Grover, Oscar, and Minions wish you Gong Xi Fa Cai!
I haven’t posted about Universal Studios Singapore for a while now, not since December 2018.
HavinHaving always visited on Christmas Eve since the early 2010s, and with there being no new rides in recent years, I got a little tired of Singapore’s premier theme park. Truth be told, had I not had unredeemed SingapoRediscover vouchers, I wouldn’t have booked the ticket for yesterday too.
But, guess what, the visit turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable. I’d even say I had a better day than some of my previous excursions. Many stalls, retail outlets, and performances within USS were closed, but those that were operating were as lively as always. The (much) thinner crowds further meant there were no long sweaty waits and the likes of.
And then there were the Chinese New Year decorations and events. These weren’t particularly elaborate, TBH, but again because of thinner crowds, it was easy to get up close and personal during the meet-and-greets. In some ways, the overall experience beats the fanciful street parades and shows in previous years.
Festive Cherry Blossoms Everywhere at the Hollywood Zone
On the official page, this year’s USS CNY celebration is titled Leap into Fun. I’d say it’s a springtime leap into beauty too.
Lunar New Year Festive Meet-and-Greets
As I mentioned above, I enjoyed these meet-and-greets very much, brief as they were. I think the performers were also very spontaneous. They put up a lot of great poses for everyone.
Is It a Good Idea to Visit Universal Studios Singapore in Early 2022?
The permanent attractions of USS are long well-known, worldwide, so I’m not going to write about those.
Instead, I’d expand on what I mentioned in my introduction. That of me visiting this festive spring season because I had unredeemed SingapoRedisover vouchers.
In other words, I only went because my ticket was almost entirely free.
Erm, how to put it? I most likely wouldn’t have purchased a full ticket to check out this year’s CNY decorations and events. Actually, USS is the SG attraction that comes to my mind as far as CNY outings are concerned.
That said, had I indeed bought a full ticket, I felt I wouldn’t have regretted doing so . In point form:
- A lot of retail outlets and snack stalls within USS are closed, presumably because of low traffic. This makes some parts of the theme park rather gloomy. However, I hardly ever buy from most of these outlets so it didn’t make much of a difference to me.
- The only store in USS that I do buy from, every time I visit, is the Egyptian Carter’s Curiosities. Now, this is closed, probably for good too. But luckily, some of the products are still available at the main souvenir store next to the entrance. All were substantially discounted too. (I bought two figurines this time!)
- There wasn’t much of a crowd. Yes, I did have to queue at Canopy Flyer for about 15 minutes. Because there was a brief malfunction, I stood in line at Transformers The Ride for half an hour too. But otherwise, it was a go-in-and-immediately-ride situation. I even managed to ride some rides twice.
- Third time I’m saying this. I really enjoyed the festive meet-and-greets, as a photographer.
- While only at the Hollywood Zone, the Lunar New Year decors were lovely. It was also “atmospheric” to stroll into the New York zone and immediately hear CNY music. I enjoyed the latter very much.
- My ticket came with a 10-dollar meal discount voucher, and as a solo visitor, it took substantial planning and calculation before I could hit the 25-dollar minimum spend to qualify. It didn’t help that KT Grill, the “most expensive” dining outlet in USS, was not serving full meals.
- Here’s what I didn’t like. There were no performances at all. Be it outdoors or indoors. (Yup, no show at Pantages. No Shrek 4D or Waterworld too) Now, I’m sure it’s because of pandemic concerns or because of manpower shortages. But … if cinemas are operating elsewhere and we can all queue together for rides, what’s with not putting up at least some recorded show in say, Pantages? This is something that I hope would change.
Read my other Festive Celebrations posts.
