Notices
Disneyland California and West Coast Trip Reports Trip Reports

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 22 Jun 15, 09:16 PM  
Link to this Post
#1
LLKJDisney
VIP Dibber
 
LLKJDisney's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 08

LLKJDisney's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
The Moretons Amazing California Adventure - Day 9

DAY 9 – UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

After yesterdays lie in we were back to normal today and we were all up and about by 6.30am. This was always the plan, as we wanted to get to Universal for opening so we wanted to leave as close to 8am as possible. We ended up leaving the house at 7.50am.

The drive to LA is a lot easier on a Sunday morning; we pulled into the Jurassic car park at 8.35am. There were not many cars about so we were hopeful of a quiet day. We were not sure what to expect as it was Easter Sunday but we followed the Dibb’s busy day guide, which recommended Universal. The downside to being so early was that the sun hadn’t burned through yet and it was quite chilly in the shade.


We strolled through City Walk which looked good even though it was all closed, it was much more compact than Florida. We joined the moderate queue outside the entrance and waited just over 10 minutes for the park to open. There was a lady with a megaphone directing people. Lee said I would be good at that job but wouldn’t need the megaphone – cheeky git!

When the park opened we followed several people’s advice and made our way to the back lot tour. We managed to make it on to the first tram of the day although we were on the back row. The tour guide was excellent and gave us lots of good information. The King Kong 3D bit was superb although Jacob would not agree as he freaked out!


My favourite bits of the tour were Wisteria Lane, as I loved Desperate Housewives, I also loved the Plane Crash set from War of the Worlds. As most people had told us it was much better than the Florida back lot tour with so much more to see. A real highlight to the park.





When we got off the tram we decided to head down to the lower lot and try and get on the Transformers ride. Before we hopped on the 4 huge escalators we took in the views of LA and the golf course near by. I was really surprised at the sheer size of the escalators. I had read about them before we went but wow, if these things broke down, to climb those stairs would be awful!


When we got to Transformers we were happy to see it was walk on. Jacob lost his nerve at the last minute so only Dick, Lee and I went on. It was excellent but as we don’t really watch transformers we didn’t have a clue what was going on. I much prefer Spiderman. Outside there was a massive queue to meet the transformers but the boys were not that bothered so we moved on. Jacob wanted to take a photo of them, I think actually he didn’t want to get too close, he was a little bit frightened I think.


Lucas spotted a shop selling Minions so we went in there, he absolutely loves Despicable Me and wanted to buy a Minion, this was one thing he went on about before even getting on the plane, he wanted to buy a minion teddy!


We wanted to go on the Mummy ride but it wasn’t working so we took the boys in the Dino play area for a while. It was very small but luckily there were not many other children around. The boys burned off some energy while we sat in the Sun, which had now made a welcome appearance. We all decided we didn’t fancy getting wet so didn’t bother with the Jurassic Park river ride.

We checked on the Mummy and it was working so we joined the queue, which was posted as a 20-minute wait. The plan was for Jacob, Dick, Lee and I to go on but once again Jacob got scared while we were in the queuing area so Granddad left with him. Lee and I felt bad and decided to join the single rider line to speed things up. We were soon on the ride and although we both liked it we both agreed the one in Florida was better. The rides are quite different though so definitely worth going on. We had now completed the lower lot and it had only just gone 11am.

As was the trend the park was starting to get a lot busier. We went back up the escalators to go on the Minion ride. Jacob didn’t want to go on, so I stayed off with him while the others went on, there was no way Lucas was missing out on the Minions. Lucas loved the ride he even took his new Minion on the ride with him. While they were riding Jacob and I met a Minion and had pictures with Gru.

Of course when they came out Lucas wanted to have his picture taken with them all as well, so I queued up again with both of them!



It was now time for our daily ice cream; we spotted a Cinnobon, which served the soft serve, ice cream. It took ages to get served as there was a 90 year old lady in there doing everything, she couldn’t go any faster bless her but people were not happy. We sat down and watched people meet Scooby Doo and Sponge Bob. Lucas wanted to meet Sponge Bob so we did that. Whilst waiting for ice cream i took this picture of Lee and his dad, it is one of my favourite pictures of the holiday, as Lee and his dad are both posties back home!


We then moved on to the Silly Swirly fun ride, which Lee and the boys went on. The boys then played for a bit in the little play area. We wanted to see the 1.20pm Special Effects show. It was packed out but we got a seat in the side section, Jacob was a little scared at first but found it funny in the end. It was a great show and well worth seeing.

