Singapore TR September 2022

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I did say I'd get around to this eventually.

Let me preface this by saying - I went with my family. Ages 6-67. I was more interested in enjoying my time than taking 1000 photos, so there aren't many photos that don't have family members in them. If I have some photos to share of a particular thing I will, but otherwise I’ve included photos found online and attributed wherever I can.

I'm going to cover off on more than just Universal itself, but i'll try to group things logically. This was our first post-covid trip out of country, so i'll include some details there too. This is pretty much in ‘itinerary order’ and it’s what we found worked for us but happy to answer any questions if you’re planning a trip as we did loads of research before visiting to decide what we did (and didn’t) want to go to.

 

Travel

We departed Brisbane on September 12th - a trip postponed by 2.5 years (originally planned to go in April 2020). Our bookings were made while Singapore was still quite heavy on restrictions for covid, however almost all of these were dropped days before our arrival. Masks were required on public transport and in health settings and that was about it.

We travelled with Qantas, and received frequent communications in the lead up to the departure date on what we needed to do. Singapore's immigration requirements needed us to upload our covid vaccine certificates, but you could only do so 3 days before travel, which made it stressful with not much time before departure if something went wrong (but nothing did). 

On arrival, we breezed through customs and straight into a transfer service to our hotel. Just be mindful advertised prices for these services don’t include some additional fees if you pay by card, taxes, tolls in some situations and so on – so make sure you’ve got a bit more available than what it says on the sign at the airport!

Accommodation

(No, we didn't stay at Raffles)

We went through many changes to our accommodations - Singapore has long been a transit hub and while some hotels were shuttered due to low occupancy, others were being used as quarantine hotels for unvaccinated travellers and so the options available were minimal. We originally found a family-friendly hotel with adjoining rooms not far from Orchard (the major shopping district), and while it was close to the MRT, everything we wanted to do was easily 30 minutes transit each day. 

We really wanted to spend a lot of time on Sentosa Island (more on that later) but the only hotels open were the ultra expensive luxury style resorts, most of which didn't offer adjoining rooms for families, and charged full rate per room. We eventually bit the (very expensive) bullet and booked Hotel Michael, part of Resorts World and steps away from Universal and all of the Sentosa attractions on the island. Hotel Michael was a bit more expensive than we would have liked, but it was worth it to not face losing 60 minutes minimum per day to transport.

Then - with mere weeks before we were due to start our trip - we received an email from a mailing list we had signed up for 3 years ago - that the hotel we had booked for April 2020 - Village Hotel Sentosa - would reopen just in time for our arrival! (and it was about 30% cheaper than Hotel Michael, and a lot more modern!)

Village Hotel Sentosa

(A view from one of the two Infinity Pools overlooking Singapore Straits)

Village Hotel seen from the Sky Helix

While not as close to the big attractions as Hotel Michael, Village Hotel was 2 minutes walk from the Imbiah Monorail station or a downhill 5 minute walk to Resorts World. The hotel also had their own shuttle bus departing every 30 minutes, and stopping at Beach Station, Resorts World, and VivoCity (mainland shopping centre with connections to MRT and Buses to practically anywhere you wanted to go). 

Village offered adjoining rooms in two different family friendly sizes (standard and deluxe), and with the hotel first opened in April 2019, it's barely aged having spent two thirds of the time in mothballs. The hotel was bright, fresh and clean, not suffering the usual damp smell associated with air conditioned hotels in a tropical climate. The hotel shared it's space and facilities with several other hotels operated by the same group including the Barracks (old school style) and the Outpost (deluxe adults only resort), with a very generous 5 swimming pool zones (including a lazy river!), two of which featured an infinity pool edge to the Singapore Straits. Both of these pools overlooked the Sentosa beach show 'Wings of Time' offering an exclusively private in-pool view of the show and fireworks each night.

The courtyard surrounding the pools was full of lush tropical plantings and also featured fish ponds full of lily pads and small fish right outside our window. Additional chillout, gathering and play spaces, a steam room, poolside\in pool bar, a snack truck fitted inside a Kombi van, and more than enough places to sit, lay back, relax and chill out. At night, they showed poolside movies on a big screen, and set up coloured bean bags for people who didn't wish to enter the water. 

I mean, I know i'm going on about this hotel, but when we considered the facilities at the other hotels we'd looked at - this resort was amazing.

Kids also got their own checkin desk and received a welcome pack upon 'completing checkin' which included a stuffed toy mascot for the hotel they could colour in themselves (markers provided) and their own branded robe and slippers to keep! The hotel staff delighted in surprising the kids with little gifts every now and then - a hotel branded rubik's cube, mini ice creams and snacks, all sorts of little surprises to keep the kids in constant awe. Each day the hotel lobby had something fun for kids too (though we had little time to do them all) including facepainting, balloon animals - even free caramel popcorn! The hotel also had a snack trolley where every day a constantly changing array of "childhood snacks" from Singapore would appear, free for guests to try (I think i've tried every possible layer cake combination that ever existed).

We did have some minor issues with housekeeping but these were quickly resolved by the front desk team. Their concierge though were amazing - when trying to make a last minute booking, our credit card required a text message authentication code - which of course we couldn't receive as our Aus numbers weren't set up for roaming. (I'll include some info on this stuff later) - After explaining what we wanted to do, and them realising that none of their other options would work, the concierge personally paid for our tickets on his credit card, and added the exact cost to our bill, and then had the tickets forwarded to the hotel so staff could have them printed and delivered to our room - a process that surprisingly took several hours, that they completed well after midnight to ensure we had our tickets for the next day.

