June 11th, 2009 – Universal Studios

Scott took the family to Universal Studios this year, since he was the only one that had been.  I thought it was a lot of fun, and Brittany really liked seeing all the special effects they use in movies and all the movie sets.  Cole liked it for most of the day…but by the end of the day, he had his fill of Universal Studios.  He may have been slightly too young for this place to hold his interest.

There were lots of characters to meet throughout the park, we only stopped to see Shrek and Fiona, as the line wasn’t too long, since they were right at the beginning when we first entered.  By the time we got to the other characters, the lines were so long, we decided to skip them.

I absolutely recommend doing the Studio Tour.  This was by far, the best part of Universal.  It was a behind-the-scenes look at how many of the Hollywood movies and TV shows are made.  We saw the wreckage site that was used in War of the Worlds.  I don’t watch the show, Desperate Housewives, but many women on the tour did, as they all gasped and chatted when we went down Wisteria Lane.  We got to see Norman Bates at the legendary Bates Motel from the movie Psycho.  The explosive special effects from the movie, The Fast and the Furious were awesome, and of course, Jaws was lurking beneath the water, and came out to scare us all.  We also were on a bridge that collapsed, experienced an 8.5-magnitude earthquake, and lots more.

The kids both loved The Simpsons ride.  The Simpsons are visiting Krustyland, the low-budget theme park created by famed TV personality and shameless product huckster Krusty the Clown! You are there right alongside Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie as you enter through the carnival-like midway. Once you board your vehicle you’re in for one surprise after another as you embark on a wild, over-the-top ride through the park… flying, floating, and more or less crashing your way through Krustyland’s kiddie attractions, stunt shows, and thrill rides. The kids really loved when Maggie sucked on her pacifier, and you were jerked in and out, like you were the pacifier, and the smell of baby powder stuck out in my mind. We had to do that ride more than once since the kids loved it so much.

We also went on the Jurassic Park ride. Cole loved finding all the dinosaurs along the way, and we even saw a 50-foot T-Rex, before plunging straight down an 84-foot raft plunge.  I came out of my seat on that one, kinda scary, but fun!  Brittany loved it so much, that she begged Scott to go on it again with her. We couldn’t get Cole to go on it again, though.  Brittany and Scott went on the Revenge of the Mummy thrill coaster. That ride catapults guests at speeds up to 45 mph in virtual darkness.

We made it to a few shows like Universal’s Animal Actors, which both the kids really loved seeing the animals, and even got to stay afterward and have their picture taken with some of the animals used in the movies. We went to WaterWorld where the hit motion picture comes surging to life in a spectacular tidal wave of death-defying stunts, awesome explosions and an ocean of thrills! We got to stay after on this one, and meet 2 of the stunt people in the show, and we found out one of them was Kristen Stewart’s stunt double in Twilight.

It was definitely a fun-filled day at Universal Studios. To see some fun pictures from our trip, click here!