Universal Studios Singapore

Day started early for the Tan family, because we're off to Universal Studios Singapore! We parked our car at Harbourfront Centre and took the link to Vivocity to meet hubby's friends. There was to be 11 people + P going. MasterCard had a promotion on RWS website where you buy 3 tix and get 1 free. It would have been better if we had 12 people, but oh well, can't always have things our way. I purchased 3 sets of that promotion via their website yesterday. Tickets were to be collected at the Guest Services counter.

Breakfast at Coffee Bean, Vivocity. A hot chocolate to start the day right.

We took the monorail and it was only 1 stop away. It was my first time taking the monorail, so I wasn't sure what to do. I learnt I could use an ezlink card to get pass the gantry and it will only cost $3 (I later found out we didn't need to pay when we take the return trip, so it's quite worth it). The monorail is quite like the sky trains we have at Changi Airport, and it was a pretty tight squeeze (think peak hour mrt ride) while heading to Sentosa. 

1 stop later, we arrived at Waterfront station. Boy, was there already a big crowd at USS. I was quite shocked when I saw the queue at the Ticketing counters. Luckily, the Guest Services counter was a separate queue behind the ticketing counters, but it was still a fairly long wait. 

Collection of tickets

Tan Family at USS

Full Group Photo

Because of P's age and height, it helps to do a lot of research on the rides she can go on prior to going to the park. This link is particularly helpful. Here are the only rides that a 22 month old can go on, unless he/she is particularly tall:

• New York - Lights Camera Action
• Sci-Fi City - Accelerator
• Ancient Egypt - Treasure Hunters
• Lost World - Dino Soaring
• Far far away - Magic Potion Spin
• Far far away - Shrek 4D
• Madagascar - King Julien's Beach party-go-round

1st character we bumped into the moment we enter - Kung Fu Panda

From the list, it would make more sense for us to turn left after the main street to go into Madagascar and Far Far Away areas, but it was a group of adults, so right side was the way to go. As P didn't make the height for the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase, hubby went in with his friends while me and P went into the souvenir store.

Really like this photo of P and Elmo(s)

P raced into this scene while others were taking their pics, so I q-ed and we took this pic. Messy hair for me coz of the breeze

Looking bored. When is papa coming out??

Coming out from the rides, we passed by the Transformers ride next. Waiting time was a whopping 80 min, so they decided to skip it. Next is the Battlestar Galactica rollercoaster with 15 min waiting time. Hubby's friends went in, so we checked out the Accelerator instead - P's 1st ride! It's like a spinning teacup kind of ride, but P didn't take it too well towards the end when the spinning got faster and the lights start flashing above her. She tried to stand and clamber onto me, but we told her she had to sit down. Luckily, she didn't have a meltdown and the ride soon ended.

In the Accelerator (before it starts spinning of coz)

Hubby's friends took way longer than 15 min to return from the blue roller coaster. Upon coming out, they were raring to go for the red one and told me and hubby to join while 2 of hubby's friends babysit her. I was worried about leaving P behind (and also not very keen on the red one as I remembered it as being quite scary compared to the blue). They were insistent, and I found myself joining the q and worrying about P throughout.When our turn came, I was quite surprised the seats were different from 2 years ago. I recalled they only had a safety barrier to clamp down our thighs in the past, but it has since been upgraded to having a vest-like structure. Ok, didn't feel so scared upon seeing the vest thing, but man, the 1st drop was bad. My heart was 2cm from leaping out of my body, haha. Nonetheless, it was a great adrenaline rush! Exited the ride to find P perched on hubby's friends' shoulder, sucking her thumb (sign of sleepiness).

Hubby and friends went in for The Mummy Ride. I skipped that intending to put P to sleep, but I found a stall selling bubble guns and bought 1 for P. The moment the bubbles come shooting out, sleep was beyond her. She chased bubbles till hubby came out.

The proud bubble gunner

Group decision was to head to the Malaysian food street just outside USS for lunch. It was super crowded and we had to wait quite long for seats. Even so, we couldn't get seats for the whole group and ended up sitting separately. By this time, P had conked out, leaving me free to guard the table while hubby went in search for food. Knowing his dislike for long queues, I asked him to go for the shortest one, and this is what he came back with.

Lor Mee, tasted better than it looked

Didn't come cheap at $5 per bowl

Hubby's friends had also kindly helped to buy chendol and a fruit platter for us to share. Great to have lots of people tackling different queues, and we got to eat a variety of food. P woke up towards the end of our meal and we didn't have anything for her to eat except fruits and chendol. She usually don't have much of an appetite upon waking, so it wasn't too bad. Her diaper, however, is in need of a change. We sought out an information counter and got directions to the nearest diaper changing room. 

Went back to USS and went left this time round. Hubby's friends went for the Madagascar Crate ride while hubby and I brought P to the merry go round. I asked P which animal she wanted to go for, and she told me lion. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get the lion both times - 1st with me, then later with hubby. She took to this much better than the Accelerator, and we felt happy seeing she had fun.

We went in for the Shrek 4D show, and P refused to put on the 4D glasses. I think some of the scenes were quite scary for her, so most of the time she was watching garbled images on the screen directly. Then all of a sudden, I felt a warm gush of liquid all over my shorts. You guessed it, diaper leak, omg!! We hurried out of the theater when the show ends, told hubby's friends to go ahead 1st while we went in search of a diaper changing room (again). I had brought a change of clothes for P, but not for myself. Lesson learnt :(

After her change of clothes, we went back to the Shrek souvenir stall where the mini ferris wheel is located. They told us each "wheel" can only fit 2 adults, so we thought hubby and myself could go with P, but no, they meant only either of us can go with P. Hubby was happy to escape, so I went with P. It was a boring ride, and somewhat dark. P just sat there wondering what was going on. She was more happy to run around the souvenir shop touching Gingerbread Man, magnets etc.

In the ferris wheel cabin. Too dark for pics, so I on the flash. Unfortunately, it can only capture her squinting.

Jurassic World was the final destination. It contained only 1 ride that P can go on, and was the ride that I think P will enjoy the most. Waiting time was 30 mins and I stayed in the queue line while hubby and P waited at the side. P is getting sleepy again, and by the time we reached out turn, her face has turned to stone. This was the best kiddy ride in my opinion, but we caught it at the wrong time.

En route the way to leave the park, we saw a mega bubble gun that can churn out gigantic bubbles. P was totally excited (you can probably tell by now she's crazy about bubbles). We spent the last few minutes  watching her chase and burst those fragile bubbles, and that ended our day at USS. Of the 7 rides she could go on, we managed to cover 5, not too bad if you ask me :) Hopefully the next time we come back, she will be able to go on more rides.

Chasing bubbles and dreams