We wanted to do all things that were not in the Florida park so Shrek and the Simpsons ride were low on our list. This was a good job as they had the longest queue times. After the Special Effects show we headed straight over to the 2.20pm Waterworld show. We were there by 2pm so had to queue for 20 minutes, thanks to the boys this was not the greatest 20 mins of our holiday

When we got in we had some good seats at the front of a side section. We didn’t sit in the splash zone, be warned if you do, you could get soaked. One lad literally had a bucket of water tipped over his head! The show was amazing, probably the best we have seen in any theme park. Definitely do not miss it if you go to Universal. I was so impressed by this show.


Fantastic stunts, amazing visuals and some stars from US TV shows starring in the show. Jacob had his picture taken with these two after the show


The park was now packed and it was standing room only everywhere. We only had Shrek and the Simpsons to do and no one was bothered by them so we headed to the exit. We wanted a little look at Citywalk as well before we left.


We looked at the shops and Sue and I got a couple of t-shirts. There was a nice atmosphere in Citywalk much better than in Downtown Disney the other day. We found our car quite easily today and we left the car park just after 3.30pm.

The traffic on the way home was worse than in the morning but still not that bad. It took us just over an hour to get back which we were happy with. We let the boys decide where they wanted to go for dinner. Jacob wanted to go to Bubba Gumps again. Lucas then announced that he wanted to go to ‘Cuppa Dumps’ as well. 3 Year olds – aren’t they great

When Lucas was asked why he wanted to go Bubba Gumps he said because of the blue jelly! The service was again good but not as good as the other night. We had different meals to the other night and they were all very nice. No puddings tonight though. Bill was just over $110 plus tip. The day had worked out well as wanted to get back to the house to finish our packing, ready for our move to San Diego via Legoland tomorrow.

The boys had a bath and watched Cloudy with Meatballs 2 before going to bed. We finished our packing and then watched the rest of Good Will Hunting before getting an early night.
LLKJDisney is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 25 Jun 15, 07:36 AM  
Link to this Post
#2
SuzyM
Very Serious Dibber
 
SuzyM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 09

SuzyM's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Looks like a fab day. I am really looking forward to going to US in August.

Suzy
__________________
Suzy
DLC: 1997, 2015 // DLP: 1998, 1999, 2001, 2013, 2023.
WDW: 1996, 2000, 2003 (all offsite); 2007 (POR); 2008 (OKW); 2010 (SSR); 2012 (OKW); 2014 (BC); 2016 (AKL); 2018 (POFQ); 2022 - Apr Pop, Aug -CBR; 2024 (Pop)
TDL and DLHK: July/Aug 2017; DCL: 2023 Alaska (Wonder)
SuzyM is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 28 Jun 15, 12:02 PM  
Link to this Post
#3
smedley
Imagineer
 
smedley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 10
Fab day and you've now thrown me into consternation about going next year as it does seem quite different to the one in Florida. How can it be so difficult to fit everything into 3 weeks! LOL!
__________________


Previous trips (mostly villas,) '98,'00,03,04x2,06,07,11 (first onsite stay SSR),12 villa and RCI cruise,14 OKW,15 RCI cruise, Clearwater and Int Drive. 16 West Coast DL, 17
smedley is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 29 Jun 15, 08:26 PM  
Link to this Post
#4
LLKJDisney
Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
 
LLKJDisney's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 08

LLKJDisney's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Originally Posted by SuzyM View Post
Looks like a fab day. I am really looking forward to going to US in August.

Suzy
thanks for following Suzy.

Originally Posted by smedley View Post
Fab day and you've now thrown me into consternation about going next year as it does seem quite different to the one in Florida. How can it be so difficult to fit everything into 3 weeks! LOL!
i know what you mean! if you have a spare day, i would squeeze it in. views from US are amazing too!
LLKJDisney is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
DIBB Savings
AttractionTickets.com

Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10

Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS


theDIBB Blog
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »
Aquatica Orlando announce the grand opening of its newest attraction, Tassie’s Underwater Twist, on 15... Read More »


theDIBB Menu


Exchange Rates
US Dollar Rates
ASDA  $1.2347
CaxtonFX  $1.2275
Covent Garden FX  $1.2463
FAIRFX  $1.2350
John Lewis  $1.2380
M&S  $1.2178
Sainsburys  $1.2337
TESCO  $1.2343
Travelex  $1.2353
Updated: 09:30 28/03/2024
Euro Rates
ASDA  €1.1426
CaxtonFX  €1.1388
Covent Garden FX  €1.1492
FAIRFX  €1.1432
John Lewis  €1.1457
M&S  €1.1263
Sainsburys  €1.1419
TESCO  €1.1425
Travelex  €1.1435
Updated: 09:30 28/03/2024

DIBB Premium Membership
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership?

Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as...

"No adverts on theDIBB Forums"

Upgrade Now



X