Universal Studios Singapore

Awesome experience...

So like what I've mention in the previous post, I went to Universal Studios Singapore(USS) last Wednesday.

Yesh like finally I stepped outta Malaysia after 19 years :D

Get to use my passport for the first time. So excited.

Have been saving up some money just for this trip kay!

I was planning to go Singapore for 2 days, one day at USS, 2nd day at Marina Bay but due to several reasons I can only choose one, of course USS will be the pick right?

Anyways I would like to share every single thing that happened on that day, (and also make some comparisons) so yeap it's gonna be a long long and photo-loaded post hehe...but actually i still think there weren't enough photos *camwhore me*

So after breakfast in the morning, my uncle sent us to JB Sentral/City Square Station

Changed some SGD at JB Sentral, passed the custom and took a bus to Sentosa.

The bus is a Red Color Bus from Transtar 星运, which will take you to Sentosa from JB, passing by certain bus stations in Singapore along the way. One-Way Bus Fare is RM5.00. For the bus from Sentosa back to JB, bus fare is SGD5.00. It's 5 for both but u cant help but to feel that the SGD 5 is like a lot of money LOL....so yea in total, it's around RM18.00 

anyways, we took the 9am bus and entered Sg through Woodlands. It was super jam I tell you! Custom was also full of people and somehow I was unlucky that the counter that I was lining up was so slow :( So yea, I missed our bus. As we're looking for our bus, there's this bus driver that asked whether we wanna take his bus, he charged SGD5.00, say whattttt?? and he kept on scaring us, saying that the red bus will only come 1 hour later... Thank God we were "giam siap" enough to stay there, the next Transtar Red Bus came after like 15 minutes time only. 

By the time we left custom, it's already 11am.  It takes around 40 minutes time to reach Sentosa Island. 

Was greeted by this Signature Universal Globe once I ascend from the elevator. 

Lots of people waiting to buy tickets. Way more than the Genting Peak Season queue. 

Though the queue was long, there were many counters, so we didn't wait for a long time.

But If you really don't want to wait, you can purchase the tickets online. 

That day was a Non-Peak day, so tickets were priced at SGD68
There's a SGD8 discount if you pay with Mastercard, too bad I didn't change my debit card for International use :(

check the seasonal chart to see the peak and non peak days...

The entrance...
so I'll be blogging about the place in sections, according to their 7 themed parks
First Up,
1. The Hollywood Boulevard
LOL I was so excited...I thought the place look better than the photos from their Website
couldn't stop saying "whoaaaaa" "super nice" "很美啊!"
The palm trees, the Walk of Fame, the golden-ish buildings...
basically, the street is like a place for the family to chillax, there's plenty of restaurant, cute snack carts and shops that sells the movie merchandise and souvenirs.
There's a Monter Rock show that I missed as I went for the WaterWorld show.
so yea, do check the schedule for the shows, you can find the shows schedule along with the Studio Guide on the street.

By the lake

Didn't explore much in Hollywood coz I was worried that we don't have enough time for the rides. Almost everyone who went USS warned me about the time taken to queue. 

So yea, we started our Movie Rides on the left, which is the

2. Madagascar
It really felt like I was in the set of Madagascar, all the cute decorations, tropical trees and fruits, and of course look at the crew member's uniform, makes everything look fun and amazing. 

So the first ride, 

A. Madagascar : The Crate Adventure

one of the main highlights of USS

a ride for the family, where you can see a much more interactive and cute version of the story of Madagascar by taking a boat ride. The sounds, the special effects, storyline, and presentation were very good. I'm gonna watch Madagascar soon...

B. King Julien's Beach Party Go Round
Next, saw this Madagascar version Merry Go Round
kinda hesitated at first, coz afterall we're not exactly at the right age to ride on merry go rounds right??
But who cares la, I paid money for it, paiseh then paiseh lorr...
afterall, how often can you ride on Alex the Lion and Melman the Giraffe?
Thank God we weren't the only teenagers over there haha...

Melman!

Thanks to a nice man who helped us take this photo. 

Next, The Park that I've been waiting for!!!!

3. Far Far Away

This parked is a Shrek themed park...

with the majestic castles and beautiful streets and archway, the royal flags..

couldn't stop taking photos over there...

Anyways, the first ride we had in Far Far Away is
C. Enchanted Airways
it's like a less scary roller coaster, which every themepark has...
The roller coaster is the Donkey's Dragon in Shrek.
Ride on this to have a warm up before going for the super thrilling ones, and also have a nice view of the full themepark at the lakeside.

