Mar 19 2010, 06:52 PM, updated 15y ago
Breaking news about the statement of closure of BSG coaster by Resort World Sentosa:-
QUOTE
During our daily pre-opening testing yesterday morning prior to opening to the public, we found a technical problem on one of the ride vehicles and we are investigating at the Battlestar Galactica attraction. In keeping with our commitment to employee and guest safety, the ride was immediately closed by Universal Studios Singapore and will not be operating until we determine the cause and solution. Experts from the ride's design, engineering and manufacturing company are assisting our own experienced ride and show team in the inspection and any necessary action to resolve the situation. No one was injured and all proper authorities were notified, which is a standard Universal Studios Singapore operating policy.
Employee and guest safety is our number one priority at Universal Studios Singapore. Every ride or attraction meets or exceeds industry guidelines and undergoes construction inspections and approvals of Singapore regulatory agencies for theme park rides. Additionally, all rides goes through a daily series of detailed inspections and testing before the park opens to ensure that all of the ride’s safety systems are functioning properly. No ride will be operated at any time unless it has passed all daily inspections and tests.
At this time, the ride may be closed for several days or longer to perform a complete analysis. We understand some guests may be disappointed; however, the safety of our employees and guests remains our top priority.
In lieu of that, I fear that their park attendance is gonna suffer. BSG so far may be the only main attraction going to USS, it certainly is mine. My suggestion now is to wait until news of that glitch has been rectified before planning your trip there back again. Employee and guest safety is our number one priority at Universal Studios Singapore. Every ride or attraction meets or exceeds industry guidelines and undergoes construction inspections and approvals of Singapore regulatory agencies for theme park rides. Additionally, all rides goes through a daily series of detailed inspections and testing before the park opens to ensure that all of the ride’s safety systems are functioning properly. No ride will be operated at any time unless it has passed all daily inspections and tests.
At this time, the ride may be closed for several days or longer to perform a complete analysis. We understand some guests may be disappointed; however, the safety of our employees and guests remains our top priority.
I will keep track of this closure, and keep interested visitors informed of the BSG situation, so please keep your eyes peeled for further news in the future. Please be advised.
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Hi there!
In this I shall chronicle my own experience planning, and what I have experience so far at Sentosa Integrated Resort Universal Studios Singapore. It is my hope that this may help others have a general idea of what to expect, what to plan for, and what to experience to enjoy the most of their trip to the USS.
The itinerary goes:-
Venue: The Hard Rock Hotel Sentosa.
Length of stay: 3 days 2 nights.
Cost: SGD318 per night for a standard room, two single bed.
The journey began with MH601 from KUL to SIN. I opted for this for several reason, mainly because I work with the airlines, and the option of travelling to Sentosa from the airport is the easiest yet.
There are several options to get to Sentosa.
1. Via the airport for those arriving by plane. From the airport, there are several options themselves.
2. Via driving your own car, 30mins from Causeway link SIN-JHB, 30 minutes from Tuas Second Link
3. Via MRT if you're planning to stay within the city and taking the MRT as the mode of travel.
4. Via the Singapore Cruise Center situation in Sentosa.
NEW EDIT: Here's a handy PDF explaining how to get to Resort World Sentosa and to Universal Studios Singapore. PDF size is huge. Print for easy reference.
NEW EDIT: This is a handy chart explaining the price differences and what dates are defined as offpeak or superpeak and their relative prices.
Option 1 is further subvidided into the option of taking a cab, MRT from Terminal 2 or complimentary shuttle service. Cab is self-explanatory, however if you do not accommodation arrangements within Sentosa hotel areas, you are REQUIRED to pay for the Sentosa Entry Fee at Sentosa Gantry. MRT option is sound if you're located close within the proximity of an MRT station and wish to take that as the mode of transport. MRT users will have to stop at VIVO city, alight here and switch to Sentosa Express, a monorail service connecting VIVO City and Universal Studios Singapore. But by far the easiest and cheapestmode of transport is via the complimentary shuttle bus. It departs from the bus lane stops outside of the respective terminals in Singapore airports (T1/2/3, sorry no budget terminal stops). From the arrival area in T2, head right till the exit and keep right till you see lanes of bus stops servicing private and public needs to the city center. The bus is hard to miss, is huge, well maintained and air conditioned. The bus shuttle trip takes 30 minutes and is FREE!
The rest of the options, I list down only, I dont know their prices and their details.
Upon arriving at Hard Rock Hotel, check-in is technically not available until 3pm. You then have the option of luggage-keep from Front Desk and head to the park and enjoy your entire day there and check back in after your day at the park is done and your room will be ready for you.