Village Hotel Sentosa rating - 10/10. Even with minor annoyances with housekeeping, I'd be happy staying here every time I visit.

SEA Aquarium

Ok so enough about the hotel - Our first full day was spent at SEA Aquarium on Sentosa Island. We figured this would be a shorter day for us if we were still suffering the effects of the flight, and ease ourselves into things. 

The Aquarium is part of the resorts world group, and ticketing is handled on the same website (so you can buy all your tickets in one transaction and play with your shopping cart before you checkout if you're on a budget). The group operates Universal, the Aquarium, Waterpark and also a separately ticketed Dolphin Island interaction, which is sandwiched between the waterpark and aquarium, which allows them the opportunity to upsell a dolphin experience as part of the other attractions. 

For these reasons, we were able to price up a package that included a dolphin experience with our Aquarium tickets by booking a VIP Tour of the aquarium. Surprisingly this was well worth it, with the tour guide offering a lot of informative info about each of the exhibits and answering questions. The VIP tour also gets behind the scenes access at several points in the experience - including private experiences with sea jellies, poison dart frogs, and even iguanas.

The Aquarium opened as the world's largest, and is only beaten by Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. The Open Ocean exhibit is huge at over 18 Million litres including 3 giant Reef Manta Rays, and one of the world's largest Queensland (Giant) Groupers.

The Open Ocean exhibit has a giant panoramic viewing space with raised grandstand seating for an uninterrupted view of the exhibit. It also features a wrap around 270 degree viewing area, which also has overhead windows too. A restaurant is situated on another section of this exhibit so you can dine right by the Open Ocean - and if that isn't enough, they also feature deluxe resort villas, with an underwater bedroom and your own private viewing window. (Though, do remember the public aquarium viewing window is directly opposite and you can be seen!)

SEA Aquarium rating - 7.5/10

Dolphin Island

Around lunchtime, we moved from the Open Ocean up to Dolphin Island by a private elevator and were introduced to our dolphin trainer for the experience. The included experience is 'out of water' though you can do premium 'in water' experiences too. You spend a not insignificant amount of time with a dolphin and trainer just for your own private group, and several photographers positioned around the pools capture some great candid shots during the experience. Be aware that these photos will be some of the most expensive photos you will ever purchase (and I say that having paid Wedding Photographer prices at Sea World), with the only package offering more than 1 or 2 photos from the experience costing well over $200 (though admittedly for this price they give you every single photo plus a leather bound display album).

We were satisfied with the experience but overall the attraction has been quite controversial. A family friend used to be a trainer at our Sea World so we have previously spent a lot of time with SW's dolphins, and I just didn't feel that the same care and attention into the animals was present - they were circus performers rather than exhibiting natural behaviours. It's hard to explain exactly what it was about the experience, it just didn't feel 'right'. Animals that misbehaved were scolded and rebuked, whereas at SW the poor behaviour would simply be ignored. There were also open wounds clearly visible while still working the animals in the same routine.

Rightly or wrongly, my feel on this experience was sour. The 6 year old absolutely loved it (and that's who it was for in the first place) so I left conflicted. I would not recommend.

Why didn't we do Sea World? We had planned to, but as this opportunity came up while booking tickets, it seemed a no-brainer inclusion whilst on holiday, rather than a separate GC trip, and Singapore's weather was always going to be better for a poolside experience. We do know better and i've already resolved to book with SW for his next birthday.

Dolphin Island rating - 3.5/10

Wings of time

This is a ‘world of color’ style show done over water on the southern beachfront of Sentosa. Projection onto water screens, dancing water fountains, pyro effects and a few other surprises. I caught ‘Songs of the Sea’ back in 2010, and this show was a bit more polished and a bit less cringe-worthy corny live-acting, but I feel the 100% digital show was lacking that physical element that made the stage ‘three dimensional’. The live actors in SotS connected the audience to the screens a lot better.

As mentioned, you could see the bigger parts of the show from our hotel pool so we caught the finale a few times, but did see the show in person and it was worth the visit.

Hot Tip: try to pick a seat towards the back of the seating area. Look for the giant “rocks” with the very badly hidden speakers and don’t sit directly in front of them. The show’s sound system relies on a few large drivers instead of smaller spaced out speakers around the ampitheatre, and the volume for those directly infront of them is uncomfortable at best.

The island is still recovering from Covid shutdowns and does not offer all attractions every day. While WoT operated, many of the food options immediately outside the venue were closed as we went on a Tuesday. During busier times – eg: Thursday to Sunday, the WoT ampitheatre is also open during the day and admission is free with food purchase from the vendors nearby. This gives a spacious seating area overlooking the Straits, and a ‘day show’ dancing fountain operates to some quiet classical pieces. The show’s duty cycle shuts down the fountains briefly each hour, at which point they operate a standalone 40m+ water cannon similar to what you’d see in Canberra at the Captain Cook memorial in lake burley-griffin.

Wings of time rating – 7/10

Singapore Zoo

The zoo and several other attractions appear to have been grouped under the ‘Mandai Wildlife Reserve’ banner since my last visit. The complex houses 4 attractions including the ‘day’ zoo, the ‘night’ zoo, the River of Wonders, and down the road a ways was the Jurong Bird Park. Ticketing for all can be arranged through a single portal, though the combinations on offer made choosing tricky.

