Second time at USS

After my memorable first trip to Universal Studios Singapore in March 2011, I was all pumped up for a second visit this year, especially since the opening of the technologically ground-breaking ride Transformers in December 2011. Overall, I definitely enjoyed my second visit much more than the first, because we could just jump straight to the rides that I wanted to take, instead of wasting time on the shows that were not that interesting to call for a repeat viewing.

The weather the second time around was perfect for Singapore standards - mostly cloudy, but quite crowded for a Friday. The admission fee was $68 (non-peak), an increase of $2 since my last visit. We had lunch at the newest restaurant in the park, Starbot Cafe, adjacent to the new Transformers ride. The menu was not prominently featured, so I was not aware of the combo meal, and ended up ordering a bit too much. The Teriyaki Chicken with Olive Rice, plus a pork sausage and a packet of chocolate milk, which cost me about $20, actually tasted pretty decent.

The first ride that we took for the day was Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure (2 rides, 8.5/10). Lockers available outside the ride were chargeable at a rate of $4/hour. Since I was carrying a waterproof bag, and my friends were not too concerned about it either, we decided to just bring our belongings along for the ride. The park gates opened just before 10am, and we arrived early, so when we got to Jurassic Park, there were only about 1 boat load of people in front of us. We were seated with a family of tourists from Vietnam. The kids were really scared, and despite my assurance that the ride would be really fun, they were slightly traumatized after the ride. We revisited the ride later in the afternoon, at about 3.30pm just after the Waterworld show had ended. Fortunately, we managed to stay ahead of the bulk of the crowd, as I noticed the line steadily getting longer as we moved through the queue. Thankfully, the line was fairly fast moving, possibly due to the addition of a second lift at the ride's climax to increase ride capacity. Even though I could anticipate what was going to happen during the ride, thanks to the cooler weather and added mist and water effects, I really had a lot of fun. In addition, the park also installed 2 water cannons for bystanders to spray at the riders after the final plunge. Another new addition to the ride is the drying pod - giant drying machines that expel hot air for several minutes, and can accommodate about 4 guests at a time. We had to use it because we were completely soaked after our 2nd ride. 

To dry off after Jurassic Park, we headed to Canopy Flyer (6.5/10), which had no line at all since it was still very early. The 4-seater ride vehicle has 2 front-facing and 2 back-facing seats. I quickly chose the back-facing seat thinking that it would be more thrilling. The ride is very short, lasting about 45 seconds, but like Enchanted Airways, it is actually rather fast. Pretty good appetizer for Battlestar. We only took this ride once, so I do not know how the front seat experience is like. As a low-capacity mini roller coaster, I would suggest going for it early in the morning, because waiting 45 minutes for a 45-second ride would not be so worth it. We also went on Dino-Soarin (4/10) just for the fun of it since we were nearby.

Battlestar Galactica: Human (3 rides, 9/10) is the less intense of the dueling coasters, featuring 0 inversions compared to Cylon's 5. However, it still achieves the same top speed as Cylon of 90 km/h, so its certainly not for the faint-hearted. The LIM (Linear Induction Motor) launch system is definitely a great part of the ride, possibly contributing to the higher speed as compared to a conventional chain lift. It feels a bit like a rocket launch, which fits perfectly with the Battlestar Galactica theme of intergalactic battles. I took 3 rides on the Human coaster, and opted to wait for front row seats on 2 occasions to enjoy the better views. Theming on Human is somewhat lacking, with only a life-sized model of the Viper, the spacecraft used to battle the Cylons in the TV series and nothing much else. The ride videos, which are meant to provide some backstory for riders, are barely audible and almost always interrupted by safety warnings. One noticeable difference from 2011 on the Human coaster was the modification of the ride restraints, from lap bars to over-the-shoulder restraints as seen in the picture below. I guess the park management did not want to take any more chances given the ride's history and opted for maximum safety.

Battlestar Galatica: Human

Battlestar Galactica: Cylon (3 rides, 9.5/10), the even more badass twin brother of the Human coaster, turning riders upside down 5 times in 90 seconds. I love every part of it, from the launch to the first drop to every inversion. Once again, I opted for front row seats once out of the 3 times we rode this coaster. One of the best parts of the front row experience is the vertical loop portion, because the coaster makes a sharp drop into a pit of fog before making the loop around the launch hill. When the train approaches the fog at high speed, it feels almost like you are smashing into a wall. Unfortunately, the ride camera isn't well placed, located near the bottom of the launch hill before the train accelerates, not ideal for capturing the rider's expression of fear or excitement. I was planning to get a souvenir photo for Battlestar and opted for Human (also because one of my friends didn't take Cylon), but I think the Human one is nicer anyway. Despite this minor complaint, the roller coaster experience is still fantastic, and without question, the best ride in the park. For both Human and Cylon, I waited an average of 15 minutes for each of the 6 rides, which isn't too bad in my opinion.

The only indoor roller coaster in USS, Revenge of the Mummy (8/10) is pretty exhilarating. What's fun about a dark ride like this, is the inability for riders to anticipate the drops and turns. Of course, having rode it before, we could more or less tell when the biggest drop was going to happen, and after taking Battlestar Galactica multiple times during this trip, this ride didn't feel as great as it did during my first trip to USS. One element that makes this ride stand out from the rest is the queue area, which truly enhances the ride experience. For the Singapore version of the ride, the line begins directly inside an Egyptian tomb, and there are huge paintings of Egyptian goddesses and hieroglyphs on the walls, and moving deeper along the line, the lighting gets dimmer and ominous sound effects can be heard, creating anticipation for the actual ride.

Since it's opening in December 2011, Transformers: The Ride (8/10) has received the most media attention of all the attractions in the park, thanks to the advanced ride technology used, and also probably because it is an extremely expensive ride to build. We managed to get Universal Express access to the ride due to an ongoing credit card promotion, and it turned out to be extremely useful because the regular wait time for the ride was 60 minutes, while we only waited for 5 minutes. While it is essentially a motion simulator car ride, I understand why some people are calling this a world-class attraction. The 3D effects are really immersive, and with the wind and fire effects, you can really feel like you are right in the middle of the ongoing action, making the ride slightly resemble an indoor roller coaster, definitely living up to the hype. However, I don't think I'd wait more than a half hour for such a ride, and might have been a little more disappointed if we hadn't had the express passes.

We missed the opening of Madagascar: A Crate Adventure (5/10) by 2 months in 2011. This ride was plagued by numerous problems during construction, including a fire that damaged parts of the ride building and props. The ride was also initially supposed to feature a drop but somehow the engineers couldn't find a way to make that work. Overall, it was extremely disappointing: I am giving it a passing score only because the theming and sets are pretty colourful and visually appealing. I am surprised that they still kept the on-ride photo element, because the ride is so boring, I don't see anyone getting a nice candid shot while on it, except really young kids who may be excited by the foosas. The capacity for this ride appears to be rather high, so queues should be fast moving like Jurassic Park.

On the whole, I am really glad that Singapore has a decent theme park with world-class rides and attractions, and while some friends were unwilling to visit the park more than once, I had even more fun the second time around. RWS has announced that more attractions will be opening next year, first with a Sesame Street ride. Obviously I have no interest in another kiddy ride, so all I can hope for is the eventual replacement of some of these attractions. For example, the entire Shrek zone could make way for another franchise, considering that interest in the Shrek franchise has probably waned with no new movies scheduled for release. Of course, that would mean tearing down the big Shrek castle, which I don't see happening in the near future. Perhaps I'll wait another year before visiting the park again. Hopefully there'll be more to look forward to by then!