I chose that, and headed to USS. The close proximity of USS and Hard Rock Hotel allows me to walk to the USS gate within 10 minutes. The route is covered almost entirely under canopy, so that you can make your way to USS should the weather turns bad. "Festive Walk", USS' version of Universal City Walk, starts from Festive Hotel next to Hard Rock (these two hotels are practically next door to each other), and will connect the six different hotels in the Integrated REsort Area to USS via underground shopping known as Festive Walk. What's different from the other Universal City Walks around the world, is that Singapore's Festive Walk serves high end, posh and branded items from brands like Hermes, Certier and Burburry, within Festive Walk itself, making this another high-end version of Orchard Road. Other Universal City Walk in Hollywood, Orlando and Osaka only sports cheap souvenir and gift items, compared to Festive Walk's high end items and luxurious dining options.
Upon arriving at the end of Festive Walk is the Lake of Dreams and the adjourning open court area leading to the Universal Globe and the gate of USS itself. This area serves as a street performance/atmosphere area with bustling carnival like activity during night time.
A word of warning, PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS WELL EARLIER BEFORE HEADING TO THE PARK. USS is tightly packed and compact park, but still houses up to 24 attractions within its walls, and due to this space constraints, USS management decides to allocate specific quota amount of tickets for the day before closing the ticket sale for the day. I have seen people get turned down after arriving at the ticket booth because ticket allocation is full and only ticket for the next follwoing day is available for sale. Also, wait until the very last minute and survey the crowd before deciding to purchase an Express Pass. Express Pass allows you direct front of the line spot on many rides and attractions, but can only be used once a day per ride. Looking at my own crowd traffic when I arrived at 1030am this morning, it is literraly a walk-in straight to the front of the line, without the need for the Express Pass.
For week day tickets, the price is SGD66, and the weekend tickets are SGD72 a pop. However, being the park may close its attractions for a short period of time before reopening it later in the day for "creative adjustments", they have complimented early patrons with SGD10 voucher for food/beverage and SGD15 merchandise voucher for patrons of the first opening week. In essense, my ticket today is priced at SGD41, and is SGD47 tomorrow.
Upon entering, these are the attractions I went in chronological order:-
1. Sci-fi City. Battlestar Galactica rollercoaster. This is a dueling coaster, meaning both tracks of the coaster pass near misses with each other, with each tracks snaking around one another to simulate a duel. There is the Human side, colored Blue and the Cylon side, marked Red. Both have different entrances and differnet interior design. The Human side is more mundane and features light furnishing, to supposedly complement the Galactica spartan design, with only Kara "Starbuck" Thrace briefing you on the mission before blast-off. The Cylon Side however is more lavish and intricate, with the interiors fashioned to look like the infusion of flesh, metal and steel, with thousands of Cylons hanging off coathooks just like inside the Resurrection Ship. While surveying this interior, you will hear the creepy voice of the Cylon Mothership Hybrid spewing incoherent mission objectives just like in the TV show.
To further differentiate between the Human and Cylon side, the tracks and the coaster cars are different too. The Human coaster is a floor design with the track running underneath the floor of seats, but with open sides. This does not provide the openness feeling, compared to the Cylon coaster design. The Cylon coaster is FLOORLESS, wth the tracks running above the rider's seat, allowing that dangling and free sensation. The tracks too are different. While both tracks are snaking around each other with narrowly missing one another, the Human track is has more steep turns and on the first section, feature a huge stomach churning drop. The rest of the Human track is relatively mundane, to a coaster vet like me. The Cylon track however is more exciting, with it being floorless, allows makes the rider feel like he's about to fall off. The Cylon tracks also feature double inversion/loop, with each loop dipping BELOW ground, and riders are sprayed with water misters on each dip below ground. I ended up sputtering and choking water on the second loop, before spitting it out for a gulp of air to scream as the next corkscrew section arrives. Verdict? Cylon is always COOLER than Human.
It is at this coaster that I learn the locker system in USS. In other Universal Studios in Hollywood and Orlando, they use fingerprint recognition to rent out lokcer to patrons wanting to stow away their loose items while they ride. This method introduces complications as biometric scanners arenot always accurate and that ended making a huge line of impatient riders wanting to retrieve their stuff from the locker but have to wait their turn while the guy infront is struggling to get the biometric scanner to work and recognize his print. In Osaka, it is slightly bearable with using coinslot and key. In USS, the system uses birthday as password (DD/MM/YY) and favourite color of the patron to assign locker and without the need to remember which locker he uses as it displays which locker the user left his stuff based on that unique DOB/color combo.