Next, the fun and amusing ride
D. Shrek 4D Adventure
One of the main highlights as well
There were a lot of people queuing, but fret not, coz every 17 minute show can accommodate up to 500 people
so yea I didn't wait for long..
Before entering the theater, there's an Intro at the "Dungeons"
super cute I tell you, got the 3 little pigs and Pinocchio, Mirror on the wall and Gingerbread man....
then the crew will be introducing the story and also warn us about certain rules...and he called us "Prisoners" hehe...I dunno why but I like how they put you into the story, as if you're part of the movie...

then in the theater, the story talks about Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon, and how villain Farquaad tries to ruin everything...There's bouncing, jumps, running, falling, wind and of course water splashing lol...
The experience is definitely more real, better than Genting's 4D Motion Master, coz I was always bothered by the sound of the seats moving and water splashing, this one doesn't have all the distracting sounds, you don't know when will they splash the water, or make you bounce, lots of surprise during the ride. hehe...
The graphics were good too...
.

Lunch time
Goldilocks @ Romeo Drive (from Shrek)
to be precise it was more of a snack time...

Criss Cut Fries, SGD4.50

this one is delicious! but the price...haizzz..

it's in RW Sentosa afterall, be prepared that the food will be much more expensive, even for Singaporeans. 

Corn Dog, SGD 4.50

This one is quite nice, the crunchy layer outside is very nice..

It might look small, but it's enough to make you full since there's both bread and sausage...

Chicken Fingers, SGD6.00

Also not bad, very crunchy....but nothing special lorr...

there's a wide range of food in USS, every park has at least one dining outlet plus some snack carts on the streets. There's sandwich, hotdog, bento, fruit juice bar, bakery.

Grab an Ice cream! The weather really makes you crave for it. 

Plenty of seats provided...

even if you didn't buy anything from the restaurants, you can still take a seat and rest there.

got umbrella summore

but it's still kinda hot...lol

Just when I say it's very hot, the sky turned dark :(((((

I keep assuring my cousin that IT WONT RAIN!!

but still, it did :((((

But also thanks to the rain, we had more fun :D

4. The Lost World

there are two theme movies in this park..

Jurassic Park and Waterworld.

Lots of stones here and there...and green trees...

It was raining so we didn't really have a thorough look around the park...

But we managed to go for the two main highlights of the park

E. Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure
It's like a Dinosaur land version of the River rapids at SunwayLagoon...
It's a rapid riverboat ride that circles round and round through the river...
before we enter, the crew said that we'll get wet, like really wet
I had a DSLR wif me, so what to do? have to buy the disposable Poncho lorr... it cost SGD3!
I thought it will be like SunwayLagoon's, the boat will go under the waterfall, then very big bumps that make water splash here and there...
but lol we didn't get wet at all in the first 90% of the ride
felt like a total idiot who spend SGD3 on a poncho and didn't get wet...
we were the only ones that wore a poncho in the boat...
so paiseh mannn...
but finally, there's a steep fall at the end, that sends you directly into the water haha...
but stupid me, i still got wet despite having the poncho (total embarrassment) :(((((
anyways, along the ride, there's different kinds of dinosaur here and there, whipping their tails and head...
then the boat enters a dark tunnel full of scary dinosaurs and end up pushing you towards the mouth of a T-Rex, when u r so scared that it will eat u up, the boat rapidly falls down...
so yea, just anticipate the ending hehe

The SGD3 Poncho with Universal Studios Singapore Logo on the back of it...

At the Jurassic Outfitters store, selling Personalised Leather Bracelets...

Zach bought one. 

Next attraction
F. Waterworld : Live Sea War Spectacular
Waterworld is right next to the Jurassic Park
but the setting is more like a ruined seaside with Shipwrecks, nets, and rusty boats...
quite cool
Zach insisted that we must watch this...
we manage to watch the final show of the day at 5.30pm
and trust me, it was awesome!!!
Showcases a water war between the good and evil.
It's like a live movie right infront of you, all the effects and stunts were well done and the story was good.
But still the funniest and most unforgettable part, is where one of the villains started talking about Gangnam style and danced LOL "Oppa Gangnam Style", from an angmo lol, laughed so bad...
anyways, there's a lot of bombs, fire, water splashing, high-jump stunts and the most "yeng" Jet Ski stunts, where the turns of a jet ski splashes water onto the audience.
and finally there's an aircraft crash as the ending.

