On Day 4 of our 5-day vacation we finally did what we came here to do and visited Universal Studios Hollywood. We rode all the major rides and saw everything we wanted to see, so it was a really fun couple of days. In this article I’ll tell you what we did at the park and give my reaction to all the attractions we saw all while sharing some pics along the way.

A bust of Alfred Hitchcock near the entrance of the park. Should have gotten a side profile.
Very early after arriving one of the first costumed characters we saw was Scooby-Doo and if you know my girlfriend you would know she had to get a pic with Scooby. Especially since he was in front of the Mystery Machine! At one point during our visit we even saw Shaggy and Velma too.
“How’s it goin’ Zelda?” said Beetlejuice after he saw my shirt. After laughing at his greeting I ask “You mind if we take a quick pic?” and in a very Betelgeuse-like fashion he replies “Sure, it’s almost as if that’s why I’m here.”
I’ve been seeing Marilyn Monroe all over this trip and now I finally meet her. I had a long conversation with her too. Very surreal for someone who sounds exactly like Marilyn to ask me if I’m excited to see the new Dune film.
You know how Epcot features an attraction where Crush from Finding Nemo interacts with park guests in real time? This booth featuring the Shrek character Donkey is Universal’s version of that. And I loved hearing him interact with the park guests because he was always funny and he sounds just like Eddie Murphy. One thing I learned while listening to these improvised interactions is that Donkey is a big fan of the song “Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
One of the places we decided to see was the DreamWorks Theatre, which currently features a Kung Fu Panda-themed show where characters like Po, Master Shifu and Mr. Ping interacted with the audience and we sat in an audience where our seats moved along with the actions happening on screen. It had some funny moments but this was mild compared to the other rides we went on.
My girlfriend is a huge fan of roller coasters but I’ve never ridden one. We decided that Revenge of the Mummy – The Ride would be my first one and I immediately regretted it. Not only was this thing terrifyingly fast but it was dark too! So I was both moving at the speed of light and not able to see where I was going! Thrillseekers will enjoy it I’m sure, but roller coasters are not my thing.
Jurassic World – The Ride was really fun, as long as you don’t mind getting a little wet. The animatronic dinosaurs in this one were impressive.
I was originally planning to avoid the Wizarding World of Harry Potter but my negative feelings towards the creator of Harry Potter were vetoed by my curiosity and fascination with what the theme park engineers were able to create in this area and I’m glad I went because Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was by far one of the most fun rides in the entire park. The queue through the halls of Hogwarts was impressive and the ride itself made it feel like I was actually flying through the sky!
Transformers: The Rise – 3D was a similar attraction to Forbidden Journey but as you can tell by the title, you wore 3D glasses while riding it, which made the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons happening around you all the more immersive.
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, in the Illumination-themed area near Super Silly Fun Land, was a ride I also enjoyed. The concept involving Gru turning park guests into minions took advantage of a lot of comedic possibilities and in typical Despicable Me fashion it mixed some sweet moments in with the humor.
However right next to Minion Mayhem was one of my favorite attractions at the park, which was The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash. The climb up the apartment building in this picture feels straight out of the movie it’s based on. Even the queue was funny and entertaining, and you’ll see some of the best animatronics in the park, which are not only cute but also look like they stepped straight out of the movie screen. And that’s all before the very fun ride begins!
Spotted a minion cameo in the Off the Leash queue.
I had to take a picture next to the Springfield sign. This area based on the TV series The Simpsons (one of my favorite shows in the world) was one of my favorite areas in the park.
Ran into Homer Simpson at the Kwik-E-Mart. A highlight of my life.
While I was in Springfield I had to try the infamous Krusty Burger and see if it was as bad as Krusty the Clown says it is. Pretty good, actually! I also tried a Blue Raspberry Squishee, because when in Springfield …
Me at Moe’s Tavern trying to convince Barney that he’s had enough beer.
Me showing Chief Wiggum the respect he deserves.
The Simpsons Ride is the centerpiece of Springfield and if you are a Simpsons fan you will not be disappointed with this attraction. The humor is straight out of the TV series, and visiting a place called “Krustyland” is just as terrifying as it sounds (nothing is less reassuring than Krusty himself telling you that you have nothing to worry about).
Don’t forget I’m also a film geek, so the Studio Tour was an attraction I had to go on. I learned a lot of fascinating trivia about the movie industry and saw a lot of fascinating set pieces (remember this area started out as Universal’s actual film studio before it became a theme park).
Posters of some of Universal’s most famous films were on display at the start of the ride.
Hello Ted!
The tour guide showed us locations where they filmed actual scenes from such films as Back to the Future, Bruce Almighty, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean and more!
In addition to these vehicles from Magnum P.I. and Back to the Future they also showed us Fred Flintstone’s car and a jeep from Jurassic Park.
I was in the window seat so here’s something that happened right next to me.
As a huge fan of Jordan Peele, you have no idea how excited I was to be on the actual set of the Star Lasso Experience from the film Nope. Luckily we didn’t run into any aliens or rabid chimpanzees during the tour.

The Studio Tour is of course not just any ordinary tour. It’s also an attraction, and at one point King Kong did battle a bunch of dinosaurs around us while we were riding the tour bus, with all the shaking and dinosaur spit that you would really experience in that type of situation. I don’t know how the engineers of these attractions do what they do but I was fully entertained so hats off to all the people behind the scenes of all the attractions we all love as well as all the films that inspire them. This was truly a memorable week.

In the next and final chapter of this 8-part series of articles, I will discuss my experience at Super Nintendo World. Let’s-a go!