Patrons are only allowd a free 30 minutes rental of the locker before charges are imposed, SGD2 until the next hour and so on and so forth.
2. The next area is the Ancient Egypt area. The entrance to the Revenge of the Mummy ride is guarded by two mammoth Anubis figures with a nice miniaturezed representation of Karnak at the front. Single Rider lane is available here. The theming is on par with the Hollywood and Orlando version, but the ride is a different story altogether. The ride is MISSING the Imhotep's warning to accept his offer or a row of his claw-ressurrected mummies with flame jetting up beneath them. I can see those statues in hiding beneath the viewing area, but the mechanism to bring them up is probably acting up. Secondly, the ride is MISSING the beetle-scurrying motion around your ankles when the ride hits the "dead end wall". The ride just continue displaying the thousands of scurrying beetles and goes into reverse. Thirdly, the Flaming Dome effect is greatly reduced, from the usual furnace like intensity in the Orlando version, to a "cooking grill" kinda weakness. Fourthly, the ride feel disjointed, with Imhotep appearing without any coherency and ride music building up the music in suspense without anything happening. Verdict: Orlando's version is the best.
3. The Lost World. Jurassic Park Rapid Adventure. This ride tries to be different by introducing for the first time, a circular raft instead of the normal raft cars on a rail track used in other JP attractions. The end result, it becomes an messy, off-focus ride with riders often straining their necks to see the animatronic dinosaurs because the circular raft has spun them around in an awkward angle to see them better. The ride is also CONFIRMED to make you soaked, instead of the possibility of being soaked like the other JP ride in other Universal Studios, because of the nature of the circular raft, the low floor and the water sloshing around. The last drop WILL GUARANTEE everyone getting wet, with the rider on the bottom-most area getting the wettest. That happens to be me, and I had to slop around the park in a drenched shirt and cargo pants. The ride also allow riders to take their belongings with them into the raft, but you run your own risk of drenching them if you decide not to rent a locker. The lockers here are NOT FREE, they are SGD2 for the first hour, there are not free option.
4. Time approaches 12pm, went for the first showing of the hit Waterworld show. Google up the show, it is on par with the rest of the other Universal parks around the world in term of scale and quality. The only downside here is the audience participation. Asians are predominantly shy and takes a lot of coaxing to participate in the show. Also, most if not all of them are mainly fluent in Chinese, not English. They did not get the cue on the part where you're suppose to take part with the cheering, or the booing when the baddies appear on the show. The performers are sporting and did their best to get the show on par with what I remembered, it is still in essense the same Waterworld I saw in Orlando and Hollywood. Only the lukewarm, ignorant audience participation ruins it.
5. Head to the Discovery Food Court, Jurassic Park's own dining place. This is the only Universal park in the world where you can get cheeseburgers sold alongside Chinese noodle with meatballs and Nasi Lemak with otak-otak, Beef Rendang and bubur kacang hitam or sago for dessert. EXCELLENT! Pricewise it is SGD12.50 for a Nasi Lemak set with the usual condiments, extra otak-otak or gado-gado, a regular Ice Lemon Tea and a bowl of bubur kacang hitam. With the previous SGD10 voucher used, I only pay SGD2.50!
6. Far Far Away Lang. Farquaad Castle looks surreally huge here. Shrek's version of Rodeo Drive is also made to satisfactory perfection here. Shrek 4-D is as how I remembered it in Orlando and Hollywood, but the projector work enhancing the 3D movie onscreen need serious work. They are either out of focus and/or dim. Donkey LIVE is available here although I chose not to go.
It is at this time that I could not stand the soggy clothes I was in, thanks to that JP raft ride, that I had to call it quits, head back to the hotel where I am now, and change clothes. I'll be heading out in a few minutes to be in the park till it clothes and get that awesome WTF!(What The Frak!) T-shirt I saw in Galactica PX store at the ride.
More impressions,, videos and pictures on attractions to come later. Until then, I leave you guys with the video I took of the interior of a typical room in Hard Rock Hotel USS.
* NEW INFO ADDITION!*
How To Do Universal Studios Singapore Rides & Attractions In A Day!
QUOTE
From the entrance, you'll enter Hollywood Plaza. Hollywood Pantages Theatre is here, but skip that until later in the day, because from experience, only later in the day around 2-3pm, that it'll be raining in Singapore, so when that happens, you can dash to this location and join the crowd into that Theatre for the Monster Rock Revue show.
