Snow at Universal Studios Singapore!

Ok, so it's not actually real snow, it was foam or something. Would be cool if they could somehow make real snow come down, but I guess in this heat it would just melt by the time it reached you :p Maybe hail stones...ooooh that'd be something wouldn't it? :p

We were actually at USS for an impromptu visit, we didn't realise they were closing at 7pm and we arrived there at 6.15pm! Lucky with our annual passes they still allowed us to go in and we managed to go on 2 rides with no queues whatsoever.

The New York side was decorated with a huge Christmas tree and there was tons of people just waiting around. Seeing the empty sleigh we figured they were all waiting for Santa to get there. True enough after we got back from the Transformers ride, Santa was there with Grover from Sesame Street and there was a line of people waiting to take photos with them. The tree by this time was already lit up, and Christmassy rock music was playing. Seeing as we had some time, we went on the Spaghetti Chase ride and when we came out, to our surprise it was "snowing"! Reminded me of our trip to LA where they also had the fake snow at The Grove. The interesting thing is the foam wasn't soapy. So I wonder what it's made from...

I'm not sure if this snow is on everyday or only on weekends for now, but from 19th Dec till end of the year they'll have extended hour till 10pm and the snow fall show everyday, see here.

Tree with a Cherry on top instead of a star

Yeah I know my expression is weird, I was pretending to look in awe :p

Universal Studios Singapore - Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase

I keep on waiting for news of when this new ride will open at USS, supposed to have been December, but now people are saying first quarter 2013. I have a feeling they're probably aiming to open around the March school holidays. And seems like judging to this: http://www.rwsentosa.com/RWSInvites/promotions the ride will be ready for people to preview by sometime February. Can't wait to bring my girl there!

Battlestar Gallactica Universal Studios Singapore

Scream!!! Or not...


Last week as Annual Pass holders We were given an preview of the reopening of the Battlestar Gallactica roller coaster ride. The preview was held at night 8-11pm. Hubby had been waiting forever for this ride to reopen.

The rest of the park was closed off and only Sci Fi city was open. It wasn't crowded at all and there was hardly any line at all.

Because we had C with us we both had to take turns. Hubby was first up - main reason obviously being I was scared stiff and needed to work up the courage. I'm not much of a chicken usually, I've been on The Mummy ride and most other roller coasters in other theme parks but this one is said to be the tallest duelling coaster in the world so I wasn't even sure I could brave it.

I watched the coasters go round and round several times each time telling myself it's not so bad....I already knew I wouldn't take the one where your feet dangled (that's the Cylon), thought the other one (the Human) was 'the tamer' one. I thought it looked slower than the other one.

So when it came to my turn to go ride I was so nervous and really almost chickened out. I just kept telling myself that I should just try once. There were little kids on the ride for goodness sakes. Well I completely lost it as soon as we went down the first drop. It was scary as hell and I screamed louder than I thought cos after I got off the ride, wobbly knees aside, my throat was sore! And I was the only one screaming in my row!!!

So in short, if you are a roller coaster fanatic you absolutely must ride this coaster. If you're a little daring just try once.

I'm not sure if I'd dare to go back on...perhaps day time would be less scary and I know wat to expect now so I 'should' be able to keep my eyes open for the whole ride....

Universal Studios Singapore - POSB annual pass freebies

This is a very very long overdue post. When we bought our annual passes for Universal Studios Singapore we got these limited edition freebies (2 sets) when we paid using POSB credit card.

We've never used the bag to date...kinda weird to be carrying around the bag in Singapore I think cos it's got the USS logo, kinda like advertising for them. It's a good sturdy bag tho which can be used in various ways - as a backpack, carrybag or shoulder bag. The bottles are made of plastic - too bad - it would be nicer if it was metal. And the wording has already faded as you use and wash it.

Woody Woodpecker at Universal Studios Singapore

Woody Woodpecker seems like a main mascot for Universal Studios Singapore. Have seen him on the ads and also on the Kid's Meal lunch box. If you order a kid's meal at USS, it comes with a Woody Woodpecker lunch box which is rather cute. Have seen dozens of adults sans children walking around with the boxes too. Only problem is if you go back and keep on getting the kids meals then you end up having a few of these boxes which ends up getting given away to any one that wants it.

Here Caelyn was really brave to take a photo with him without either of us. It's her first photo with a mascot alone and she was the one who wanted to take the photo.

These other photos are just miscellaneous pics I never got around to putting up.

Some more (new) pictures of Universal Studios

Everytime we go to Universal Studios Singapore (yes we have an annual pass) we see something new there. Like this time we saw a new design for the refillable souvenir cups.

And we also try to eat something different everytime we're there. This time we tried the Goldilocks fried chicken place at Far Far Away land. I must say the fried chicken is very very good, very moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.I regretted not taking a photo of it..lol. They had a value set meal for 3 people for $28+ that consisted of 8 pieces of chicken, 2 half corn on the cobs (weird only 2), 2 fried buns (which was a bit like fried mantou), a medium size tub of mashed potatoes with gravy which was soo yummy and a medium coleslaw. You can choose two of coleslaw or 2 of mashed potatoes or one of each. Oh and 3 drinks too. I would highly recommend this eatery

The little kid in the blue shirt from the audience was so cute! He actually danced!

