What to Wear
Comfortable sneakers and non restrictive clothing will be best. As far as pants go, I suggest wearing trousers and a weather appropriate top. Skirts can be a little more risky as some rides may restrict you above the waist. Bright colors are a good idea too although I stayed dressed in a black shirt and black pants. Universal Studios isn’t just about the rides; it’s about taking photos too. There are lots of costumed characters along the street ready for you to take pictures with them, and you'll want to make sure you capture the memories.
If you are a Harry Potter fan traveling from China to Los Angeles, it’s a great idea to pick up a black Hogwarts-style robe on Taobao before you leave. It adds a nice touch to photos. From 2016 onwards, Harry Potter World is part of Universal Studios Hollywood, which was a true dream come true for many fans. It makes the experience so much better to wear a robe and stand in the Harry Potter World area. While there were certainly robes sold in the park, the prices made it unavoidable to say that it was almost the same price as Universal’s admission fee. There is also a lot of value in buying an official robe once you are in the park, but this is just a tip for people that want to have the robe look for less. They also have the option for the look without spending a fortune. Universal Studios Hollywood has a strict robe policy and about 15 rides are not compatible with robes. My friends’ robe pictures were great and I wish I could have purchased a robe when I flew from my location in the US to Los Angeles. While I thought I could get wet from a ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, I realized I didn't need any change of clothes because the rides there aren’t really like that. A small bag that I could carry was enough for my glasses, credit card, cash, phone, sun screen, and lipstick. I highly recommend you keep your make up light and natural, as photographs look better that way and sun screen is a must. I visited in winter but the California sun was very strong. You will be in the park all day and trust me, heavy make up will not survive until the evening. A bright lip color is more than enough. Food options at Universal Studios in Hollywood You'll need a good breakfast, as a day filled with rides is more physically exhausting than you think. Depending on when you leave the park, you may also need dinner. My friends and I made sandwiches the night before and took them for lunch, along with a small water bottle. The park also had a lot of food options like Panda Express and other Chinese-style fast food. When you're at a theme park, the aim is usually just to eat enough to keep going. Standard American fast food like pizza, burgers and fries, as well as themed restaurants and familiar chains like Starbucks were also available. While waiting in line, keeping yourself busy with some ice cream, cinnamon rolls, or doughnuts is a great idea.
In my opinion, I like to bring lunch. Forgetting lunch means you'll have to stand in a queue to buy food, place an order, and wait for food to be ready. But it’s your call. If food is nice, you’ll probably be happier and have more energy to do things.
If you're a photography lover, you don't need to take your big, heavy DSLR. The crowd will probably be too big for you to take any nice, open park photos. Plus, you don’t want to have a super large camera on a ride. It would be a shame if you damaged it. A phone or small camera will do.
I went to Universal Studios Hollywood on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2016. Christmas Eve is a bit like Luner New Year’s Eve in China, so the crowd may be a bit less than usual, especially in the evening. But in general, the park was very busy.
When I visited, the park had around 15 main attractions. My friends and I managed to ride all of them in just one day, including three rides on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which was the most popular ride in the whole park. The secret to visiting the park is not about having a bought entry ticket, but about spending your time managing rides, photos, shows and breaks in a good way.
We arrived around 9:45 a.m. on December 24. There were no queues for security or ticket checks, so it was very easy. Don’t forget to pick up a park map at the entrance; it will come in handy. There was no apparent Chinese language version, but the English map was easy enough to follow.
As I walked in, I felt compelled to take some pictures. The buildings are charming, the costumed characters are entertaining, and every corner provides a good photo opportunity. Engaging as it is, please take the opportunity to resist photographing everything. You will have the entire day. Morning is a good chance to do the rides before the queues build up.
What Order is Best For A One-Day Visit
Start with the Studio Tour, then head to the Lower Lot first, Upper Lot last.
Once you get into the park, instead of stopping at the picture spots, follow the main path straight. At the end of this first stretch is the Simpsons area. At the end of this stretch is a right turn with an escalator. The bottom of this escalator is the floor with the Studio Tour boarding area. Make sure you check the schedule before you get in the queue.
The tour guide marketed it as an English event, which surprised me. The tour guide offered Mandarin language service. Anyone with no English may prefer to wait for a Mandarin slot, but it does get booked out more quickly. If you have English at even a basic level, you should manage on the English tour.
The tour guide provided a commentary and stopped the tram at various working studio areas to do film re-enactments. On screens around the tram were clips of movies that they were referencing. The tour had 3D effects and simulated floods, earthquakes, and explosions. The tour is great for film enthusiasts.
I won't spoil anything too much, the fun is in seeing things for yourself.Once the studio tour returns to where it started, take the elevator up. To the left of the Simpsons area, a big elevator goes down to the Lower Lot. Take it.
The Lower Lot was quite small, with big attractions like Jurassic Park, Revenge of the Mummy, and Transformers all in one section. Each entrance had a waiting time. Average waiting time was about 30 minutes. For us, this was enough time. The queues were also story themed to keep visitors engaged with clips and details.
When you arrive at the Lower Lot, check the waiting times for all three and start with the one that has the shortest queue.
