Universal City / Thousand Oaks

Universal City

Universal City is an unincorporated area within the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County. Located within the area of Universal City are the Universal Studios Hollywood, as well as the Universal CityWalk.

Took Metro from 'Hollywood/Vine' station to 'North Hollywood' station. It was about one to two minutes walk from the Metro Station to the 'Universal City Shuttle' stop (left photo below). This free shuttle bus service, which departs every 10 to 15-minutes, will stop at the front gate of the Universal Studios Hollywood (right photo below).
Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the Universal City. Initially the park is created to offer tours to its real Universal Studios sets, over the years it grew into a full-blown theme park. Now Universal Studios Hollywood has one of the oldest and famous film studios still in use, and it is also the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks located across the world.

The Universal Studios Globe and Fountain (left photo below) can be found at the Park Entrance. One unique feature of this globe is its metallic appearance compared to the blue-colored globes that are located in the rest of other three Universal Studios. Another icon at the park is the Universal Studios Entrance Arch (right photo below) which is another photo-spot for visitors.


Bought the admission ticket (1-Day Pass) online at USD 77.99 before my trip. It was really convenient; no queuing needed and just required to show the printed e-ticket at the park entrance.

The layout of the Universal Studios Hollywood is split into two areas on different levels: the Upper Lot ("Entertainment Center") and the Lower Lot ("Studio Center"), and both are connected by a series of escalators called the Starway. The following attractions are located on the Upper Lot of the park.

Universal Boulevard

The Filmmaker statue stands at the start of the Universal Boulevard denoted to pay tribute to the film industry. Often crew members would dress up as one of them to fool visitors. Coincidentally captured this moment (left photo below) that among the four statues; one of them was the real person. It is obvious that this crew member lacks the "polish shine" of sculptures.

My first visit was to the locker area situated close to the entrance (right photo below). Rented a small locker to store my luggage which cost USD 8 per usage. This enabled me to explore the park without any burden.

Streets of the World

Opened in 1989, the Streets of the World contains six different streets of various themes, namely '1950s America', 'French Street', 'Parisian Courtyard', 'Minion Way', 'Pets Place' and 'Baker Street' (left photo below). The Globe Theatre (right photo below), situated on 'Baker Street', is used as venue for corporate and large-scale events.
As it was Halloween session, therefore creepy props and decorations were put up to enhance the atmosphere (photos below).

Terminator 2: 3D

Based on the 1991 movie Terminator 2, this attraction has a hi-tech theatre with three massive wrap-around 3D projection screens and a stage area. The show combines live performers and 12-minutes $60-million movie which produces a thrilling experience unrivalled in any other theme park show.

House of Horrors

Housed in the 'Stage 13' building (left photo below), it features real-live performers dressed up as characters from Universal's horror films including The Mummy, The Wolfman, Norman Bates from Psycho, Frankenstein, Chucky and other characters. The performers will jump out and scare visitors as they walk through the various "sets" from the films. It takes about 8 minutes to walk through the scary maze.

The Adventures of Curious George

A wet and dry children's playground themed to Curious George. It consists of three zones: 'Curious George Flies into Space' (right photo below), 'Curious George Goes to the Jungle' and 'Curious George visits the Zoo'.

Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular

Based on the 1995 movie Waterworld, this attraction is a water stunt show of 16 minutes long with seating capacity for 2,500 spectators. The perimeter wall is 9-meters high while its main tower reaches 15-meters tall (photos below). The first five row of seats are the "Soak Zones", which are target of splashes from the Jet Skis and various wet special effects.
It includes stunts on water, land and overhead, supported by many pyrotechnic, flame, water and other special effects, including the explosive crash landing of the seaplane (photos below).

The Simpsons Ride

Exclusive only to the two Universal Studios in the United States, this attraction is a motion simulator ride of over 4-minutes long. Visitors will enter the ride queue through a 9.8-meters head of Krusty the Clown (left photo below) which lead into a pavilion adorned with various circus tents themed and carnival stalls.

At the pavilion, a variety of posters are on display advertising attractions at Krustyland, while television monitors stationed around the queue play video clips from the Krusty the Clown television show along with animated footage from Krustyland (right photo below).
The four-minute ride uses 26-meters IMAX Dome screens and four overlapping projectors to create a 3D animation. Each vehicle is mounted on a motion platform atop a scissor lift, which raises the vehicle to around 2.7-meters into the dome. In addition to the motion-based ride vehicles, riders also feel water effects, smoke, mist, and experience lighting effects and scents. Overall the ride was thrilling and worth the wait at the queue.

