Universal and NBA

Hello all!

Happy MLK Day!

Unfortunately I woke up not feeling very well this morning at about 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. Today was the third time in my life I have been to Universal Studios (Hollywood in 2005, Singapore in 2012 and now Hollywood in 2017). And strangely, all three times I've been I have been unwell. My body must have some sort of aversion to Universal!

I'll admit that at 4am I started to worry I wouldn't be able to go, especially as I was alone. But I drugged myself up and soldiered on. I got an uber at 7.15am (it cost me $3 - how good is that!) and arrived at Universal Studios Hollywood. 

I had a lot of good memories from visiting here in 2005, most fondly remembering the Jurassic Park ride and the studio tour. Since then, 12 years have passed and something else I was very excited about visiting has opened - the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Because I booked online in advance I was able to enter the park at 8am. This was a nice bonus because today was a public holiday (Martin Luther King Day) and the weather was nice, so I knew it would be busy later!

It was basically me and a whole lot of parents with children dressed in Hogwarts robes there early. Haha!! The only part of the park open was the Harry Potter section so I speed walked to the 'Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey' ride. Where the queue would usually be, you got to walk through Hogwarts seeing Dumbledore's office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and more. The ride itself was a motion simulator that moved around the castle. With Harry, Ron and Hermione you chased dragons, played quidditch and faced dementors, giant spiders etc. It was brilliantly done but unfortunately after two rides it left me feeling a bit nauseous. Speaking to other people who had ridden, it seems we all felt the same. Must be something to do with the screens! I went on twice quickly due to the single rider queue and then rode the Hippogriff roller coaster. It was pretty kiddy and small though. Then I went to Ollivander's to see the wand choose the wizard, and looked around 'Hogsmeade' in all the shops. The attention to detail here was fantastic!! I saw Honeydukes, Zonkos and more. Moaning Myrtle even spoke to you inside the toilets!

Outside Ollivander's I met a girl from Ballarat at home who was also travelling alone. Then I ran into two kiwi women who kindly took my photo with the Hogwarts Express. Then the other rides and attractions started to open, so I decided to head on to those to get in early. 

I walked through 'Springfield', the Simpsons area and rode the simulator ride. Sideshow Bob was trying to kill us and we were thrown about all over the place!

Next I headed to the studio tour. I once again just walked up and got on board and we were on our way. It was beautiful and sunny in LA today so the tour was really picturesque. Certain parts were the same as 2005 (the 'War of the Worlds' set, the city hall from 'Back to the Future', 'Jaws' and the stages). Other parts were new; the 'King Kong' vs dinosaurs part, a new 'Fast and Furious' simulation and a flooding train station. Some parts that I remembered were missing, the flooding of a Spanish street from the movie 'Big Fat Liar' and Wisteria Lane. Overall though I really enjoyed the tour. We didn't see anyone famous like last time though, last time we ran into 'The Wiggles'!!!

I headed to the lower level and walked straight onto the Jurassic Park ride twice in a row thanks to the single rider queue. That drop at the end is awesome, it was even better than I remembered (albeit wet!). The animatronics used are incredible too. The second time I got sprayed a little bit and so did the guy next to me, but we just had a laugh about it.

The 'Transformers' ride was next, I had been on this in Singapore. It's another simulation ride but this time 3D. 

Then I went to the 'Mummy' roller coaster, which was good, but much shorter than I remembered!! I got talking to a couple my age who live here called Diana and David and they were mind blown that I was travelling alone. It's interesting how no one blinks an eye at guys travelling alone, but when you're a girl you get "oh wow how do you do that?!"

I went on Jurassic Park again and ended up in the front row. I got absolutely saturated!!!! Lucky it was sunny so I could dry. 

I headed back upstairs and by this time the park was teeming with people. I'm so glad I got there early! I went to the special effects show which was in a huge arena. Being alone I nabbed a seat in the middle section just as it was starting. We saw a fight scene, a guy set on fire, sound effects in action and lots more. It was very interesting!!

The Minion ride had a 50 minute queue and no single rider line (boooooo!) but I decided to queue up as it was not even 2pm and I had been on all the other rides already. The queue didn't end up taking 50 minutes though and it was fun! So many of the rides at Universal are simulators though and after so many I was starting to feel a bit weird. It makes your eyes feel funny!!

I walked around in the sun and passed the 'Walking Dead' walk through ride. In 2005, Mum and Dad made me walk through the then 'Van Helsing' one and I was so terrified I cried because people lurking in the shadows came out and touched me. I'm still traumatised, so I avoided it and instead went to Shrek 4D!

I saw the 3.30pm animal actors session. The animals were trained so well and were really impressive. The dog that plays Bailey in the upcoming movie 'A Dog's Purpose' was in the show too!

By this stage I was getting pretty tired so my last stop for the day was having one more look around the Harry Potter section. It was packed by this time (about 4pm). I soaked in the views of the castle once more and then coincidentally stumbled upon a group of five performing songs from Harry Potter just with their voices, no background at all. They were fantastic!!

I left the park and caught the metro into the city as I had realised it would be a better option at this time of day. Surprisingly, I easily found my way to the Staples Centre. Here I went to the NBA match between the LA Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Somehow I had managed to buy a ticket in the VIP/premier section, so I got a free match program and money box in the shape of a basketball hoop - how very random!! I had some chicken tenders for dinner. 

The game was a bit of a blowout as the Clippers beat OKC by over 20 points, but the skills on display were great. Some exciting slam dunks and rejections!

I'm so tired and off to Disneyland bright and early tomorrow. 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox