A trip to Universal studios

[Guest guest]

Gayatri's photo has taken me back several years, when I visited

Universal studios. Here is a brief visit for all those who have not

gone there and a revision for all those who have.

Universal studios has a large spinning globe at its entrance with the

words 'Universal' rotating around it. This is a replica of the

trademark that is shown before every Universal movie. This is a

must-photograph spot, and usually you have to wait for a few minutes

before the jostling group before you leave. Then you can stand with a

plastic smile pasted on your face in front of this globe, while your

husband or uncle clicks you, then its your turn to be jostled out by

the next group.

As you enter the main entrance, you can see that the whole vast area

is divided into lots, each of which is dedicated to a particular cult

movie. You can see any lot in any sequence, but as each lot is pretty

far away from the other, it is usually wise to see them in sequence,

otherwise you waste a lots of time in travelling between lots!

The first movie we went to was " Back to the Future " . A zigzag but well

ordered queue leads to the main area. You then get to sit in a car ,

which is built exactly like the Time machine of the movie. The lights

get dimmed and suddenly there is total darkness. Then you feel a

rumbling under the wheels of the car. A little bumpy motion and

suddenly you are off into the sky. You can see the towering spires of

towers which you narrowly miss. Oh my God! The famous watch tower is

right in your path. You are about to crash. YOU CRASH! You can feel

the glass splinters on your cheek (ice cold water sprinkled cleverly).

Then you are through! You go up and down various scenes of the movie,

until your car rumbles to a stop and the lights gradually increase.

The whole journey has taken place with you in a stationary car, but

you can never believe it. The special effects are so life like.

The exit leads to a commercial place which sells spin off items like T

shirts and drinking mugs with the movie's motif printed on it. This

is true for each lot.

The next ride we went on was the Jurassic Park roller coaster. The

raft you sit on drifts at first lazily through a swamp of ferns. A

very idyllic place, until you suddenly hear a nerve shattering roar of

a T Rex and a HUGE mouth lunges at you and almost bites you. As you

drift thorough various jungle locales, you can see grazing Triceratops

and munching Diplodocus staring at you. You are suddenly in a dark

cave. Eerie sounds permeate the darkness and mysterious splashing

sounds around you make you hastily remove your hand from the raft

edge. Thank God, you can see daylight far away, when your heart gives

a lurch. You are about to tumble over a waterfall. You clutch whatever

is handy nearby, including your spouse and somehow survive and land

safely at the base of the frothing waterfall. You walk off checking

to see how wet your camera has become (Yeah, they warned you before,

but you did not heed them).

There is a look behind the back scenes of famous movies. A train is

arranged for you and it gradually pulls out. It reaches a jungle where

there are large stumps of rotting trees. You wonder why they didn't

clean it up, when the guide tells you that they are made of plastic

and were used for Jurassic Park. Then your train goes over a bridge,

which looks decidedly unsafe. Suddenly while you are in the middle,

the bridge starts collapsing. Your train starts increasing speed, but

the timbers supporting the bridge are falling at an alarming rate. You

barely make it and the entire bridge falls down. You are told not to

worry. Before your eyes, lo and behold, the entire bridge rises

resurrected like magic. Movie magic!

You approach a dry Mexican gulch. You can actually feel the heat of a

hot Mexican sun. There is a small shack in the distance. Your tour

guide tells you that this is a desert area with hardly any rainfall.

But occasionally flash floods are known to occur. You can hear some

distant rumbling sounds. Nothing to worry, you are assured, maybe rain

in some distant part of Mexico. Then a loud whoosh and the whole gulch

is flooded with torrents of rain and you are trapped in the middle of

a flash flood. Unimaginable amounts of water, huge sheets pass,

fortunately missing your feet by a few millimetres! Within 5 minutes,

the gulch is dry again, waiting for the next unsuspecting train.

Next, your train goes into a

tunnel where suddenly your carriage is gripped by a large black hairy

hand. King Kong's face appears with malevolent eyes looking at you

menacingly. The whole train trembles and shivers. You hold your breath

when King Kong disappears and suddenly you are in an underground train

station set where you are told many films were made. The whole sets

undergoes a convulsion and with a large earthquake like judder, breaks

apart into two. A huge oil tanker nearly falls on you and water comes

cascading down the stairs. There is a fire which seems to be getting

out of control. Your train thankfully moves on to enter the bank of

the Amityville sea. A beautiful place until you notice ominous

ripples. Whoosh! A huge JAWS shark comes out and just as rapidly dives

back, after missing you. You are left fiddling with the camera.

The next set we went to was the Alien set. The Alien special effects

are tremendous. You can hear the alien

eating you neighbour, complete with crunching sounds of bones

breaking. You may even feel the blood sprinkling on you back!

Definitely not for the faint hearted!

The terminator set is very futuristic. All steel and gleam. As you sit

in the large hall, a fight ensues in front of your eyes, where Arnold

fights the next generation advanced robots. You can feel the blood and

shrapnel biting into your skin (cold water again). Tremendous special

effects with motorcycle racing. This show is partly enacted by real

actors. As you leave,

Arnold roars back at you, " I'll be back! "

You also wish to say the same thing, as you leave reluctantly.

The whole thing is so vast that we had to leave out a few sets. Among

them, we missed Back draft and The return of the Mummy.

If you have seen all these movies, it is definitely a plus point.

However, it is not compulsory. You can enjoy everything without

knowing a thing about the movies concerned. If you have the time and

opportunity, definitely go and see the Universal studios. It

transports you into a wonderland of movies and dreams.

Kishore Shah 1974

[Guest guest]

Dear Gayatri,

Your description almost completed the trip to the fun

land!Your write-up has definitely done justice to the Kishore's

description.Do you think i really need to visit Universal Studios

now? Unless of course,you are ready to host the trip!!.......)

Neeti'86

PS:I was wondering if Ashok's description is going to be any

different than yours and Kishore's?Are there any more sets that you

guys haven't covered??Ashok,you were expected to write on this long

time ago.......now could you pls,supplement with your recent

click,click,click pictures? We don't mind even if they are taken

with ordinary camera!...

> Dear Kishore Sir,

> I cant believe you can describe so much of Universal, so

well...what seemed like such a big task.. you sit down and get done

with:-).

[Guest guest]

Kishore,

You description is so realistic. I felt as if I had been taken for a ride!

:-)

Ravin '82

[Guest guest]

Kishore,

You description is so realistic. I felt as if I had been taken for a ride!

:-)

Ravin '82

[Guest guest]

Gayatri,

You are not far behind in your description either!

That was great!

Ravin '82

[Guest guest]

Gayatri,

You are not far behind in your description either!

That was great!

Ravin '82

[Guest guest]

Thanks Gayatri,

Now I don't feel that I missed out on those two movies, after your

wonderful description.

Kishore Shah 1974

[Guest guest]

Thanks Gayatri,

Now I don't feel that I missed out on those two movies, after your

wonderful description.

Kishore Shah 1974