Universal Studios -The rest!

There was a lot more to Universal Studios than the Harry Potter attraction. After we had done our time at Hogsmeade, we set about exploring the rest of the park. 'Springfield' was right next door to Harry Potter, so we headed there next.

We decided we probably didn't need to buy a beer at Moe's...

The Simpsons ride was freaky. This was 'only' a virtual rollercoaster, you sat in a cart in a small room. However, with the movement of the cart and the 3-D effects, it very much felt like the real thing! I did feel slightly queasy after this one...

To give my stomach bit of a break we then watched the Shrek 4-D show which was great fun. I'm a sucker for any 3-D/4-D animation. Staying on the fun theme, next up was the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride. Like The Simpsons, this was also a virtual 3-D ride. This was very well done, and very cute. Will is a minions fan and he loved it!

Next up was the first of the live shows, the Special Effects Show. This was pretty cool, they talked about special effects and how some sound effects are made. They also had a stunt crew putting on a demonstration, including setting one of the stuntmen on fire. It was very nice to sit back in an air-conditioned theatre for a bit and chill out!

Will is a Scooby-Doo fan so had to get a photo with the van.

Next on the list was the Waterworld show. I've never seen the movie, but this was pretty impressive. It was a live action show with plenty of stunts. The audience in the first few rows got absolutely soaked, which they probably didn't mind too much in the heat!

There was plenty of action and some impressive pyrotechnics. Yes, that really is a stuntman, set alight, and falling into the water from the top of the tower in the pic below.

By this stage we were ready for some more rides, so we headed down to the lower lot. I really enjoyed the Jurassic Park ride. Sure, it's a bit dated and old-school compared to some of the newer more high-tech rides on offer, but I thought it was fun. As Will said, it had a certain nostalgic charm. It reminded me of the good old log flume at Rainbow's End in NZ!

The Transformers ride was up next.  I loved this one! It was so well done, and with the 3-D goggles there seemed to be things flying towards you from all directions. Plus, as an added bonus we got to get our photo with Optimus Prime afterwards!

After transformers, the only ride we had left to do in the lower lot was the Mummy. This one didn't interest me at all, I wasn't feeling too flash by that stage due to a bit of motion sickness, plus I had read reviews which said it was quite scary (yes, I know I'm a wuss!). I sent Will off on this one by himself and found a nice shady spot to sit and chill out for a bit. He enjoyed it.

Having completed the lower lot we made our way back up the several escalators to the upper lot where we enjoyed the Animal Actors show.  This was more my style! The beautiful owl below was used in the Harry Potter movies.

Who knew that you could train guinea pig?! 

By now we had pretty much completed the park. The only major attraction left was the Studio Tour. As well as being a theme park, Universal is also a working studio. The tour takes you on an hour or so tram ride through the backlots, complete with commentary. At times we would pass some of the giant sound stages where filming was taking place, so would have to be reasonably quiet. This was a really nice thing to leave till the late afternoon when we were a bit tired after being on our feet all day (I clocked up about 25000 steps on my fitbit!).

The tour guide pointed out sets that are used in various movies and TV shows. We saw Little New York...

  Little Europe...

 And a Wild West town.

In Little Mexico the guide demonstrated some of the weather effects used, and how (in the sunshine and blazing heat!) you can create a thunder and lightening storm with a flash flood.

Special effects were also on show when we entered a mock-up of a subway station and experienced an 'earthquake' which caused a fuel tanker to crash through the roof and catch fire, and also precipitated a flood.

We also passed through some very recognisable sets including Bates Hotel from 'Psycho'...

Sets used on 'Jurassic Park'...

The plane crash scene from 'War of the Worlds'...

 And sets and props used in 'Jaws'.

The 'Picture Car' collection was also very cool.

You stayed on the tram for the whole tour, but also experienced two 'rides'. One of them was a huge 3-D 'King Kong' experience which Peter Jackson directed. The other was a 'Fast and Furious' one that was a bit silly. Maybe I didn't fully appreciate it as I haven't seen any of the (7!) movies...

So, that was Universal Studios fully done and dusted. Will then used his front of line pass to go on the Harry Potter ride for the second time, while I enjoyed the ambiance in Hogsmeade. We had one final walk around before leaving the park. It was a brilliant day out, and while expensive, it was totally worth it, especially as it'll probably be a 'once in a lifetime' experience for me.

We then spent a bit of time exploring the vibrant and bustling City Walk, just outside the park gates. Dinner was cheap and cheerful Blaze pizza, which is one of our favourites over here. You build your pizza from scratch, choosing whatever you want on it from an extensive list of options. They then cook them in a huge wood-fired oven in just a few minutes. There is a branch just across the road from our apartment in Irvine. I can order using their app, they make them for whatever time you have chosen, then fire them when you turn up in the store. Having left the apartment at 7am that morning, we arrived back at around 9:30pm, shattered but happy after our epic day.

On Wednesday Dale, Will's colleague from VUW came to visit. He was in the U.S. on business and was based in LA for a few days, so it wasn't too far for him to hop onto a train and come to visit. It was lovely seeing a familiar face from home. Will took him around UCI in the morning and did some networking. We then had a very nice afternoon at the beach, before dropping him off at a train station on our way home.

We only have 1 more night left in our current apartment. Tomorrow we travel to Las Vegas for 4 nights as we make our way to Telluride, Colorado for a UCI Neuromorphic workshop that Will is helping out with.  The temperature range in Vegas while we are there is 41-44 degrees Celsius (the low is 28 degrees!). We mightn't leave the swimming pool!!! I was planning a trip to the Death Valley National Park while we are in Vegas, but my research shows the temperature will be 49-50 degrees, so it mightn't be a very good idea...