UHS Mini Trip Report (+Venice and Science Center)

bakerudall

Real Boy
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
My dd12 and I drove from Phoenix to LA June 4-7 to celebrate her elementary school graduation. Our main objective was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but we made some stops along the way. It was 110 degrees at home, so we had to stretch this trip out a little longer.

Our first day was to be our ocean/beach day. I got a cheap groupon for a whale-watching cruise out of Marina del Rey, and called that day to reserve our spot on the afternoon. They were a little shocked that I called so early, but they took my info and told me to be at the pier on the day of the cruise. Unfortunately, when I called to confirm our reservation a couple days before the trip, they informed me that they had canceled all the afternoon cruises for summer weekdays, and we weren't going to get there by 10 AM for the other one. We ended up spending a lot more time on Venice Beach and at our hotel rooftop hangout instead. The view was great from the roof, especially Santa Monica pier lit up at night. A note to the other parents out there: Venice Beach is not the best choice for children. I never felt like we were unsafe there, but lets just say I saw a lot of things that I hope my daughter didn't see.

The next day was California Science Center day. That's right—we gave it a whole day. I know most of the locals will tell you everything other than Disneyland is a half-day visit, but we wanted to see every exhibit they had (except the very expensive King Tut one). It's free to visit, although we payed $25(?) to park there. FYI, there are A LOT of free things to do in Southern California if you just pay the $25 parking :) We arrived 30 minutes early and checked out the amazing rose garden on the north side of the grounds. Then it was time to get in line for the IMAX showing of their panda movie (not free—we bought tickets earlier on line). The giant theater consisted of us and one other family + hundreds of 3rd graders and teachers from a nearby school. It was actually quite fun to hear the entire group of kids say “awwwww” in perfect sync every time a baby panda did something cute on the screen. The rest of the center was excellent. They have the space shuttle Endeavor and it's massive fuel tank, a kelp forest with a diver show, a Wright brothers glider, an Apollo capsule, and tons of other cool stuff. I was surprised, though, at the number of activities and displays that were out-of-order.

Day 3 we entered Universal Studios. I bought 2-day passes because they weren't much more than 1-day passes, and we wanted to see every attraction and show in the park because it was our first time there. Also, my daughter would definitely wanted at least 2 hours per day in the Wizarding World. I purchased the tickets online for the early entry to that land because the park had short regular hours (9-7) those two days. If you were going in the off-season or just want to catch all the headliners and the studio tour, one day is plenty, and you can find discount tickets elsewhere if you don't need the extra Potter hour. Also, if you don't like Star Tours, you won't like the majority of attractions in this park, so don't get 2 days. I should have tried to find discount annual passes at Costco or something, because with the $25 per day parking, it might have been cheaper to get passes with free parking.

I was very impressed with the park. Super-clean grounds and bathrooms, friendly employees, tasty food, and high-quality character interactions. It was really a lot better that I expected from all the reviews I've heard over the years. It's no Disneyland, but we had a great time, until the last two hours of the second day—more on that later. The basic touring strategy was simple and worked perfectly. We spent the early hour in Potterland, and then moved to the backlot tour for the next hour. The lower lot doesn't open until an hour after regular park opening, so we got there at opening time and spent another hour. After getting back to the upper lot, we just did whatever we wanted with moderate waits for Simpsons and Minions. In the Wizarding World, dd12 was able to do the two rides as much as she wanted because there was no wait for single riders in the morning. I was too large for those two rides :( The only other tight fit is the Mummy, but I made it on that one. When we got to the lower lot, the Mummy was actually closed for maintenance, but the had a bean bag toss (corn hole) where the entrance was roped off. I tossed my first bag into the furthest whole and won two pairs of front-of-the-line passes. They were only good for lower-lot rides, but hey, free stuff! They said it would be open the next day, but it wasn't ready in the morning, so I landed another toss and won two more pairs. The Mummy opened that afternoon and we had our passes ready.