Universal's Animal Actors

It is a 20-minutes demonstration showcasing the talents and charms of a variety of monkey, dogs and birds who have starred in Universal films (photos below). Once all visitors have seated, the animals themselves will show spectators exactly what it takes to be an animal actor !
It is definitely a good show for the animal lovers. However do not expect to have the 'wow' factor if compared to other animal performances in Zoos or Marine parks.

Shrek 4-D

This attraction is a computer-animated 4D film based on the Shrek franchise. Visitors first have to wait outside the building where multiple posters of fake advertisements for attractions in the Kindgom of Duloc are displayed (left photo below). Then they are given 3-D goggles at the dungeon-like room where the main characters in the film are introduced. The 'Three Little Pigs' (right photo below) and 'Pinocchio' are trapped in boxes. Only the pig's eyes can be seen as they wriggle and speak with their boxes move.
The seats are pneumatically powered and can be made to pulse up and down during the chase sequence. They have built-in water and air effects, along with a tickler which catches the back of the audiences' legs during the spider sequence.

Lunch at Universal Studios

Decided to have lunch at The Flintstones Bar-B-Q (left photo below) situated outside the Animal Actors Stage. Ordered a half chicken platter at USD 8.99 (right photo below), which included a Baked Potato, Coleslaw and Corn Bread. Taste was good especially their BBQ sauce.

Studio Tour

Unique only to the Universal Studios Hollywood, this multi-car tram ride travels through the Front Lot, Backlot and various attractions, passing sets and props from movies along the way. The tour lasts around 45 to 60-minutes.

Waited for more than 30-mins at the queue (left photo below) before able to sit on the Studio tram with 6 visitors per row (right photo below). Each tram, with 3 to 4 cars, is operated by a driver. There is also live narration commented by a tour guide seated besides the driver.

• Front Lot consists of 35 soundstages which are fully enclosed and sound-proofed to reduce external noise and to prevent sound echoing around the stage. Stage 41 was used for shooting The Thing during my visit (left photo below).


• Metropolitan area is one of the backlot sets in the Universal Studios, and it consists of fifteen different shooting locations. Brownstone Street (right photo below) is one of them, which is a street consists of several residential buildings. Numerous movies or TV series such as Bruce Almighty, Ally McBeal and Home Alone 2 were filmed there.
  
• New York Street is another location within the Metropolitan area (photos below). Numerous movies such as Death Becomes Her, Home Alone 2, Batman & Robin, Dr Dolittle, Spider-Man 2, Transformers, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Amazing Spider-Man were filmed there.
• Another location within the Metropolitan area is the London Square (left photo below).


• Not all the backlot sets in the Universal Studios are exact duplicates; they can be over a meter thick just built for their façades (right photo below).
  
• King Kong 360 | 3-D was the latest 'drive-through' attraction (left photo below) where the tram drives onto a motion based platform in the theater building (right photo below), which can make the tram tilt left and right, vibrate, and raise up and drop down.
  
  
  The theater is equipped with physical effects that enhance the immersive experience such as wind, water, air blasts with the scent of King Kong's banana breath, and the motion. This 3D version of King Kong is a brand-new footage, of two and a half minute film, directed by Peter Jackson. Visitors would need to put on the issued 3D glasses at this attraction. In my opinion, this was the best show in the entire Studio Tour.


• There is a display on some of "Picture Cars" used in the film, including Mercedes ML 320 from The Lost World: Jurassic Park (left photo below) and Edsel from Back to the Future II (right photo below).
  
• Vehicles and Props from the Jurassic Parks movies are also exhibited (photos below).
  
• 'The Fast & The Furious: Extreme Close-Up' is located at the outdoor Stage 55 where the tram enters the stunt demonstration arena. As the demonstration commences, an overhead helicopter shoots at the cars, spraying up water as the bullets hit the pavement. Suddenly, a stray bullet hits a gas tank causing a massive explosion hurling the cars towards the tram.
  
  


• 'Flash Flood' demonstrated the strength of water. This attraction uses 10,000 gallons of water from two tanks. Once the flood completes, the water is recycled and pumped back into the tanks ready for the next tram visit.
  
  


• The Mexican Street (left photo below) is another backlot set where one of the scenes in the movie Pirates of Caribbean 1 was filmed there.


• 'Earthquake – The Big One' is another 'drive-through' attraction that simulates a large earthquake, rated 8.3 on Richter scale, inside a subway station in San Francisco (right photo below). Disaster events such as fires, roads collapsing, a near-collision with another subway train, and a huge flood as the finale, occurred one after another.
  
• 'Jaws on Fire' is another attraction. The tram pulls into the peaceful Amity seaside town where a shark has been caught (left photo below). Another shark in the water is on its revenge and caused the whole dock to catch fire (right photo below).
  
