Universal Studios

 We had thought that we'd go to Universal Studios another time, but we found a tour that took us there and back for less than an internet ticket so being the frugal sort we snapped it up. Plus they threw in an L.A. night tour. Bonus.

 A Jurassic Park boat ride through treacherous jungles and vicious dinosaur attacks followed by an 84 foot drop down a waterfall got our blood pumping.

Universal has a lower lot where all the theme rides are. Transformers 3D was probably the scariest ride of all. Totally 3D but way crazy. My heart pumping after that one. Couldn't do it twice.

 Grammie waited outside while I did the Revenge of the Mummy ride. She doesn't do roller coasters. After the ride I wished I hadn't either. Woozy. 

 I guess at our age this is more our speed. A social moment with Dora and whoever he is.

 A break from the nausea sounds good so the famous Universal Lot Tour seems in order. This is a typical type of lot building. Its been in a number of movies but changes so you can't tell. It was used as city hall on the TV show Ghost Whisperer and also was the clock tower on Back to the Future. Looks so solid.

 A number of streets, all looking different are used for sets for all kinds of movies and TV shows. You can't tell from the front that they aren't real buildings. Fronts are made in modules and can be changed or moved from building to building easily. Mostly fiberglass.

This big panel is painted to look like the distant streets or countryside depending on the need.

At this spot on the tour they showed how car explosions and car flips and rolls can be done. Note the big hydraulic arm under the cars. 

In the back lot is a storage area for vehicles used in movies and on TV. Here's the Back to the Future car.

This is one of the big reinforced trucks from Jurassic Park 2 or was it 3.

This is the big trawler from the most recent King Kong movie and Skull Island. The ship is the one actually used in the movie and is 6 feet long. The panel behind has the actual view of Skull Island from the movie.

Here they make floods.

This display shows a plane crash and has been used on a number of shows. The only one I recognized was the plane crash in Ghost Whisperer. I guess you've figured out we watched the show.

For those of you old enough to recognize this, it's the original set for Psycho with the house in the background and Bates Motel up front. As the tour trolley arrives, a man comes out of the motel carrying a womans body and drops it in the trunk. Adds authenticity. The other side of the house looks completely different and is still used for different sets.

If you're a fan of Desperate Housewives, here is part of the set for Wisteria Lane. All the houses are here with signs saying who lived in each house. It's a complete street with real trees and grass. It was used until the series ended.

After the tour ended, we went for a walk through the French Quarter in the upper lot. Grammie found her favourite ride.

I found my ride but Vin Diesel wouldn't part with it.

Thought I'd try my hand at directing. How hard can it be.

They found a job more suited to my abilities. That's a picture behind me. Looks pretty real doesn't it.

We came across Springfield in the upper lot. The store behind me sold Duffs beer as well as Ahpoo's regular fare like 3 day old wieners.

The Simpsons Ride was another crazy 3D experience. Universal really has a handle on creating mind blowing rides. You can hardly stand when you get off. I'm glad I had a few hours of level ground or I might have created my own Krustyland. 

It's been a great day. We went on every ride (well I did), sometimes more than once. Took the Backlot Tour and explored every foot of the park. We did it up right. Now, as we wait for the tour bus to take us to Downtown LA we'll stop at the Hard Rock cafe and have a relaxer and some grub. Sure glad we decided to do the Universal thing.