Universal Studios Singapore

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

BattleSTAR Gallactica is working again from what I understand. I saw some shots recently of Madagascar, so I believe it was near completion. As for transformers - no idea.

[themeparkgc]

Battlestar has been operating since February. Both Madagascar and Transformers are due to open this year in that order. Just as a side note, USS is having their grand opening on the 28th of May 2011 after their 14 month soft opening period. I'd expect Madagascar to be open by then with Transformers to follow in September.

[Wilko]

Cool. Shame I will be there before Transformers opens.

[themeparkgc]

That was a guess not a definitive opening date.

[joz]

I don't have anything to add, but: 14 month soft opening. lol

[MickeyD]

I will be there on May 10! I planned this date ages ago in hope that both Madagascar and Battlestar would finally be open. I really hope Madagascar gets up and running in time, either way I can't wait the place looks great!

[Wilko]

I will be there on May 10! I planned this date ages ago in hope that both Madagascar and Battlestar would finally be open. I really hope Madagascar gets up and running in time, either way I can't wait the place looks great!

MickeyD - are you getting the Express Pass? I look forward to hearing about your trip there when you return. Im still in two minds about going? Ive been to the one in Cali and Florida and they are massive. My travel agent said this isnt worth going to because it is small. So I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the place. cheers

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Wilko - you're going to be there - just go. Sentosa Island as a whole is well worth the trip. Universal Singapore is not a working film studio like the others, so it doesn't need to be AS BIG. I went almost a year ago and I can tell you that even without battlestar, or madagascar, it was still well worth the trip. Trust me when I say you don't want the park to get much bigger than it is - or you won't get to see it all in a day (and there are plenty of other things on Sentosa Island worth seeing as well). The main thing you've got to look at is - how often are you going to get this opportunity? If you're in a financial position where you know you're going to travel frequently, then don't go nuts - you'll get another chanc,e but if this is a once in a lifetime trip and you'll never be back - then spend whatever you've got and to hell with it... coulda shoulda woulda's don't belong on a trip like that. You're a member of this community, so you obviously share a passion for parks and attractions in general, so tell the travel agent to shove it up their ass and do what YOU want to do. When I was planning my Singapore trip, i'd chosen a hotel recommended by my frequent flyer program. I shopped around with some travel agents to see if they could offer any better. Two separate franchises badmouthed this hotel, saying it was dirty, poorly maintained and they had received numerous reports of theft \ crime against hotel guests. Of course, in the same breath, they suggested a hotel on the corner of Orchard Road, thereby almost doubling the quote I had from my member program. I told them to get stuffed. We stayed as planned, had no issue with the hotel (except it was an 'older' style hotel, with some 'older' style fittings, it was clean, the bathroom was modern, and the beds comfortable - thats all you need. Needless to say - the hotel the travel agencies recommended - we wouldn't have gotten a wink of sleep as the festivities surrounding the closing ceremony of the youth olympics continued for about 4 days, on orchard rd, right outside the hotel they suggested. Travel agents aren't trying to help you, they're trying to take your money. My guess is if they are downplaying a trip to universal, they probably don't get a good commission from them, as opposed to some other experiences they are offering.

[MickeyD]

