Last summer while on Roadtrip 2011: Full-On Tourist View of So Cal, we spent a few days at Universal Studios Hollywood. The first stop on our trip was Santa Barbara so while my family enjoyed the pool I popped into Costco (great regional deals on most amusement parks) and bought 5-day annual passes to Universal Studios Hollywood. Fast forward to summer 2012, another trip to Santa Barbara (sans dad), the recent opening of a new ride and those long forgotten passes rapidly counting down to their expiration date. Why not trek down to L.A. for the day?
With my mother in-tow we hit the gates a little behind schedule, grrr, only 10 hours before the park closes! Map in hand, frozen bottles of water and Gatorade stuffed in a backpack, red vines easily accessible for quick energy, we devised the plan: The Simpsons Ride first (our favorite, 45 minute wait) Studio Tour (next door, classic, 55 minute wait), eat lunch next to Jurassic Park:The Ride (splashing and spraying water, peak 90 degree heat of the day, 45 minute wait), send Grandma and Evan to the playground while the older kids and I rushed through Revenge of the Mummy (a hassle because you have to check bags in electronic finger printed lockers, 25 minute wait), and then on to the mother lode ... the reason we were there ... Transformers: The Ride-3D. Expected wait time: 75 minutes.
75 minutes. 75 minutes with a 6-year old who was just fed a large Ben & Jerry's ice cream sundae with extra M&M's and 6 cherries on top by his Grandmother. Thanks a lot Grandma. 75 minutes in 90 degree heat. Hmmmm, a large Coke Zero with a lot of ice will be a nice distraction. 75 minutes during an app-free day (a great plan to get the kids off their phones, wait, this applies to me too?). 75 minutes surrounded by really loud and pushy foreign tourists. Oh yeah, let's do this!
While my mother complained for the tenth time that I should have sprung for the Front of the Line Passes ($100 more per person, not happening) and I repeated my mantra of, "It's good for kids to learn to wait", I stood back and actually observed my kids. They weren't unhappy. They weren't complaining. They were having fun. Waiting in line was part of their story, their experience, their memory. If they could enjoy it I could too.
We listened to the intro "training" video hosted by "Sonia Bradley" for the millionth time and it became a joke. Our inside joke. We jockeyed for better positions to see what was coming next while laying odds on how long it would actually take, would it really be 75 minutes? As we turned endless corners Jordan pulled out his phone and timed the gaps in the line, could we predict how long the ride would last? Evan vacillated between holding my hand, being held, climbing on the divider (climbing dividers is a amusement park tradition!) and checking out the displays with wide-eyed enthusiasm (hint: they let you press flashing buttons). We were all excited. As we were handed 3D glasses and ushered into the correct staging line I looked at my phone. Just shy of 2 hours and we were finally at our destination. As I pulled my harness into place I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Jordan and Julian were quickly programming the stopwatch function on their phones and stowing them safely in their pockets. I looked down at Evan and he gave me a thumbs up while adjusting his 3D glasses with the other hand. I turned forward and relaxed in my seat, I was ready. The ride lasted 4 minutes and 45 seconds. And yes, it was worth every single minute. Transformers: The Ride-3D, Universal Studios Hollywood
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