From the Hollywood Plaza, turn right. You'll enter the New York City area. You'll see the "Lights Camera Action! presented by Steven Spielberg" show on your left. Skip this first too, you can either go here or to that Pantages Theatre later when rain comes, as this attraction is in a covered area. Proceed further, you'll see the New York City Library facade together with a Yellow Cab Co taxi . Head further and you'll enter Sci-Fi City.
Sci-Fi City will be your first area with your first attraction/ride to do. Here you'll see the Battlestar Galactica twin coasters, the Cylon side you'll arive at first, and the Human side further up. You will have to deposit your bags and loose items into the free rental lockers located on the Human side. Read my trip report on how these lockers work, they are state-of-the-art and electronically driven. Ride BOTH of the BSG coaster, if you're timid, ride the Human side first, then take the more aggresive(exciting) Cylon side. Then don't forget to grab your stuff back from the lockers and proceed onwards. I would suggest shopping for souvenirs from the Galactica PX store at the ride exit later, as you will be touring more attractions and you wouldn't want to be dragging shopping bags with you this early.
Next up is Ancient Egypt. Again, deposit your stuff in the lockers and ride Revenge of The Mummy. If you're going there alone, the Single Rider lane would be the lane to take as it will take you right to the front of the line, otherwise, proceed with your party on the normal attraction lane.At the exit, you'll have the chance to purchase beautiful Egytian themed jewelries and gifts.
Depending on the time you started entering the Studios, it will either be close to 12 noon, or already past that if you're late. This will either be a good time to makan, or skip until you ride the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure later. Take your pick. If it is time to makan, enter The Lost World area and head to the two huge dinosaurs area, and you'll see the Discovery Food Court there. Have your lunch here, there are 3 different cuisines available here, Western, Chinese and Malay. Then ride the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure, remember to buy and wear ponchos, YOU WILL GET WET! You can either take your stuff onboard the ride with you, or put them in lockers, but lockers here are not free. If you want free lockers, leave your items with a non-rider, or put them in the Ancient Egypt area lockers while you ride. Remember though, the free locker is only for 30 minutes, once that time passes you will be charged. There is also an excellent Halal-certified cafe here named Oasis Spice Cafe service Middle-Eastern and Asian delicacies.
Once that is done, look at your watch. If you manage to do all that before 12pm, or 2pm after eating lunch, head to the Waterworld Arena right next to the Jurassic Park ride before the entrance to Far Far Away area. It is tucked into a slightly obscure corner on the right of the entrance to Far Far Away. Enjoy this immensely entertaining show, remember to choose the appropriate seat location, the closer you seat to the front row, the more chances you would get wet. If you're sporting, seating at the Blue Soak zone will allow an almost PERSONAL interaction with the actors of the show, as they are so close to you, and even invite you to join them as well. The Green Splash zone is the next best seat, but if you're planning to snap pics, you may opt for the upper zones so that your camera wont get splashed.
Next head up to Far Far Away. Enjoy the Shrek 4-D ride, and you must also try the Donkey LIVE! show if you're with kids. It is also entertaining to young adults as well. Try the Magic Potions at the Fairy Godmother's factory, and snap more pics, the Farquaad Castle is absolutely GORGEOUS here.
Head out to Madagascar, but before entering Madagascar, you will an exact replica of Shrek's Tree Stump Cabin like in the movies to your left. More picture taking opportunities here. The Madagascar area is more geared towards families with kids and its appropriate rides, so I'll leave it to you if you wanna ride it. The main attraction, MAdagascar: A Crate Adventure, inside the HUGE ship you see looming in the background, will not be open until June 2010.
Heading out, you will then arrive at the intersection between Madagascar and New York City. You will have arrived at Hollywood Plaza back again. You can now either return back to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for the Monster Revue show, and/or the "Lights Camera Action!" show in New York City area. Both shows are well recommended. At this time as well, more picture taking opportunities at the Hollywood Plaza area, because the characters would already have arrived here for you to take pictures with them. Shrek, Puss-in-Boots, Frankenstein Monster, Marilyn Monroe
, Anck-su-Namun and her buff bodyguard, Charlie Chaplin, and the gangs from Madagascar would all be here.
By this time it would already be late evening between 4-5pm. You can now walk at your leisurely pace to go around the stores to shop for your souvenirs before the park closes at 6pm. I suggest the Galactica PX for awesome BSG tees and caps, Carter's Curiosities in Ancient Egypt for beautiful ornaments, and the Hollywood Plaza Universal Store for USS-themed items. Don't forget to get a USS logo shirt to tell everyone you've been here!