In the end, our decisions were made for us as we had chosen to do the ‘day’ zoo and River of Wonders, only to discover that River of Wonder’s signature attraction – the Amazon River Quest (a ride system similar to a log flume \ looney tunes river ride) would be closed for maintenance. We had decided against the night safari given kid’s stamina (it was a damn long day) and the Jurong bird park not being co-located made same-day trips unviable. So we ended up just doing the zoo, and having a less-rushed day all round.

Travelling to the zoo was easy – hopping the North-South line to Khatib and then boarding the $1 shuttle bus to the zoo had us there pretty quickly. The entire complex is currently undergoing significant development (though I didn’t take the time to research what this was for) so expect a lot of construction for the near future. The zoo itself was mostly unaffected by this, and most exhibits operated normally. The habitats were well laid out both for natural simulation as well as easy viewpoints. I think we did one of our biggest ‘ walking ‘ days at the zoo, though there are trams to take you around the park, they only have designated stops which can be a long walk back if you pass something you wanted to see.

The zoo itself is a must-see in Singapore in my opinion, though the experience compared to 10 years ago had lost some lustre. I do hope that the development sees great improvement in the overall offering. I have minimal criticisms for the park other than to beware of all the walking (and hills) involved! The lack of a printed map (online maps available for download don’t help when you have no printer – phone navigation was extremely difficult) is probably my only disappointment here as we very nearly missed several key attractions because of multiple diverging paths, so we had to keep re-checking the map for the correct pathway to backtrack to catch the part we missed.

The zoo has an on-site KFC situated within a kids zone, featuring farm animals \ petting zoo etc, and a huge splash pad \ tipping bucket area with plenty of space surrounding – which would be critical on a hot & busy day.

Singapore Zoo rating – 7.5/10

Universal Studios Singapore

We finally got to Universal, despite literally staying across the road from the park, as it is closed midweek as a consequence of covid. Like any good enthusiast, we tried planning as well as we could to be aware of what would be open \ closed, under maintenance etc. We’d figured out we would be missing the Halloween events, though with a 6 year old that was probably for the best, but as far as we could see, everything except the vintage cars in the Mummy land would be operating.

We knew the park could be busy and didn’t risk it – we had express passes pre booked from the start.

How. Wrong. We. Were.

Madagascar
On arrival, Crate Adventure was boarded up and being demolished. We knew it was due to start soon, but hadn’t heard they’d already begun. All online park maps still showed it as available, it wasn’t listed on the maintenance page as unavailable, and the first news we had it wasn’t open was when we saw the hoarding (though in-park maps were all modified to cover the ride up). The hoarding around Madagascar land made accessing the carousel a one-way path, and the building it sits in makes it an odd place to get in and out of. The entrance to Far Far Away was likewise closed off, and access by the narrow lakeside pathway only meant the park choked up quickly in this area with a crowd.

Far Far Away
After Carousel, we moved to Far Far Away and quickly lapped Enchanted Airways a few times while the crowds were low. We moved to Shrek4D only to find it hadn’t opened yet – technical difficulties. Donkey Live was shuttered (another covid casualty), and so we moved onto Puss in Boots – which was also having technical difficulties and wasn’t open yet.

We did go back to Far Far Away in the afternoon and got both Shrek and Puss done, and while this is arguably the better Shrek4D, they skipped the entire animatronic pre-show and went straight into the theatres. While one could argue that it was a covid safety measure, we’d all just queued in the enclosed queuehouse for 10 minutes, and then were herded into the enclosed pre-show room for another 10 minutes, before sitting in the theatre for the entire runtime of the show, so surely skipping the pre-show elements wouldn’t have made a difference – just poor show.

Puss in Boots was a standout attraction for us all, it was fun, the story was well told and made sense even if you hadn’t seen the film, but unfortunately the outdoor animatronics and characters were all chipped and peeling paint everywhere, so while the ride was fun, it presented very poorly.

Waterworld
Also not operating. Also due to Covid. Given this was advertised as an included perk on their VIP tour, I felt this was really poor. It wasn’t listed as a closure online and again we only discovered it was closed when we arrived.

Jurassic Park
Canopy Flyer was a big target for our group as it was something everyone could ride and most hadn’t been on this style of coaster. Back in 2010, the express pass was valid for this, as was a single rider line, however neither of these were available on Canopy Flyer (it is one of the only exceptions to the express pass advertised). Still a great unique attraction, if somewhat too quick for the wait time. The Jurassic spinner was operating at capacity with a full queue, but Jurassic River Rapids was also closed – for long term maintenance of several months (something we also hadn’t seen on the park website prior to our visit, but something clearly known in park as all the maps in park had this attraction blacked out like crate adventure).
The land did have a ‘meet blue’ experience for photos and interactions which was pretty cleverly done, but definitely did not make up for the loss of Rapids.

Food
So far we’ve made it through three lands and I haven’t mentioned food – and that’s because there weren’t many options actually open. The park has several large dining facilities including a huge Jurassic visitors centre, but most were closed. A few carts operated serving very basic cart-style fare, but for meals of substance, choices were mostly limited to Mel’s Diner back at the front of the park. This is, again, another covid casualty.

