HeartlineCoaster
Theme Park Superhero
Always feel the need for some creds in January, can't go that long without them.
Where could I have gone that will have everything open without fail? China of course.
Day 0 – Universal Studios Singapore
With only a few days in the country I didn’t think I would have a decent (quiet) day in which to revisit this old pal of a park. But a couple of days beforehand I thought **** it and booked evening tickets (17:00 to 01:00) for the New Year’s Eve event. This turned out to be a great decision, even though I expected it to be unbearably busy. Apparently there’s better ways to celebrate the New Year (I can’t think of any) and it was quieter than several ‘off peak’ visits I’ve had.
Perhaps the only disadvantage to this day was that they were handing out party bags to everyone that included some sort of plastic horn, which in the mouths of the masses had the power to be spectacularly irritating. :emoji_tada:
Operations on the Battlestars had vastly improved since the early stages of reopening. It was now a two train affair and the duelling is back in business, which was amazing to finally experience both on and off-ride.
Cylon has turned from blue to grey. I knew something was off, but it took me a while to notice exactly what. I really like this thing. It sums up what SLCs should have been from the start and has a good mix of forces without any of the roughness.
Human has remained both red and comparatively dull. The whole layout feels like it is holding back which makes it not ride like a big boy coaster. Perhaps this was a consequence of making 2 different ride types duel, where more effort is put into making the layout happen and the individual experience suffers on at least one half.
Mummy was running as well as ever and my love for it knows no bounds. If I had to pinpoint the moment at which I found the desire to visit parks worldwide, it would be my first time on this thing. It never fails to be ridiculously fun.
Puss in Boots is a laugh. It’s barely a coaster, but other guests riding it treat it like it’s the most intense thing ever. The stop-start ‘scenes’ seemed to be shorter than I remember and it was all over rather quickly this time.
I don’t do Canopy Flyer any more as it has the worst throughput in the park (other than the pitiful Treasure Hunters) and is a ridiculously short and uneventful figure of 8 layout. Japan had a better idea.
I also don’t do Enchanted Airways unless it’s empty, which it never is. This doesn’t need justification.
Transformers is starting to wear off on me. Once you’re able to see past the spectacle and wonder of the screens and story, it boils down to a ride vehicle shaking you about in an irritating fashion. That’s nothing against the ride really, it’s pretty fantastic when you’re new to it, but I’ve learnt now that too much of it isn’t a good thing.
Jurassic Park in the dark was a new experience and brought new life to the outdoor portion. The boat entering through the huge gates all lit up was rather special. I’m a fan of the lesser spoken about Hafema water rides, everything they do always manages to squeeze in a bit of extra crazy over your average log flume or rapids and this one doesn’t disappoint.
Never seen a Madagascar film and never want to, but in ride form it’s surprisingly good and always worth a visit. Strong attention to detail and a mixture of technologies.
Sesame Street is also a solid dark ride, but I didn’t bother this time.
The effects show Lights, Camera, Action! is usually worth a look as well but I’m not sure if it was even open.
For those who care about food, always venture outside the park into the rest of the resort where there’s plenty of choice. This time I tried a place where you use machines to order all manners of Asian and weird Western fusion from pretend street stalls.
Apparently the park have set that well contested Guinness World Record (oxymoron) for most lights in a single display. I imagine the record was fun to adjudicate.
It was visually impressive, but invited far too much “let’s take a picture of ourselves with every single thing we encounter”-culture for my liking.
After that it was re-rides until the countdown and firework display. It was a surprisingly and mercifully short display, as fireworks as an individual package don't do much for me and my journey out of the place involved a lot of walking where buses would have been an hour earlier.
Best New Year ever - start as you mean to go on and all that.
Where could I have gone that will have everything open without fail? China of course.
Day 0 – Universal Studios Singapore
With only a few days in the country I didn’t think I would have a decent (quiet) day in which to revisit this old pal of a park. But a couple of days beforehand I thought **** it and booked evening tickets (17:00 to 01:00) for the New Year’s Eve event. This turned out to be a great decision, even though I expected it to be unbearably busy. Apparently there’s better ways to celebrate the New Year (I can’t think of any) and it was quieter than several ‘off peak’ visits I’ve had.
Perhaps the only disadvantage to this day was that they were handing out party bags to everyone that included some sort of plastic horn, which in the mouths of the masses had the power to be spectacularly irritating. :emoji_tada:
Operations on the Battlestars had vastly improved since the early stages of reopening. It was now a two train affair and the duelling is back in business, which was amazing to finally experience both on and off-ride.
Cylon has turned from blue to grey. I knew something was off, but it took me a while to notice exactly what. I really like this thing. It sums up what SLCs should have been from the start and has a good mix of forces without any of the roughness.
Human has remained both red and comparatively dull. The whole layout feels like it is holding back which makes it not ride like a big boy coaster. Perhaps this was a consequence of making 2 different ride types duel, where more effort is put into making the layout happen and the individual experience suffers on at least one half.
Mummy was running as well as ever and my love for it knows no bounds. If I had to pinpoint the moment at which I found the desire to visit parks worldwide, it would be my first time on this thing. It never fails to be ridiculously fun.
Puss in Boots is a laugh. It’s barely a coaster, but other guests riding it treat it like it’s the most intense thing ever. The stop-start ‘scenes’ seemed to be shorter than I remember and it was all over rather quickly this time.
I don’t do Canopy Flyer any more as it has the worst throughput in the park (other than the pitiful Treasure Hunters) and is a ridiculously short and uneventful figure of 8 layout. Japan had a better idea.
I also don’t do Enchanted Airways unless it’s empty, which it never is. This doesn’t need justification.
Transformers is starting to wear off on me. Once you’re able to see past the spectacle and wonder of the screens and story, it boils down to a ride vehicle shaking you about in an irritating fashion. That’s nothing against the ride really, it’s pretty fantastic when you’re new to it, but I’ve learnt now that too much of it isn’t a good thing.
Jurassic Park in the dark was a new experience and brought new life to the outdoor portion. The boat entering through the huge gates all lit up was rather special. I’m a fan of the lesser spoken about Hafema water rides, everything they do always manages to squeeze in a bit of extra crazy over your average log flume or rapids and this one doesn’t disappoint.
Never seen a Madagascar film and never want to, but in ride form it’s surprisingly good and always worth a visit. Strong attention to detail and a mixture of technologies.
Sesame Street is also a solid dark ride, but I didn’t bother this time.
The effects show Lights, Camera, Action! is usually worth a look as well but I’m not sure if it was even open.
For those who care about food, always venture outside the park into the rest of the resort where there’s plenty of choice. This time I tried a place where you use machines to order all manners of Asian and weird Western fusion from pretend street stalls.
Apparently the park have set that well contested Guinness World Record (oxymoron) for most lights in a single display. I imagine the record was fun to adjudicate.
It was visually impressive, but invited far too much “let’s take a picture of ourselves with every single thing we encounter”-culture for my liking.
After that it was re-rides until the countdown and firework display. It was a surprisingly and mercifully short display, as fireworks as an individual package don't do much for me and my journey out of the place involved a lot of walking where buses would have been an hour earlier.
Best New Year ever - start as you mean to go on and all that.
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