Los Angeles part II – Universal Studios

I am not an amusement, theme park kind of gal. They dont do more for me than a fancy mall does – ooh, lovely..thats cute…that costs what?…I think we saw that already…lets go home, aka. commercial sheep in a pan surrounded by greedy wolves. Or like the scene in Finding Nemo where the deep water fish is swinging its adorned with light tail to bring the heroes close enough to eat them. But most of all in a world full of  countless variety of authentic experiences, spending my time in a fake promotional world and giving my money to giant corporations is not on my list of things I prefer doing.

And yet, when my “shoe criticizing” Host was adamant I had to go to Universal Studios, I just had to, I so had to he was prepared to pay for it himself, I buckled and agreed to give it a go.

We entered through the Citywalk. A pretend city within a city.

This is where donkey ended up:

Its better than the swamp, I guess…or not.

First we went to the Studio Tour.

You jump on a little cart wagon with open sides and then starts the tour through the studio.

This was shortly after the fires there and here is a shot of the damage down bellow:

We passed some well known vehicles.
I somehow doubt that this is an original, but just call me a skeptic and move on.

Some special effects with incoming cars.

Dr Seuss anybody?

Desperate Housewives were not accessible.

Sets. This was something from some movie, but I cannot remember what.
Anybody?

This was a tiny set we passed though.
I found this interesting as it really showed some of the ways you can do quite impressive special effects.
The ship was about the length

of my arm.

My favorite were the wild west sets.

Here is one of the special things you can see while on tour:

Looks all fun and dandy…

And then its not anymore.

Again, one year later I cannot remember the commentary,
but they did say that this set has been used for a few famous flooding scenes

There was a plastic shark flung at us, in honor of Jaws.
There was an exploding truck in an “underground” subway.
And a few other things.

Then after some walking around we waited a bit to see the Waterworld attraction.

It was a quick performance with impressive jumps, explosions and special effects.

Like the crashing in airplane:

But I had a feeling something else was capturing the attention of proportion of the public.

Something much less technical.

The organizers knew it too, hence the almost non existent skirt and hugging top.

We went into the Backdraft pyrotechnics bonanza.
Following the doors and rails we went through a few presentations,
culminating in the last hall where we witnessed the big fire and wobbly floor.

We didnt go on any rides, as they were not suitable for pregnant specimens like me, or so it said.

The Jurassic Park didnt exclude me officially, so we lined up.

Just before we got on the ride, a woman comes to me and informs me
that its not a good idea to go on as there is a 25m (84foot) drop at the end of the line.
I look at the cart, look at the padded metal security straps (which can go above my belly)
and thank her for her concern, but I will be fine. She moves away.

Then another person comes to warn me, maybe because they are not sure I am comprehending or something.
I assure them that I understand what they are saying, but I will be fine.

The ride is not that exciting at all…until the end.
I was prepared, belly underneath, arms and feet braced…

SWOOOSH, a big ole drop, where your gut hits the inside of your throat! Hahaha.
And you end up in the water.

That WAS fun. And getting wet in the sunny hot day was even better.

And no, dont do that at home fellow pregnant women ;)

And that was that.
Back up the escalator and into the world.

Did I hate it?

No.

Would I do it again?

No.

I am still not an amusement, theme park kind of gal.