Hi everyone, I arrived back from Singapore after a week's Holiday in the wee hours of this morning and would like to share my experience of Universal Studios with you.. WARNING PEOPLE!! This is a bit of an essay and I appreciate those of you willing to take the time to read through my tips. I hope it helps with your trip planning;) Being a Theme Park nut, we visited the Park twice (one day really is plenty). For anyone planning a trip any time soon don't prepay your tickets - turn up to the gate and if you have one, pay with a Mastercard (debit or credit) and you will receive a 20% discount off the admission price as well as discounts on Park dining and a $10 voucher for souvenir shopping. This worked out to be about $50SGD or $40AUD pp per visit. A visit to the Night Safari was $50SGD so if you can compare it to things like that USS is arguably Singapore's best value attraction! A perfect way to start the day is to get the cable car across. It's $24SGD oneway or $26SGD return, so naturally we got the return ticket. A cab from the city Hotel to Mt Faber cable car station cost around $10 each way. On our 2nd visit we caught the MRT subway from Clark Quay to Harbour front station for about $3 one way and then a return monorail ticket from there across to Sentosa. Even though they are on different sides of the city, I cannot see the point doing the Singapore flyer (giant wheel) or the observation deck atop Marina Bay Sands. Hands done the Cable Car wins on all accounts. Like you would expect with most Theme Parks, USS is quieter in the morning and progressively gets busier as the day goes on. Also like other Asian Parks, USS offer peak and off peak rates. So go mid week and plan to arrive early to make the most of your visit! Alex I completely agree with your opinion on the size/layout of the place. It really is a beautiful Park and the planners have gone all out to make USS a visual delight. There is so much detail in the buildings/facades and the atmospheric music, landscaping and sight-gags galore make the place an absolute pleasure to explore every nook and cranny. For instance, there is a great little back alley leading out to a San Francisco waterfront that features numerous sound effects of chatter, diners up stairs, kicthens etc - such little touches that really gave the place an "A" for theming, arguably on par with a Disney Park. Many tourists form the East love a good photo opportunity and USS was clearly geared to keep snap happy folks clicking away madly! The layout and overall face value impression of the place is spectacular and this is probably it's best asset. I believe one of their greatest challenges though is to maintain it's beauty over time. Singapore's weather is unforgivably humid and tropical. In just a year and half operating you can already see the Park is showing signs of rust and wear (however minor.) Having spent a decade working in the Theme Parks myself I have a pretty good understanding of how crowd flow impacts wait times etc. For that matter, any true Theme Park enthusiast can take advantage of people's 'sheep like' mentality and play it to your advantage. On the days I visited I would hazard a guess the Park peaked at around 5000-7000 visitors. Bare in mind I would bet that figure would almost double on weekends. The Waterworld Stuntshow arena is HUGE - I'd say at least double that of MW's stunt show with a capacity of about 4000. Midweek there are 3 shows a day and the venue was about half to two thirds full for the busiest show. You can imagine what affect this has on wait time at other attractions. During Waterworld, Mummy & Battle star are walk ons with the longest wait simply being the time it takes to walk through the seemingly endless maze of queues! Keep this in mind when you plan to visit! The 12.30pm show seemed to be the busiest one and you just about had an empty Park to enjoy to yourselves if you chose not to see it at this time! It is STINKING HOT inside the Waterworld arena so go sit down the front in the wet/soak zones to cool off. Better to be soaked in water than soaked in sweat In the hour or so before Waterworld, stay Far Far away from that area! Only at this time will you wait 30 minutes+ for the Shrek 4D or nearby kiddy coaster (an exact copy btw of MW's Road runner only with better theming and strangely at least 6 people working on it.. CRAZY!) Again the themeing of Far Far away is breathtaking and the Castle is one of the Park's biggest 'weenies'. For some reason people stop by this area on their way to the Stunt show and so should be avoided at this time. Other times your wait for Shrek will be just based on the cycle of the main show inside. The Jurassic Park area gets stupidly busy after the Stunt show with queues to the rapids ride suddenly exceeding 60 minutes and even nearby canopy flyer also with at least a 30 minute wait. From there, the crowds will flow around the lagoon spiking wait times for Mummy to 30+ minutes before heading on to the Battlestar coasters. Essentially people work their way around USS in a clockwise manner so plan to go counter clockwise and if it's not too busy you should have 0-10 minute waits all day long! And now onto the rides themselves.. LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! This is the sleeper hit of the Park and one that I suspect many would bypass because they either don't know it's there or just don't know how good it actually is! DJRAPPA you would be impressed by this show. The audio in both the main and pre-show areas is top notch. The whole show is 10-15 minutes long and is basically the park's big SPFX presentation ala "Ëarthquake" or the old "Backdraft". It seems to take all of the big wow moments from such experiences combining them together in a show that features immersive elements that make you feel part of the experience. It's a real shame that MW will never have a show like this and I say that because this kind of attraction really needs to be built for opening day. It is a complimentary attraction rather than a feature one but if you can appreciate being thrilled without being turned upside down then you won't wanna miss this! MADAGASCAR A CRATE ADVENTURE All I am going to say how painfully disappointed I was to learn this opens tomorrow and when I was there on Friday (my birthday) they were only allowing AP holders previews later that day WARNER BROS MOVIE WORLD PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE GUEST REACTION TO THIS RIDE AFTER IT OPENS!! It will essentially be a modern day version of LTRR and I can tell you this is going to be a smash hit with Park visitors. People were lining up at the entrance just to be told by an attendant that it was closed! It's the intrigue of what's inside that makes boat/dark rides like this so exciting for people. If it is successful, hopefully MW will see the value in keeping the dark ride boat experience SHREK 4D Same show as MW's with maybe a few more theatre lighting effects and better themeing inside - only just though. One thing you do notice about USS is pretty much everything looks better on the outside where the lions share of the budget went. WATERWORLD STUNT SHOW Very reminiscent of Police Academy and essentially the same as the Hollywood show. Far too hot in the venue and maybe some of those giant ceiling fans that are popping up around the place would help? I found it hard to enjoy the show because of the heat JURASSIC PARK RIVER RAPIDS The fast part of this ride provides one of the most fun rapid ride experiences out there but overall, to me it was a real let down. The Animatronics have 'Sally' corp written all over them and the skins on the Dinosoars are showing their age. No offence to MW but they could have produced a ride as good as this on their cheaper budgets. Not sure why they did this.. Maybe because it is a rapids ride so you whip by so quickly that they'd think you wouldn't notice? So much more could have been done in the dark sections and the T-REX could have been bigger, meaner, closer and maybe stuff like feeling the heat of his breath? Something to bring the action closer, it just missed the mark for me. Oh and be sure to brace yourself when you go down the shoot at the end. There is no smooth run out so the boats slam into the water and it can hurt! I hope it gets shut down and seriously worked on after Transformers opens. Best time to ride is 1st thing and you can go round and round. You will get soaked! Don't get me wrong. It is good, just not great. MUMMY Great ride. I have never been on the ones in the US so hard to compare it. Again I feel they spent too much $$ on the exterior themeing and cheapened on the internal effects. Like Scooby, the walls look great and in part look up and you'll see it's just a black ceiling with show lighting etc. Disney go all out to create the 360 degree of immersion and this is what sets them apart. If USS had done on the inside what they did on the out it would be up there with Disneysea. Without being too critical this is arguably the Park's best attraction and we went on LOADS of times! The biggest pain in the arse is having to walk all the way around each time (you have to get off each time). The elemental surprises such as fire and mist, turn tables, LIM launch and space mountain style dark section make this one of the best theme park rides out there. One tip - hold onto the safety bar throughout - if the car is heavily loaded it will initiate high pressure breaking before the last drop and that can hurt! BATTLESTAR HUMAN VS CYLON Can anyone answer why the only smooth Vekoma Coasters out there are the ones that are built for Disney?!? lol nah seriously compared to Lethal weapon, this is a huge improvement:) Themeing in the queues is good but really no better than the likes of Superman Escape. The launch is fun but could do without braking a little at the top of the rise. The clothoid loop on the Cylon side has a great reverse G feeling as you go into and come out of the loop but the cobra roll is a little jarring from the front row. Both trains lose quite a bit of speed after the first big drops but soon pick up the pace. Overall both rides are a lot of fun with the Human side being surprisingly more thrilling than I expected. Mind you the Human side is also quite rough and the cars shudder (in true vekoma style) through every sudden turn. You can see why one of the seats (allegedly) once came off during testing!! There are definite design faults with both coasters and I guess maybe because it was some what of a prototype, practice makes perfect eventually;). My advice, do the Red side 1st and blue 2nd. Go whenever waterworld is on. Both Mummy & Battlestar have lockers for you to empty all your belongings. Great because they are free for the 1st 30 minutes! TRANSFORMERS You can tell the entrance to the ride will be by the 2 green double doors under the 'Sci-Fi City' canopy. The show building behind it does not look very large, certainly not as big as Hollywood's so I wonder what sort of version Singapore will get? There are no signs advertising that it is 'coming soon'. My bet is Hollywood's version will be the more lavish one. PLACES TO EAT Fine dining out in Singapore is crazy expensive but junk/takeaway food is cheap! Universal Singapore's food prices are very good for Theme Parks and I was impressed by the quality. Friars in far far away offer some great chicken wrap combos and if you're a pizza fan like me then you can't go past Loui's in the New York area. Between 2 of us we devoured a Tandori pizza which was HUGE. Way too much food for 2 people but it was Belissimo and so massive that it did me well and truly for the rest of the day Phew.. well if you made it this far thanks for reading and if you're planning a trip, I hope I've offered some good tips about your visit to the Park. If I sounded too critical I guess it's just because there is always room for improvement right? Honestly the place is spectacular, staff were very friendly, the food and variety was great with a compliment of attractions that sum it up as one of the top Theme Parks around. Go check it out! Maybe just wait till Transformers opens first:) -Mikey

