Theme Park day

Alice stayed the night at Zack's so Abby and I decided to head down to the coffee shop for breakfast and take advantage of the wifi there and wait for them to join us. I snapped a beautiful shot of Abby sitting across from me (not hard to do) bathed in morning light and pasted it to Facebook. One of the people who noticed the location tag was Bruce Schermer, an acquaintance/friend whom I had worked with in West Michigan a couple of times. Bruce is a camera guy, originally from Flint, Michigan. He lives in LA and, as it turns out, only a few blocks away from the coffee shop where we were sitting. He said he would pop over to say "Hi".

Alice and Zack showed up and we planned our day trip to Universal Studios Theme Park. Just as we were about to leave, Bruce showed up and we chatted for about 10 minutes. It was fun to connect in this way.

Universal Studios is right in Hollywood so it was only a short ride to get there. Between Alice and Zack we had passes and coupons that got all of us in for $65 plus $15 for parking. But they'd get our money in other ways, like food and water. It's a well run park from my experience. There are boards stationed throughout publishing updated estimated wait times on the rides. It was also a good day to be there because it was cloudy so we were not getting sunburned and the ride lines were all relatively short.

Zack was a bit of an expert on what the park had to offer and he steered us to the best ride first; the Transformers 3D ride.

Now I HATED the Transformers movies. They were light on story and acting but were heavy... no, OPPRESSIVE on special effects. But I must say the ride was infinitely better than the movies. It was also light on story and heavy on the effects but that combination was just right for a 10-minute amusement park ride. Even the line to get in was pretty fun (and this was true for most of the lines in this park) as there was themed entertainment and changing vistas all along the way. There were monitors that set up the situation we would be encountering and although the premise was ultra-dorky, that made it all the more fun. All the workers (on all the rides) are in themed costume and are acting to some small degree.

We all got into a multi-seated cart, donned 3D "protective" glasses and the ride began. We were supposed to be smuggling some sort of super substance out of a city while being attacked (and protected) by giant killer robots. The cart was on some sort of computer-controlled roller coaster inside of a 3D movie theater. The tilting cart interacted with what was going on in the movie in such a way that you really felt like you were being thrown around by killer robots. We were ducking debris and screaming with laughter throughout. The technology and craft for this ride was awesome. It was a very unique experience and worth the price of admission for the whole day.

We followed this up with the Mummy ride (essentially a roller coaster in the dark) and the Jurassic Park ride (a water roller coaster with rubber dinosaurs jumping out at you). Then we ambled over to the Simpsons ride.

This one is worthy of mention due to the strangeness of the line. First, we were entertained by "Simpsons" clips on monitors through a serpentine line. Next we were sorted into numbered lines while a themed prep video showed. Then the numbered lines were sent into rooms for eight people that looked like elevators with a TV in it which prepped us again. Then the doors opened and we got into a cart. We were essentially in a movie theater with a tilting cart. There were no 3D glasses but it simulated moving through 3D space. The movie was supposed to be a 3D thrill ride and I suppose it was but this seemed incongruous to the normally great "Simpsons" writing. It was quite bizarre and we all came out of it dizzy and disoriented.

We entertained ourselves with other rides, exhibits and sideshows, including the famed 1-hour tram ride through the Universal Studios backlot. It was alternatively interesting, boring, a commercial for Universal Studios, and a theme park ride. There was a section that required 3D glasses where King Kong battles multiple T-Rex's all around the tram.

We ended the day with the Animal Actors demonstration. This was Alice's favorite... dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, rats, ducks, guinea pigs, a hawk, a fox, a parrot, and I'm probably forgetting other animals... were paraded out in often delightful, comic fashion as trainers discussed how animals are prepared for roles.

We were pretty hungry afterward and set out to find dinner. We first attempted to get tacos from a classic taco stand but they informed us "only burritos" at the window. It felt slightly rude (destroying my concept of friendly California food) and so we ended up at a Brazilian joint. Good food and a manager that kept appearing, looking at us and disappearing again. Zack surmised it was because I was his doppelgänger; bald with dark-framed glasses and he needed an occasional reality check.

Abby and I were pretty wiped out and so we went back to Alice's apartment and read a little until we fell asleep. Fun day. Wish Abby wasn't sick.