Next, 

5. The Ancient Egypt

didn't take much photos as well, coz it was raining and there's some construction going on...

the Movie featured here is The Mummy

I wished I took my camera with me into the Revenge Of The Mummy ride

cause the waiting area is quite cool...

there's a mummy tomb, skeletons, cool egyptian statues, 

quite scary to me, but I like it, afterall that's the purpose right, to warm up before the horror ride hehe...

G. Revenge of The Mummy

It was raining, right after our Lunch, so we went straight to this Indoor Roller Coaster

since it's a high speed one, so it's best to not bring anything with you. 

There's lockers right next to the entrance where they give you free rental for the first 30 minutes.

so keep some small change wif you in case you exceeded that time. 

Anyways, we didn't exceed the time eventhough the queue seems long, so yea, it was quite fast despite the long queue. 

I don't understand why this ride is not one of the highlights, it's super awesome weih!!

It's all set in the dark, so you can't really expect what's happening next

there's mummies on the sides that scares you and threatens to take your souls away

then there's fire, the scarab beetles, 

the best part is still the roller coaster itself

especially the reverse track part, 

i tot we're gonna knock into the wall, then suddenly it falls down from behind...

scare die me mann lol...

it's kinda highspeed and u'll shout not because of the speed, but because of the sudden fall coz u have no time to prepare for it. 

oh and before boarding, the crew over there(dressed in Egypt style), would be glaring and inspects you with a creepy stare, and when u set off, he'll be laughing evil-ly behind LOL

I sakai-laughed with him, too bad it didn't make him crack into laughter :(

but just a warning here, it might be too scary...

it was okay for me, but Zach said it was scary and so does some bloggers and netizens who cried after the ride...

probably because I had a middle seat, seats on the sides and the front are the scariest i guess.

Photo with The Egyptian Army

There's a crew member that helps you to take photos. 

Left the ancient city and head towards the futuristic one

6. Sci-Fi City

Obviously, the very robotic and digital kind of feel...

The two movies featured in this park is Transformers and the TV series, Battlestar Galactica 

There's a model of the Evac Transformer for you to take photo...

Then went to The Ride-I've-Been-Waiting-For

H. Transformers The Ride : The Ultimate 3D Battle

this is the only ride that I've been to twice...

for the first time, I was lucky to be on the front seat. 

super nice I tell you...

when the Evac talks, I was gonna reply him LOL

It's just too real

to be precise, it didn't LOOK real, but FEEL REAL...

there's super sized screens that give you almost-real visuals and simulation seats with thrilling yet smooth movements

your brain will automatically think that you've really fallen from 30 stories high and crashed into a building, and so you'll start shouting hehe...

well i didn't shout la, but the experience really did felt real!

the 3D graphics were amazing too, the incoming bullets, robots that launched on you...all so real..

I love Bumblebee anyway....for the fact that he's radio is always playing music hehe...

I think, out of all the attractions, Transformer ride has the biggest and longest queue area.

I can't imagine how scary it would be if the whole waiting area full!!

anyways, to keep you entertained while waiting, the waiting lanes are designed as a Transformer Nest. 

With all the monitors, machines, controls, replicas and a model of the All Spark plus Introduction videos by the Characters in Transformers like Optimus Prime and the Evac,  

At the Transformer Supply Vault that sells all kinds of Transformer Merchandise

Really feel like buying the whole shop!!

After thinking and thinking again

I finally pull myself together and gained the courage to ride the Battlestar Galactica double roller coasters

It's the most thrilling ride in USS.

High and fast!

and it's quite cool that both the human and cylon set off simultaneously as if it was a battle.

and almost knock into each other along the path. 

I. Battlestar Galactica : Human (Red Track) 

The red track one is a seat-on roller coaster (without turns)

there's no handlebars, so all u can do is hold on the seat tightly

it's fun!! I think so far, this is the fastest roller coaster(w/o turns) that I've been to

the speed is both scary and exciting at the same time

It shoots you up in a few seconds and makes you fall steeply across 14 stories., feeling weightless....

I was utterly afraid and I started shouting the moment we set off...

but It was fun, extremely fun hehe...

I hate drops, but still the excitement from it is still awesome...

J. Battlestar Galactica : Cylon (Blue Track)
You don't know how long it took me to made up my mind to ride on this one...
this is a suspended one with corkscrew and cobra roll. and it's super high speed.
so yea I wasn't brave enough, but after the Human one, it's sorta gimme a warm up
and Zach really wanted to try this, afterall I asked him to accompany me to USS, so I should pay him back rite?
and all thanks to him, I get to try this amazing and awesome-est ride!
seriously, u cant compare this to the Human Track, this one is much much more "syok" ahh!!
super fast, super drop, super turn
I love the feeling of strong wind gushing through....
and don't close your eyes!!!
see how you almost hit a building and how the building becomes upside down hehe...
and they had white fog as you plunge down, so it looks like you're gonna knock into the ground lol...
super fun...