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Pretty much spot on Mickey. I'm in almost total agreement... I think it's a bit harsh to put them down on the reduced theming "indoors". I appreciate what you're saying about black ceilings and theatre lights, and agreed - disney does do it better, but they don't hide everything, and neither does USS. In all, I think it's more smart. Disney gives virtually an unlimited budget to a new attraction. The USS Consortium wasn't running on an unlimited budget, and certainly with the issues with Madagascar and Battlestar, there were some major hip-pocket hits, but at the end of the day - it's smart because they've blown the budget on things everyone can really notice, and skimped out in the places least likely to be noticed by everyone. For example - the queueline for Shrek was very well made, but with a blackened ceiling with all of the airconditioning ducts etc spraypainted black also, and the theatre spotlights highly visible. I think the point that needs to be made is that with so much detail on the walls, the floors etc, who is going to be looking at the roof? Answer: Enthusiasts who nitpick (like me). The general public, in general, won't notice, and if they do, won't care. Especially since few non-enthusiasts will have the opportunity to compare this effort with the exceptionally well themed efforts of disney. Last quick note - Disney doesn't always get it perfect... Hong Kong Disneyland's "Mickey's PhilharMagic" has bare "black painted" ceilings with black theatre lights and show devices. No others come to mind, but i know there are more...

