Last Friday I took some time off from my 2 jobs (teaching classical guitar, writing and web development), my 2 academic pursuits (my Bachelor’s in Communication and preparation for my JLPT3) and went to the ‘soft’ opening of Universal Studios Singapore!
My day-off was long overdue. This trip was a real treat. It allowed me to celebrate my birthday week, my acing the JLPT 4 with a score of 326/400 and my one month anniversary with my girlfriend Yi Hui.
I should mention at this point that Friday was the park’s second day of opening. This is a ‘soft’ opening. Not all attractions are ready yet. The Madagascar and Transformers attractions were not ready at the time of my visit.
The Quick and Dirty
Is Universal Studios Singapore worth visiting? Yes.
Universal Studios Singapore offers a satisfying theme park experience. It offers an impressive range of food and thrilling roller coaster rides. I did not find the experience as immersive as Universal Studios Japan (USJ), but Universal Studios Singapore (USS) offers an impressive experience in its own right.
The Rides and Attractions
Because we purchased the Express Passes, we managed to experience nearly all the attractions. At this point, I should mention that USS places a strong emphasis on roller coasters. If you do not enjoy roller coasters, then you will miss out a lot of ride-related fun.
USJ had a good mix of technologically-advanced indoor ‘rail’/’static’ rides. The Spider-Man and Back to the Future Rides are both good examples of gentle, but thrilling, ‘rail’/’static’ rides. Both rides are accessible to people who are afraid of roller coasters.
During our visit, USS lacked the equivalent rides, but I suspect the Madagascar and Transformer rides will be ‘rail’/’static’ rides.
Far Far Away
Enchanted Airways
This is a mini roller coaster based on the Shrek franchise. We sat on the red dragon roller coaster (Donkey’s girlfriend) for a 1-minute roller coaster ride. The ride is really short and it’s a great warm up for the scarier roller coaster rides. Because it is so short, it’s more accessible to people afraid of roller coasters.
Donkey Live
This is an interactive ‘live’ show featuring Shrek’s Donkey. I was impressed with the interactivity of the show. I was also impressed that the script was localized to feature certain Singaporean ‘eccentricities’.
The show lasted about 10 minutes and will probably be enjoyed by most fans and young children. I’ve watched the Shrek films and though I found the attraction interesting, it did not appeal to me much.
I found USJ’s Terminator show was much more engaging. Nothing beats walking into a theatre that’s surrounded by live-sized Terminators…
There’s actually someone in a booth providing the voice for Donkey. This allows Donkey to ‘interact’ with the audience.
Shrek 4-D Adventure
This show is exactly the same as the one as USJ. I’ve seen this show twice at USJ. It’s nice to finally watch it delivered in English. This is a really fun show to watch. It is really immersive and you get to ‘feel’ elements of the adventure.
This 4-D studio employs technological tricks to recreate the feeling of what’s happening on screen (spiders running through your legs, water splashing onto you etc).
Though water will splash on you, this isn’t really a ‘wet’ ride. There are sporadic sprinkles of water ( mostly aimed at your face), so don’t go in dressed in a poncho. The 3-D glasses will probably shield you from most of the water.
It’s a wonderful experience and I liked it a lot (though it was my third time watching it). I have a feeling most visitors will enjoy it, regardless of their age.
The Lost World
Dino-Soarin
This is a suspended mini roller coaster. It looked pretty tame and Yi Hui and I weren’t expecting much. There was no screaming to be heard when we were approaching or queuing for the attraction.
But the ride was more exciting and faster than we expected. We initially thought that it would be a leisurely top-down tour of the park, but after the first drop, we realized that it was actually a mini roller coaster.
It wasn’t very scary though and only lasted about a minute. It was great fun and seems to be a good complement to Enchanted Airways.
Canopy Flyer
This is a kiddie ride that both Yi Hui and I were adamant about riding. It’s designed meant for the kids but it was a welcome diversion from the roller coasters.
This ride was really popular with the kids though. There was a 20 minute wait for the ride!
It had one of the longest queues during our visit. Thankfully we had our express passes so we did not need to queue at all.
Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure
This was my favorite ride at the Lost World. This is a river raft ride that makes great use of the Jurassic Park franchise.
Like the movie, visitors go on a tour of the Jurassic Park island. However, instead of taking the tour via SUV, visitors take a river raft tour. Of course, something eventually goes wrong, a T-Rex escapes and the tour suddenly picks up pace.
Do note that there’s a high possibility you’ll get wet during this ride. Yi Hui and I were completely soaked thanks to to the final drop. Consider wearing a poncho for this ride.
The ending was really awesome. The raft is raised for the climatic drop were you come ‘dangerously’ close to the animatronics T-Rex, who is, presumably, trying to eat you.
