Previously: When Eunyoung agreed she'd like to go to Universal, this ride was the first thing that came to mind, especially the night before, Aymee told me how awesome the ride was (she went there on Christmas break). On the way to where the Transformers ride was, we bumped into the directory board where it says that the wait time for Transformerswould take up until an hour.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Screw
it. I could barely sleep last night because of the high anticipation
of Transformers.
The directory board
never lies, and when I said it, I mean it, because the line really
took almost an hour. The line went through endless rooms, before we
finally came to a narrow basement where the loading station was.
YEEAYY!!
OMG, I'm not
kidding, the ride was FUDGING AWESOME!! It wasn't as short as I
expected so the long wait really pays off. It was totally unexpected.
I thought it would be like a normal motion simulator ride where the
cart just stayed there and the technical arms did the job. But no, it
was a dark ride, like the one you commonly see in Disneyland, unless
there were no traditional animatronics, but instead, we were taken to
rooms full of giant screens and each screen has its own narrative.
And of course, everything was in 3D...no, 4D! Considering there were
some special effects happening, stuff like warm heat, water effects,
wind blowing sort of thing. But I was completely left speechless.
I've never seen such technology in any theme park rides before. The
idea was not as complicated, but combining the idea of 4D motion
simulator and dark ride is just GENIUS.
I got a little
nauseous after the ride because of the excessive violent motion used
in the ride, probably because I just ate. But heck, IT WAS AWESOME!
Well, phew, after
the ride, we lined up to take picture with Megatron. We expected it
would be Optimus Prime that came up instead, since he's the good guy.
But Megatron is fine too. He's physically bigger and cooler than
Optimus Prime.
We took some more pictures of the lower lot before moving to the upper lot to get on the next attractions.
Well,
basically The Simpsons is
like a motion simulator ride. It's almost like Transformers
except it was just a normal
motion simulator ride that just sticks in one rotatable track, not a
dark ride like Transformers. I
had to say that it was actually a bad choice for me to get on this
ride right after we did Transformers. The
headache was unbearable, but at least the fun was still there.
Then after the ride, I bumped into Lucy Ricardo!! I don't watch the show, but she seems like a really sweet character.
Next
up, we went straight to Waterworld show
to catch the 5.40 pm show. We were lucky though, because we got there
on time, just when the gate was open. Eunyoung and I decided that we
didn't want to risk ourselves for being wet, so we avoided the soaked
zone and sat somewhere in the middle of the tribune.
The
show was fantastic as usual and the visual effect was stunning. I was
especially impressed by three actors who each represent each tribune,
and each of them leads their own tribune to cheer. Whoever didn't
cheer loud enough would be splashed with water. Of course, that only
goes to the people who sat on the soaked zone. But anyway, the
effects and everything were awesome. The duration was pretty decent.
It ran about 20 minutes, so it wasn't too long nor too short.
Eunyoung and I could still catch another attraction after Waterworld
ends. Even though I've watched
this show for many times, I'm never bored with it. The Mariner was
mesmerizing and I just realized that he actually barely had any
dialogue. The bad guy did a perfect impression of the actual movie
actor who portrayed the same role, Dennis Hopper. The stunts were
almost flawless and that was because the cast members later announced
about their previous stunt works in notable TV shows at the end of
the show.
After
the show (we were still surely dry from head to toe), Eunyoung and I
decided we would go back to the lower lot to get on Jurassic
Park, which would most likely be
the last attraction of the day before we left Universal
Studios. The wait for Jurassic
Park was surprisingly not as
long as The Mummy or
even, Transformers. No
question for Transformers. That
ride definitely had the longest waiting time out of all attractions
in the park. Eunyoung and I waited for about an hour for that ride.
But anyway, the wait of Jurassic Park only
took nearly a quarter of the entire Transformers ride.
Jurassic Park is
somewhat both of my favorite attraction and, I got to say, the lamest
one (because it goes super slow). I went on this ride for three times
already and the third time I rode on it (which is when this event
took place), I realized how short this ride was. The thrill at the
end was the one moment that really pulls off the entire attraction.
But anyway, dinosaurs, water-based attraction, and boat rides always
mesmerize me. The T-rex at the end was awesome and I'm glad the
people behind the attraction saves the best dinosaur for the last
treatment of the attraction.
However,
I'm never a big fan of drops. I always hate the feeling of G-force
that you get whenever you ride on any drop rides or you go on a
roller coaster. Jurassic Park was
an exception for me though Apparently the drop at the end wasn't as
high as I expected. I remembered getting on this ride the first time
back in 2009 and I was scared to death knowing I would fall at the
end. But the medium-height drop put me a little at ease.
I'm
glad whenever I sit at the very front seat in this ride, just because
I could get wet after the drop at the end. Being soaked in this ride
left me with a certain satisfaction. I guess if you go on this ride
but you're not wet enough, you should go for another shot of this
ride until you get wet :P
It was
7 and we had half an hour before we needed to leave the park. The
park was closing in an hour but Eunyoung and I began to get starving.
On the way back to the entrance, we decided to catch the last show of
Special Stage Effects.
The show would only run for twenty-two minutes so that was perfect,
as we still had half an hour to go.
The
show would be a little boring for those who don't love movies, or
movies with special effects. Since I love movies, this show is pretty
entertaining. It was the same old show with the same run-down like
last time. The hosts basically demonstrated some effects seen on
movies, from old movies to modern ones. From the use of forced perspective to create a King Kong scene, to the green screen that
manipulates the background and the environment. The funniest part
would be when one of the assistants – this time his name is George
– tries his best to appear on the camera despite his minor
assistance. The main hosts would always try to get him off the camera
no matter what.
Well,
twenty minutes have passed and it was time for us to leave the theme
park. The sky has started to get dark. Before exiting the theme park, we dropped by at the gift shop...and found my Spanish-speaking twin!
Eunyoung and I were thinking
to have dinner somewhere outside the park at the Universal Citywalk.
But the place was overwhelmed with too many fancy dining.
It was cold
and especially we were still a bit soaked after Jurassic
Park. We definitely needed to
have something hot and soupy after a long, exhausting day. Eunyoung
suggested that we could have a bowl of hot Pho for
dinner. Perfect! I haven't had that for a while.
The
Pho place is located
near Glendale downtown. Glendale is located between Universal City
and Pasadena, which makes it a good and strategical place to find
something to eat or hang out after Universal Studios
on the way back home to Pasadena! Eunyoung said that many of her
Korean friends actually go to this place and remark that the Pho
there is the best they've ever
known.
I
helped myself with a bowl of Pho Tai Gan (Basically
pho with beef tendons,
which is always my favorite). Eunyoung and I also shared a couple of
spring rolls. It was fulfilling! You know was even more fulfilling? I
got leftovers and Eunyoung gave some of the remaining spring rolls
for me, seeing that I wouldn't go out the next day and I was running
out of food stock at home. Perfect!
The dinner wrapped
all the activities of the day! I drove Eunyoung back to the school's
parking lot. We parted as I went back home. Ugh, I would start my
work on Tuesday...
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