Can’t wait to have another go

By LEE U-WEN

FOR about five hours this past Tuesday, I felt like a kid all over again. Truth be told, you would have had to peel off the cheeky grin plastered on my face as I roamed around the new Universal Studios Singapore theme park at Resorts World Sentosa.

IN SYNC The Battlestar Galactica ride leaves riders with wobbly knees and gasping for breath at the end of the 90-second adventure

Look left and there stood the four notorious penguins from Madagascar, dancing away to the animated movie’s popular songs. Turn to the right and there was the colourful Woody Woodpecker – the famous character from the 1980s – posing for pictures with children and adults alike.

Wandering around the park’s seven zones, one just can’t help but feel like you are flitting about a fantasy cartoon land. After all, how often is it you get to see life-sized replicas of the Far Far Away castle from the world of Shrek, or giant, roaring dinosaurs from Jurassic Park’s The Lost World, or get to rub shoulders with uncanny lookalikes of Hollywood icons such as Marilyn Monroe?

I must admit that I’m quite the theme park addict, and I do try and take vacations in cities that have such attractions whenever possible, if only to get a regular fix of having my heart in my mouth when travelling 120km/h upside-down on a death-defying roller coaster.

As I pen this piece, I am still raving to friends and family about the Battlestar Galactica ride, the tallest duelling roller coasters in the world at 14 storeys high.

I’m sure many have already heard about what this quite incredible ride can do to leave riders with wobbly knees and gasping for breath at the end of the 90-second adventure. Trust me, I went on this particular ride no fewer than three times and I still can’t get quite enough of it.

Take your pick from either the ‘Human’ or the ‘Cylon’ coasters. If time is tight because you want to try out the 17 other rides currently open, I highly recommend the latter as you are suspended with your legs dangling as the carriage performs corkscrews, sharp drops and a near-collision with the ‘Human’ carriage – where riders are seated – in between. There is one portion where you pass through a white mist that blurs your vision for a moment before you are taken up, up and away again.

Equally heart-thumping is the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure ride, where you sit on circular rafts that take you through turbulent waters from which velociraptors and pterodactyls spring out. The final plunge at the end will leave those without a poncho soaking wet, guaranteed. Not a bad idea actually, given the current heatwave.

What was pleasantly surprising was that the food on offer is not priced exorbitantly, be it at the many refreshment stalls or at the diners and cafes. A decent meal of a main course and a drink was typically under $10 – not bad considering such tourist attractions, especially on Sentosa, charge an arm and a leg for food and drink.

The level of service at Universal Studios is high, with staff generally knowledgeable about the park’s features. We were greeted with smiles and waves at the start and end of each ride and that helped add to the overall ambience.

I still can’t quite come to terms that Singapore has a world-class theme park right on our shores. Many major cities such as Tokyo, Seoul, Los Angeles and Orlando have a major theme park attraction to call their own, and now the Lion City can proudly add its name to that list.

It’s still early days yet, but Universal Studios has won over many admirers. The challenge is to continually keep the attraction fresh and appealing such that it ensures visitors will want to come back again and again.

I, for one, know I will. And soon, too.

leeuwen@sph.com.sg

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