying NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED. So who are we supposed to listen to? The performers on the stage or these Smart Alec?

After the performance, it was off to the continuation of the tour. In New York, we caught the “Lights, Camera, Action!” special effect in a “Sound Stage” where we were told that we could get wet from the splash and blasted by wind and so forth. None of which happened, we walked out of the sound stage still dry and feeling hot. According to the map we got, There’s also the Stage 28 which features state-of-the-art sound stage but sadly, it either doesn’t really exist or is not ready to welcome any visitors yet.

From New York, the next zone is the Sci-Fi City where we get to try out the Battlestar Galactica Cylon and Battlestar Galactica Human ride. The Cylon is the suspended coaster which goes through around, upside down along with an intense corkscrews and cobra roll. The Human consist of a ride at the speed of 90km/h which brings the riders through some twists, turns and dips up to 14 storeys in the air! I had fun in this ride not cause it was exciting but because I spend the time laughing at all the people screaming their heads off on this slow ride.

It’s slow cause I even had time to pose for the camera at some of the stretch where they position their cameras but sadly, they won’t sell the jpeg file to me and insist we pay SGD18 for the print which is pointless cause I want to post it online! Universal Studio should think about just selling the JPEG file to the visitors, even at SGD10, I’m sure people would buy it. Right? If you carry bags and so forth, you have to place the bags into the lockers provided. They didn’t even allow me to bring my small camera into the ride even though I planned to record the whole ride down. I’d give this ride a 3/5 for thrill and excitement.

From Sci-Fi City, we head into the Ancient Egypt zone where we can pose with models in Ancient Egyptian costumes. @StrippedSteph spend the next 15min or so drooling at the models cause she say one of the guy is so good looking *yawns*.

After the photo taking, we head into the Revenge of the Mummy ride where after we walk like forever into the building. We are taken through an indoor roller coaster ride that plunge us into total darkness. Animatronics and Digital Screens display the various effects to scare the wits out of those who dared to venture in. It was a short ride where you can hear people screaming on top of their lungs over all the various dips and turns of the roller coaster rides. You can check out the video I captured below as it was one of the 2 rides I manage to sneak my camera in to capture in video the rides that they have available. I’d give the ride a 3/5 for thrill.

At the Ancient Egypt zone, there’s also the Treasure Hunters ride where children can drive their own desert jeep through an abandoned Egyptian excavation site. The waiting period was 45minute cause even though the ride’s for kids, you can see loads of adults waiting in line to get on it. This ride was skipped cause of the waiting period.

The next zone was The Lost World, a place where Jurassic period dinos came alive! Well, not really, majority of them are all just giant sculptures. We wanted to get on the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure where we could get wet in this ride through primeval dinosaur habitats. Sadly, the guides told us that the ride was out of commission! It’s not even a week into the opening of Universal Studio and you have a ride that’s spoilt? tsk tsk tsk. So not being able to ride it, I’d say it deserves a 0/5 in thrill points. Of course this will change when it’s back up and I get to ride it.

There’s also the Canopy Flyer where visitors can enjoy the Jurassic Park with a Prehistoric bird’s-eye view. Kids under 122cm must be accompanied by an adult on this ride. Again, it’s a 40-45min wait to get on the ride so we decide to skip that. Thrill points I’d give it is 2/5 cause it looked like a very slow ride.

There’s also the Dino-Soarin where children can pilot their own Pteranodon in circles but majority of the people we see on board this ride are elderly people. I guess it’s slow enough not to give these dear people a heart attack compared to the other rides available. Didn’t bother to give it a try cause all it does is goes round and round and… well… you get my drift. Thrill points from me is 1/5 cause all it does is going in circle.

There’s also the Amber Rock Climb where a visitor have to pay an additional SGD10 to climb the rock face. Didn’t bother with it as well cause why do we need to pay some more on top of what we’ve paid when we came into the theme park? 1/5 for thrill, lost points cause we have to pay to climb.

There’s also a live stunt performance at the Lost World in the form of WaterWorld! This was a nice 20minute performance by stunt men and woman re-enacting a scene from the WaterWorld. Visitors at this performance will get wet too as the performers will try their level best to get you wet. But the auditorium was nicely divided to 3 zones, the dry area, the splash area and the wet area. So you roughly know where to sit if you plan to get wet. A video montage of the performance can be viewed at the video below. A Must Watch when you are at Universal Studio Singapore.

We took a break from our walk by heading to the Discovery Food Court for lunch. A Bowl of Laksa and a bowl of Wantan noodle soup was ordered, you can either take the Ala-Carte menu or take the sets which includes a bowl of dessert and an Otak-Otak. Don’t expect to taste good food here, what they served is just to help fill your stomach. I’d give the food here a fantastic 1/5 for taste and flavor. Consider the 1 point as a bonus for the wonderful aircond on a hot day.

Next stop was the Far Far Away land, beautiful castle structure with the various performances and rides to enjoy. First stop was the Donkey LIVE where we see Mr. Donkey in an interactive ‘live’ show. Kids would enjoy it where they see Donkey comes alive and actually communicating with them.

The Shrek 4-D Adventure was next. You are ushered into the auditorium to enjoy a short adventure with Princess Fiona and Shrek in an interactive adventure. All from the very seat you are in. The 3D glasses was a tad bad cause if you sit too close, it’ll be blur. But the interactive part of the whole show was fun. I’d say it deserves a shrek sized 4/5 in thrill points. A point lost due to the blur vision I get watching the show.

Within the castle, there’s also the merchandise shop where kids can ride the Magic Potion Spin, a mini ferris wheel in the Fairy Godmother’s Potion Shop. I’m sure the kids would enjoy it sitting inside a small cage. If I’m a kid and knows no shame. I’ll give it a 4/5 for riding a ferris wheel indoor.

Kids can also ride on the Enchanted Airways, a junior roller coaster for a flight over Far Far Away. It’s just a short ride and you can view the video below for how the ride looks. As the ride’s very mild, they didn’t stop me when I wanted to record the ride. I’d say for kids, it’ll be a mild 4/5 for fun since the kids won’t be allowed on the Battlestar and Mummy rides.

Madagascar was the next zone where the Crate Adventure wasn’t ready yet to welcome visitors, kids can get on toe King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round and for posers, you can pose with the large Madagascar characters. We visited the Penguins Mercantile but didn’t see what we’d like to take home as souvenirs.

All in all, it took us about 5hours to walk about the whole theme park twice. Read somewhere that more rides and zones will be introduced into the Universal Studio Singapore so hopefully, by end of the year or early next year. We’ll get to see more performances and enjoy more rides in Universal Studio Singapore.

In total, there’s currently 13 restaurants and 13 merchandise outlets along with countless of street stalls for you to spend your money on there. This figure definitely will increase as more areas opens up for visitors. Check out the video for some of the rides and performance you’d get to catch at this theme park.

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