Singapore Day 3: A Universal Christmas at Universal Studios

On December 30, 2024, we visited Universal Studios Singapore as part of our third of five days in Singapore. The theme park is the first and only Universal-themed Park in Southeast Asia, having opened in 2011. This is actually my fourth time visiting this park following our first three visits in 2013, 2015, and 2019.

Notes:

• This blog is the fourth (Day 3) of five parts of our 2024 Singapore Year-End Trip, spanning from Days 1 to 4. See these links for our flights, Day 1, Day 2, and Day 4.
• Neither Universal Studios Singapore nor Resorts World Sentosa endorsed or promoted this blog.
• Exchange rates between currencies are: 1 Philippine peso = 0.017 USD and 0.023 SGD.
• To better be guided, visit the official park map here.

Entrance of Universal Studios Singapore decorated for the Christmas season.

Originally, we planned our visit for December 29 (Sunday), but fears of overcrowding caused me to move it to the next weekday. We learned this from our experience in Japan, where we avoided theme park visits on weekends because higher crowds are more concentrated when both locals and foreign tourists meet in one location during weekends.

From my aunt's house in Bukit Merah, we left at past 11:00 and rode a Grab to Universal Studios Singapore. This theme park is a core part of Resorts World Sentosa, one of two integrated resorts in Singapore.

Minions greeting guests; RWS promoted this as part of the upcoming opening of Minion Land.

Upon reaching the theme park, we were first greeted by these gigantic Minions, a popular character of the Despicable Me franchise of movies. This was a move done by the management to promote the opening of Minion Land. The land was once occupied by Madagascar attractions, including a log ride that I remember riding in it back in 2015. Minion Land is set to open on February 14, 2025, Valentine's Day. Although I'm interested to explore it, I won't be returning to Singapore soon and I'll go on travel HIATUS this 2025.

Immediately upon entering at 12:05, artificial snow started falling upon us along Hollywood Road. The four-times-daily limited-edition feature is a favorite among us tourists, but I suddenly started coughing upon inhaling the snow. Fortunately, my cough soon subsided.

Shrek 4-D Adventure

Shrek 4-D Adventure is located in this castle Far Far Away.

After exploring New York City decorated with promotional materials of Wicked, we went Far Far Away to the Shrek 4-D Adventure ride. Located inside the castle, you would first line up for around half an hour, depending on the attraction's wait time. After getting our 3-D googles, we first entered a holding room for a pre-show, where the characters summarize the first Shrek film in 2001; see this link to better know the storyline.

After the pre-show, we were then directed to the theatre with our glasses on. The seats feature physical effects including vibration, as well as water sprayers at the back. Stationary seats are available upon request.

The short film, as I would describe it, is both exhilarating and mind-blowing. With the synchronized movement of the seats during the chasing part of Shrek to the castle, it made us engage more in the movie. Moreover, water sprayers simulated the scenes when the characters got wet. What made us hold our breaths was when Princess Fiona was about to fall through the waterfalls before she was rescued (i.e., the climax). We then went out of the attraction at 13:38, after the fairy, shot off by a champagne cork, lands at a speaker on the left.

We then ate our lunch.

Tinker Time Christmas with Sesame Street

Tinker Time Christmas with Sesame Street!

We went back to the Hollywood area stage for the 15:05 showing of Tinker Time Christmas with Sesame Street. This limited-edition show featured three Sesame Street characters accompanied by three dancers for a ten-minute show.

Santa Claus then makes an appearance. Midway through, the tinkering machine suddenly malfunctions when a character alters it. Santa then asks the audience to look for the "golden key". A young girl from the audience comes to the stage and gives the key to Santa. One of the characters then magically enlarges the key.

As the first attempt to reactive the tinkering machine fails, the cast then calls the audience to help by shouting "Holiday cheer is here!" After the machine successfully works again, the show concludes with a dance number with artificial snowfall at the end. A line is then formed for those seeking photo opportunities.

Meeting the cast members of the previous show again!

We then changed our clothes at a nearby restroom. I would later meet the dancers of this show again for another photo opportunity almost an hour later.

Late afternoon attractions and treats

We met some Madagascar characters at 16:00, at the same stage where the Tinker Time Christmas show was held. Soon after, we returned to Far Far Away to see Shrek and Princess Fiona, but strong rainfall prompted organizers to cancel the meet-and-greet scheduled for 16:30.

Me posing behind a Transformers robot character

Soon after, we went to Transformers: The Ride. It is one of the most popular attractions of the theme park and one of my favorites. Unfortunately, due to safety regulations against using phones on rides, I could not provide photos of it, but you can go and see it yourself.

Next on the list is Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase. This is a dark ride which features Elmo and Super Grover traveling into space to rescue the stolen spaghetti from Macaroni the Merciless and his villain partners.

The scene at Lights! Camera! Action! where some guests got wet.

Lights! Camera! Action! was our penultimate attraction for the day. The first part of the show featured Steven Spielberg appearing in projection screens introducing guests to the attraction, followed by video montages of special effects used on films. We were then briefed about the actual scene in the forthcoming minutes. The Singapore version of this attraction featured New York City being battered by a Category 5 hurricane. A huge cargo ship almost slammed us after some guests in the front got wet. I shouted in applause as the most thrilling attraction ended.

We then had a short break afterwards.

Evening spectaculars and...goodbye!

The Far Far Away castle with lighting projections for the holiday season.

We returned to Far Far Away to try the Enchanted Airways roller coaster and watch the Dreamworks Animation Holiday Spectacular projection mapping show in front of the castle. Soon after, we headed back to the Hollywood area for a final meetup with cast members and Kung Fu Panda characters.

A special holiday fireworks display was then held at Lake Hollywood at 21:00.

We then lined up for the Sentosa Express monorail back to the mainland, but we backed out and instead took a shuttle bus to VivoCity. Such buses bear the service number RW8. After a long dinner at VivoCity's food court, we rode a bus going back to our Bukit Merah residence.

See the next part of this five-part series here.

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