We started with Jurassic Park. I remember being terrified watching Jurassic Park with friends the year before, but the ride wasn't scary at all. It felt like an easy log flume ride without the bad feeling. It was a drowned ride but no one got for and ponchos were not needed. In bright yellow raincoats, a family in front of us were literally the opposite of us and that was a quiet laugh for the rest of the ride.
After that, Revenge of the Mummy came next and it was an indoor ride too. This rider was much more exciting than Jurassic Park though. It goes forward and backward super fast and has 4D effects. Near the entrance, free lockers were provided so you could leave your bag in there and just take your phone. You could put it in the small net pocket in front of you, and then just scream. Even if you aren’t scared, it is very cathartic. The last major ride in the Lower Lot is Transformers, a 3D ride based on the Transformers movies. I’ll leave some of the details for you to find out when you ride it. You could also take pictures with a dressed-up Transformer outside. The character was pretty rude, but in a funny way. When I said, “I love you,” the response was “Oh, disgusting...” An eye roll is warranted. The line for the picture was only about five minutes, so it’s best to ride and then take your picture when you have time to recover. Once we were done with the attractions in the Lower Lot, we ate, took the usual tourist pictures, and then headed back upstairs on the elevator. The view on the way up is definitely worth it. By the time we were ready for the Upper Lot, it was the busiest part of the day. We looked at the wait-time board and chose the shortest line: Flight of the Hippogriff in the Harry Potter section. It’s a very small roller coaster, not even a minute long, and the drops, turns, and height were all very manageable. It also had a great view of the Harry Potter section. The busiest time of day is not the best time to go for the most popular rides. At that time, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey had a 70-minute wait. We decided to watch some shows instead. After a long morning, we had to take some time to recharge, and there were little to no lines for the shows we were going to. All we had to do was check showtimes and walk right in.\n\nThere were three major shows. The Special Effects Show was 25 minutes long and was very educational. Universal's Animal Actors was about 15 minutes and included dogs, cats, birds, pigs, rats, and a ton of other animals. I thought it was even better than some animal shows I had seen in China. WaterWorld is a 20-minute show where \"live\" stunts are done. I won't spoil the story, but if you don't want to get soaked, then sit in the back.\n\nWe watched the first two shows in the afternoon because they were back to back. WaterWorld is in the Harry Potter area, and it would have been more difficult to squeeze it into our itinerary, so we left it for the evening.\n\nAfter the first two shows, we were ready to go to a newer attraction called The Walking Dead Attraction, which opened in 2016. Although I've watched some of The Walking Dead, I already knew that zombies were really scary. This attraction is like a walk through haunted house, but you have real zombies in every dark room. I know it sounds boring, but I screamed the whole time. The zombies can't touch you, but I kept telling them to stop and they would. One final note, please do not hit the “zombies.” They are staff members doing their jobs. When we left Walking Dead we went to Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, a 3D ride in the Minions area. It has great visual effects and Despicable Me fans will find it charming. Later on we went to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The wait was 40 minutes and was still popular. This is the ride every future visitor must go on no matter how long the wait is because it has rotating seats and indoor coaster 4D film effects and it’s just amazing. Entering the queue was like going into Hogwarts it felt like the wait went by super fast. There were potions, moving talking portraits, The Sorting Hat and everything else to make it super detailed. We rode it twice and the second wait was shorter because more Christmas Eve visitors were starting to leave. The Simpsons Ride was another attraction worth riding twice. It felt super coaster like and it gave the weightless feeling that real coasters do. The animated series is older than I am but the ride still felt super modern. After The Simpsons Ride, we heard “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and followed the music. It was Christmas Eve, so the festive atmosphere was especially strong. Artificial snow used to fall in Universal's Plaza at dance shows held in front of a Christmas tree. Each of the performers looked like a character out of a story and it was a winner for Christmas photos. Universal opened their doors at night and the lights made the compact small world seem even more magical. The carousel was not running and we had to be invited to ride Fun Land. Everyone there was part of the small crowd and it gave us a moment of nostalgia that was totally unexpected. WaterWorld had a long line and a tight showtime so we grabbed some pictures on the way. It looked like a hard evening for the performers as they worked in the cold evening water. The story was familiar from shows I had seen in China, but the stunts were a little better. The line dropped for the third ride of Harry Potter and it looked like the third was going to have its own surprises. I was genuinely nervous when we came to a stop for about 10 seconds and we were not in a questionable coaster. Much to my friend beside me's surprise, nothing was going to fall. It was definitely a unique experience. The only attraction left was the Shrek 4D film, which was the weakest experience overall that day—so much so that I almost fell asleep during the film. Every 4D film is the same, and this film didn't feature any unique moments, so if you're running short on time, this is an experience worth skipping. When the clock struck 8, we were getting ready to leave after doing all of the attractions. Since there was a street with souvenir shops outside the park, it was convenient to not have to waste time inside the park looking for gifts. There was a live band on the street we were shopping on, and though it was super windy and cold, the band made it feel much warmer. I was relieved to see and experience everything I wanted to at Universal Studios Hollywood in just one day. Friends who went to Universal Orlando before me said they required two full days there because they have an Islands Of Adventure park that has a lot of water rides, which is different from Orlando. Personally, I liked Universal Studios more than the Disney park in Orlando. I definitely got my money's worth out of the admission ticket and with a good plan, a standard ticket is enough to have a full day at Universal Studios Hollywood. Enjoy the rides!
