Universal Studios

Doesn't that breakfast look yummy? That's what I had most mornings...plenty of protein and substance to get me through our fun-filled days! I'm sure grateful to Jake for booking a nice hotel with a full kitchen....that's my man, always thinking ahead.

Since we had bought that special pass, we had a day to spend at Universal Studios. To break up the Disneyland days, we decided to go on Thursday. It was a cloudy weekday, so hardly anyone was there. After parking, we walked down this shopping center to get to the actual park. Kinda weird, but it made us feel like we were one of the rich folk.

Lots of Minions around!

We made it! I think I came here a long time ago when I was a kid, but couldn't remember hardly anything. The girls were excited for a new adventure.

Walkin the red carpet.

Scooby Doo! Cami was excited. She's gotten to know Scooby Doo through her little friend Kurtis, who loves to watch the cartoons. They watch it together at Grandma Despain's house across the street (Kurtis's Grandma).

Frankenstein! Super creepy.

Beetlejuice?? Why not.

Oh yeah, member how it's Christmas time? It's easy to forget that around these parts, with sunshine and palm trees and people in costumes. But here's cute Curious George. Haha Lexi...she loves him!

Family shot, with Grandma in her Mickey hands sweatshirt. Someone who worked there called her out on it, and said "You wore your Disney sweatshirt to Universal?? Not allowed!" The girls are wearing their matching "Famous For My Smile" shirts. :)

The streets of Universal were decorated and snowy.

We passed on the Simpsons Ride...although Krustyland looked fun from afar, we didn't need to get closer than that.

Here's Cami looking SUPER excited for the Tram Tour. They gave us 3D glasses to wear during the King Kong part, which has changed into a 360 degree 3D experience, with a huge fight between the huge gorilla and dinosaurs, and the car jolts around to make you feel like you're falling off a cliff, etc. Pretty terrifying for poor Lexi Lou. She cried her eyes out.

But look who was there that day! My favorite show- Parenthood. The cast was filming the last episode of the whole series.

Here's where the big flood came down the dusty lane. I love all the unexpected special effects. I had forgotten about most of them.

Pretty set houses used for different films and shows

Going into the lake, where the water is "parted"

Fire alert!

JAWS! Best part. The girls thought it was cool.

Driving past Whoville for the Grinch movie

A set for a movie with a massive plane crash in a neighborhood. Very unsettling to imagine that actually happening.

After the fun tour, we got our pics with the Hollywood sign! A fake one, but fun nonetheless.

Marilyn Monroe! She was so nice to Lex.

Baha

Grinchland

Silly Grandma in the telephone booth

We were excited to go on the new Minion Mayhem ride. I, however, sat out, once I found out that it would be kinda crazy and spinny. No thanks. I think they had fun though.

Real live Minions!

Hahaha I LOVE that one in the middle. And the purple one was hilarious with his droopy arms.

The Despicable Me Super Silly Fun Land was the best part!

Minion ornaments

Riding a kiddie ride with Grandma

Cami daddy enjoying the silly bugs

Such a fun, colorful place!

We attended an animal show, which was ok but not super impressive. They had some random animals that have been on movies, like the owl from Harry Potter. Whooopee. Then we went to the show on Special Effects. THIS is the show I remember attending as a kid with my family, and my MOM volunteered me out of the audience. They picked me, and I, being the shy quiet super embarassed girl, had to roar like Harry from Harry and the Hendersons. Remember that, Mom? Then when I did roar loud enough, he was standing behind me and roared at the same time. That was so embarassing. So I thought this show would be really cool, but it was another let down. Get your act together, Universal!

After that, we went down the 5 longest escalators you will ever see, to get to the lower level of the park. It took FOREVER. Finally, at the bottom, there was the Jurassic Park ride. I remember riding it at Universal in Orlando on my high school senior class trip. I remembered it being scary, fun, and the longest water ride drop ever! So when we went on it with Cami, I was bracing for the worst, but then the drop came and I was like really? That was it? I guess Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld and Splash Mountain at Disney upped the game. But it was still fun, and Cami went on it like 3 times. Lexi Lou couldn't, poor girl. She was heart broken once again. But she did take this cute picture.

There were these transformer robots who really moved and talked in creepy voices, but they were really funny interacting with people.

I found this gem...the outfit that Michael Scott wore on The Office, and the wheel of fun that was in one of the episodes.

These people were from The Mummy. They bent right down to chat with the girls.

Theeeeeeen they stood up.

After a packed picnic lunch, shows, some rides, and lots of fun characters, we called it a day.

My opinion is: I wouldn't pay full price to go to Universal, but since it was included in our pass, I'm glad we got to experience it. If only to have this kodak moment with Spongebob Squarepants. Silly Spongebob!