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Day one, concluded. part 3:   we finished up with the last house, and realized that we had done pretty much everything in the park (at least everything we wanted). . but then remembered we hadn't done that other Transformers ride. . and there were things we wanted to reride. so headed back towards the Transformers area, but noticed a sizable crowd forming in front of the stage at the main entrance as we were about to pass by. checking the time - it was close to the top of the hour - we realized that the main event/scare zones were about to kick off, and this was the main stage for that. for Universal Beijing (and I don't know if this is true of the USA parks, as never been), there seem to be 3 "mascots" for the Halloween scares:  Hami Kuma (a rotting teddy bear), Emo Tu (a damaged bunny rabbit), and Foxy Lady (a sultry cat - or maybe a fox?). . and each of them have their own "scare zones" but they come out and perform with their scare actors before they head into the zones. so we decided to hang out and watch the show. things are lighting up! and the crowd behind us is getting a bit larger. . . these are the "pep squad" for Hami Kuma - the bear   and here he comes to "dance" next out is Emo Tu  - the scary rabbit.  he seems to be a bit punk, not Emo tho.  these two have a rivalry. . .it seems.   and a Dance Off until Foxy Lady comes out, to the biggest cheers, and puts them in their place it's quite the spectacle. SO. MUCH. NEON. each "scare zone" area, has neon of that character. . so this is Foxy Lady's section. show seen, we continued towards Transformers, as the scare zones filled up. and I remembered to take a pic of that beautiful theater that houses the How To Train Your Dragon show. I'm pretty sure this is the Teddy Bear's scare zone. the actors were thrilled to pose with me, and they were easy to spot as each one has a handler who had a light on their vests.  so I just looked for the lights, then went over for pics. Stacy staring down a scare actor. . Decepticoaster looks amazing at night! and this was kind of a "do-si-do" type ride . . similar to Baymax.  it looked like it had good theming, but still had a bit of a line, so skipped. this is what we had come back to ride - Transformers:  Battle for the All Spark. a 3D ride, that was very similar ride system to Spider-Man. it had a queue line that was pretty dang long, tho not quite as long as the Kung Fu panda one was.   We waited in this longish line, because it was really the only thing we hadn't ridden yet that we wanted to in the park.   Think it was about a 45 minute wait. and honestly?  couldn't remember a thing about it. . . LOL. . I had to Youtube the ride, to remind me what it was, that's how i remember it was similar to Spider-Man. oh well. . lots of screens, and I rode it. after that ride, we stopped by Decepticoaster again. . . so good at night. .  and then thru the Emo Rabbit's scare zone. it was time to go back for re-rides, on my favorite ride in the park - Jurassic Adventure, which was showing a 5 minute wait (unlike the flyers that were still showing 45 minute wait). my pic of the ride vehicles didn't come out well, so snagged this one online. . .but here's what they look like. this time I did like the locals, and had my phone out !  and already moving fast enough - before we even GET to dinosaurs, that the pic of Stacy and I came out blurry). this one also starts with some screens but with some animatronics mixed in. and then it goes full on physical, with really impressive animatronics.     this isn't even close to how many are in the ride, but these are the best pics I got: LOVED this ride. worth a trip to USB just for this ride! feet hurting, and close to the end of night anyways (it was probably less than 30 minutes to close) we headed towards the front - which happens to be where Foxy Lady's "Scare Zone" is.   Again, I looked for the handlers with the neon lights to find the actors: and caught a bit of a 2nd performance by the trio. . with some slightly better pics. shopping before heading out, of course they have their own merch too the scary tree at the front, looks really great on the way out! looking back into the park. . as mentioned, the covered entrance really gets the party feeling going at the end of the night. and then it was time for the short walk back to the hotel room to shower and crash. what an exhausting 1st day, but it was so, so good. . . and still had over 3 weeks left to go!

