Singapore 2011 - USS

Iconic rotating sign around the Earth..

Since we live in Resort World Sentosa, we walked to USS from our hotel and got there in less than 5 minutes.. It was almost 9.30am and the crowd was growing steadily.. Lots of people taking photos and the ticket booths were already opened..

I went to exchange my printed tickets for actual USS tickets at one of the customer service counters.. being kiasu, we went to queue at the gates 15 min before opening.. A staff then came down the queue, scanned our tickets and asked for our nationality as part of their statistic gathering..

We took a brochure the day before so that we'll be able to plan and maximize our day..

Here are my reviews on the attractions we went to:

Battlestar Galactica roller coaster rides
BG: CYLON and BG: HUMAN

view of tracks from afar..

These two rides were on top of my list of must-try rides in USS.
CYLON coaster tracks are blue in color, while HUMAN coaster tracks are in red.

We went to the CYLON coaster ride immediately upon gaining entry to USS, but it was not open yet! Same goes with the HUMAN rides.. so we went to Revenge of the Mummy instead.. It wasn't until around noon that the rides were open. Happily, we went to queue again for CYLON.. after queuing for 30 min, the rides were stopped due to "technical concerns".. the HUMAN rides were still opened, but my sis and I decided to go get lunch instead..

entrance to BG: HUMAN

It was around 2.30pm that we decided to give it a try again.. luckily the queue was very short and we got onto the coaster fairly quickly.. :)

We did the HUMAN coaster ride first. My sister didn't really like it as it had a few free-falls which I didn't mind at all.. I like the feel of free-falling.. :p kinda reminded me of my tandem-skydiving 2 years ago..

entrance to BG: CYLON

My sister preferred the CYLON ride which has several inversions. We were being thrown around - zero-g roll, cobra rolls, corkscrews and vertical loops - while being strapped on with our legs dangling . I don't like inversions, yet I would want to take the CYLON ride again as it was more thrillingly adrenalin-inducing than the HUMAN ride.. :p

Thrill rating for BG: HUMAN : 4 out of 5
Thrill rating for BG: CYLON : 4.5 out of 5
Remarks: In my opinion, these two attractions are the only saving grace in USS.

Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride

entrance to Rev. of the Mummy ride

My first ride of the day in USS.. the usual indoor roller coaster ride.. Capitalizing on darkness and some visual effects to wow riders..

Nothing scary.. except fellow riders who kept screaming for no obvious reasons.. :x felt more pissed than scared..

Riders need to store their bags in the lockers next to the entrance before allowed to take the ride.. Lockers are free for a fixed time.
Thrill Rating: 3 out of 5

Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure
Kinda knew what to expect since my sis and I have taken a similar one in USJ.. We knew we would get wet so we bought a SGD$2 raincoat at the entrance to protect my bag.. I did get drenched (entirely) when we plunged 40 feet down at the end.. I took most of the water from the splash while my sis was fairly dry.. :D it was more fun than exciting.. It is a very good way to cool down in a hot sunny day..

Thrill Rating: 2.5 out of 5


Canopy Flyer
In fours, we were taken on an aerial 'tour' of The Lost World themed area. Nothing fantastic and kinda short.. It was like "Here we go.. huh? we're back?". More for kids or those who just want a simple ride..

Thrill Rating: 1 out of 5

And we went to only 1 show, Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg which was okay.. Again, maybe we've been to too many themed parks (actually, just 3 in Japan), but the effects aren't really that impressive.. we had hoped for more.. in this show, we were just looking AT it, and not being IN it.. It would have been more fun if we could be made to experience the hurricane, with strong wind messing up our hairs, rain drenching us, etc.. The long queuing time did not justify the show, in my opinion..

More photos of USS:

shops in 1950s New York

castle in Far Far Away-land

Mel's Diner Waitresses charming the crowd..

Madagascar Boogie! with characters from e movie

Hang Ten Hipsters performing...

B-Boyin doing their hip-hop moves

Outside Sci-Fi City's only merchandise store

stroller parking area in Far Far Away-land

one of very few cute signages..

lots on offer but none caught my eyes..

park map..

entrance to the main merchandise store..

castle in Far Far Away-land from afar..

The main purpose of this SG trip was to visit the new Universal Studio Singapore. Yet, compared to Universal Studio Japan, personally I think this themed park was quite a letdown.. The two experiences were worlds apart.. we left USJ reluctantly after spending almost 12 hours there while we were bored within 4 hours of entering USS..

Atmosphere:
We don't or couldn't feel the "mood" within USS. When we got in, the place was as silent as a cemetery.. there are speakers everywhere, yet there was no sound, music or even noise... This is supposed to be a theme park where everyone is hyped-up ready for a good time and everything is larger than life.. Yet, it seemed like we stumbled into a big open-air library!! It was only around 3pm did we start to hear music.. maybe technical issues?? 

Road Shows:
There was no road shows, more like 'roadside' shows.. The singing was not too bad, the dance choreography was good, etc., yet overall the performances were nothing to shout about.. there was very limited interaction between the performers and the crowd.. Granted, it is hard to arouse excitement (or spontaneity) in this part of the world but they should at least try harder..

Souvenirs/Merchandise:

Another BIG let-down... Both my sister and I are big-suckers for souvenirs and we were prepared to spend at least SGD$ 100.. yet after seeing what was on the shelves, we had to try very very very hard to find something that we were willing to part money with.. The souvenirs were either not cute/unique enough (simply boring design!) or looked like they were some cheap knockoffs you can get from those 3-for-$10 souvenir shops... It was totally the opposite when we were at USJ, where I had to stop myself from spending all the money I had in my wallet on souvenirs.. 

Food:
We went to Oasis Spice Cafe in Ancient Egypt for lunch. The food was fairly tasty and filling.. I think this is the only element in USS that is better than USJ.. after all, Singapore is a foodie's paradise.. :) 

Overall Experience:
There was just not enough excitement to warrant spending an entire day here. Darn! I didn't even take as many photographs as I normally would.. took less than 200 photos as opposed to 500+ in USJ.. we got into USS at 10am sharp and got out before 4pm.. even my sis, who is less critical and more forgiving than I am, wanted to go some place else.. 

All in all, we were pretty disappointed.. a 2.5 out of 5 for enjoyment.. 1 point each for the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster rides and 0.5 for the food..

For more details on USS, you can visit their official website or read the write-up in wikipedia.