USS Annual Pass

I finally got myself an annual pass for $188 today. An additional $100 must be paid for unlimited Universal Express access which I didn't feel was necessary because there would be ample opportunities for me to visit the park during the off peak season. With Christmas having just passed and New Year around the corner, the park was very crowded. Waiting times for most rides exceeded 1 hour in the afternoon. For this week, the park opening hours were extended until 9pm instead of the usual 7pm. It was great because like my last visit, I got to take some rides in the dark, which was fun.

The Lost World

Revenge of the Mummy (x3) was my first ride for the day. It was about 2.30pm when I entered the park and this ride had a waiting time of 75 minutes. The locker rental area was packed and many people were asking around for cash as many exceeded the free rental period. It was chaotic there, and the ride entrance was full of people clamoring to get to the express queue. Fortunately the single rider line was available, but I still waited quite a while for my first ride. This coaster has 2 loading platforms but only one was in operation; I wonder if they ever use it during the peak season these days. The ride was not disappointing at all, with its sudden twists and drops at a decently fast speed. I always say this but I am really impressed by the queue area, with its dim lighting and sound effects creating a very creepy atmosphere. On my 2nd and 3rd rides, I experienced a very uncomfortable sudden braking just before the final drop. Also, I don't know if the sound effects were amplified, but during the initial slow part of the ride, the sudden appearance of the mummies when the treasures are lighted up startled me a little. Overall, with the shorter average wait compared to BSG, I was certainly satisfied with this ride.

The BSG roller coasters both faced intermittent technical problems throughout the day. After taking the Mummy, I wanted to take Human in line with the strategy of taking the rides in order of increasing intensity, but Battlestar Galactica: Cylon (x4) reported a shorter wait, so I changed my plans. However, most times I entered the line when the board said 15 minutes but waited for over 30 instead. It got worse while waiting for my second ride, as they announced that the ride was delayed. I think they should have made the announcement earlier, because most of us were waiting in the line for a very long time by the time we were informed of the breakdown. However, most of us waited patiently for the ride to resume normal operations. When my turn came, it appeared that the second train was no longer operating. It would cause slightly longer waits. This continued for the remainder of the day. The ride itself was still very satisfying. The vertical loop at the fog pit always feels extremely fast, which is great! I also like the zero-g roll, but it can be jerky at times depending on where you are seated.

Battlestar Galactica: Human also had numerous delays this day. The most disappointing moment came later in the evening. By about 8pm, the crowds in the park had eased significantly, and the queue time for BSG dropped to 15 minutes. I happily joined the shorter queue here since I wanted to take a break from Cylon. When it was finally my turn, all of us happily strapped ourselves in, but the train did not launch. Not long after that, we were asked to unbuckle our seatbelts and leave as they closed the ride again. Ultimate bummer. That was a waste of a good 20 minutes lining up for nothing. The one occasion I did manage to ride this was very enjoyable though. The first drop is pretty great!

Unsurprisingly, Canopy Flyer had a 45 minute wait time almost the whole day. This ride does not actually have a very long line. It is due to the low capacity nature of the ride that causes the line to move very slowly. However, seeing how BSG was pretty unreliable the whole day, I headed to the Jurassic Park section a number of times just to check out the crowd situation here. After being forced to leave BSG unhappily, I headed here at about 8.30 and was pleasantly surprised to note that there was only a 10 minute wait for this. The first time I tried this was during my second visit in May 2012, where I opted for the back-facing seat thinking that it would be more thrilling. I chose the front-facing seat this time. This is one of the rides that I can keep my glasses on, and it was cool because I could actually enjoy the view. It is actually quite fun taking this ride in the dark. At the top of the lift hill, you get a pretty nice view of the illuminated park, and it feels like you are cruising atop the canopy with the trees below you. With the cool night breeze, the ride was surprisingly enjoyable.

Discovery Food Court

Another reason for taking Canopy Flyer was that the line for the more popular Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure never went below 60 minutes. Even near to the park's closing time, the wait time was not ideal. No loss though, because I did not bring a change of clothes so it was better that I did not get wet. Also, JP is a ride that is best enjoyed with more friends. I also stepped into the Discovery Food Court for the first time today, and it looks much like the main building in the first Jurassic Park movie. This food outlet serves local dishes like Hainanese Chicken Rice and Wanton Mee, but at crazy prices of $11 or so. It was very empty when I was there in the evening, but I suppose most people do not have dinner inside the park in general.

This visit, I actually considered taking the only ride I have never taken before, Treasure Hunters, the vintage car ride that features numerous animatronic desert animals. Even though I couldn't even sit through a full POV video of this ride on YouTube, I really thought of doing it this time. However, time did not permit for this either and the lines were also always long. Furthermore, I chose to save the best for last and end the day with another round of Cylon.

Overall, I think with my pass I will be visiting more often, but perhaps at most once every 1 to 2 months or so. Day passes now cost $74, so I need to go at least 2.5 times to break even, which is easy, and worthwhile in my opinion. I can also look forward to the sneak preview of the new Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase ride, which hopefully would be more entertaining than the very disappointing Madagascar boat ride, but till next time, ciao!