WaterWorld
This ‘live’ action show is based on the Kevin Costner movie of the same name. I found it mildly entertaining. I did not watch the movie and honestly at this point I was eating a rapidly melting caramel apple, so I did not have much reason to enjoy the show.
It is very ably performed and the effects are interesting. It’s good fun for the family but be warned, the front row blue-coloured seats are the ‘wet’ seats. There’s a high possibility you will get wet if you sit there.
Avoid sitting there if you intend to eat during the show! I, for one, did not want to eat a salty caramel apple.
Ancient Egypt
Revenge of the Mummy
This is the first in-door roller coaster I’ve ever experienced. Frankly, I was expecting a gentle rail ride akin to USJ’s SpiderMan ride. It’s not.
Visitors are advised to rest their heads against the headrest. Take this advice. I did not and was not braced as necessary. My head ended up swaying to the left and right and I hit the back of my head on the rest a few times.
Yi Hui and I both enjoyed this roller coaster immensely. The other visitors who sat on this ride were really scared and rightfully so. The ambience for this ride is perfect. The darkness, smoke and laser images increase the intensity and unpredictability of this indoor roller coaster.
The façade and interior holding area for this attraction deserves note. It is really creepy and it really sets the mood.
However, I found this ride to be the worst usage of a movie franchise. None of the Mummy cast of characters make an appearance. It’s difficult to believe that this ride is based on the Brendan Frasier Mummy Franchise.
The story that accompanies this ride is also pretty weak, though you’ll probably have too much fun to care.
Treasure Hunters
This is a slow moving tour that takes place on a rail-mounted mini safari jeep. This is another kiddie ride and this attraction had the longest queue (30 minutes). The kids really seem eager to sit this ride. Thankfully, our Express Passes saved us from the wait.
Yi Hui told me that she enjoyed the view of the park from this tour.
Though I did enjoy the view, I found the ‘special’ effects for this ride to be pretty lacklustre.
Sci-Fi City
Accelerator
This is a Tea-CupEsque ride where visitors can control how quickly the cups spin. In each cup is a wheel that controls the speed of the cup. The faster to turn the wheels, the faster the cup spins.
This was a fun ride, and I had no problems spinning like a demon. Unfortunately, as the ride came to an end, I made the mistake of looking down for 3 seconds, and nearly ended up puking.
Remember to keep your eyes on your companion or on a fixed location!
Battlestar Galactica Human
This is USS marquee ride. The human (red) version flies at speeds of 90km/h and is up to 14 stories tall.
This is undisputedly the scariest ride we sat on. During one of the drops, I literally felt the blood rushing from my feet to my head. That’s how fast it was.
Unfortunately, my stomach was still reeling from the Accelerator so I was reluctant to sit on the suspended CYLON version of the roller coaster.
Yi Hui was really keen to sit on it though. I think she braver than me! I also think she’s better at holding down her food.
Other attendees seem to be reluctant to experience the rollercoasters. There was absolutely nobody in line for the BattleStar Galatica roller coasters. We did not even need to use our express passes.
As you can see above, the roller coaster we sat in wasn’t even full!
Hollywood
Monster Rock Musical
This show features updated, classic movie monsters. This includes Dracula, Wolfman, Wolfwoman, Frankeinstein, the Bride of Frankenstein and the Mummy.
Despite the presence of ‘monsters’ the show is not scary at all. Children in attendence were not scared and I did not detect any fear-induced crying.
The performance is High-5-ish, so it is pretty accessible to kids.
The costumes used do not resemble their classic appearance, and they do not look scary at all.
As a huge hard rock fan, I was extremely disappointed by the liberal use of the word ‘rock’. I do not consider pop music from the WonderGirls and the PussyCat Dolls to be rock!
I was also saddened by the poor rendition of Guns N Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle”. I was equally saddened when Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” and “You Give Love a Bad Name” was given a EuroDance beat.
Clearly, the rocker in me disagrees with a large portion of the musical direction.
New York
Lights, Camera, Action!
This is a special effects show that simulates a movie sound stage. This is USS equivalent of USJ’s “Backdraft”.
However, I found this attraction surperior to its USJ counterpart in everyway. This attraction is a simulation of a hurricane ravaging a dock. It was really impressive. I highly recommend you experience it solely for its technical impressiveness.
The introductory narrator we encountered had a tendency to deliver his lines incorrectly though. ButI find his enthusiasm commendable.
Food
We ate at Mel’s Drive In for lunch. I had the chili burger with fries and a chocolate milkshake. Yi Hui had the teriyaki chicken burger and the apple pie ala mode with vanilla ice cream. The meal cost $22.80, however we had $20 worth of food vouchers to use so we only paid $2.80.
The quality of food was good, and I felt that it was appropriately priced. The servings were generous and the quality of food was acceptable for the price.