[keadz]

Appreciate the lengthy report, haven't seen too many reviews around the place. Sounds like a fantastic park, despite the teething problems. Slightly disappointed in the coaster selection, and don't see any expansion occurring soon...but obviously the park is so much more than that. Can't wait to visit the place as soon as I can't get there!

[Flea]

For example - the queueline for Shrek was very well made, but with a blackened ceiling with all of the airconditioning ducts etc spraypainted black also, and the theatre spotlights highly visible. I think the point that needs to be made is that with so much detail on the walls, the floors etc, who is going to be looking at the roof?

It's true that not many people would look at the ceiling, but IMO leaving lights visible is a theming element on it's own -- it's particularly fitting in movie studio themed parks. Edited May 16, 2011 by Flea

[MickeyD]

^I think that if any Park can get away with leaving out details like ceiling, exposed lighting, fx, exit signs etc then a Movie based Theme park like Universal certainly can. I guess arguably it adds to the whole 'Hollywood Magic' thing - just the same way as the facades around the place can. I guess Alex, enthusiasts like you, me and so many others do tend to notice the details and can be perceived as 'nitpicking'. I wonder how much impact such details have on the average Jo who would only notice them perhaps subliminally? Anyone who has been would agree there are a lot of smiling faces wondering around, Cast members included so they are certainly doing something right Thanks to those that read my report! Transformers and Madagascar will add the much needed dark ride element and comfortably make the place a 2 day visit

[billyb67]

I will be going in November 2011, thought I'd give them a good amount of time to iron out all the kinks, which it seems they have had alot of !! thanks everyone for the great detailed reviews, I will be printing these out and taking them with me to read on the way there !

[Gazza]