Part 2   it was early afternoon and past time for lunch, so we headed over to Harry Potter land, because one of those I was with wanted to get some ButterBeer, and we figured it was worth it to see if we could get into the restaurant there.  nope, the line to get INTO the restaurant was posting a 45 minute wait, and it was so crowded, it triggered an anxiety attack. . so I stepped way over to the side, and just waited for the Butterbeer to be purchased - took the requisite pic of them drinking it in Hogsmeade and with the foam mustache, and then we headed elsewhere to get food. and easily found short lines, and indoor seating over by Minions land.   there were pretty neat "scary" themed cups for sodas, and some themed deserts too. oh, and because we were near minions land?  anyone who ordered a burger combo (my 3 fellow TPR folks, and a ton of others in the restaurant), got a burger, fries, a drink. . and a Banana.     no, really.   LOL although I went for a standard braised pork and tofu bowl.   the themed deserts. I just had to try the "naughty ghost" what it looked like on the outside and inside.   I believe it was Passion Fruit, but was very mild in flavor. didn't get to try this, as I wasn't hungry again tonight. . but these looked SO good! as we were finishing up, Robb & Elissa sent a message to the group that the 4 houses were about to open up for the night, and now was the time to grab them while the lines were still gonna be really short. luckily we had been eating right next door to this gate - not even realizing there was a house back there, so we lucked out and were able to quickly get in the line. fun fact - was told that Universal Beijing was built with the houses in place.  which was why there were specific areas and gates that led to the haunts.    so these are permanent buildings year round that they close off by closing the gates.   and when they want to change a house, they just change what's inside them. LOTS of queue space, not filled because 1) it was early, and 2) it was a Monday. love that you can see the Harry Potter area in the background of this queue. the line moved pretty quickly too. . don't think we waited more than 15 minutes for any of the houses. this man is holding a sign declaring no photography and no recording without permission.     unlike on the rides, it seemed that no one was taking pictures or filming without permission, so my phone was kept securely in my pocket for the houses, hence no pics from inside of any of them (sorry) luckily, Robb *had* permission to film, and he shared with the group, what I thought was the greatest jumpscare I'd ever seen in a house. we were all talking about the "bathroom scene" in this one house, and he had filmed it and was able to share.   so I'm able to share with y'all too. SO well done, and no, I have no real idea (just some guesses) how they managed this. . but over and over all night. . so damn impressive. CTCL7709.MP4 after the haunt, we still had a few things we hadn't done yet, and I had told William that I'd meet him over at the theater for the evening performance of "the Untrainable Dragon" - as I wanted to see the shows too.      we had time, so went back into Harry Potter land (and I immediately felt uncomfortable in the crowd), but surprisingly, the Forbidden Journey ride really did only have a 5 minute wait - as the app has said.   so we walked right on to it.   still a fun ride, with impressive technology. pics from the queue:  I know the sorting hat. . yay, something I was familiar with and coming out of the ride, the Tri-Wizard contest show was going on. . .and just like in Japan?  was filled with very handsome white boys for the male academy . . so of course stopped and watched for a moment, before the crowd forced me to peace out and move out of this area.  one of the Nicks had mentioned something called, I think, "Lights, Camera, Action" - which I knew nothing about, but said it was something that was in the US parks too, so we went over there and did that.  it's a walkthru/show, with a lot of effects, and hosted via screen by Stephen Speilberg.    the fire effects and water effects were impressive, but I totally get why there was no line, and for our "showing" there were maybe 30 people. then it was on to the big, impressive, Chinese theater facade off to the left of the main street for the How to Train Your Dragon characters in "the Untrainable Dragon" William met us out front and recommended we sit at the very top of the balcony in the center, to get the best view.  Since I trust him, I did so, and he was right. fantastic show, with some really impressive special effects.  