Attrib: Resorts World Sentosa

I tried the 'Mel's Rendang Burger' with a Rendang curry mince sauce, which - while messy (and not exactly the best choice of food for a hot day) it was super flavourful and delicious, and would definitely recommend if you don't mind a bit of spice.

(Attrib. Entree Kibbles)

Egypt
We moved onto Egypt, only to find the Vintage cars (the only ride advertised as being closed) was in fact open, so the little guy went and had an adventure while we tackled The Mummy. The fire scene on this attraction is still very impressive, though the lighting and reveal is somewhat spoiled by dim ambient lighting that gives the game away before the showscene triggers. I don’t remember it being like this back in 2010, but heck, it was 12 years ago. The queue is suffering with a lot of damage to the plaster walls, but this is the price you pay having walls so close to bored guests with phones stored in lockers.

While in Egypt, a street parade came through with all sorts of characters on a truck \ walking beside, handing out Halloween candy to guests as they passed. This was mini packs of skittles, mentos and other non-melting premium branded candy which I thought was pretty impressive. They did many circuits throughout the day culminating in a main street show at closing time.

SciFi City
This was my Eleanor (for those who get the reference) – Every opportunity I’ve had at a duelling coaster has been thwarted, including this one when I rode in 2010. The seat hanger incident happened weeks before I arrived last time and in the years since, it had been down every time I’d started to plan a trip. Thank goodness we’d bought express passes because this is where most guests were (in hindsight, starting there would have been smarter, but 6 year old). I found it a bit odd that the entrances and lockers were so far removed from each other, it was quite the journey to get into the queue for this. Metal detectors \ wands were in use (understandable given the ride zooms over major pathways) and we were off. The express pass paid itself off in spades here as people were literally sitting down on the stairs as we zoomed past. Both sides of the ride ran very well and ops did a great job to have dispatch timed well for maximum duel. Unfortunately, the ride’s design was based on the larger, heavier trains, and the differences in the lighter trains showed, with the timing between the two trains out of sync after only the second element. Still a great ride, with Human an enjoyable coaster and Cylon a balls to the wall experience.

 

(I'm sure I don't need to add a stock image of Battlestar.... so here's the view from our hotel!)

 

 

We took on Transformers, which the little guy loved, but not much different to the Hollywood version for us. The ride and queue gives definite respite from the heat, so it was surprising more people weren’t riding it.

New York
We had missed Lights Cameras Action on our first visit so it was great to finally see it in person. The holding area prior to the experience was a bit drab (and hot) and I can only imagine how bad it must be on a busier day, but thankfully the queue was short and not crammed with people. Although we had seen this online the experience wasn’t what we were expecting, but it absolutely wowed the little guy and that’s all that mattered. Another great opportunity to cool off from the heat (and maybe get wet).

The sesame street spaghetti chase is also in New York, and while not a big Sesame Street character fan, the little guy also loved this experience. A ‘peter pan’ style attraction, done decently well, with great theming and use of characters.

Main Street
The main street is a series of merch stores and a couple of quick service food carts, but the choice and variety of merch was fantastic, and we happily spent over half an hour (and a lot more on the credit card) picking up great unique souvenirs from the park.

Universal Singapore rating – 6/10.

I think this is fair – while the park was still in ‘covid recovery mode’ there were a lot of things they could have achieved for minimal effort (such as updating their websites, given they had custom-made stickers covering the ride closures on the park map). The park could have done a lot more, and I feel that some of what was lacking was done out of convenience – a case of “blame covid, not us” when there really wasn’t an excuse for the current state.

Adventure Cove Waterpark
We booked a cabana for the day which came with towels, a “safe” made out of plastic, and some chairs with a fan and some other small comforts. It made a great base camp for the day and was close enough to all the action. The Wet Maze was closed (another covid thing) and like Universal, most food options were also closed, with only one major food outlet in the park. They have a sort of ropes course over a pool with water jets and other interactive elements, but this was also closed.

View from our Cabana

These aquariums were actually part of the Lazy River (Second Photo Resorts World Sentosa)

The park’s standout attractions include the lazy river, which circles around the outside of Dolphin Island. Due to the design and layout of the various attractions, the lazy river has two clear Perspex sections as you cross into the ‘Dolphin zone’ which goes over the top of a large drainage canal. These canals are apparently where they store water from various tanks while they are closed for maintenance. The dolphin island section of the lazy river is also home to a small stingray and turtle exhibit, and an ‘underwater’ tunnel with sea life swimming all around you, and you can come face to face with these guys while floating by. The lazy river also has a wave generator (not switched on during our visit) and floats you around the entire park, including some underground sections with small fish tanks embedded in the walls. Some outdoor parts also had animal enclosures next to the path, but these were empty and closed for maintenance.

I was amazed at how intermingled everything is in this area - The Dolphin Island attraction is on the right, the lazy river enters bottom right, curves around the stingray exhibit upper left before exiting upper centre. SEA Aquarium was below some parts of these areas.

Another highlight for the park was a free-to-use reef snorkel – after a quick briefing, guests rinse under a shower to remove excess chlorine before donning flipper and a snorkel mask to swim in a roughly circular saltwater lagoon home to a massive array of sea life similar to Sea World’s reef snorkelling experience, but the price was the best part.

Attrib: Resorts World Sentosa

They also have a hydrocoaster style slide, with loading occurring at the bottom (so you get a long, uphill journey lying feet first while staring at the sun) but the ride was damn quick and we caught air on almost every hill.

