Stop seducing me with that car tour! Machu Picchu first.

I agree on the Festive Hotel rate. The Singaporeans wouldn't feel it as much as we ate because of the exchange rate. Other Sentosa-based hotel that are non-USS affiliated have their rates approaching the Hard Rock Hotel, so I might as well stay on Hard Rock itself.

Next trip I'm gonna test the "stay outside Sentosa" theory to see if it is viable or not. It is still okay now since USS lack nighttime shows or fireworks that push the closing time later, else you may be pushed to either stay closer to USS(more expensive hotels) or provide your own transport around. After a hard day enjoying the park, I don't see the idea of driving tired at late at night a proposition I'd like to look forward to.

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Added on March 21, 2010, 9:29 pmYup, I abhor walking around in soggy clothes, even if it us in the name of fun.

But I urge you trying it at least once, and with a poncho to minimise the splash "damage" . At least you can claim to friends back home that you've tried it. The equivalent level of wetness I got into was during the Popeye Bilge-Rat Barge ride on similar configured circular raft in Universal Studios Orlando, but the weather there helps dry you and your clothes fast without making you feel miserable walking in soggy clothes for too long.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 21 2010, 09:29 PM

Unfortunately the weather in Singapore is too humid to allow faster drying. Yup you can opt to "ride it out" and let it dry, but last few day it's too humid with the rainstorm and all.

My advice is to follow Tishaban's tip. Wear slippers and poncho over your clothes, that way water damage is set to minimum. Watch the weather outlook and see if it is hot enough to allow gradual drying.

But on that not, the objective of the ride is to have fun, and in the case of the Jurassic Park ride, is to get SLIGHTLY wet. They should tweak the ride mechanics to minimize drenching, so that the riders dont have to be dodging splash attacks inside the ride and failing to enjoy the ride itself.

First post edited with a handy PDF sheet on how to get to Resort World Sentosa and Universal Studios Singapore. Print for easy reference.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 22 2010, 07:03 PM

More photos of the Battlestar Galactica ride, external sources, not mine.



As you can see, the Human side is a floor coaster,with a lap bar restraints, while the Cylon coaster is a floorless coaster, with a shoulder harness.

You can cover all attractions in a day if:-

1. The traffic volume is like when I was there, wait time for ride never more than 15 minutes.
2. All the rides are working.
3. You are willing to do a faster pace of walking to catch the rides or shows at their appropriate time. I call this commando-style.

Otherwise, if you're treating this like a proper holiday and taking it slow, 2 days would be enough. You may also want to explore the Festive Walk area or the Casinos.

Uploading the most important info of all, the ticket pricing based on their days, either weekdays or weekend, offpeak or superpeak.



This info will be re-edited into the first page on the first post.

Nope, I don't work for them, but I have been going to them so many times, I've grown to know some of the Disney CM (cast members) in LA, Orlando and Paris, as well as their CS personnel in Six Flags and both Universal Studios in Hollywood and Orlando. If you like Disney, and can afford the time and fundings to go there more than 3 times/with at least 2 days on each times, it is advisable to get an Annual Pass, it pays for itself later. Disney is introducing the Premier Passport that covers both Disneyland LA AND Disney World in Orlando, I'm targeting that before my Premium Annual Pass with Disneyland LA expires.

If their shuttles hold the same transport privileges with the complimentary shuttles I took from the airport, then:-

The Pros - Sentosa Gantry entry fee waived, and transported straight to USS gates. Be mindful, that a 45 minutes drive is quite long, and having someone drive it FOR you on what is supposed to be a relaxing holiday makes a whole lot of difference.

The Cons - You're stuck to their own scheduled timings. In which you may miss out on the early entry, and since it is school holidays and crowd traffic would have picked up, you may end up jostling for position entering the many attractions. You may also have to abide by their pickup time from USS, which may be early, or even before the park closes, which restricts your enjoyment at the park.

IF you're driving over,:-

The Pros - You can set your own timing, drive whenever you want, and prepare yourself to be there early to beat the crowd (if there's any) or drive home as late as you want. Bear in mind that there aren't any advantage having a car to drive around once you're already inside Sentosa, those without a car can easily traverse the many venues on foot, and may be even faster with the locations interconnected with each other, while you search for a parking spot ideal for you to move between these destinations.

The Cons - You need to pay for the Sentosa Entry Fee, find a suitable parking spot and pay for that parking spot as well. Also, theme parks can be tiring. Even with no crowd that I've experienced, the distance walking around is pretty substantial, and you'll be catching your breath if you're not used to it. It may look like you have the freedom to move around, but the prospect of having to commute over with a car while others are relaxing on their own transport without having to worry to drive back, can be tiring itself. Like I said, bear in mind the resort is integrated, you dont need to move around different venues or destinations while already inside Sentosa.

My advice is to check with the hotel for their feeder schedule. If they provide variable sendoff and pickup times that caters to your plan, then use it. Also check the crowd from your hotel to see if there is enough space, or if reservations for seats inside the shuttle can be made.

Personally, I treat my holidays as a real holidays, I let others drive me around, or use any other form of transportation that does not require me to figure out where I'm going. I'd like to be as relaxed as I can when I'm on holiday.

Your wish is my command!



These three tees are done Art Deco-style, almost like the artstyle seen in the game Bioshock and the city of Rapture.