I really liked that the outdoor ride queues were completely shaded. They had fans on in the afternoon and even misters if they needed to take it to the next level. There were also a lot of video screens with ride-related entertainment to ease the wait. All the food locations had plenty of seating, but I didn't check right at lunch time. My amusement park food strategy in general—eat breakfast at the hotel or get some breakfast burritos on the way to the park, bring granola bars or other small snacks for whenever you need a boost, buy a nice treat around 10 AM, eat lunch at 2, and dinner at 7 or 8 (in this case—out of the park). One thing I did not like was their pushy photographers. They showed up in random locations like the middle of streets. The transformer meet and greet spot will try to make you look at and purchase all the photos they took even though you used your own camera as well. Use a firm “no, thank you” to get rid of them while they are approaching you and save your time.

The shows were excellent, especially Waterworld. A lot of the actors, including animal actors and dancers in other shows, will visit with anyone after the show and take pictures with you. Disney would charge extra for that :)

Now comes my major complaint—the one that reminded me we weren't in a Disney Park—the last 2+ hours. My daughter decided to ride Harry Potter/Forbidden Journey one last time, and it broke down half-way through. The lack of communication with the riders and their parties waiting outside, the amount of time it took them unload that ride, and the lack of compensation for this ordeal was very unnerving. I wrote a letter a few days ago to see if they will make it up to us somehow, so I won't rip into them and share all the details yet. But if they ignore it, maybe I'll post my letter in the comments.

Overall, it was an awesome trip. I don't want to make this post too incredibly long, but I'll answer any questions or elaborate more if desired.
 
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Update: Universal just called me and offered two tickets and some front of the line passes to give them another chance sometime in the next year. So I guess I don't have anything bad to say about them anymore. :)
 
Glad you enjoyed your trip! That's awesome that they offered you free tickets. That ride breaks down all the time (probably at least 25% of the times I've been on it and I've been on it many many times) and we've never gotten anything!
 


The longest I've been stuck is about 10 minutes. Most of them are only a minute or two.
 


Hi. Thanks for this report. It’s bern very helpful for my planning! :love:

My mother is coming with us this year. She may or may not go on the rides with us. Is it possible to go through the ride lines with us then exit and wait for us until the ride is over?
 
Hi. Thanks for this report. It’s bern very helpful for my planning! :love:

My mother is coming with us this year. She may or may not go on the rides with us. Is it possible to go through the ride lines with us then exit and wait for us until the ride is over?


Yes, she can go through the lines with you and then wait at the exit or in the child swap room (there is seating and there are often older people waiting there in addition to people with children).
 
Hi. Thanks for this report. It’s bern very helpful for my planning! :love:

My mother is coming with us this year. She may or may not go on the rides with us. Is it possible to go through the ride lines with us then exit and wait for us until the ride is over?

The only two rides I skipped were the two Harry Potter rides I couldn't fit on. She will want to go through both lines as they have great theming. In the castle, there is a nice waiting room right by rhe loading area with benches and a tv playing potter movies. At the hippogriff ride, you just wait a very short time for your party's train to come back. Some lines like Simpsons and Minions are kind of long and boring other than the tv bits, but there is a lot of seating areas next to eateries that don't fill up if she wants to people watch in lieu of lines.
 
now that I think about it, minions was a pretty comfortable ride so she will probably want to do that one. also she would really enjoy the Kung Fu Panda movie
 
I tossed my first bag into the furthest whole and won two pairs of front-of-the-line passes.

Cool!

I landed another toss and won two more pairs.

WOW!

Update: Universal just called me and offered two tickets and some front of the line passes to give them another chance sometime in the next year. So I guess I don't have anything bad to say about them anymore. :)

Excellent.


FWIW I've been on some epic Disney ride-stops and got nothing in return. First time was on Roger Rabbit at Disneyland, we were in site of the exit door, and we were the very LAST to be evacuated. And behind us there was a bit of child abuse as a child cried and the parent did the "I'll give you something to cry about" nonsense, so it was all miserable for everyone.
 

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