The wave pool was solid, and relentless, making it hard to stay upright if you sat in the shallows. The park had colour coded life jackets available in every size so swimming ability was less of an issue. The one downside to the park is that they are extremely restricted on rider numbers and weights. Many slides needed two riders, minimum heights meant the little guy couldn’t go on very much as most started above 120cm, and maximum combined rider weights meant the two adults couldn’t ride together, but as the little guy was too short, none of us could ride. This left most big slides (except hydrocoaster) unavailable.

All in all though, the lazy river made up for this in spades and we spent at least half our time circling the park in a tube with an occasional dunking to cool off when things got too hot. The park had plenty of shelter and shaded path areas to walk on, and while lacking in some variety, the quality of what they had certainly made the day worth it. The restrictions are not park imposed but are a manufacturer requirement, so it isn’t fair to argue that as a fault of the park, although the designers of the park planned this poorly to not have middle-of-the-road options as the other attractions stepped very steeply from a splash pad \ tipping bucket tower, to the big slides with heavy restrictions. A couple of nice body slides might have filled this gap nicely.

The theming of the area was great. The park was lush, deep tropical plantings, with faux rockwork caves, statues and other elements. Real sandy beaches entering the lazy river, plenty of life jackets for poor swimmers (there seemed to be a lot who weren’t great swimmers and I guess we’re lucky in Aus to not have this issue)

Adventure Cove Waterpark rating: 7.5/10

Sentosa

Sentosa Island was celebrating it's 50th birthday

Sentosa Island itself has so many different attractions, but this was our itinerary plan so we hit everything on the same day. There is just way too much to do and so this is not an exhaustive list – I’d encourage you if you’re planning a trip to do thorough research on what is available and what appeals to you.

Beachside Trams – Sentosa runs a free tram service along the southern edge of the island, stopping at most major attractions and all the southern facing beaches, with the main station directly under the monorail (and right outside Wings of Time), so one can save quite a bit of walking around this way (although the walk is pretty good if it isn’t too hot)

Mega Park – Mega Park includes a bunch of attractions under the ‘mega’ banner including the MegaZip line, which goes from one of the tallest points on the island all the way to Siloso Beach. Tandem rides are available for smaller \ lighter riders, and a high maximum weight limit means this attraction can accommodate almost every possible shape and size (but check their website for specifics). We timed this one well, as it was lightly raining in the morning, and the skies absolutely PELTED DOWN as we made our way from the landing zone back across the beach. Other attractions within their group include a high ropes course, a para jump, a rock climbing wall, and a bungee trampoline.

Fort Siloso – an historic attraction dating back to the invasion of Singapore, with many historic elements, buildings and stories, this was a great walkthrough, though there are several spots with uneven stairs and steep stair climbs or ramps so anyone with mobility issues may have problems with this. Last time we visited the hills \ ramps were both ways, however Sentosa has since introduced…

Fort Siloso Skywalk – An elevated walkway through the tree canopies that takes you from Siloso beach straight up in an elevator to the canopy level, with a flat level walkway offering fantastic views both south over the beaches and north over the mainland and ferry terminals, it was great to not have the uphill walk to reach the fort!

Luge – An old favourite from our last trip, the Luge offers four different cement tracks down Imbiah Hill, and two chair lifts to take people back up to the top. The chairlifts and each luge track has on-ride cameras, and these are coded into special RFID chips embedded in your helmets, making it easy to view your photos by scanning your helmet (though do check them after each lap as it ‘forgets’ the photos after a certain time). The whole place has taken a huge step forward since our last visit and is far better organised and safety conscious (though the maze of pathways at the top of the hill leaves something to be desired). Unfortunately for us, the Dragon track (the fastest \ longest \ most advanced of the four) was closed for maintenance and work was visible from the chairlift with large sections of concrete being jackhammered for removal – not an easy feat on the side of a mountain!

Sky Helix – A Relatively new experience that only opened December 2021, the tower is situated at the top of Imbiah point, and rises a further 35 metres from the ground for uninterrupted panoramic views. The Sky Helix replaced the Tiger Sky Tower which was a fairly run-of-the-mill observation tower ride with an open air floorless platform. Riders board seats akin to a coaster, and are seatbelted in. Drinks are allowed (including cocktails) and a host controls the attraction from the centre of the gondola, entertaining guests with commentary, comedy and taking photos once you reach the top. This experience was 100% well worth doing as something different and highly recommend.

Imbiah Lookout also had a butterfly aviary exhibit (closed and boarded up) and a Madame Tussaud’s in a wartime-era barracks\Hospital building which we skipped after doing Hong Kong’s MT’s and being underwhelmed. Imbiah (and Siloso Beach for the Fort access) can be conveniently accessed from Resorts world by Cable Car – however the cable cars are chargeable per journey and only sell return tickets, so jumping in for the ride up and walking downhill isn’t an option. Having done it once I can definitely recommend you do not try walking up the hill from Resorts World, however the luge chairlifts offer a much cheaper way to the top.