• Wisteria Lane is the backlot for the TV series Desperate Housewives, such as the 4347 Wisteria Lane was the home of Mitzi Kinsky (left photo below) and 4355 Wisteria Lane was the home for the Scavo family (right photo below).
  
• The Whoville sets (left photo below) from the 2000 movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
  
  
• The Bates Mansion, also known as Psycho House, and Bates Motel from the 1960 movie Psycho can be seen from the tram (right photo below).
  
• The huge outdoor set was built for 2005 movie War of the Worlds directed by Steven Spielberg, where a commercial 747 aircraft was chopped into pieces to depict small town devastated by an elaborately choreographed jetliner crash (photos below).
  The town's facade is dramatically surrounded by wreckage and debris resulting from a Martian attack (photos below).
  

After the Studio Tour, I proceeded to the Lower Lot which takes about 7-8 minutes via the long Starway escalators from the Upper Lot. The following attractions are located on the Lower Lot of the park.

Revenge of the Mummy

It is an enclosed roller coaster ride that lasts about 2 minutes (left photo below). The ride features warrior mummies, treasures and tombs, a sudden launch, a scarab beetle attack, forwards and backwards motion and surround sound speakers inside the vehicles.

NBC Universal Experience

This is an exhibition on 'Behind the scenes of Universal Pictures' with historical and modern movie memorabilia (right photo below).

Jurassic Park: The Ride

Visitors began the queue by walking under the Jurassic Park Arch (left photo below) before waiting under an open-wall building. A tour guide appeared on television monitors in the building, reviewing boarding and ride safety.

The boat will then enter the main gate into the lagoon, and afterwhich several dinosaurs can be seen during the ride. It finishes with a plunge down from 26-meters into a tropical lagoon (right photo below).

Left the Universal Studios Hollywood at about 6 pm.

Universal CityWalk

Universal CityWalk is the name shared by the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks. Universal CityWalk Hollywood is a three-block entertainment, dining, shopping promenade. It has more than thirty eateries, a nineteen-screen movie theatre featuring IMAX, seven nightspots, indoor skydiving and more than thirty stores (photos below).
Warner Bros. Studio can be seen from the CityWalk (left photo below). The Hard Rock Café can be easily identified at the CityWalk from its Taj Mahal influenced building and the giant guitar fountain (right photo below).

✍ Update:
Hard Rock Café Hollywood @ Universal Citywalk is permanently closed on 06 Jan 2020.

Westlake Village

Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. It is located approximately 64-km West of Downtown Los Angeles in the Conejo Valley.

Westlake Plaza

Westlake Plaza is a neighborhood shopping center in Westlake Village. It is located conveniently just a street across the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel.

As dinner was not provided after training / meeting, I would often walk across the street to get my dinner (left photo below). My usual purchase were Subway, Carl's Jr. and Popeyes meals, and often snacks from the Gelson's Market (right photo below).
The Promenade at Westlake

The Promenade at Westlake is a sophisticated outdoor retail centre with a mix of specialty shops & hip eateries, plus a cinema (photos below).
As The Promenade just located behind my company's office at Westlake, therefore it had become the place where I sourced for my lunch. Most of the time I would get some sandwiches from a grocery store 'Bristol Farms'.

Thousand Oaks

Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County and located approximately 5-km west from Westlake Village. It is named after the many oak trees present in the area.

The Oaks

The Oaks is a two-level indoor and outdoor regional shopping mall located in Thousand Oaks, and largest mall in Ventura County of California (photos below). It is just 10-mins drive from Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel.
Decided to visit this mall for dinner as the meeting ended early.

Camarillo Premium Outlets

Camarillo Premium Outlets is located off Highway 101 in Thousand Oaks. There are about 160 stores occupying an area of 62,710 m² (photos below).
As the meeting ended early in late afternoon at one of the manufacturing facilities in Thousand Oaks, thus opted to visit this Premium Outlets which is located just 13-mins drive from the company facility.

Had late lunch at its Food Court and ordered an Udon soup (left photo below) and clam chowder (right photo below) at USD 16.81. Liked the way the clam chowder was served in a sourdough bread bowl.
Camarillo Premium Outlets is so huge and my US colleague even commented that she had to drive from one end to another when shopping there. Following were the various outlets I saw during my visit (photos below).
Conejo Mountain

Conejo Mountain is 553-meters high mountain in Ventura County. It was once a large volcano about 14 million years ago but has been extinct for million years. Mining operations have been ongoing since 1959.

Saw this Conejo Mountain on my journey from the outlet mall back to the hotel in a cab (photos below).
Packed my luggage thereafter for morning flight on the next day.

With this, it ended my short weekend trip to some of the attractions in South California.