This post has been edited by stringfellow: Aug 23 2011, 01:18 PMFrom the Hollywood Plaza, turn right. You'll enter the New York City area. You'll see the "Lights Camera Action! presented by Steven Spielberg" show on your left. Skip this first too, you can either go here or to that Pantages Theatre later when rain comes, as this attraction is in a covered area. Proceed further, you'll see the New York City Library facade together with a Yellow Cab Co taxi . Head further and you'll enter Sci-Fi City.
Sci-Fi City will be your first area with your first attraction/ride to do. Here you'll see the Battlestar Galactica twin coasters, the Cylon side you'll arive at first, and the Human side further up. You will have to deposit your bags and loose items into the free rental lockers located on the Human side. Read my trip report on how these lockers work, they are state-of-the-art and electronically driven. Ride BOTH of the BSG coaster, if you're timid, ride the Human side first, then take the more aggresive(exciting) Cylon side. Then don't forget to grab your stuff back from the lockers and proceed onwards. I would suggest shopping for souvenirs from the Galactica PX store at the ride exit later, as you will be touring more attractions and you wouldn't want to be dragging shopping bags with you this early.
Next up is Ancient Egypt. Again, deposit your stuff in the lockers and ride Revenge of The Mummy. If you're going there alone, the Single Rider lane would be the lane to take as it will take you right to the front of the line, otherwise, proceed with your party on the normal attraction lane.At the exit, you'll have the chance to purchase beautiful Egytian themed jewelries and gifts.
Depending on the time you started entering the Studios, it will either be close to 12 noon, or already past that if you're late. This will either be a good time to makan, or skip until you ride the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure later. Take your pick. If it is time to makan, enter The Lost World area and head to the two huge dinosaurs area, and you'll see the Discovery Food Court there. Have your lunch here, there are 3 different cuisines available here, Western, Chinese and Malay. Then ride the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure, remember to buy and wear ponchos, YOU WILL GET WET! You can either take your stuff onboard the ride with you, or put them in lockers, but lockers here are not free. If you want free lockers, leave your items with a non-rider, or put them in the Ancient Egypt area lockers while you ride. Remember though, the free locker is only for 30 minutes, once that time passes you will be charged. There is also an excellent Halal-certified cafe here named Oasis Spice Cafe service Middle-Eastern and Asian delicacies.
Once that is done, look at your watch. If you manage to do all that before 12pm, or 2pm after eating lunch, head to the Waterworld Arena right next to the Jurassic Park ride before the entrance to Far Far Away area. It is tucked into a slightly obscure corner on the right of the entrance to Far Far Away. Enjoy this immensely entertaining show, remember to choose the appropriate seat location, the closer you seat to the front row, the more chances you would get wet. If you're sporting, seating at the Blue Soak zone will allow an almost PERSONAL interaction with the actors of the show, as they are so close to you, and even invite you to join them as well. The Green Splash zone is the next best seat, but if you're planning to snap pics, you may opt for the upper zones so that your camera wont get splashed.
Next head up to Far Far Away. Enjoy the Shrek 4-D ride, and you must also try the Donkey LIVE! show if you're with kids. It is also entertaining to young adults as well. Try the Magic Potions at the Fairy Godmother's factory, and snap more pics, the Farquaad Castle is absolutely GORGEOUS here.
Head out to Madagascar, but before entering Madagascar, you will an exact replica of Shrek's Tree Stump Cabin like in the movies to your left. More picture taking opportunities here. The Madagascar area is more geared towards families with kids and its appropriate rides, so I'll leave it to you if you wanna ride it. The main attraction, MAdagascar: A Crate Adventure, inside the HUGE ship you see looming in the background, will not be open until June 2010.
Heading out, you will then arrive at the intersection between Madagascar and New York City. You will have arrived at Hollywood Plaza back again. You can now either return back to the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for the Monster Revue show, and/or the "Lights Camera Action!" show in New York City area. Both shows are well recommended. At this time as well, more picture taking opportunities at the Hollywood Plaza area, because the characters would already have arrived here for you to take pictures with them. Shrek, Puss-in-Boots, Frankenstein Monster, Marilyn Monroe
, Anck-su-Namun and her buff bodyguard, Charlie Chaplin, and the gangs from Madagascar would all be here. By this time it would already be late evening between 4-5pm. You can now walk at your leisurely pace to go around the stores to shop for your souvenirs before the park closes at 6pm. I suggest the Galactica PX for awesome BSG tees and caps, Carter's Curiosities in Ancient Egypt for beautiful ornaments, and the Hollywood Plaza Universal Store for USS-themed items. Don't forget to get a USS logo shirt to tell everyone you've been here!
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