 

Mount Faber Cable Car – We did end up taking the cable car on our second trip – and did both the Sentosa cable car and the mount faber one, which is quite a distance away from Sentosa itself! Mount Faber Cable Car also offers special experiences onboard the cable cars including dining experiences, and while this was interesting for us, neither the website, nor anybody at the ticket counters could tell us what the food options were for children in these experiences (a separate kids menu was mentioned online but no information on what it included) and the only answer we could get was “call this phone number to book and maybe they can tell you” so we opted out of this experience despite building it into our itinerary. The ride itself is nice during the daytime, and not as hot as you’d expect for the climate. Cars were pretty much the same as the Disney World cable cars, so not much else to mention.

 

Resorts World – One could spend days outlining everything available at RWS. Other than the attractions already mentioned, there are a number of hotels, a two level open air shopping district (including food) and a casino. You honestly could spend a week at Resorts World and not see and do everything they have, and they are just one small part of the island. For us, notable was Hard Rock Café, the Candy store and the Lego store. The Sentosa Merlion was under renovations and covered in scaffolding, and a new building was being constructed right next to the RWS cable car \ monorail station. I couldn’t find info on what this is planned to see, so we’ll find out on our next visit I guess.

Overall, Sentosa gets a solid 10/10 – not because everything was perfect, but because there was something for everyone to do (if you’re willing to pay for it). There were experiences and hotels for the super rich, but also more budget conscious offerings and plenty of free things to do (or “free with purchase of food\drink”) and you were never far from a nice place to sit and enjoy a coldy with a good view of something – there were countless restaurants and food offerings – the island is really designed as a playground for all ages and it is hard for anyone to be disappointed with their visit. If you plan to do a lot on the ‘mainland’ of Singapore, staying on Sentosa does complicate your travel plans, but if your itinerary is Sentosa-heavy, or primarily intended as a relaxing holiday, then Sentosa really is worth the premium price you’ll pay to stay there.

Other Mainland Attractions

Raffles – Ok, it’s one of those things you gotta do at least once, right? So a Singapore Sling in the long bar done and dusted. Well overpriced but you get the history and experience. I learned something new about the development of the sling (ladies couldn’t be seen drinking in public apparently) and threw peanut shells on the floor as is tradition. The hotel is the epitome of opulence and stupidly expensive though I’m sure it costs a lot when you’re still making zen gardens out of the sand in the ashtrays, and half your staff are required to be sikhs in high turbans to complete the look. The place wasn’t easy to get to, but we did it, and it’s done. 6.5/10

Gardens by the bay – Wow. This was in development on our last visit and it’s amazing what a country can do when they have a mandate to have greenspace available to every resident. All of the domes are worth the visit individually, the rest of the gardens are worth a full day. We unfortunately only had the best of a rainy afternoon, so we whizzed through as quickly as our eyes could appreciate it. The domes are air conditioned and offer welcome respite from the heat (are you picking up on a theme here?) and all are superbly presented. They were in the process of installing a new Avatar themed element to the cloud forest which should open soon in good time with the sequel. The Supertree show was well done, albeit a little simple in today’s modern intelligent lighting era, but entertaining all the same. We goofed here and didn’t allow enough time to do all the things we wanted and I’ll say it again, allow a full day for gardens by the bay. Beautiful spaces, and I’m envious of those who have this a short drive from their homes – 8.5/10

Singapore Flyer – missed this last visit, made the walk across the bridge from Marina Bay to ride. Singapore was setting up for the formula one while we were there so navigating some of the roads were a little tricky, but got a great view of Pit Straight from the flyer. The attraction is obviously built to handle huge crowds, with miles of queue lines we walked straight past and got on almost straight away. It’s a pleasant trip and a great opportunity (again in the air con) to rest weary feet after walking around all day. Solid 9/10

 

 

 

Changi Airport \ Jewel – Not many TRs would cover the airport, but there’s a reason why Changi Airport has won over 650 awards (Awards and Accolades | Changi Airport Group) including many ‘best airport in the world’ by numerous outlets, some of which have awarded it multiple times (and in one case, 35 times from 1988-2022!) Changi is made up of four terminals (they just announced they’re building a fifth one) as well as Jewel. You can honestly spend an entire day there (we did) and still not see everything. I’d highly recommend allowing a day to explore Changi if you visit Singapore. Although this isn’t an Airport forum, so I won’t spend too much time here – some of the attractions include:

• Around the terminals:
  • A ‘Kinetic Rain’ exhibit \ sculpture, featuring dozens of small metal balls attached to small wires, synchronised to raise and lower creating mesmerising patterns in Terminal 1
  • Numerous gardens and fish \ koi ponds
  • A Transit Hotel, located airside so you can sleep without clearing customs if you have a particularly long layover (or if you want to spend another day exploring the airport!)
  • A butterfly garden
  • A rooftop pool
  • A 3 storey giant slide
  • Movie Theatre
  • ‘Petal Clouds’ another kinetic sculpture across 200 metres of the galleria in Terminal 4
  • ‘Immersive Wall’ is a 70metre x 5metre LED display showing panoramic vistas of Singapore
  • Kids play areas and tonnes of other things to occupy practically everyone for days
• Jewel Changi:
  • Glass-bottomed bridge through the canopy
  • Mirror Maze
  • Hedge Maze
  • Topiary walkways
  • Discovery Slides at one of the highest points inside jewel
  • ‘Foggy Bowls’ that kids will love
  • Bouncing Nets
  • Walking nets
  • Petal Gardens

All of the above are part of SkyPark and can be experienced by purchasing a single ticket, but individual experiences can be purchased separately.