After the arch...we're entering to the present day
7. New York City
love this more than Hollywood Boulevard
the brick buildings, tall streetlights, wooden benches and neon signs
didn't miss the chance to take down a few shots with my DSLR

The Public Library where Sesame Street Characters will gather up
it's too bad that we missed the live shows
Sesame street is like my childhood buddies mann, I watch it every morning before going to school.
So again, remember to check the schedule and plan your day to avoid disappointment.

There's an attraction at New York, which is the
K. Lights Camera Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg
It's a special effects show where you see how a Category 5 Major Hurricane hits NY while you're watching it in a boat house. Basically it is to let you see the magic wonders of special effects in film history.
There's fire, strong wind, raining, cargo ship-crash, and boats falling down here and there.
it was cool!! just like Waterworld, Live shows are simply amazing...
you probably forget that you're in a studio instead of a real boathouse!

But before that, there's an Intro hosted by the influential director Steven Spielberg.
where he shares his opinions and thoughts about Special Effects to Film Makers.

Reference Photo

Photo source : Wikipedia.org

After that, continue "photoshoot", there's this back lane that leads you to the lakeside....
where you can see all the red brick buildings, with a rustic vintage kind of feel...

The shops by the lake

Victory over the Battlestar Galatica Roller Coasters

It was around 7pm already, I walked back to the Far Far Away park
and my gosh, it look so pretty with all the lights and the evening sky.

Back to Hollywood Boulevard again
bought some souvenirs at Universal Studios Store

Most of the parks are closed by 7pm except the Hollywood and New York
so yea, we were searching for food that we missed in the afternoon, but too bad it's all closed
I really wanted to try the Fairy Godmother's Juice :((((

Left the studio at 7.30pm
went to Candylicious for choco shopping...

The globe at night. 

Anyways, we took the 9pm bus coz we missed the 8pm one. We were super tired, good thing that there was plenty of seats at the Sentosa Area.

Here's some stuffs that I bought...

Since I'm on budget, I couldn't buy much things even though I'm dying to :((((

bought a Transformers KeyChain for my brother (SGD 8.90)

and a USS Magnet (SGD4.90)

There's all kinds of souvenir in the USS store, from merchandise, notebooks, mugs, bottles, T-shirt

a whole lot of it

but definitely pricey, one piece of post card cost SGD0.60 which is like RM1.50 lol 

I couldn't find a thing that my parents would like, so I decided to just buy something simple. 

anyways I LOVE THE SESAME STREET PLASTIC BAG!!

Walked towards Candylicious which is opposite to the main entrance of USS

I know there's Candylicious in Malaysia, but the only thing that my parents will like is Dark Choco, that's for sure because Cocoa lowers blood pressure hehe, so I bought 2 bars. 

Chocolate Amatller 70% Choco Bar - SGD8.00

Lindt's 85% Choco Bar - SGD2.50

i dunno whether's it's cheaper or more expensive...

but the stupid thing is I left the chocolates at my relatives house TT.TT

mummy was so upset about it :(

Another stupid thing that I bought

Glaceau Triple Berry Vitamin Water - SGD3.00

I was just curious cause this is something that I don't see in Malaysia's 7-11

and the fact that I havent taken my vitamin C for the past few days made me bought this without hesitation.

It smells like medicine my gosh...

but the taste still okay, like diluted berry juice...

hope it's really healthy. 

haizzz, I shud have use the SGD3 to buy 5 post cards :(

To sum things up 

so yeap, that's agak agak the min amount of money that u would spend to go USS for one day. 

Random pic :

Yay! Like finally I get to use my Travelus Pouch

My DIY passport cover and the "White Card"

This pouch really comes in handy when you have things like bus tickets and cards that u dun wanna lose, keep in the pouch to get things organized. 

Okay the review:

Basically, USS is extremely fun!

well I'd be honest, I'm comparing it to Genting...

Genting was the only fun outdoor themepark that I've been to

I already thought Genting is good

But USS was way way way better...

probably because there's a movie theme to it, and you can see the effort behind this USS is so huge

from the buildings, the decorations the details, the crew and of course the contents of the attractions. 

