B: Today was our second day at Universal Studios, and since we got most of the Upper Lot finished off yesterday we focussed on the Lower Lot and the CityWalk today. We did a bunch of rides, saw a couple of the sound-stage style shows, and did a fair amount of shopping for our friends and family back home (that’s you).
We took the subway over to Universal City this morning and made our way straight over to the Lower Lot. We jumped on the Mummy roller coaster right away, and Sarah screamed away. She just started screaming more when the ride went backwards! From there we went over to the Jurassic Park ride, which underwhelmed Sarah as we were in a pretty empty car so the splash and fall were a little smaller/slower than usual.
From there, we went over to the sound stages for the Special Effects show and then Backdraft to dry the rest of our clothes off from JP. Once we got through those shows (no line for the first, huge line for the second) we were getting pretty hungry so we went over to the Jurassic Cafe for some steaks chinese food and hydration. We let food settle while we wandered through the Universal Experience: a bunch of memorabilia, costumes, props, and pictures from movies that Universal has created.
We finished our Lower Lot entertainment with a ride on the Mummy coaster which came with its own set of entertainment. First the line up was about 30 times as long so we got to wait outside for a while. Then once we got in a teen couple in front of us thought that it was dark enough to go for second base. Eventually we got close enough to see the cars, only to have to wait while they added an extra set of cars to the track for 20 minutes. The first car to go after this modification got stuck partway through the ride, which was another wait. Then finally, once we had gone through the entire ride we just sat in the car in the dark for about 2 minutes wondering if the ride was busted again before being able to get out. All in all an excellent end to the Studio.
From there, we went over to the Universal CityWalk to do some shopping and have a bite to eat. We had some good fun browsing through the stores, and had some excellent appetizers at the Hard Rock Hollywood. Saw some wicked memorabilia there, including stuff from Alice Cooper, Prince, Led Zeppelin, Guns n Roses, etc. Once we finished up, we took the shuttle and then the subway back to our hotel to do some laundry before we move down to Anaheim for the next week.