• Jewel (continued)
  • Changi Experience Studio (interactive exhibit showcasing airport operations.
  • Shiseido Forest Valley
  • Rain Vortex

Jewel also houses YotelAir – another hotel based at the airport, however this is on the landside and you don’t need a boarding pass to stay. Located right inside Jewel, this place positions you well if you plan to spend several days exploring (and you definitely can!)

At jewel is a baggage storage company (Smarte Carte) who will store your bags for a fee – however before you pay, check down the hall a bit as there is an early bag drop counter that some airlines (including Qantas) utilise which can save you a bunch in baggage fees and lighten the load so you can explore Jewel and the rest of the terminals unburdened by large suitcases.

 

I think that's it for now. Singapore was one of the first destinations in Asia to open back up and so has a great head-start on tourism. Flights are plentiful and so are the hotels (now) so prices are starting to drop. Not a sponsor, but i'd definitely recommend adding Singapore to your planning the next time you go looking for somewhere overseas to visit.

[New display name]

I see this is a 3 beer trip report.   Hold my spot while I go and grab another beer. 

[Brad2912]

Cheers @DaptoFunlandGuy

great read of a location I’d love to get to one day

Also appreciate the Eleanor reference that will likely be lost on many here 

[jjuttp]

IIRC the zoo construction is to relocate Jurong and bring it closer or something along those lines.

Also glad to see the KFC is still there. Only time i've actually sat on a piece of OR and picked it clean.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

15 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Their concierge though were amazing - when trying to make a last minute booking, our credit card required a text message authentication code - which of course we couldn't receive as our Aus numbers weren't set up for roaming. (I'll include some info on this stuff later)

I realised last night I never finished this thought bubble - so here's an update:

The issue here is that our credit card company wanted to do multi factor authentication because of the purchase (Verified by VISA). We had notified the bank we would be overseas (and all our other purchases were fine), but the only MFA option for this particular seller was by text message to our Australian number, which we didn't have access to in Singapore. 

Our options with Telstra were a flat fee of $10 a day per phone for international roaming and that was basically it. With 4 devices, this would have cost over $300 for our time there, and we instead purchased a local sim for our phones for the duration.

We purchased the Singtel 'Hi!' Prepaid tourist Sim. At $15SGD, it gave us 7 days access with local and international calls, text and 100GB of data. It meant we didn't have to worry about using our phones any differently to normal, or finding dodgy wifi spots to get a message through. We each had the local singapore mobile number for each other which made meeting up after going separate ways really simple. 

We were in Singapore for longer than 7 days, so we delayed purchasing the Sim until our second day, and this gave us coverage right up until we arrived at Jewel Changi on our last day. The Airport Wifi had us covered from there without an issue.

We could have extended the service, but in terms of value, it would have been better value to buy a new $15 tourist sim than to extend the existing one. The service is activated by scanning your passport though, so I'm not sure whether they'd let you register a second one?

[Tim Dasco]

Just adding to the above regarding SIM cards, I landed in Singapore this afternoon and managed to get a SIM card at the 7/11 for $14SGD for the plan above. So really easy to get and means you'll always be connected and not relying on free wifi spots.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

...just remember to take a paperclip or key to eject the sim if you have an iphone...

[themagician]

On 8/12/2022 at 6:50 PM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Crate Adventure was boarded up and being demolished. We knew it was due to start soon, but hadn’t heard they’d already begun.

I recently got back from a trip to Singapore and it looks like construction has been very slow. We didn’t visit USS this visit because of Minions still being under construction, but from outside the park we could see they were only just installing concrete panels. It’s due to open this year, but if anyone’s planned a trip to visit the park this year, I wouldn’t expect it to be open at the very end of the year at the earliest 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

We visited again at the start of January and there was noticeable progress from inside the park, with the entire facades distinguishable in the framing - all the parts of Gru's house, etc could be made out, very similar to what's in Hollywood. 

I think they've moved pretty quickly considering - they're about 18 months in now, since my visit where demolition had occurred. 

Consider that in a similar period of time, Arkham Asylum was standing in June of 2022, and WOZ land is yet to open (and is arguably far less complex than what Universal is building)...

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 08/12/2022 at 5:50 PM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Previous TR Post

Just re-reading my original post and I should add to the above - On our visit this year, there were a few things to update:
 

Accommodation:

We again stayed at Village Hotel Sentosa. Our checkin was New Year's Eve and the place was packed. All of the little 'special' things I mentioned on our last trip - the gifts, the snacks, etc were all gone. Kid's checkin was not a thing either.

We were a group of three this time so had booked a different room type ("sleeps 3"), and discovered on arrival that they expected the three of us to share one bed. This is common in Asia but not something we had expected, nor really obvious in the fine print and had assumed a rollaway or similar would be provided. The room wasn't big enough to fit a rollaway and they were at 100% occupancy, and so we had to make do for NYE. The following day the hotel moved us to a different room type which did accommodate a rollaway but it still dampened our view of the resort overall.

