Universal Studios Hollywood
Ride Reviews
updated Sept. 8, 1996
IMPORTANT - You get a 10% discount on just about EVERYTHING
at Universal Studios with a AAA Card! This works for admission, gift stores,
restaurants, etc.
I went to Universal Studios in August 1996. I really went just to ride
on Jurassic Park since it does not exist in Florida yet.
I was working during the day and couldn't go until after work. I called the info line and was told that there is no admission after 6pm. I decided to go anyway. The people at the parking lot booth also told me that I could not buy a ticket after 6pm. I went anyway.
I arrived at about 7pm. There is a very large shopping area there called Universal City. There are many restaurants and shops including a Hard Rock Café.
I went to the entrance of Universal Studios and the ticket booths were
closed. I asked the lady taking tickets at the turnstile if there was any
way I could get in just to see Jurassic Park and she said that I could
go to Guest Services and buy a ticket. I raced over there and got in line.
I bought my ticket (after telling the guy in front of my to use his AAA
card for a discount) and the Guest Services guy closed the line! It was
about 7:30pm. I just barely got in.
I entered the park and made my way to the ride. It turned out to be
on the lower level of the park. There is a large sign at the entrance of
the walkway to the lower section that shows all of the rides and show times.
It listed the Jurassic park ride as CLOSED! I decided to go look at it
anyway. It turned out to be VERY far away. There are three escalators that
take you down the side of the mountain to get to the lower park. These
are not normal sized escalators but about three times the length of ones
found in malls. It takes a long time to go down them. There are two or
three landings along the way for resting and observation. You can look
through telescopes at Los Angeles.
I got to the ride and the sign said "45 minutes from this point"!
I ran through to get to the back of the line. There were a lot of people
in line. It moved fairly well. There are four tent covered sections of
the line, each separated from the other by bushes and trees so the line
doesn't look so long. I made it from the fourth section into the last section
and then the line stopped. It had taken about 45 minutes to get to this
part of the line. They announced every 20 minutes or so that the ride was
broken and they were working to fix it. By about 9pm they announced that
the ride was closed and that we all had to leave.
I went to the Backdraft show. This show is only in Hollywood (not in Florida). There are three sections to it. The first two are mainly sets with short informative films about special effects. The third section is in the warehouse set just like in the movie. You stand on catwalks to watch the show. There are many VERY hot fire effects as in the movie. There are explosions and pieces of the warehouse fall. Then after an explosion the catwalk that you are standing on falls (only a few inches) and most people scream!
I got out of Backdraft around 9:30. I ran back to JP and
the sign said "15 minutes from this point" !!!!! I got
in line again, but the ride was not active. The boats started going around
10pm (when the ride was supposed to close for the day). They said it would
take some time with boats travelling through the ride to re-active all
of the effects. We finally got to ride around 10:30pm. There were too many
things to see in one trip through. I wish I had time to ride again. There
is a long drop at the end of the ride. The boat creates about a 30 foot
tall wall of water as it lands at the bottom of the drop. This wall of
water crashes into the boat. I have never been wetter! They take your
picture as the boat starts to fall and everyone is screaming. You can buy
it at the JP gift shop. This was a good ride. I think they are
adding it to Florida.