I am an avid fan of theme parks and generally anything that makes me relive my youth. As soon as we entered Universal Studios I was in my happy place with cartoon characters running around, roller coasters whizzing over-head and music filling the air!
Ready....1, 2, 3!
Looks like we need some more practice on our jumping timing!
Hand and hand with my two little nephews we were ready to take on Universal Studios!
We headed straight for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I was ready to dust off my broomstick and whip out my wand!
After testing out some of the rides it was time to try a refreshing Butterbeer! It was actually really nice and reminded us of the ice cream float drinks you would get as a kid.
I then headed to Ollivanders and purchased my very own magical wand! This isn’t just any old souvenir wand…The wand comes with a map and allows you to cast magical spells around Hogsmeade village!
Alohomora!
Next, we headed to Krustyland to hang out with the Simpsons. Jake's favorite ride of the day was the Simpson's ride! In Krustyland can purchase merchandise from Kwik-E-Mart, grab a Krusty burger and even taste some Duff beer!
Two words. Cool zones!! It was so hot while we were in LA walking around a theme park in extreme heat could seem utterly unbearable but thanks to the cool zones, which blew icy cold air around the park, we survived. We loved finding these and cooling down throughout the day!
It was time to join Gru and his daughters and of course the minions on the Despicable Me Minion ride. We even got to meet a Minion in person! I may be being bias but my nephews are the cutest kids on the earth!
Super Silly Fun Land is adjacent to the Despicable Me Minion ride and is a themed interactive Minion-inspired outdoor venue that included this fun water park!
For lunch we popped out of the park and along Universal Citywalk to Bubba Gump Shrimp for some much needed food and rest. This is a themed restaurant is from the movie Forrest Gump and a must for any shrimp lover!
Next we hit up the Water World show which we all agreed was absolutely incredible! Another excuse to cool down if you sit in the 'splash zone'. After the show we did the famous studio tour which is what makes Universal Studios Hollywood, well, Universal Studios Hollywood. You get to see some amazing famous backdrops and also the King Kong 3-D and Fast and Furious experiences! It was also nice to be off our feet for a while.
We spent the remainder of the day enjoying as many rides as possible. Jurassic Park, Transformers and Revenge of the Mummy were some of our favourites. We also went on the new Walking Dead walk-through which Jake had to bribe me to go on with him! I'm literally the biggest scaredy-cat. I didn't let go of his arm the whole time and may have also blocked my ears the whole way through! So I don't know if that technically counts that I did it, but am totally saying that it does!!
Tips for visiting Universal Studios!
1. Arrive early! If possible, arrive before the park opens, we arrived super early and had some great photo opportunities out the front before the crowds started to arrive. This way you can get through security and be one of the first on the rides, I would also recommend heading straight to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter as it can get pretty busy later in the day.
2. Purchase your tickets in advance, save you from lining up on the day to buy them. Also have them printed out and ready to go when you arrive. You can find prices and purchase your tickets on the Universal Studios Hollywood website.
3. Buy front of the line tickets! If you are wearing a Front of the Line pass you literally walk or in our case hop right onto rides without even having to wait. If you hate queuing then this is the perfect ticket for you! Honestly we all agreed on how much of a life saver this was!
4. Plan ahead! Universal Studios is set up in two different sections-the Upper Lot and the Lower Lot. We decided to do all the rides in the Upper Lott in the morning and then tackled the Lower Lott in the afternoon as these sections are separated by a series of escalators that take forever! (well probably just over 10 minutes, but you don't want to be going back and fourth all day).
5. Check show times! The Water World show was one of our highlights of our day! Be sure to grab a free pamphlet at the entrance on your way in that has the show schedule or download the Universal Studios app, which also shows wait times for each ride.
6. Lunch outside the park! Head outside the park for lunch down Universal Citywalk, it has over 30 different places you can eat. Much nicer and cheaper that inside the park. We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp, however there is also KFC, Ben & Jerry's, Pizza Hut just to name a few!
7. Lastly have fun and bring out your inner child! Oh and bring a water bottle!
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