Universal:

• The park has resumed 7 day operation
• The Madagascar carousel is now also removed and the entire Madagascar land continues construction for Minions
• Shrek 4D had reinstated the animatronic pre-show, and the seats appeared to work for us on this trip.
• Donkey Live had reopened
• The themeing elements on Puss In Boots had received a lot of love and looked fresh as opposed to the dire state of them on our last trip
• Waterworld had reopened
• Jurassic Rapids had reopened - this Tube style attraction is different to the boat style jurassic adventures, and we got absolutely soaked - so much so we had to stop and wring out our socks.
• Food - every single food outlet was open and operating
• The queue in the mummy has seen extensive repair work and no longer has holes all through the plaster. The mid-course fire scene is still as brightly lit as ever, spoiling the surprise.
• Little guy was tall enough to ride everything now - didn't like The Mummy purely for the theme, but loved Battlestar Galactica and lapped it repeatedly. Trains weren't dueling every dispatch but operators tried to when they could. Most causes of not dueling was down to guests not being ready to board and having items in pockets or things like glasses and footwear. One one occasion, operators held dispatch for our train because our little guy's watch had a camera built in, and they don't allow cameras (though every other dispatch it was fine)

Sentosa Island

This trip was a much more relaxed approach. We'd been recently so the plan for Singapore was to relax after a mad-rushed trip through Hong Kong over Christmas (which i'll get down to writing up eventually). As it was intended to relax, we did a lot less, spent way more time by the pool and far less on paid experiences, though we did do the Luge again. 

We had planned on eating at Hard Rock again (a tradition) but discovered that the entire Forum dining precinct in Resorts World was closed for refurbishment. Hard Rock chose not to renew and relocated their entire operation to the AIRSIDE of Changi Terminal 2. In place of the wonderfully varied and air conditioned eateries in the Forum, Resorts World had moved in a few shipping containers selling food-truck style options. We tried this once, and decided to eat elsewhere for the remainder of our trip. (It didn't help that it was raining, and the roofing they provided was wholly inadequate).

Everything seemed to be open more than last time though some places didn't open every day. We explored new areas of the island we hadn't been to previously, but many only opened at certain times so didn't do anything new.

The area where Sentosa Merlion was was still under construction (I hear it has since been reopened) but the Merlion is no longer there and a new boardwalk style path has opened between Resorts World and Beach Station. A pleasant option in fine weather if you don't want to wait for the Monorail.

Gardens by the Bay

We avoided the domes this time but took a walk to Satay By The Bay for lunch (10/10 recommend). We also walked all the way out to Marina Barrage (the water reservoir wall, not the building with the boat) for the view (and then it rained for half an hour so we took shelter and wandered the complex for a bit!).

Changi Terminal \ Jewel

We spent several hours wandering Jewel again on our outbound day. Due to the nature of our travel plans, we actually had 24 hours to spend airside on our inbound leg (before flying onward to Hong Kong) so we stayed in one of the Airport hotels and spent the entire day exploring all of the various terminals. We still haven't seen it all. 

Our hotel overlooked the apron at Terminal 1, with great views of aircraft movements all over the terminal, and gave us access to the rooftop pool for a swim \ spa and cocktails. We tried to visit every display, garden, and take in all the outlets, stores, food options, but there were still too many and we've already agreed we need to allow more time on our next trip to or through Singapore to continue exploring the terminals.

 

[themagician]

8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Universal

Great to hear of those changes and improvements since your last visit. We were sceptical of visiting again purely because of whether negative things we’d heard about the park and because there was less to do than the last two visits. 

 

8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

We avoided the domes this time

Have you ever done the domes at night? If you (or anyone else on here hasn’t) I highly recommend you do. I’d actually say doing it at night is better than in the day because the crowds are lighter and it just makes it even better (especially at 8pm when the misters come on)

 

8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Satay By The Bay

This has improved so much since my last visit. Last time it was almost falling apart, but since the developments to the east of the gardens have begun they’ve invested in this area

 

8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Jewel

How incredible was this! An attraction within itself. If you are ever just passing through Singapore, it is absolutely worth just heading to terminal 1 to purely see this 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

12 hours ago, themagician said:

Great to hear of those changes and improvements since your last visit. We were sceptical of visiting again purely because of whether negative things we’d heard about the park and because there was less to do than the last two visits. 

 

Have you ever done the domes at night? If you (or anyone else on here hasn’t) I highly recommend you do. I’d actually say doing it at night is better than in the day because the crowds are lighter and it just makes it even better (especially at 8pm when the misters come on)

 

This has improved so much since my last visit. Last time it was almost falling apart, but since the developments to the east of the gardens have begun they’ve invested in this area

 

How incredible was this! An attraction within itself. If you are ever just passing through Singapore, it is absolutely worth just heading to terminal 1 to purely see this 

Universal, even with all the things closed back in 2022 was still an enjoyable day trip. nothing felt rushed and it was a nice relaxing day. This year's trip we felt a bit more rushed because while everything was open, there was a lot more people too. Swings and roundabouts I guess.

GBTB - our 2022 trip was late afternoon, so we did the flower dome in gloomy overcast late afternoon and entered cloud forest just after dusk - which we feel was the perfect time to catch it (plus it was raining outside).

Jewel - Just to correct the record, Jewel isn't Terminal 1. Jewel sits in the middle of the airport complex, and has walkways leading to terminals 1,2 & 3 (though terminal 1 is the closest). There is also a monorail between each of those terminals, one of which travels through Jewel between terminal 2 & 3.

 

[jjuttup]

23 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Food - every single food outlet was open and operating

Even the Jurassic Vistitors Centre? Much of what ive seen basically only has it as an events space now.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

The Discovery Food Court is open, though we didn't go in. 
Discovery Food Court- Universal Studios Singapore (rwsentosa.com)