Since it is a weekday, your crowd traffic would be relatively light. You CAN do USS in a day, but you wil have to concentrate on the headlining attractions, and skip the not so interesting one. I'll list them down.

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!

I hope that helps, enjoy your trip and don't forget to post your trip experience here!

EDIT: This info edited into the first post for easy reference, under "How To Do Universal Studios Singapore Rides And Attractions In A Day!"

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 25 2010, 12:37 PM

This link provide options for Inns and B&B, but I'm not sure how comfy you'd get bringing your parents to stay at a B&B. Looks like finding a cheap hotel in SG is more adventurous than the rides themselves!

Post your experience here later yah!

Must be the volume of riders taking it, taking its toll on it and eventually it broke down. Both side is down?

FRAK = BSG's version of the 4-letter word starting with F. This was introduced on the new BSG, and it caught on. It is widely understood that Frak means F#$% in our universe, compared to the BSG universe.

Breaking news about the statement of closure of BSG coaster by Resort World Sentosa:-

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.

Now that decision of mine not to get that Annual Pass seems much more wiser, wouldn't it?

EDIT : The "bandwidth exceeded" problem rectified. Photos all back online now.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 30 2010, 10:14 AM

Local news in Singapore reports that the "Revenge of The Mummy" ride is closed as well.

My advise is to take this with a grain of salt. Reporters or observers on this side of the world probably are not familiar with how a theme park works, ride closures are NORMAL, even Disney and other Universal parks have their ride closure seasonally and thsoe ride would go offline permanently until they are serviced and maintained for the upcoming high-traffic season.

For interested patrons, it is still not advisable to go to USS, BSG is still closed until further notice.

They are however, slowly bringing the attractions at Festive Walk up to speed. "Voyage de la Vie", the resident show of USS is opening soon at Festive Walk. Think of this as a version of "Cirque de Soleil" but done Singaporean style. Projected to open on March 31st.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Mar 30 2010, 10:30 AM

Like all theme parks, yes.

Extras like Express Pass, or Meal passes are sold separately, but all rides are free once you pay the entrance fee. For USS however, there is an attraction that requires payment separately, it's a rock-climbing attraction which I cant remember its name. Not a popular attraction however, since the weather made the climbing surface slick and slippery.

Most if not all hotels check in their patrons around 3pm. I

If hotels within Sentosa itself is your pick, there are USS-affiliated ones and the non-affiliated ones. For couples and staying with USS-affiliated, Hard Rock Hotel is suitable for couples. Hotel Festive is geared towards families with children so the noise level may be higher and not suitable for couples wanting quiet evenings together. The other hotels in Sentosa, you can easily Google, and I can guarantee you that their price approaches Hard Rock Hotel's charges.

For your budget, I would suggest a B&B or Hotel 81, but that'll seriously kill the romance factor. The charges of the room plus tickets alone will approach RM1k.

I will try and keep everyone updated on the status of BSG and Mummy. The "defect" on BSG is apparently pretty "scary", but to keep the rumor and hearsay to minimum, I'll just refrain from posting what the "defect" is.

BSG and the Madagascar ride wont be open until, at the earliest, end of this year, but most probably by early 2011. They've just received the new Vekoma coaster cars, and test-running it extensively before allowing public consumption.

Since the cat is out of the bag, I'll spill. Those who have been or seen the BSG ride, there are two sections of the ride, the Human side and the Cylon side. The Human side is a coaster car with a floor, the Cylon is the opposite, it is a floorless car with the coaster track at the top, which employs a "legs-dangling" kind of feel. Before the park opens and a ride is open to public, a test run with physical and mechanical checkpoints needed to be passed, and to do so, typically, a park ride is run without occupants in their seats for at least 5 circuits. What happened to the BSG ride, specifically the Cylon side, (which is floorless, dangling kind) is that one of the seats fell off during the test run. This constitutes a serious occupational hazard(duh!) to the rider as well as the other visitors walking under the ride tracks.

After that incident, thorough investigation was extended to all the other ride, and at one time, The Revenge of the Mummy ride too was taken offline. It has been online since, but do suffer occasional ride shutdown from time to time. The Jurassic Park ride too suffer the same fate, and even though they've promised a June opening for the much anticipated Madagascar Crate ride, it is now pushed towards the end of the year/early 2011 due to a small fire breaking out inside the ride(made to look like a ship), and having to do repairs on the interiors.

What did they do to repair their already damaged reputation? A nighttime fireworks, and a SDD5 entry fare to boot. Not enough for me to personally return to park. I can only imagine Universal fury for such appaling standards Genting has uphold to this fiasco.

Now, with those "cats" out of the "bag", would you go? I'd always be thinking twice now every time I ride the Cylon side of the BSG ride, even though while it lasted, it was phenomenal! The two fog pits always left me sputtering for breath at the end of the ride.

Latest update is that Battlestar Galactica is still close until March 2011. Revenge of the Mummy has reopened, as well as steady opening of Jurassic Park ride. With only one ride closed, and SGD70 entrance fee, it is not that bad to spend a day there.

Am planning a trip with the guys there next month.

Breaking news! "Transformers :The 3D Ride" is coming to Universal Studios Singapore this December 2011! It's the world's first Transformers attraction/ride, not even the American Universal Studios are getting it before USS!

http://tftheride.rwsentosablog.com/2011/08/23/welcome/