The day began with a pleasant lie in this morning, meaning we didn't leave Z's house until about noon. Our main plan for the day was to visit Universal Studios, one of the most highly anticipated days out of the entire trip, so both J's were brimming with excitement as the long journey across western LA & Hollywood was made (one might even go as far as to say we were more excited than when we were about to meet the High School Musical cast yesterday... okay, well, maybe not that excited).
We arrived at Universal at approximately 2pm and our eyes were instantly dazzled by what was beheld before them. We were standing on Universal City Walk - a shopping/dining street located on the studio site that was like nothing we'd ever seen. There was no chance of missing a thing as each store/outlet had a mind-blowing entrance to rival those of Times Square back in NYC.
Once we'd gawped our way through City Walk we came upon the place we'd been waiting to see... Universal Studios itself. For those uneducated in such film capitals of the world... Universal has been the home to some of the largest film productions in Hollywood ever since its opening in 1912 (you've all seen the logo at the beginning of movies!). In addition, it has long been tradition at Universal that the studio backlot (the area where all the sets/stages are constructed/filmed in) has been open to the public for tours. It has also had a theme park constructed beside it with the emphasis being on movie-themed rides and attractions. So, you can probably understand from the descriptions above why 2 movie boffins such as ourselves were excited.
Despite the temptations of the Simpsons ride & Shrek 4-D, the priority for us was the Studio Tour, so we made straight for that first. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and was truly fascinating from both a the viewpoint of a filmmaker and a film fanatic. It took us past all the sound stages, offices and sets used for some of the most successful movies of all time (and still being used to this very day... a few film crews could actually be spotted at work). Among the many sets/props, a few of the highlights included... the 'Delorean' from 'Back To The Future', the plane crash set from Spielberg's 'War Of The Worlds', the motel and house from Hitchcock's 'Psycho' and sets from many other visual spectacles (Jaws, Jurrasic Park, King Kong & Indiana Jones to name but a few!).
Following the tour, the temptation of the Simpsons ride just became too great, so we decided to give it a go. The official J&J verdict... OK, nothing special, its hard to get too thrilled on a simulation ride. Then, despite the prospect of becoming rather wet, we built up the courage to board the Jurrasic Park River Adventure. Well, unfortunately, we didn't get 'rather' wet... we got soaked! Nevertheless it was a great ride... just be sure you don't have any 'non-water resistant' valuable items with you as you go round. The natural follow up to Jurrasic Park was 'Backdraft', an exhibition of fire explosions that we selected in hope of being somewhat dried off. The pre-demonstration video became a bit lame after a while, but when the fire finally struck up, it did at least warm us up (sadly, the whole drying off idea hadn't really worked). Our favourite ride of the afternoon was that of 'The Mummy', an indoor roller coaster with one moment of rapid acceleration that took us both by surprise. After a quick walk around the 'House of Horrors' and a visit to the souvenir shop, we headed back to City Walk for some food.
We opted for the 'Bubba Gump Shrimp Company', much to the delight of Forrest Gump fanatic John. The restaurant itself was swimming in Forrest Gump memorabilia and the food was (you guessed it) fantastic! John opted for 'Shrimp & Veggie Stir Fry' from the 'Forrest's Favourites' menu, washed down with a 'Run Forrest Run' smoothie. Joe went for 'Mama's Southern Charmed Fried Shrimp' from the 'Bubba's Shrimp Specials' menu, whilst a 'Jenny's Favourite' was his smoothie of choice.
Once we were all shrimped out, we headed back into central Hollywood to meet up with Z for an evening of entertainment at comedy club 'Improv'. It was a great night, featuring many famous comedians from the LA area - some funnier than others, but on the whole a good laugh.
By the time it was over, we were all very tired, so headed back to Z's for some sleep,
Another fabulous day comes to its end.
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2 comments:
Sounds like a fabulous day in 'Filmland' and the blue sky background to your photos reminds us that not all the world is as grey as Lancashire has been these last weeks.
It's great to be learning a whole new vocabulary. First it was 'primped' now it is 'shrimped' and there will be a prize for the best descriptive word ending in '...imped' over the remainder of the trip!
Backdraft was a really underated film, and whilst I have heard of smell-o-vision (where you smell what is happening in a film) then perhaps Hollywood have yet to perfect the 'fire effect' (thank goodness).
Love Dad (Greg)
Hi there,
Sat having our afternoon tea in the St Columba hotel with extended family (Ed and Beth)and following your progresss with great interest. Can't compete with your weather or activities. Our day has so far consisted of a trip to the Ferry Shop, French Cricket and pebble throwing!!
Decided we might watch Forrest Gump later on Davids DVD player.
Take care,
Dad
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