California Trip 2023 Part 3: Universal Studios Hollywood

On Tuesday, May 30, we got up nice and early to head to Universal Studios-Hollywood. 

Someone was nice enough to take our group photo. 

I love that they give us a red-carpet entrance into the park. 

First up, we rode the Revenge of the Mummy. 

We watched the Transformers interact with guests. 

But the biggest excitement was heading into Super Mario World. It was awesome! 

We explored a little bit, but then found out that the main ride: Mario Kart: Bowsers Challenge was down, and because I was in a cart and couldn't stand in the 2-3 hour line, I got a later-return-time for all of us to come back later. 

So, we rode other things, maybe got lunch, and Jenny took a power nap. 

Finally, it was time to go back in. I can't even describe how exciting area was 

And walking through Bowser's Castle to get to the ride was also incredible. 

They really paid close attention to details and had so many things to look at. It ALMOST made us sad that we didn't have to wait in the big line, but not enough to do it again. 

We all had to wear these hat head pieces and 3D glasses for the ride. Jenny thought they were a little too heavy, but we all looked so cool wearing them. 

Finally, it was time to be a racer in MarioKart!!! There were 4 people per cart. Brian and I were in a cart with Rachel and Gabe, and we were in a row behind and above them. 

We had controls to shoot items at Bowsers team while we rode a loop in the race. It was really, really cool, especially since Brian and I both played a lot of MarioKart over the years. Here's Rachel and Tucker on the way out of the castle after the race. 

And here's Michael by some of the ? boxes that you could actually reach up and hit and hear the coin sound. I think there are accessories you can buy to actually keep track of your coins and lead you through games within the land, but we didn't explore that. 

We went to Hogsmeade, and Gabe was pretty excited to be there, now that he's been reading the books. 

We got everyone butterbeer--or at least got enough to share. I don't think anyone really likes it, but now we know that for sure. 

Tyler and Tucker brought their wands to explore around the village. Rachel brought hers, but the sensor got broken. She opted to wait until we go back to Florida next summer to see if they can fix it for her. Tyler and Tucker were good about sharing their wands so that everyone could try the spells around the village. 

We rode Flight of the Hippogryff and then headed to the castle for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. We had express passes for the day, which meant we missed a lot of the castle, but we weren't sad to spend little time in a line. 

We also did the Studio Lot tour, and it was awesome! I was kicking myself that we didn't go on it when we came in 2017 because it was probably my second favorite thing we did at Universal. 

It was fun seeing scenes from so many movies that we've watched, like the clock tower/square in Back to the Future. 

We also got to experience an earthquake and flash flood. 

We drove through a plane crash. 

We also got to be in the middle of a scene from King Kong and Fast and the Furious. 

We saw Beetlejuice, watched the stunt show (which was INCREDIBLE), rode Jurassic Park, Transformers, Revenge of the Mummy (again), ate lunch and dinner (not super impressed with the food), and rode the Simpson's ride for Shayne. 

By this point, I was feeling so motion sick from all the screen rides that I sat out the Minions ride while everyone else went on it. I was sad because I think it's a really fun ride, but I was worried I might throw up, and that tells you how bad it was because I rarely throw up! I had some children's dramamine in my purse and took enough to equal an adult dose while everyone else rode Minions. 

Apparently I missed an epic dance party led by Jenny. 

The kids ended up hopping on the rides in the Minions area, and we enjoyed watching them have fun. 

We still had our Express Pass for the Secret Life of Pets, so we decided to end with that one. 

And it broke down right as we reached the end, so some of us were able to get off the ride, and some of us were stuck looking longingly at the exit right in front of us. It was a cute ride though. 

We walked back through Universal City Walk to get to our car, and I couldn't help remember coming here with Natalie back in 2005. At the time, I thought that we were indoors because we came at night, and I thought the blackness was the ceiling, not the sky. It was a strange realization for me. 

Gabe was good enough to pose in front of King Kong, especially considering how tired he was. 

It didn't take him long to fall asleep. 

This was the best visit I've ever had to Universal Studios. I think we're going to make sure to get the Express Pass anytime we go moving forward. It was so much nicer not to have to wait in lines!! It also helped having the cart and that all the kids were tall enough to ride all the rides.