particularly the flying Toothless, which we got a fantastic view of from our seats. pics of the show below: the staging really is a technological marvel. finishing that show, we still had 3 houses left before the Waterworld show - something I had also never seen and wanted to see. so we headed towards the next house, and came across the ending of a street performance in this huge moving stage/orchestra. this house was themed around a movie studio, and tho not "scary" at all, I appreciated the props and sets in this one.    I was hoping for as good a jump scare as the bathtub ghoul had given, but it seems we had started by chance with the best scare of them all  actors in the queue pretending to film the victims as they lined up. not 100% positive, but I *think* some of the footage was shown as we were walking thru the house on screens? he kept "filming" me, so I took a pic of him. and then we headed over to Waterworld, where we caught the last show of the evening. i was surprised and not surprised it wasn't all that crowded - people that were here, were here for the Haunts.  and also this is way back at the back of the park.  in other words, it takes an effort to come see this show. Luckily it is apparently the same show that has been running in Orlando/California parks, so William was able to explain to me what the hell was happening.  Yup, another film I've never seen.      if I look at this as just a stunt show?   it was quite enjoyable. .  in particular how much movement they got on the boats and jet skis in such a small lagoon. fire!!! uh oh.. that leaking "fuel" can't be good. the plane, the plane!!!! knew that leaking fuel would be an issue! it was nice and warm on a chilly evening tho. the Jurassic area looks great lit up at night. . but we were just passing by on our way to the other two houses remaining Jack's Circus. . oooo. . this has promise totally NOT Harley Quinn and Joker. . . . gotta love China.    LOL was a fun house tho not particularly innovative.   about a standard Six Flags house.  not terrible tho. we realized we had missed a ride over here too, as Minion Mayhem was kinda hidden in this corner.    So got in line and took a spin on that. this is the only pic I took from that tho. . . thought it was interesting in the queue. really impressive looking park at night. and even tho NOT HHN?   this is very familiar. the last house was based on Universal Monsters. and tho VERY light on scares?  I loved this one 2nd best. . the design work and props in here blew me away.  it was like walking into the old movies.   and the cockroach room in the mummy section creeped me the F out. a look at our hotel from the house line. the main entrance to the house. so well done. as mentioned, the entrances to the houses are pretty well "hidden" because they are there year round. . . so I loved that Universal has folks out in the walkways helping to direct parkgoers to the entrances.   to be concluded in part 3  

Day 1:  Universal Studios (full day).   Part 1:    so today was the official kick off of the trip!   a full day at Universal, and it was a Monday which meant the Halloween event was going on!   (I believe it runs Fri-Mondays until Halloween). it's NOT called Halloween Horror Nights, seemed to be called "Scares @ Universal" , but a very similar thing, with houses and scare zones - tho what is "scary" in Beijing seemed to be very different than what is "scary" in the US, at least as far as the Scare Zones go.   I'll get to that later in this update first up tho, was breakfast - which was included every morning during our stay at the Universal Studios Grand Hotel. here's as close as I seem to have gotten to a "room picture", myself and Stacy that I sent home to let Jim know we were ready to go for the kickoff of the trip. the walkway to the breakfast area goes over the park entrance, so got a preview of where we would be in the next hour. and what a surprise!  it's a "character breakfast" I was absolutely thrilled of course. . . even tho I have not seen more than a couple of the "Despicable Me" films, or any of the "Minions" movies. they wander around during breakfast from table to table, and also pose at the front for photos. different characters most mornings.  and in costume for Halloween it was a very good, and large, breakfast buffet.  and tho I didn't take a lot of pictures of the food, I did focus on the sweets table so got lots of those pics! Toothless creampuffs no idea, but adorable spooky donuts! I tried this thinking it was just a case of "mis-translation to English". . . but nope, it wasn't pieces of chicken.  it was Chicken Cartilage. (one of the few things I moved aside once trying a single, chewy/cruncy bite). and all areas of the food tables were decked out with these adorable Minions in Halloween costume sculptures: breakfast eaten, we headed down to the main entrance, and went thru Security as a group  (hotel guests get early entry to some parts of the park, and TPR went thru security and the entry as a group to ensure no issues with tickets.   