Traveling: California 2016

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

California 2016 - Part 15

Universal Studios Hollywood

Sunday - June 5th 2016

Last year during our honeymoon we also visited the Universal Studios Florida. While we had a wonderful time there, we weren't overly impressed. However, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was just fantastic and since Harry Potter recently opened in Hollywood too, we decided to give it another try. So Sunday after breakfast at Starbucks we were on our way to the Universal Studios Hollywood. We purchased our tickets online and not only did we save a couple of dollars, but we were also allowed to enter the park earlier than the regular guests. Minutes after the park opened, we were inside and headed straight to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Unlike in Orlando, Hollywood only offers Hogsmeade with Forbidden Journey inside Hogwarts Castle and Flight of the Hippogriff. Forbiden Journey truly is one of the best themepark attractions and since the crowds were still light, we rode it twice in a row. Afterwards we did Flight of the Hippogriff, which is a very small coaster aimed towards children.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The Universal Studios themepark is part of the Universal Filmstudio and so the park features a Studio Tour through the actual movie studio. Of course we had to do that and thanks to the low crowds we were on board the tram immideately. The tram tour lasted for about an hour and it was indeed very interesting. Although there wasn't much action going on, since it was Sunday, but the guide provided many facts, informations on how certain scenes are achieved or what techniques are used in movies.

Studio Tour

Back in the themepark we went to the Lower Lot, which is home to Jurassic Park, The Mummy and Transformers attractions. We started with The Mummy, a roller coaster in the dark. It was basically the same ride as in Orlando, but still a little bit different, at least we got that impression. It was a fun ride and so we did it more than once. Next was Transformers. I don't like the franchise, they are just a bunch of stupid movies, and so I didn't like the attraction in Florida that much either. However, it was a walk on and so we had to do it. Surprisingly I enjoed the ride much more than last year. Since it was already noon, we got a bit hungry and decided to get something to eat, but not before we made a journey to Jurassic Park. Last year at Universal Studios Orlando we got pretty wet on the Jurassic Park boat ride, so we were a little bit afraid it might happen again. In Los Angeles it was very warm, not so much in Florida last year, so we actually didn't mind getting soaked, but the ride was rather tame and despite some drops we stayed dry.

Lower Lot

Revenge of the Mummy

Lower Lot

Transformers - The Ride

Transformer

Jurassic Park

For lunch we went outside the park to Blaze Pizza in the CityWalk entertainment district. The good things about Blaze Pizza were, that they were fast, you could build your own pizza and they were vegan friendly. Claudia and I both got a pizza, but her's was made with vegan cheese. Since the pizzas were very good, we came back later in the day for dinner again. After lunch we had a relaxing beer at the Hard Rock Cafe and got a delicious vegan ice cream from Ben & Jerry's.

CityWalk

Blaze Pizza

Pizza

Hard Rock Cafe

CityWalk

Back in the park we did Despicable Me - Minion Mayhem and Shrek 4D. Both attraction were screen based and rather lame, but at least we could cross them off our list. Afterwards we shared a cider at the Hog's Brew in Hogsmeade and then we lined up for one last ride with Forbidden Journey. Later we just strolled around the beautiful themepark and checked out the merchandise in the stores. Before we drove back to Anaheim, we had dinner at Blaze Pizza again and bought some souvenirs. At first we were reluctant to visit, but this day turned out to be so relaxing, that we were glad we decided to go. Universal Studios Hollywood offers many screen based rides, which we didn't like that much, but we still had a fantastic time.