A Fun Day Out at The Entertainment Capital of LA: Universal Studios Hollywood

Less than a year ago, I blogged about my experience at Universal Studios Singapore, when I visited Singapore with my classmates to attend an international advertising conference. I had such a great time, and I felt bad that my family wasn't there to experience it with me. I'd never thought that they would finally get a chance to see Universal Studios, this time at Hollywood, for the Los Angeles leg of our US trip. 

As you may know, Los Angeles is home to world-renowned theme parks, with Universal Studios and Disneyland being the most popular. A trip to Los Angeles wouldn't be complete without dropping by any of these theme parks. We were initially deciding between Disneyland and Universal Studios, but settled on Universal Studios instead since we've already seen Hong Kong Disneyland twice anyway, and we figured there wouldn't be much of a difference (but we know the one in the US is much larger). Disneyland, too, is a bit too, well, kiddie, and my now 12 year-old brother was no longer as excited about Disneyland, unlike in  April 2006 when we first visited Hong Kong Disneyland (he hasn't turned six yet at the time). After these considerations, we thought: "Universal Studios it is!"

From our hotel in Chinatown (not really a good location--I'll probably explain some other time), we walked to the Union Station several blocks away. We then took the Red Line Metro to the Universal City station, where we crossed the street to the trolley pick-up point. From there, it was a 10-15 minute trolley ride up the hill to the Universal CityWalk (a shopping and dining area outside the theme park) and the Universal Studios theme park itself.

The entrance to Universal City

Excitedly waiting for the trolley

And here it is!

The famous Universal Studios globe

Red carpet treatment

The Universal Studios Studio Tour

The Universal Studios Studio Tour is the highlight of your experience at the theme park. The tour, which takes around two hours, takes you to the Universal Studios backlot where some of the most famous movies, TV shows, and even music videos are filmed. If you take the tour, you also get to experience the King Kong 360 3D ride, which, believe me, is something you wouldn't want to miss out on. 

Also, if you want to avoid long queues at every single attraction, you might want to purchase a Front of Line Pass, which allows you to save time by skipping the queues. You also get priority seating at some attractions, since they allow those with Front of Line Passes to enter first. This doesn't come cheap though, but the price is worth it.

Early on in the tour

Warehouse-like buildings where TV shows and movies are filmed are found throughout the backlot

The trolley taking us to "New York"

This set was used for the film "Back to the Future"

Movies such as "Bruce Almighty" and others were filmed in this re-creation of New York City

Lady Gaga filmed parts of her "Edge of Glory" music video right on those steps

This set comes to life whenever a New York scene for any movie is shot

Skull Island, used in the 2005 film King Kong

Does the boat look life-sized to you? Well, it is much smaller if you see it yourself--camera tricks were used to make this boat life-sized in the movie. 

On the set of Home & Family, a TV show which airs on the Hallmark Channel.

As we passed the set of Home & Family, we had to stay quiet as they were filming some scenes inside one of the houses.

Getting a first-hand look at special effects

You would probably recall Amity Island from the film Jaws

A "diver" being devoured by a "shark"

Adding random explosions makes any movie so much better, apparently.

Mexico? Nope, this is still in Hollywood. I don't really recall the movie that was shot on this set.

Recognize this house? This was part of the fictional Wysteria Lane from the TV show Desperate Housewives.

Desperate Housewives aired its last episode in 2012.

Another view of Wysteria Lane

Whoville from The Grinch

An actor portrays Norman Bates from the 1960 movie Psycho.

On the set of the movie War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise

This was the fuselage of an actual plane, which was purchased by the film producers for $60,000

A car from The Fast and The Furious franchise.

Now, moving on to the rest of the theme park...

Shrek meets the visitors

That was completely random.

Some of the more "kiddie" attractions

Making our way down to the Lower Lot for more rides and attractions. Sometimes these escalators do break down so hope for the best--otherwise you'd have to use the stairs (which we did, ON THE WAY UP at some point.)

You don't get as soaked here compared to the Jurassic Park attraction in Singapore.

My favorite attraction at the resort. I first got to try this in Singapore and I was so happy to have experienced it all over again in California! I'm still hungover from this ride. Seriously.

It was bright and sunny throughout our stay in Los Angeles (and even San Francisco). We did get sunburned.

Costumes from the recent Les Miserables movie (first and second from the left)

Taking a break from all the fun with a cup of Ben & Jerry's soft serve ice cream (we had three of these during our entire stay in California--it's just so good!)

The Simpsons Ride, an indoor rollercoaster. Unlike in Singapore, there are no outdoor rollercoasters here. Strange.

Getting ready to watch Waterworld.

If you sit too close to the front, there's a pretty good chance you will get soaked.

Just look at that man dangle from that height! It's amazing how the actors are able to do stunts like this without safety harnesses.

Again, adding fire and explosions just seems to make things better.

The Special Effects Stage, an attraction where you'l learn the secrets behind making some Hollywood films. 

The hosts demonstrate motion capture technology. 

A volunteer from the audience gets a shot at being an astronaut

We get to meet well-trained dogs, cats, birds, and other creatures in Universal's Animal Actors

It's Mr. Bean!

Reminds you of London, doesn't it?

King Kong at the Universal CityWalk

There are lots of great dining and shopping options here, where you could spend some time before heading home. The theme park closes earlier (6pm when we visited) but the shops and restaurants here are open until much later.