tho we were all gonna meet up in an hour when Transformers land opened to the public to all ride Decepticoaster together as a group thru the general line.   the entrance area really is not that spooky in the daytime, before they pump in all the fog. reminded me very much of several parks in Europe where the front entrance has a "cover" that turns into an entertainment area at night. spooky hanging tree a look back at our hotel from inside the park. that "bridge" on the 2nd level is where I snapped the pic on the way to breakfast earlier. out of the main entrance street, you are hit with a stunning view of the main lagoon, and the mountain that houses one of the park's signature rides: Jurassic Flyers. (that area wasn't open just yet either, but would be in about an hour) headed towards the "early entry" side of the park:  Minions land, and Harry Potter Minions land is an indoor area. . not really large, but housing the kiddie coaster, and a couple of flat rides.     tho if you count the coaster in the facade, this park has five credits lots and lots of fun theming over here, even if I didn't "get" most of it.   Group shot before we split up for about an hour (some to get the kiddie in minions land, or the junior in HP land).  Courtesy of Robb not allowed to go this way yet (the Moose out front - and those employees there - told us).   but the torches were already lit to start the day.   park staff directing folks to the right for Harry Potter, rather than to the left for Jurassic Park area. tho I've still never been to a USA Universal park - so have nothing to compare it to.  and am not a huge Harry Potter fan (and have issues with the Author). . these lands that I have been in at other Universal parks continue to impress me. they are so well done. (tho I will say the "moaning Myrtle" in the bathroom here, sounds very "adult" when she's moaning in Chinese, LOL) this was the ONLY time all day this area looked like this.   it soon swelled up with so many people (MANY of them dressed in robes with wands) that it was hard to move, and became quite claustrophobic to me.   They LOVE Harry Potter here. taking advantage of the early entry crowds to get a pic with the train. the main ride in this area, tho we skipped this for the moment to get in the shortist-it-would-be-all-day line for "Flight of the Hippogriff" - I believe a true Mack junior coaster.     it was more fun than the one I remembered riding at Universal Japan. . so wonder if it's the same model?    by the time we finished that coaster, Jurassic Park and Transformers were about to open, so we headed towards Decipticoaster, cutting thru Jurassic Park. past Jurassic Park, if you hang a right here, is Transformers world. this intersection would be used as a "scare zone" later tonight. my first good view of Decipticoaster's launch. several folks had told me it was a "clone" of Hulk at the Orlando Park, but in talking to some Universal Beijing folks, they explained it's actually NOT a clone, tho it is very close.  this is due to some minor differences in the track, but heck if I can remember exactly what the differences were that he told me.   across the plaza is another large Transformers ride, but that one wasn't opening with this area, and they told us to come back after 2 and they'd have it open for guests. Decipticoaster doing it's thing. group shot before we got in line to ride (courtesy of Robb) whee!   (pics thanks to Elissa) what did I think?    I really liked it!  it had a ton of floater air (which I really enjoy) and when I commented to someone that it wasn't as forceful as I had expected and was very re-rideable for me, that's when he told me about the differences with Hulk at Islands of Adventure. one thing I DO recall, is the storyline - as I asked about that, since the onboard audio is all in Chinese. he explained to to me, and now I love the coaster even more:   the train is actually a Decipticon.  an evil surfer (dude) who has turned himself into the train to try and torture/kill the riders, and the control unit is trying to safely get us back to the station. too damn adorable. then we all split off again for the rest of the day, and the group I was with headed back over to Jurassic Park to get the other big coaster. but first, we passed "West Dock Dogs". . which amuses me. this is the Queue Line for Jurassic Flyers - a Mack inverted powered coaster, that has seating similar to the Arthur ride at Europa Park. EVERYTHING must go in a locker - tho provided free of charge.   so no pics of the station or queue past the lockers. I did enjoy this ride, but was disappointed by the lack of any dinosaurs on it!  the paddocks you "fly" over, are all empty.  