When it rained I ate the gula Melaka sago as we took refuge in the Oasis Spice Café. At $3.50, I found it to be slightly pricey, especially since it was just a small cup of sago. I did not find it to be a rip-off but it wasn’t good value for money either.
What I really enjoyed was the caramel candied apple ($6.90) I bought from Far Far Away. It was awesome! Do note that it melts quickly, so try to eat it quickly and take plenty of serviettes.
While I ate my candied apple, Yi Hui bought her first chocolate Churrio ($3.50). Quite frankly, I couldn’t believe she never ate a Churrio before. When I found out, I grabbed her hand and dragged her to the nearest Churrio stand.
After all, you have to eat a Churrio when you visit Universal Studios. She loved the Churrio and I really enjoyed introducing her to something new.
USS offers a great variety of food. Everything from prata to pizza is available. I would spend a full day there doing nothing but eating if I could.
USS selection of food really deserves commendation. In this regard, I found it to be vastly superior to USJ. The variety of food is vast, and it’s generally appropriately priced. Food is also available at varying price points, with cheaper, accessible food ($6 per pax) and extravaget and expensive food both available.
I highly recommend eating there. Regardless of your budget, USS will probably have something you can afford.
Franchises
I found USS to be highly targetted towards family and children. I found USJ’s SpiderMan and Back to the Future franchises more entertaining.
The kid in me also preferred USJ’s Snoopy, Sesame Street and Hello Kitty franchises. I did not grow up with Shrek or Madagascar, so those franchises did not appeal to me as much.
People born from 1995 onwards will probably appreciate these franchises more than I.
I must mention that heavily-costumed characters tend to linger closer to the opening gate. They do not appear for long, probably due to Singapore’s hot weather. I wanted to take a picture with Kung Fu Panda, but on both occassions that he appeared there was a noticable line of people waiting to take pictures with him.
I got a real kick out of taking my picture with BeatleJuice though.
I must commend the person who played BeatleJuice. He made a great effort of emulating Michael Keaton’s BeatleJuice voice.
Merchandise
As mentioned above, the franchises available at USS did not appeal to me. As a result, I did not feel inclined to purchase any of the merchandise there. That being said, the merchandise is generally well made. It does not feel or appear to be like China-made ‘knock-offs’.
I liked the Shrek merchandise.If you’re a fan of the movie, you should definately check it out.
BattleStar Galactica merchandis and Dinosaur related merchandise is also available, but I should mention that Jurassic Park specific merchandise is not available in abundance.
The same applies to the Mummy franchise.
The in-ride pictures (seen above for the Revenge of the Mummy and BattleStar Galatica) cost $18 for 1 glossy photo or $30 for 2.
The merchandise I really got a kick out of was the hats at the Brown Derby. I could tell you why I like them, but it would be more effective if I showed you instead.
Pricing
The ‘soft’ opening of USS was considered a ‘Super Peak’ period. Therefore we paid $228 ($66+$66+$48+$48) for two One Day Weekday Passes and two Universal Express Passes.
|
Ticket Type
|
Adult*
(Ages 13 to 64) |
Child*
(Ages 4 to 12) |
Senior*
(Age 65 and above) |
|||
|
One Day Weekday1 Pass
|
66
|
48
|
32
|
|||
|
One Day Weekend2 Pass
|
72
|
52
|
36
|
|||
|
Two Day Pass
|
118
|
88
|
58
|
|||
|
Annual Pass-
Fun Pass6 |
318
|
238
|
188
|
|||
|
Annual Pass-
Superstar Pass |
1,098
|
828
|
738
|
|
Ticket Type
|
Off- Peak3
|
Peak4
|
Super Peak5
|
|||
|
Universal Express*
(In addition to your admission ticket) |
30
|
48
|
68
|
Weekday1 refers to Monday to Fridays, excluding Black-Out Dates
Weekend2 refers to Saturdays, Sundays and Black-Out Dates
Off Peak3 refers to Weekdays
Peak4 refers to Weekdays on School Holidays
Super Peak5 refers to Weekends and Black-Out Dates
Refer to this seasonal chart for Weekends, school holidays and black-out dates.
For Fun Pass, check out the black-out dates here.
Fun Pass6: For Guests who purchase their Fun Pass during the soft opening period (18 March till 1 April), they will be given the opportunity to visit the park ONE (1) time prior to 5 April, at which time their annual membership will begin.
* As the park may not be crowded at all times, we recommend that you purchase the express pass only after you have arrived at the park
Conclusion
Even if you are like me, and have been completely spoiled by the fantastic experience that was USJ, you still have to visit USS.
It offers an exciting and rich, new experience, abeit with franchises that don’t really appeal to people like me.
I found it affordable and was very pleased with my experience. As the park approaches completeion, you know it’s only going to get better. I can’t wait to revisit it when it’s complete!
