Just some quick hits from my experience last night at Horror nights. It’s usually one of my favorite places to go as I love the Terror Tram..
Parking: A nightmare. It took us over an hour to park. I had to bale once we got to the structure to pee and then once I got back, the car only moved 10 spots. Daniel and Windy then bailed and I finished parking the car. There has to be a better way to get into Universal parking – I think next year I’ll try coming from the Barham Blvd. side instead of Lankershim.
Construction: Once you get it, man is this place under construction. They are getting ready for there huge expansion and it shows. I’m actually quite excited to see how it comes out.
New rides: Finally rode Transformers and Despicable Me. I liked Transformers better than the original Spider Man ride it is based on in Florida. Just seemed sharper and better integrated. Still had no idea what the storyline was about though. I’ve only seen the first Transformers movie and that was a long time ago.. Despicable Me was cute, but since I didn’t make it past the first 20 minutes of the first movie, I think it was lost on me. The ride seemed like a mini version of the Simpsons/Back to the Future Ride and that one does not agree with me. I don’t like seeing the other vehicles – it takes you out of the story.
Terror Tram: Seems like it was a bit weak this year. Not really sure why but maybe the excitement has work off as it’s pretty much the same since the last few years. I chalked up to too much walking.
Mazes: Some good and some terrible! I think the Walking Dead and From Dusk till Dawn were my favorites, and the Clown one was just awful. I am glad we were with Windy and got the reservation times to come back because waiting three hours for a 2 minute maze just isn’t something I think is worth it. But everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves.
I hope the new Harry Potter land and the tram route expansion will add some new life into the park – will be interesting to see how these are integrated into the Halloween overlay.
One thing that sucks is that I have vivid nostalgic memories of Universal (and all of the other SoCal theme parks) that my modern viewpoint has trouble topping. In other words it seems like new visits can never top the memories of the old ones. Probably because I can never be a Klingon again. I look forward to a time when I can make that happen and have as good modern memories as nostalgic ones.