I love acting like a big kid and visiting theme parks, the excitement of the rides and everyone just being in a great mood. Although, I have always been a little too timid to go alone.
While in Singapore I was a bit over sight-seeing, didn’t want to shop, but still wanted to get out from the hotel and do something, so I thought why not and headed to Universal Studios. Honestly, going to a theme park by yourself is really fun!
Located on Sentosa Island, getting to the park is an adventure in itself. Once on the island, there is an array of attractions and activities, however, I just visited Universal Studios. Armed with my ticket, bought from my hotel, and waiting for the gates to open at 10 am, I was full of excitement.
The park is divided into seven zones, all located around a central lake, which means you can essentially do a loop and visit all attractions. This doesn’t necessarily work, as some attractions open later than others so I ended up doing the loop a couple of times. And going by yourself, you choose what to do, whether that’s the more childish rides and shows, or the extreme roller coasters.
Hollywood
A replica of Hollywood Boulevard which also creates the main entrance to the park, it’s also the main location for souvenir and gift shops. Gift shops are located in each of the zones, which sell more zone specific merchandise.
Madagascar
This area is really aimed at those much younger, although I did get on the Crate Adventure, which was a bit of light hearted fun at the end of the day. This area does open later in the day, so you may find yourself coming back here.
Far Far Away Land
Who doesn’t love Shrek, the movies although aimed at children do adopt some older concepts to keep adults interested, and Far Far Away Land is no different. Aimed at kids, but equally enjoyable by adults.
The Lost World
For anyone with a love of dinosaurs, or who grew up on Jurassic Park, this area starts to bring the excitement to the park. Later in the day the Waterworld stunt show is a great place to rest those weary feet, and grab some shade.
Ancient Egypt
This is really aimed at the bigger kids, with the first of the really big ticket attractions in the Mummy’s Revenge, the wait time for this ride could be long, but can be easily missed early in the day, and the plus side is the line is indoors so you aren’t waiting in the sun.
Sci-Fi City
This is where the big ticket attractions really live and expect long wait times, no matter the time of day you visit. Two roller-coasters interwine in the Battlestar Galactica, while the Transformers ride immerses you into the action.
New York
The last of the zones, and the place where most of the live shows take place.
Handy Tips and Hints
- Some hotels sell discounted tickets with additional value, I purchased my ticket from the hotel which was discounted slightly but also gave me credit to use towards lunch and merchandise, pretty good value. They also printed the ticket for me so entry was streamlined.
- Limit your personal items, I was going alone, so took as little as I could. A small cross-body bag was enough. As a result, all photos included here were taken on my Samsung Galaxy S8. Some rides you cannot take any personal items on, for these they offer lockers near-by with a free period, so I didn’t actually need to pay for a locker. On the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure you can take personal items but they, and you, will get wet (I packed a plastic bag just for this ride).
- Go mid-week if you can, I went on a Wednesday and the crowds were tolerable with wait times generally about an hour or less.
- Get there early, for opening if you can, and try to do the big ticket attractions first. This leaves the afternoon to get to the live shows.
- Go alone or be prepared to ride alone, yes it’s terrifying doing things alone, but the bonus is you get to skip a lot of the lines, I think the longest I waited in lines was maybe 20 mins. The major attractions have solo riders lines so they can fill spare seats qickly, so if you are prepared to ride alone you can cut alot of waiting time. I also met and spoke to alot of people doing this.
The Wayfarers Lens 