These guys were pretty Hawt!

I also finally got to watch the Monster Rock show and it was brilliant! Very upbeat music and entertaining. It was hilarious when one of the monsters broke out into a chinese song. Not that they didn't sing it well cos they did, but the older chinese audience sitting behind us clapped their hand wildly and said thank you...LOL.

Highlights of Our Recent Trip to Universal Studios Singapore

Here are some highlights from our recent trip to Universal Studios Singapore a few weeks ago. It was a shame just a few days before we went that Battlestar Gallactica dueling roller coaster had to be closed for further testing. It is still the soft opening phase after all, so i guess it's no surprise. From what I read on RWS facebook page, a lot of ppl were disappointed because they felt that this roller coaster was the main attraction. I guess it is in a way, but there are lots more rides and attractions to see - Revenge of the Mummy for one is a must do for roller coaster aficionados. The only problem we encountered was the long Qs and wait times. I guess due to the roller coaster shutting down, the crowd dispersion in the park amongst the other rides were a bit poor and caused bottle necks at the other popular rides like Jurassic Park and Canopy Flier which saw a waiting time up to 75 mins at one point. People who've been to Japan Universal Studios say it's nothing compared to Japan's waiting times and I must say it's pretty common even in other theme parks around the world to wait that long for a ride, especially on a school holiday or a weekend.

Anyway on the day we visited, it was super hot....but eh, it's Singapore after all, what else would you expect...except rain which we didn't have thankfully. The heat did give me a huge headache tho....maybe a mini sun stroke? :p While there we also tried the New York Style Pizza. It was to die for and we'll gladly go back to eat it again!

We did miss out a couple of rides, but luckily we have an annual pass. Kids under 4 are free, and now I know why, there's not a whole lot of things they can ride at the park and a lot of shows and attractions are a little too intense for them.

Universal Studios Singapore Preview Night Experience

When Resorts World announced that they would sell $10 preview tickets for USS (Universal Studios Singapore), we couldn't be anymore excited and of course we went there the first day of ticket sales to ensure we wouldn't miss out (typical Singaporeans). A lot of ppl wonder why we would go to the park when you can't go on the rides during the preview. But hey it's only $10 and you get a free combo meal of your choice! We took it as a night out to dinner. And we were excited to be able to see what they had to offer and to take photos of the park.

The park didn't dissapoint. From the first time we stepped up to the gates we were greeted with warm and friendly smiles. This was not the type of customer service we in Singapore are accustomed to. The staff there seemed genuinely happy to work there! Why wouldn't they, I personally think it would be a great place to work.

As soon as we stepped inside Hollywood Boulevard we saw 3 characters walking around getting ready to take photos with park goers - saw Beetlejuice (honestly why would anyone want to take photos with him and he was the only one without a 'guide'), Marilyn Monroe, and Kungfu Panda.

Most people would know that the park is quite tiny compared to the other Universal Parks around the world. But they managed to pack in as much stuff as they could possibly fit in every nook and cranny so that everywhere you look there's always something to see and take a photo of. It doesn't take long to walk around the whole park, but even as we walked such a short time we had sore feet afterwards! It will be interesting to see how the park will manage when they open for full attendance. Are we gonna have to walk elbow to elbow with people?

Food in the park is fantastic. There's a ton of options. From Halal to Chinese to Indian to Western to quick bites from carts you'll never run out of options. It really doesn't compare to the parks in Gold Coast. Not only is the food really expensive at the Gold Coast theme parks, but there's also not much choices. It's pretty much the typical Burgers & Fries, Fish/Chicken & Chips. But at USS you can get Chicken Rice, Laksa, Rendang Rice, Hot Dog Set, New York Pizza, American Burger & Fries, Nasi Briyani and more! We couldn't decide what to eat, I really wanted to try the New York Pizza, I could smell it down New York land. And I was also tempted to try the Chicken Caesar Wrap with Waffle Fries, Drink and Ice Cream cone from Far Far Away Land. But since we were with my MIL, hubby opted to have us eat at Discovery Food Court at The Lost World land which served Chicken Rice and Nasi Rendang. The portions were generous and the taste was excellent! The Nasi Rendang is definitely value for money. There were big chunks of tender beef, pickles, a bowl of curry vegetable (or Lontong without the rice cakes) and your choice of dessert (greenbean soup or sago) and choice of drink.

I think one of the best things about this park is that there's a lot of rides that kids above 92cm can ride on with an adult. Even a mini coaster if they so dare. So I was glad they could cater to their little guests. And best of all, kids under 4 get in for free! :p

So needless to say I was quite impressed with the hospitality and the facilities. Oh and the toilets are aplenty and very clean too. Plenty of merchandise to choose from, some moderately priced some typical theme park prices, but I'll be sure to go back to the Betty Boop store next time. They had the cutest stuff! We will definitely be there opening week!

For complete photos of our experience, click here.