Guess what guys...You get another USS review to read. Spoliers, and I'll put Transformers at the end for that reason. Overall a very good park...Great rides. As for the theming, the ambition is there an it is detailed, and it looks alright, but a combination of the local climate and some sloppy contruction methods in parts means it looks quite worn already. Would be interesting to see how the park looks in even 5 years time if the current state is anything to go by....Onto the rides and attractions. -Waterworld Skipped today, may or may not see it tommorow since I've seen the Hollywood version. -Enchanted Airways Just like Roadrunner, but sounds a bit smoother and quieter when it runs. Lap bars are individual and quite narrow so your legs get pressed together. The queue has plenty of funny Shrek universe details, and the ride layout has various animatronics of well known characters helping out with the aviation operation, like Grandmother wolf waving landing lights and Pinnochio manning the control tower. -Canopy Flyers Today was dead quiet today, so I rode 3 times, front and back n stuff. Fun little ride, with nice views, and it goes over the top of tree canopies as the name suggests, but it is over pretty quickly, but at least the best part, a tight helix is right at the end. -JP River Adventure My first experience with the Hafema version of this ride type. The boats do let a lot of water in and spin a lot, which is good if thats your thing. There were perhaps not quite enough waves....A couple, but i do like rocking and rolling the whole time...Again, the construction of the park shows here....The whole enclosed section looked as if it was older than WWF! The loading area is a bit of a clusterf***...you enter and exit on the same side, and the boats move along an aluminium conveyer belt that you walk on, so everyone is kinda trying to get on whilst others get off. Found it funny too that the boats are made of "rubbish bin plastic" rather than fibreglass like most rapids boats. Anyways, you go off the end of the conveyer belt down some rollers and splash into a gentle river and go through a couple of dino habitats. Up ahead the river becomes more treacherous, and you see washed away fences, an upturned raft and a flooded out guards post. Things keep getting worse and you get washed down a canyon past some raptors, eventually reaching a water intake for the JP hydroelectric plant. The tunnel is pretty plain actually....literally black walls with the odd warning sign about dangerous water currents. It is in here that you get unavoidably wet in the first instance, passing under a fast flowing leaking pipe. Eventually you wash into a vertical hydrovator. You hear a voice..."Help me, I'm up here!"....you soon discover the T-Rex is up there too, snapping at you as you come up the vertical lift. At the top, the doors open and you go down a drop about as big as the one on the Flume at SW, hit the water, and get SATURATED by the wave. Do as AlexB says and leave all valuables elsewhere. But don't use the lockers at the ride and pay $4 an hour. If you can, and the queue for the rapids is short enough, use the 30 min ones at ROTM for free...Umad company? Dino Soarin -One of those spinning up and down aeroplane rides, like the ones at DW and SW, except its Pteradactyls. Didn't ride. Treasure Hunters -Car ride...might ride tommorow. Revenge of the Mummy -Pretty awesome like the Orlando version. The story is a bit different...You are aparently looking for 'the book' to destroy Imhotep, rather than the Orlando one, where its a movie set and "The curse is real". The downside of this is that the scene where you had the false unload station is replaced with Imhothep appearing with 'the book' and still damning you to death. Still fire on the ceiling etc. Otherwhise, its largely identical to Orlando, except the animatroincs are cheaper and more jerky. Cant argue with 5 min queue times. The ride is set in an actual temple, and they have done a good job at theming the side of the building, such that the side facing Jurrasic Park matches that area, and the side facing Sci Fi city matches that area. The bottom floor spends ages ziggzaging around tombs and wooden fences..ahem buttressign, with the odd crate, giant vase, block, mummy coffin etc forming an obstacle for the queue to get around...The waiting areas are massive at this park...Bigger than many Disney attractions even, would hate to see it on a busy day. The ride starts off with a dark ride in a tomb, with cool stuff like writing appearing magically across a wall. You reach a treasure room guarded by Imhotep, which erutps in flames and mummy zombies pop up either side of the track. You rush to escape under a large dropping stone door, going down a little drop to get under....Eventually you reach a dead end, bump into a wall, cracking it, and causing thousands of scarab beetles to being swarming over the wall (All done with projectors)You reverse away to escape down a small drop, spin around on a turntable to face fowards again, where Imhotep tells you to "prepare to surrender your souls". At this moment, you launch uphill, through a cloud of green smoke and into a dark coaster section, which feels a lot like a mini superman escape, with sweeping banked turns and small airtime hills. Eventually you reach another room...Imhotep appears again, threatens you, the roof erupts in flames, and you then get launched down a drop into a pit full of red fog, and through one final coaster section. After that you hit the final brake run before the station. Somehow Imhotep has been put back in a Mummy coffin, so we're all good! Accelerator Teacups type ride themed to a space power generator. Didn't ride. Battlestar Galactica Cylon Despite the best efforts of this ride to imitate a B&M, it ain't one, and I doubt any prospective park would pick this model over the B&M inverted coaster. The new rubber harness design is comfortable and eliminates headbanging, but the ride still doesn't track smoothly enough, and has some definite shaking, including some pretty strong shocks as you drop into the vertical loop. Some things never change.Still, its very reridable, so this isn't a dealbreaker, but rather a lost opportunity for Vekoma to "be good". The dueling moments aren't as close as th old Dueling Dragons...more just a nice visual (And you get to experience the dueling effect better on the Human side....anyways...) The queue is themed to be like a Cylon base, with a cool double mirrored/one way glass type thing, where it was basically a section of wall with glass on it, and it looked like there were long rows of cylon robots behind it, dissapearing to infinity. The interior section of the queue was typical alien spacecraft stuff, but the walls as you approached the station were a bit like nemesis at alton, where it had flesh type stuff growing over metal and hoses. You head out of the station, launch upwards quite quickly (similar strength to Jet Rescue), get slowed a little bit, go over the top, down a drop and into the cobra roll, the track then races alongside the Human track, around a very high up helix (great views), down and into a cobra roll. This leads into another helix, and a large drop into a trench, where you hit top speed and go around a loop. You come up again, around a turn, and into a zero g roll, which doesn't actually deserve to be called one. Its more like a barrel roll the train ambles through, with no real weightlessness. One last helix leads to the brakes. Battlestar Galactica Human This is like a Human base where they are stationed to fight the Cylons. On the bottom floor the main feature you'll see is a repica Human battle spacecraft. The rest of the queue has futuristic airforce type theming...Think cages with flight suits, pinboards with photos of pilots giving the thumbs up, TV screens with video transmissions from your commander stressting the importance of the mission etc, and wartime posters encouraging humans to enlist and fight the Cylons. The ride safey vid is done like a 1940s wartime education video, with shaky images and pastel colours, and graphical styles of the time, telling you how to board the 'spacecraft'. Again, you launch upwards, over the hill, down a large drop under the cobra roll and then 'orbit' up around the cobra roll. You run paralel to Cylon for a bit, before doing a helix in the other direction, flying by. The rest of the ride is more helixes and so forth, encountering the Cylon track from time to time. Right near the end the Cylon track swoops right above your head quite closely. It feels like an adult roller skater basically, and sounds like one too (Literally!) Lights, Camera, Action Special effects show, but its all automated, so works more like the effects seen in a dark ride. In particular, this is one ride queue where it looks like the place was built 20 years ago...Rusted, bubbling paint, crumbing concrete edges etc. The queue for the ride is just under a big roof behind the NY facades, with various large movie posters suspended from the ceiling. The queue is split in 3, and enters the first room in paralel, at 3 tiered levels. The first room has Speilberg going on about the wonders of movie effects and the history of sound stages. You then watch a short clip of various well known movie effects (Eg the takeoff in Apollo 13, Frankentein coming to life in the original film, the flying bikes in ET and so on. The next room is configured the same way, inside a New York boat shed, and you are about to film the scene of a Category 5 cyclone. Very well put together..You'll see the water catch fire, boats fall off their celing hooks and splash into the water, window panels get blown away, wind, rain, waves on the water, debris crashing through the celing, and heaprs more. The Grand finale is a ship crashing through the boathouse doors, and coming a fair way in! And for Joz's benefit, the floor drops at the end like on Twister at USF. Madagascar: A crate Adventure Just run out of energy, so I'll do the rest tommorow n stuff.