Everything is made for you to have fun and enjoyable.
The trip really opened up my eyes, I'm very impressed with the operating crews, interesting programs and exhilarating rides. I really thought about studying engineering so that I can invent a fun and amusing roller coaster and run my own theme park in the future LOL 

1. Waiting lanes

For instance, Sg weather is burning hot, but there's plenty of fans here and there, especially at the waiting areas. The waiting area is one of the best parts in USS, most of them are indoor, which is very good as Sg does not have genting's weather. and for most of the rides, there's always things to keep you entertain while you're waiting, for e.g, the Transformers ride, which I mention earlier, The Battlestar Galactica ride where there's a cool setting and videos to make u feel like you're on a mission, gets u excited. 

2. Waiting time

Also, another awesome thing, is the waiting time...

for most of the rides, there can be more than 2 cars in the attraction simultaneously, it's not like the genting ones where you have to wait for the previous car to come back before you can set off...

I don't know how they did it, but yea, is like every car starts just right behind another car, but we're not going together...I hope u get what I mean

anyways, this really made the waiting time less, as you're constantly moving and u dun have to stand and wait (which seems to make time pass slowly)

but afterall I went on a non-peak day, plus it rained so there was less people coming in the afternoon.

so yea, do pray for a Good Weather, like what I did hehe Thank God. 

3. Atmosphere

great atmosphere despite the heat!

U can feel the vibrant setting of every theme park and gives you the right mood to explore the place.

My fave park is Far Far Away of course hehe....so beautiful and in fact the closest to the movie...

The castle and the Romeo Drive, the Hook's Knight Club, Shrek's Swamp all came from the Movie. 

The New York city is not bad either....

basically, take a photo at everywhere you stepped on, it'll look fabulous. 

4. Crew

lol I love their uniforms 

their uniforms depends on their work place

One of my faves were the crews from Madagascar and Shrek 4D

look so cute as if they lived in there. 

and the crews are all very well trained and systematic...

they'll lead you to the correct lanes before boarding so u wont waste time on finding a seat.

they're friendly and helpful as well

you can ask them to take photos for you and asked for any info that u need. 

most of them can speak both Chinese and English.

5. The Rides

all the movie themed rides were awesome

totally different experience, the speed, the surprise and the story

all presented in an interactive and lively way...

You would sink into the scene...

I like how they call us "Prisoners" "Cylons" and "Freedom Fighters" lol

The Shrek one was cute, they refer the 4D movie as "Torturing" as we're prisoners at the dungeon haha..

btw, there are other family rides like tea cups, fly around ride, vintage car ride... which I didn't go since it's kinda kiddish lol

6. Facilities

you can find eveything you  need over there, there's plenty of toilets

Most of the restaurants are themed and serve all kinds of food and their interior are really pretty.

There's also a lot of Snack Carts that sells, drinks, ice creams and other fingerfood

and there's a lot of seats as well, when you feel tired, you can find a seat immediately to have a rest

no purchase required. 

Anyways there's still a lot of things that I'd missed out

like the Monster Rock Show, the Sesame Street Performance and other live shows

and also I missed out all the Characters Meet and Greet sessions

will definitely do it next time...

Some tips here:
1. Choose a suitable date and Pray for Good Weather
I was lucky I must say, it was School Holidays in M'sia but not in SG, so the tickets were sold at Non Peak Price. And the Good thing is there was a heavy but short rain. Why is it good? Coz first thing, after the rain stops, it's less hot in fact not hot at all...Second, less people will enter the park in the afternoon and some might have left due to the rain. Less people in the park, that means? Shorter queue!!

2. Check the Show Schedule
I mention this many times coz I made a big mistake for not checking it.
I missed out all the live shows and character meet and greet.
so yea get a Show Schedule and plan your day.

3. Go for outdoor rides first when the weather is good. and When it's raining, go for the indoor rides
That's what we did, we went to The Mummy and Transformers ride while it rained. so yea don't waste your money!!

4. Bring disposable poncho instead of buying one
u can use it when it rains, and also for the River Rapids adventure.

5. Use the lockers
to keep your stuffs while you go for the thrilling rides.

6. Bring your camera!
Unless you are on a secret vacation, otherwise I don't understand why you don't want to freeze those beautiful and memorable moments to eternity.

Lastly, A special thanks to Zach the cousin hehe

Thanks for teman-ing me and tried all you can to get your parents' permission even though they are so against it...

I thought u were gonna give up lol

and of course thanks for being an awesome guide, who introduced me to the best rides.

Hope we could enjoy more next time, In December!!

can't wait to go there again. 

Go to USS's Website to Find out More
http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore