Universal Studio Hollywood

We took a two day break before emerging ourselves in yet another theme park. Disney had been a good enough experience so we were hoping Universal Studio but be similar. Thankfully we were correct. The last time we had been to a Universal park was in Florida and once again it had been a nightmare.. it is once again much larger than the California version and the lines.. oh the lines!

Universal Studio Hollywood 415 acres large while the one is Florida spans 735 acres. 

We didn't have to rush to much in the morning as the park opened at 9am.. but we still decided to have a grab and go breakfast. We grabbed bagels at Bagel Nosh Deli and ate on our way to the park. We had bought the Universal Express Pass and hoped for a smooth experience. They had a massive parking lot and then you walked through their Universal City Walk in order to get to the main entrance.

The park is built on two floors. We started with the upper lot. 

Our first stop was Hogwarts. 

FIRST RIDE - FLIGHT OF THE HIPPOGRIFF..We walked right on to it. No line at all. This ride is super lame.. no thrills, nothing.. it is only worth it if there is no line. The other Harry Potter ride was temporarily closed so we moved on.

SECOND RIDE - THE SIMPSONS - This was a great ride. It was fully virtual and hella fun. The wait time was about 35 minutes but the whole time videos were playing and there were interactive displays. This particular video stayed with them and we find ourselves playing out the scenario every few days. 

THIRD RIDE - STUDIO TOUR - The escalator to go to the lower lot was near the Simpson's ride and with the wait so short we decided to do the Studio Tour. It was a 45 min tour which gave us a chance to sit and relax. We drove through various sets and encounters some explosions and of course the famous Jaws jumping  out of the water moment I remember my late grandma describing many many years ago when she had first visited the park. 

FOURTH RIDE - SECRET LIFE OF PETS After the studio tour we came back upstairs and rode the super cute Secret Life of Pets ride.

FIFTH RIDE - DESPICABLE ME MINION MAYHEM - Again super cute ride.. it was a virtual stimulator with some 4D aspects. 

So far I would say Universal was more cute and less thrilling, very heavy on the virtual affects. Lines were none existent thanks to our express pass.. so we breezed through most of the park.But on the plus, it is so small in size it is easy to hop over from area to area. 

Now time for some sustenance. 

We got a Classic Pink Lard Donut from Lard Lad in the Simpsons area. The donut was freaking enormous! Bubbleman's Taco Truck Nacho's were good but Disney had better food options. And Butter Beer from Hogwarts which is disgustingly sweet. I would have killed for a glass of dole whip instead. 

SIXTH RIDE - KUNG FU PANDA THEATRE - This was kind of average. 

SEVENTH RIDE - WATERWORLD - So this was not a ride but a show. They had shows are particular times during the day and the wait was really long. No express pass. It was less a line and more a bunch of people squashed together in an outdoor space in the blistering heat.. not fun. 

The first several row of seats were a wet zone.. H chose to sit in the wet zone, the rest of us sat just outside the wet zone. We had to be close enough to keep an eye on him but had no desire to get wet. And they made sure people in the wet zone got drenched.

This was a fantastic show.. water, explosions, acrobatic performances and oh yea water and guess who was nicely sitting in the not wet zone and still got soaked.. ME! 

EIGHTH RIDE - HARRY POTTER'S FORBIDDEN JOURNEY - The ride was finally working again so we headed over before something happened to it again. The wait was slightly long even with the express pass but it was expected. The line was through the whole Hogwarts Castle so very interactive. But dark to not good for pictures. We had done this ride before in Florida but H had not been tall enough to ride back then. He was tall enough now. It's a fantastic ride, thrilling, virtual effects, the whole shebang. 

We headed back to the Lower Lot now. 

NINTH RIDE - TRANSFORMERS - Cool fun ride. Actually now that I am sitting here writing this I am sort of struggling to remember what even happened in the ride. 

We took another food break at the Jurassic Cafe and had some chicken adobo. 

TENTH RIDE - SUPER MARIO WORLD - Mario World is brand new.. just opened this summer and you can't use your express pass. So we were prepared for the long long wait. But the world itself was marvelous.. like wow. 

You could pay extra to get a wrist band and play additional games while in the world, the cafe needed reservations made in advance and the line itself was so impressive. I just couldn't help be both in awe and think of how all this money could be put to better use. 

The ride was like the Mario Racing game.. everyone wore digital headset and while we rode together we all played our own game. It was pretty cool and worth the long line. 

ELEVENTH RIDE - THE MUMMY - This was the last ride of the day. It had been previously closed but it finally opened so we hurried on over. It was really really good. It got a shriek out of the boys and it was very thrilling. Perfect way to end the day.

Before we left we walked around for a bit.. still having time to spare.. making sure the kids didn't want to redo anything.. we walked through Hogwarts.. H got some jelly beans from Honey Dukes.. they have gross flavors like earwax and boogers mixed in with the good ones.. so you never know what you are going to get. And we got a glass of Bug Juice. It was bad.. like really really bag. Imagine drinking watered down mint toothpaste with some seltzer water and boba. Eew. I kept accidentally drinking it and being shocked by house gross it was until we finally found a trash can. 

All in all I think if we had to choose only one park to do then Disney would win. 

But it was still a good day. It was our last night in Los Angeles. We headed back to the hotel and then headed out to find some food.. we ate at Papi Tacos.

These were so good.. sauce dripped down our arms and we didn't care good.. 

But we aren't done with California just yet.. we leave the city behind for some time with nature. 

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