[alex_1]

Gazza, your description of the Mummy ride sounds very different to the Orlando one? I thought on the Orlando one the launch and coaster section came before the Scarabs? EDIT: Nevermind I'm thinking of the Hollywood one.

Edited February 4, 2012 by alex_1

[mba2012]

I'm probably going there next later this year so thanks gazza for telling me all about it.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Good to relive some of this. BSG wasn't open when i went so nice to hear it's worth the ride. Never got to see USH version of waterworld and I thought singapore was a nice attempt. I know it's the same film - but do try and get into Shrek 4D - it's done so much better than MW's. The car ride near ROTM was quite boring, and hot as hell... but for an outdoor attraction, the special effects were quite well done.

[GoGoBoy]

Thanks Gazza! Looking forward to hearing about Madagascar. It sounds like a neat concept to me although a review I read online rated it as pretty average

[Gazza]

Madagascar: A crate Adventure Pretty cutsey queue line, with a maze of bamboo switchbacks, irregular shade sail roofs, decorated with colourful island lights (some of them pufferfish) I havent seen Madagascar, but basically your boat goes through the hull of a ship, and on the other side you discover the animals have been marooned on the island. Through here you go through a very nice jungle environment with the various characters in a few gag situations. One of my favourites was a couple of monkeys..."If you see anyone, throw poo at them!", cue the water droplet effects, and the hippo (Gloria!) that moves her head from side to side like African American women do. At one point, to escape (some crocs I think?) the boat runs on a fast conveyer belt, like what happened at the vortex on Bermuda at SW. You eventually encounter King Julien, the Lemur, who complains that the Foosa are always ruining their parties by ripping their heads off etc. At this point, you get the feeling they were short on money because the whole section is CGI on screens rather than animatronics. So after that you go into Foosa territory along with all the other shipwrecked animals to try and stop them. This last section goes back to being all 'animaltroinics' though, and you pass through a volcano, where you see the animals taking on the foosas, who are defeated by a stick of TNT provided by the penguins and carelessly thrown by King Julien In terms of entertainment value, it was on par with LTRR, though this one was perhaps a bit more colourful and energetic, which i guess the kiddies love. Was alright, but I only rode it once, and I'm struggling to remember all of it, so I guess it perhaps didn't leave a lasting impression. Shrek 4D Is it really better than MWs version? I guess the Far Far Away castle exterior (Which then becomes Farquads castle in the preshow..oops!) and the queue look good. I can see what is meant about the roof being plain ducts etc, but I think its not realistic to say guests wont look up. In a queue area that big, and even just waiting say 10 mins for the next show in there, everyone is going to look up at some point. Ours had the better looking preshow room IMO. Smaller, but with the same amount of theming, so in SG it looks too spread out, but ours looked just right. Some of the jokes have been dropped. None of the routine about 'floggings' nor the seatbelt joke (But that lives on in some form next door, will get to it in a sec) I used to think we were cheap by painting the metalwork on the doors in 2D on our version, but theirs is exactly the same. As for the movie itself, theirs had more lighting effects to match the onscreen action and some wind (which smelled like dettol), but ours had better seat movements, for example the galloping on ours was perfect, but in SG it was noticeably slower. Donkey Live Not just for kids, and better than Shrek 4D IMO, so don't miss this (Along with Lights, Camera, Action). Set in a "Knightclub", It's run live by an Eddie Murphy soundalike and a human accomplacie out in the theatre (casual bench seating), and an animated Donkey on screen matches mouth movements with the presenter, all the usual crowd interaction, and it flows pretty well. In my Show Donkey was picking on a Malaysian Couple, culiminating in 'marrying' them in the show. Donkey performs a song at the end too, Magic Potion Spin Didn't ride, but it didn't seem to get a long queue either. Treasure Hunters Probably the most elaborate car ride out there, with woven mesh doors at the side, cos this is Universal. The Accelerator does squat and the ride just moves along itself You do get to steer a bit, Autopia style. The ride winds around some nice scenes like a section with a Nile Crocodile & Cobras, an area of ruins overrun by swarming scarabs (done by having a fallen column, wiht the mid section of the coulumn spinning to simulate the scarabs running around it, and an old bridge where the wooden supports fall away from the sides. If you go early in the day and see it has a 5 min queue, its worth killing time for that. Monsters of Rock The Show is MCed by a yank in a School Uniform, who brings 7 classic Universal monsters (Dracula, Frankenstien, Phantom of the Opera, Warewolf, the Bride, a female Mummy, They perform a few songs, with dialogue and banter between each song. The coreography, lighing, music and pyro were great, but some of them had screechy singing voices (The Bride in particular) I know I only named 6, but I have NFI who the pink girl is in this pic: http://www.rwsentosa...ollywoodTheater Worth a look. Transformers: Ultimate 3D Battle. Neck and neck with Harry Potter as the worlds best theme park attraction. Just really well polished and put together, and immersive from start to finish. If you are tossing up wether to visit USS, go for this one! Because its new, I'll put it in Spoiler tags. Basically the story of the ride is that you are volunteers of NEST, a partnership between Human and Autobots to protect the allspark from the Decepticons (Autobots: Good, Deceptions: Bad, Allspark: A shard of material able to bring machines to life with its touch. So, the queue takes you through a typical military base themed area, with concrete walls, computers, flashing control panels, red warning lights, buzzing alarms etc. The decepticons are breaking in, and you have to roll out with Evac (A new Autobot) to transport the allspark to safety. The