Universal studios is an amazing place. Even after landing in L.A. and seeing cars (like LAPD) that only exist in the movies cruise around, it’s still really hard to get your head around what you’re really seeing. Nothing really drove the magic home any more than getting to Universal Studios and standing in-front of the big globe water fountain and being smack bang in the middle of Hollywood.
Bex and I got to park our car in the valet section, and walk through the big gates. First person we saw asked “You guys know where you’re going today?” and we shook our heads, showed him our ticket confirmation. He saw the VIP heading, straightened up, and said “come with me!” and marched us off, past the line to get in, to a special little side door marked “VIP Experience”. Things just got better from there.
Upstairs we got complimentary breakfast with good coffee and free wifi. We waited 15 minutes in very fine luxury for our guide, Will S. Will was very trendy, with a sharp looking haircut and aviator sunglasses. He rounded up the group of VIPs, and walked us down the back to our special bus. Between Will, Greg, and Barry (The bus driver) we got a tour of the sound stages and sets where hundreds and hundreds of movies have been filmed. We got to walk through the set for “About a Boy” and the guides talked to us about how a lot of the Hollywood Magic takes place.
Hollywood Bus Tour: 
There were a lot of rides – all come highly recommended – and our VIP passes got us to the front of the line. It felt great walking past people who had waited 40-60 minutes to go on a ride, getting straight on, then afterwards moving on to the next thing. In this way we got to see all of the rides and shows that Universal Studios had to offer in the one day. With no waiting we were not as exhausted as we had been for the long days lining up at Disney.
For lunch, instead of the normal fare you get at theme parks, the VIP experience comes with a lunch at “Moulin Rouge”, a VIP only buffet with gourmet foods. Bex and I loved it there, and ate as much as we could eat – it was the best food I’ve had in a very long time, and Bex said that the mashed potato was worth killing for. I agree.
VIP Lunch at Moulin Rouge: 
Mashed Potatoes:
My favourite show was “Waterworld” a live action performance with stunts and special effects based on the movie. It was very awesome! There were some technical difficulties, but the way the cast handled it was very cool, and after a few minutes the show resumed and they finished strong.
After finishing up the last show for the day, we went back through the Universal Citywalk, and went shopping for gifts for our friends and folks back home.
Citywalk Shopping Experience:
Only downside for the whole day was that between carrying all the bags and things, I dropped Bex’s ring that she had given to me somewhere in one of the stores and we didn’t realise until we’d gotten home. We called them from the hotel, and they said they’d look for it and call us back. After a stressful night of no call, we called them back in the morning when they opened at 11am, and they’d found it – just couldn’t call us back because of the foreign number! So we got the ring back and everything was aces and eights.
I will update these updates with some photos soon, to make this more interesting. Until next time!