it seemed as if they blew the whole setting budget on the queue line.   (oh, the ride across from it *totally* makes up for the lack of dinos on this ride, but I really do wish at least there were some statues of dinos in the paddocks you go over).    still a fun time, but the line stayed pretty long all day due to capacity on it, so I only rode this the one time. here's the ride across from it. and I wanted Dinos ?   yup, this gave them to me. Elissa told me this was her favorite ride here, and that I'd love it, and yup, she was 100% correct. I ended up riding this a few times.    Myself, Nick, Stacy, and Nick are ready for a Jurassic Adventure! the queue line formation reminded me a lot of "Dinosaur" at Animal Kingdom  (and we saw a bunch of other TPR folks in this line too) Universal really does do a great job with the theming in the queues. . . and the use of the digital screens. no pictures from the actual ride, because there were "no photos or recording" signs everywhere.   but EVERYONE was recording or taking pictures.   on most every ride we had been on thus far.     So I inquired about it, and the advice we got was "do as the locals do". . . .well, the locals were all taking pics and videoing. . . so when I rode this later, I took some pics that I'll share in part 2 (or 3).    it was hard to get non blurry pics tho, as the vehicles are moving pretty well as you're being chased by dinos. . . LOL exiting tho, I was able to snap a couple of pics of Jurassic Flyers in action: then my small group headed over to Minion's land to get the last coaster credit in the park: Loop-Dee-Doop-Dee - a kiddie/jr coaster, that does, in fact, not "loop", nor "dee-doop" . . but some folks count credits, and MUST ride every coaster available.    as it wasn't just an oval kiddie?  I got in line with them to ride too. from the station, a peek at one of the other rides in this area.    Dumbo as "bugs" I guess? the train design is fun too. do as the locals do -   see, folks filming on the ride. so we got a pic and it's a pretty good one, I think. we had the whole day, and with the coasters all ridden (tho some would get re-ridden), we took a detour back to Jurassic Park for Raptor Encounter. is this Blue?   no idea, but it was well done. we even talked the Nick's into posting for a pic. tho I ended up purchasing the one of myself and Stacy.  (it's already hanging on the wall at home). exploring along the backside of the park - as we hadnt' been over here yet, and the map showed a pretty large structure back here. turned out it was Kung Fu Panda area (another franchise I have not seen any films from). . to get there you have to pass thru the Waterworld Show section.   we made note of the times it was playing, as I've never seen it, so wanted to catch a showing. and then suddenly, it gets lush, and there are Panda's everywhere:   it's the "Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness" and yeah, I'll agree with them. . it's pretty damn STUNNING inside here. (and cool. . the sun had come out by now and it was warming up) the lantern balloon ride looks incredible. as did the carousel - but we'll get to that shortly. this was the main reason to come back here:  a boat dark ride. "Journey of the Dragon Warrior" note it says wait time is 10 minutes. so that is ALL walking the queue.   I think this one wins the prize for being the longest queue line I'd ever been in.    it just went on and on, room after room, and it was a double sided queue . . so giant rooms of just row after row of empty queues. . .  Seriously, the walk was almost 9 minutes to get to the loading station.     it was so long, and with so many steps, that even tho I LOVED this ride?  I declined to go back and ride it again later because I didn't want to do that much walking again.      I can just imagine if every here on a day so busy that the queue would be full. . this would be a 4 hour wait. finally getting to the load station:  as noted tho, the ride IS worth it.   such a great dark ride, even if I didn't know any of the characters represented. really impressive animatronic movements too. and some screens. it's a fairly long, and impressive, ride. wasn't gonna leave this area without carousel freak me, riding the carousel tho! even talked some non-carousel crazy folks to ride it with me  such impressive carvings! and even the toilets in here were themed to the film. . .    to be continued in part 2    

Today is  November 29 – National Chocolate Day or the day I actually prefer 😉... Throw Out Your Leftovers Day

Tormenta first drop taking shape!!! Pics credited to JB Thrills, William Gauzens, Javan Townsend,Andrew Floyd and Six Flags Over Texas!