safety vid is quite humours, with some banter between Evac, and a computerised voice...sample dialouge : Computer: "Goodbye Humans" Evac: "I think you mean good luck" Computer: "Goodbye Humans" You load in and leave the station, a large screen shows a security breach. Evac tells you to be on the look out for trouble, but he is interrupted mid sentence by some (very convincing sounding) machine gun fire. You go around the corner to the first screen. A truck with a robotic arm attempts to load you with the allspark, but ravage jumps in, grabs it, jumps on the bonnet of the vehicle and snaps at you, before leaping away onto an overhead catwalk. You turn and head to the next screen. Bumblebee comes itn to assist, grabbing ravage, taking back the allspark, and tossing it to you (all to the tune of "Give it to me baby") Evac extends his arm to catch it (Funny to imagine your ride vehicle as a setient being), but another decepticon grabs you by the arm trying to take it. Optimus Prime jumps in to assist, tackling the decepticon, giving you a chance to esape. With a screch of the tyres you move out of the base and into the city streets (screen 3). Optimus gives the order to roll out, and you speed away, avoiding traffic. Its not smooth for long, as you pin backwards to outrun that deception with saws on his hands (name?) You dodge and weave, eventuall reversing into a subway tunnel. Just as you cross the tracks a train barrels through, decaptiating the head of the decepticon that was just chasing you. You bust through and find yourself in a sewer. Megatron appears again and tries to attack (screen 4), but he bumps into a water main, breaking it, and spraying his arm (and you) with a bit of water. That gives you a chance to escape. You head around a couple of turns through some tunnels, tyres screching and engine roaring, and the vehicle turning this way and that..."Wrong way...we're trapped". Eventually you exit the tunnel and find yourself in the pit of a construction site (screen 5). A deception jumps down and brutally knocks away a scaffold, sending poles flying at you. It then launches a missile, which gets right in your face, but files overhead, exploding behind. You feel the hot air of the explosion and see the glow. You spin 180 and see a huge hole blasted in the wall, and you pass through it. What is cool is that the exposed reinforcing mesh glows red hot and then fades at the tips. You reach the 6th screen (the hole in the wall leads to a subway station), but all of sudden a powerful rush of air sucks you up and out to street level....Devistator is using his giant vacuum mouth to suck up everything. EVAC takes evasive action and takes cover, speeding away along the streets. You transition to screen 7, where Sideswipe appears and tries to attack, but time slows down (bullet time type effect), evac takes his gun, leaps over, shoots at his head, then lands back on the ground. You try to speed away, but Devistaor is back, and you, along with several cars get sucked back, towards his mouth. Right as you go through EVAC engages his shields, and you pass straight through devistators mouth and out the otherside. You aren't free for long though, as a flying decepticon comes in, hooks you with a cable and takes you on a terrfying flight above the streets, including a moment where you fishtail around into the side of an office building, smashing through the window, through tables and chairs, and back out the other side, taking out a concrete column for good measure. This causes the cable to come loose, and you are hurled onto the top floor of a skyscraper under construction. EVAC speeds around the floor, trying to find a way out (with some realisic theming like temporary construction lights on cables, and bits of equipment), you come to another screen (#8), where Optimus and Megatron are battling it out, knocking over the tower crane in the process. Megatron urges you to protect the allspark. you turn away, to another scree, where that fighter jet decepticon comes in, shoots down a hovering NEST helicpoter, before transforming and flying away. You turn away to another screen (#9).. Evac asks "What do we do?". At that moment Megatron comes down and says "Beg for mercy". Optimus reappears and the two wrestle each other away. Evac gets some balls, and says "No more running, he takes off and jumps onto Megatron from behind and says "If he wants the allspark, he can have it!", and proceeds to jam it into his back, causing him to overload. As this happens everyone falls of the skycscraper...Evac: "Oh no!". This is just like Spiderman, where it feels like you are really falling. Right as you are about to hit the ground bumblebee catches you. The force of it causes you to fall through the pavement and land in an underground car park. You turn away from the scene and see crumbled columns and bits of street furniture/cars have fallen down with you. You reach the final scene, where Optimus bends down and says "Your bravery has saved the planet, well done!". You head back to the unload station, and above you you can see a full sized Megatron replica has fallen through the roof. As you pass under his red eyes fade into lifelessness. The unload station is back in NEST headquarters, and you can see ninja stars stuck in the walls and roof and other signs that a battle has been going on whilst you were gone. Woah, as I said, really well done. Better than Spiderman, and it never really lets up at all. The ride takes place across two floors due to limited space in Singapore (And Hollywood) The lifting happens on the 3rd screen, and the trip down via a quick decent on the 'Freefall Scene' screen...a bonus because it enhances the falling sensaton a bit. Would be awesome if they could make it do a Th13teen style true freefall, but that would be pushing in on this type of ride. You do have to really look to notice the two lifts,...The GP wont in general, and even I didn't realise till my 3rd ride. But basically there are two of them in mirror image (for capacity reasons), when one goes up, the other goes down. The room is a big half cylinder. The projector is mounted on a pole at the back of the lifting platform, so when you go up, everything moves together. The curve of the walls of the room that the image is projected on means your whole field of vision is taken up. I'd give this a 10/10 for sure.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Gazza

