Universal Studios 12th June

Feeling a little delicate after a night of turtle racing, we made our way from Venice to Hollywood to visit the world famous Universal Studios. Having never been that interesed in visiting Disney Land, and the like, I went into the day with mediocre expectations. How wrong I was proved - the place is absolutely mindblowing and so cleverly put together. Even as we walked in, I was suddenly suprised by the copper scupltures in the fountain moving and giving me a thumbs up. The place is laid out in a series of film sets and different memorabilia from different movies, for example, you can walk through London's Notting Hill and visit Hugh Grant's book shop or else walk through a quaint street in France, etc, etc. The rides are amazing. First we went into the House of Horrors, which you walk through and has scenes/characters from nearly every horror movie ever made. It is seriously clever, and Mark did not stop laughing at how much I jumped at the people coming rushing out from behind tombstones, etc. You even walked through a butchery at one point with lots of dead bodies hanging everywhere - very impressive.

Next, the new Simpson's ride, which is set in 'Krustyland' - you walk into the fun fair, and let's say that it's very interactive, with actors, etc. Then you board a SImpson's car, and get lifted up into a 3d world which is unbelievable - go now!

With a taste for the imaginative, we went on the Jurassic Park ride. Again, it's hard to describe just how brilliant and well thought out these things are, but I suppose if I did that properly, it would ruin the fun! Each ride actually makes you feel like you are there in the film and part of the action. The highlight of this ride is the unexpected super steep drop in the dark down a water chute at the end...there was a photo taken at the top and the only thing I can compare my expression to is the horror character from the film SCREAM, yup - it's a scary photo.

The Mummy ride is full of thrills - from building up the atmosphere slowly going through scary looking tombs, the lights suddenly go out, and the ride turns into a superfast twisting rollercoaster in the pitch black. WHen it abruptly comes to a halt, and you think the ride is over, it suddenly takes you backwards just as fast! Brilliant!

I won't write about everything, but other highlights were the waterworld show, where actors do a scene from the film with a great use of pyrotechnics, the terminator salvation show, Shrek 3d experience and Backdraft.

The area outside of the Studios is also fun, with a big cinema (where we watched Terminator) and loads of shops/restaurants, etc. If you like films and action, you will love Universal Studios - if I lived in LA I would own an annual pass! JG