Today we had some dear friends down from the Bay Area, so I did some work from home in the morning, and then burned a few vacation hours to go to
Universal Studios with everyone. The park wasn’t at all crowded, and it was quite fun. We did the obligatory
studio tour (the tour guide, as usual, was quite good). We did the
Waterworld show, which I always enjoy because the actors have such fun with it. We did
Jurassic Park (my first time on it), and it was actually quite fun (more like Pirates but with a bigger drop at the end). Lastly, we did the
Backdraft attraction, which was quite good but should be avoided if you are sensitive to kerosene. Quite fun, and things like this make the annual pass worthwhile (plus
Versailles at Citywalk for lunch)
I’ll note that work is proceedings on
the Simpsons ride (opens May 17); the
Nickelodeon wet zone is now
Curious George themed, and the
I-Love-Lucy walk-through in the lower park appears to be gone (apparently it is being replaced with a
Universal Museum, opening in April).
I still miss the days of
the old stunt show with the western actors, but I guess kids these days don’t understand from westerns. I still have fond memories of
the old days of the studio tour, and
the plaza with the giant pencils, the
McHales Navy set,
Ma and Pa Kettle Farm, and walking through the bungalows. I could swear that
Frank was bigger then.