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Definitely not the right thread to post, and yes - we've known about WBMW Germany - now known simply as movie park germany, for quite some time.

[JD_bunnies_supporter]

Monsters of Rock The Show is MCed by a yank in a School Uniform, who brings 7 classic Universal monsters (Dracula, Frankenstien, Phantom of the Opera, Warewolf, the Bride, a female Mummy, They perform a few songs, with dialogue and banter between each song. The coreography, lighing, music and pyro were great, but some of them had screechy singing voices (The Bride in particular) I know I only named 6, but I have NFI who the pink girl is in this pic: http://www.rwsentosa...ollywoodTheater Worth a look..mage (for capacity reasons), when one goes up, the other goes down. The room is a big half cylinder. The projector is mounted on a pole at the back of the lifting platform,

Assuming this is very similar to Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue at US Florida, I thought it was a terrible show. I'll admit i dont know the whole background of the Universal Monsters, but the show itself wasnt enjoyable. Many other people walked out of the show also. How would you compare Singapore to US Hollywood and Florida overall?

[Gazza]

If we're talking individual parks, it's better than the 2 studio parks in the USA, but sits behind IOA.

[alex_1]

Then again, the Universal parks in America are pretty bad (besides IOA). Plus, Universal Florida charges $85 for adults and $79 for kids for entry, that's even more expensive than Aussie parks.

[MikeMac]

I am seriously considering a trip to Singapore mid year to check the park out!!! A flight over there looks to be about $850.00 return and park entry for two days is about $89.00 (AUD).