On to Day 3: Universal Studios. We did the “V.I.P. Experience.” It’s pricey, but Steve has wanted to do it for a long time and for a number of personal reasons we decided now was the time to splurge. I’ll talk about the stuff that isn’t part of the regular park admission. It started with valet parking — not something I’m used to. When we got to the park, an attendant ushered us into a V.I.P. room through a private entrance, where we were treated to a light breakfast and a screening of Back to the Future, Part II.
While we relaxed, our guide, Heather, came in and introduced herself. After a few more minutes, she gathered our group of 15 or so, and off we went. We started with rides. Heather escorted us to the front of the line for each ride and held our bags while we road. She also provided us with ponchos for the Jurassic Park ride in case we didn’t want to get soaked. I opted to use the poncho; Steve did not. I enjoyed The Mummy ride the most. I think it’s less than a minute long, which sucks if you’ve been waiting in line for an hour, but it really doesn’t matter so much if you just walk right in.
After we exhausted all of our ride options, it was time for lunch: a private, gourmet buffet. I ate lobster macaroni and cheese and Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream for dessert. (No criticizing my food choices — we were on vacation!) Everything I sampled was tasty, but the best part was security turning people away because the restaurant was for “V.I.P.s only”.
After lunch, we started our back lot tour, which includes everything that’s on the regular tram tour and some extra stops. We first stopped at a sound mixing studio, where actors “loop” dialogue that didn’t get picked up properly when the scene was shot. Next, we walked around the sound stage for the TV show “Parenthood.” I’ve never seen the show, but I gather most of it takes place inside a suburban home. And that’s basically what the set was. Walking through the inside, it was just like we were in a real house . . .
. . . except for one thing . . .
No ceilings. This is because with all the actors, crew, and lighting that are in the space, it gets very hot, so they need the heat to be able to dissipate. Who knew?
After the sound stage, we walked through a prop warehouse. It was basically like a giant Goodwill, except they had a huge selection of pretty much anything you might need.
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Of course, we went through some of the same areas the normal tour does. Jaws . . .
. . . a flash flood . . .
. . . Wisteria Lane (guess what: the flowers are fake!) . . .
. . . and the Psycho house . . .
. . . but when we got to the “War of the Worlds” set, we got to get our and walk around. It was kind of fun because another normal tour drove through, but they couldn’t get out, and our group ended up in all their pictures.
They’ve also changed the King Kong exhibit since our last trip. It’s now a 3D, 360 degree movie experience. It’s cool, but lacks the charm of the big animatronic ape.
When our tour was finally finished, it was still only mid-afternoon, so we were able to do a second round of the rides we liked best (still with front-of-line privileges, but our guide was no longer with us to hold our bags). It made me realize that a big reason an amusement park takes all day is because of all the time you spend waiting in line! It was still pretty early when we were ready to go.
Before we drove back to our hotel, we did a quick lap of City Walk. That place does not impress me. But, we did see Jay Leno filming one of his “Jay Walking” segments for the Tonight Show.
And that’s about it. We stopped at an awesome little burger-slash-Mexican place for dinner (Sam’s Burgers in Norwalk, maybe I was just starving but those were the best fries ever), and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.
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