The first time and the last time we went to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) was back in June 2010… Yep, over 5 years ago. At that time, Aina was too stressed out with the noises around the park to enjoy it. I didn’t even bother to write an entry about that visit in this journal. But you can still see the pictures we took during the visit in the Flickr album.
So between that and the fact that Ari isn’t really into amusement parks, we never visited the USS in the past 5.5 years.
This year, with too much free time in our hands, we decided to take Aina to the USS again, giving the amusement park a second chance. Actually, Aina had forgotten her experience in 2010. So I guess it was almost like a fresh start for her.
Just like the River Safari last week, we decided to buy the tickets online at the USS website. This time, we bought the regular tickets. We figured, if Aina enjoyed it enough to go there more often, we’ll consider purchasing the season tickets to save some money. We also bought the express pass… because we think waiting in line too long will make it less fun. And I was soooooo glad we did that.
Aina, who almost never went to any amusement parks before (her last amusement park experience was Tokyo Disneyland, also back in 2010), didn’t know what to expect. So she was very happy to see so many Minions-related stuff in the USS. She was also quite curious about the rides… both anxious and curious at the same time.
The first ride was the Shrek 4-D Adventure. It’s an old ride that we didn’t get to try back in 2010, because the line was tooooo long. Since it’s a mild ride (or more like show) and located in a castle, it was the perfect introduction for Aina. She really liked it…
After that, we tried the more adventurous one: The Puss in Boots’ Giant Journey… Well, that didn’t go well. She was curious enough to go on the ride, but during the ride, she got so scared she started crying… Oops. Okay, I guess no more roller coaster for Aina, no matter how mild it is (it’s labeled: Family Roller Coaster on the website… and really, it’s very mild).
After calming down, we moved on to the Jurassic area. Skipping all the roller coaster type rides, Aina decided to try the kiddy ride Dino-Soarin’… and decided it was too kiddy for her. Fun, but very kiddy… and it was hard to get it up higher, too.
So, we decided to go for the “less kiddy” ride: The Jurassic Park Rapid Adventure. Now, this one was fun. And we were so glad that we had the express pass, because the line was longer than 1 hour. I was a bit worried Aina would be scared and upset again, like at the Puss in Boots ride. But surprisingly, she looooooved it. When the T-Rex showed up, she screamed the loudest in the raft that all the other people in the raft with us was kinda stunned…
We were a bit wet when we were done. We also forgot to take pictures while we were there. And Aina wished that we could do it again, but the express pass expires after 1 use and we don’t want to waste an hour or more on the line. So we went to get our hotdogs lunches while drying ourselves out.
We were going to go for The Mummy, but when we found out that it was a kind of roller coaster, we decided to skip it. Maybe next time, when Aina has grown out of her fear.
Then we passed the Battlestar of Galactica. You see, unlike Ari who doesn’t like amusement parks, I do… Especially roller coasters, jet coasters, anything with a bit of adrenalin rush. Yep, the complete opposite of Aina. And even though I tried to be understanding, deep inside, I know I will keep trying to get Aina to like roller coasters… *making evil plans*
Anyway, I have been wanting to try the two roller coasters of Battlestar of Galactica since it opened 5+ years ago. But the line was long at that time, and no one wanted to come with me… So I haven’t been able to try them… until now!
I asked Ari and Aina if I could take off for a bit to ride the Cylon (I loooooooove inverted roller coasters with hanging feet!)… Ari could take a smoke break and Aina could run around for a bit. Thanks to the express pass, it only took me 10 minutes from start to finish. I was a bit nervous because I think it’s been over 10+ years since I rode roller coasters. I was a bit worried that I’ll get sick or something. But I didn’t. So, yay!
And I think I’m addicted to do the single rider thing… It’s quick, and it’s fun to have a small chit chat with my random seat partner.
Anyway, once I was done with Cylon, I met up with Aina and Ari again. Aina was very excited because she could spot me in the roller coaster while I was up there. She said, “I could see your white shoes and stripey shirt! You were at the front, right?”
After that, we went back to the Madagascar area and took the Madagascar: A Crate Adventure ride. I guess it was okay. Nice place to cool down. We also went back to Far Far Away to have some blue slushy… another effort to cool us down.
We walked around aimlessly within the USS, until we decided to go for the Transformers ride. I have been wanting to try this since it was open, but Aina was hesitating the whole time we were there. I guess she was scared… After a bit of convincing, “No, it’s not a roller coaster… it’s a 3D thing”, she finally agreed. And when she came out, she said, “This is the best ride eveeeerrrrr!”
Before we left, I got to ride the other side of the Battlestar of Galactica, the Human roller coaster. So, finally, I’m done with both roller coasters in the USS. Yay!
And our adventure in the USS today was ended by watching the WaterWorld Show. Aina has never seen the movie, but it was entertaining nevertheless. She loves the funny part of the show, the splashing water and the stunts. But she got scared over the fires and explosions.
After all that, we asked her what she thought about the USS today. She said, her favorite ride was The Transformers. The Jurassic Park came close in the second place. She was still too scared to try roller coasters stuff, even the small ones. And even though she really liked the amusement parks, she didn’t think she would come to the USS every week or even every month. Maybe in 6 months? But she would love to try other amusement parks!
So, this concludes that we don’t need to buy the season tickets… Normal tickets are fine, then. We’re not gonna come that often anyway.
The rest of the photos are in the Universal Studios Singapore 2015 Flickr album.
