When you walk into the park, the first section of Hollywood Blvd. is under an overhang, and the area is pretty much only shops that are under there. Very smart, because when it rains, you can bet those shops are filled to the brim. Beyond that, it looks pretty familiar, right? See the Brown Derby? It used to have the same idea as the Western version as far as it's theming, what it sells, etc. But now you'll find a shop called Moppy's Lucky Shop with merchandise for the Sesame Street character "born in the park." Also, note the lack of crowds. It was about 12-1 in the afternoon on a Thursday.
The Universal Studios Store. Merchandise varied occasionally from store to store, but generally it was the same. You can see the hooded towels in the front of the store, and outside. They were in every single store.
Here's looking out the other way towards New York.
After looking around, I headed to the right towards Moppy's, Hollywood Dream, etc. Here's a Hello Kitty snack stand that was closed most of the time I was there, I believe. Still nice, though.
Mel's on the left, central park in the far back, Hollywood Dream on the right. I'm not sure if I missed what the fixture was for, because the parade wasn't effect heavy apart from floats, or if they were preparing for a nighttime show later in the year.
A short stage show that happened every so often called RnB Jukebox. They were American Songs, and 3 of the 4 seemed to actually be westerners. It was the only time I saw more than one at a time, too.
In the background is the 11th anniversary painting on the soundstage (as far as where you'd see it in Orlando, it's where SS44 used to be, just to give you a sense of where we are). Naturally, Hello Kitty, Snoopy, and Elmo are featured, as well as the Pink Panther who didn't have an attraction, yet was ever present in merchandise. I also chuckled that they're in Mt. Rushmore formation, haha.
I went around Mel's and back down towards the rest of Hollywood and towards New York. This is the other side of Mel's with extra seating (they can't get enough of the "American" theming, so it was a heavily populated restaurant at all times).
Instead of the Mummy Ride, right about where you'd expect Despicable Me to go, is the Mummy Museum. It's a walk through attraction, but it was closed as it was the location for one of the HHN houses in a couple of weeks. In the distance, you can see some of the onsite hotels.
This is behind SS22, where ET used to be, is a ride strictly in Japan called Space Fantasy. Oh my goodness, this immediately became one of my favorite rides EVER. I was apprehensive to ride it because of the lack of information I could find on specifically what type of ride it was. I guess the best way I can describe it would be that it was like Space Mountain and the Mummy on steroids (in terms of theming AND intensity). Oh, and the cars spin. Although I didn’t understand the story completely (language barrier!), the queue was pretty well themed with a couple of very Japanese animated characters (a galactic princess and her little “Starburst” friends). Very HQ and adorable. The first part of the queue sends your group through a few photobooths with greenscreens in the back if you guys would like to take a themed picture before the ride (available for purchase afterwards), then you go through a great queue similar to Space Mountain's, and finally board. The ride is intense, but still great for a family. I could try and describe it here, but I'm struggling to find the words! It was one of the best themed attractions I've ever been on. It's very Japanese, but very fun. 10/10. Side note: under the sign it says Docomo. That's a Japanese phone company. They have infrared scanners for your phones in the queue (unless you have an iPhone - which I did!) So I'm not quite sure what they did!
And you needed a locker for anything but your cell phone, and were really simple. You put a Y100 coin in before the ride, and get it back afterwards. Always love that system.
Planetary fountain before you queue. :smiley:
The Studio Stars restaurant whose main feature is rice.
Terminator 2: 3-D in New York. I didn't really expect it to be much different from the states except for that it's completely in Japanese so I did not watch it. I took a picture and moved on. Loved the exterior of it though!!
The massive, amazing stage for the Dreams are Universal Show. It didn't play while I was there, but you can bet I heard the main song associated with it everywhere - in the hotels, in the park, in Citywalk. I've got it memorized, in Japanese. I did find it on youtube though, and I really wish I could have seen it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeDpZpweaPM
The street of New York!
The Spiderman Ride, where the mummy ride should be.
This was nearly the same, but still completely in Japanese, and it actually has a ride photo. It was fantastic and fun. I loved it! Still the old film though, not upgraded yet.
Apparently I wasn't too picture heavy this day, so there's lots missing between Jurassic Park and Spiderman, but I'll fill in the pieces as I find them!
This was one of the short One Piece shows. The character (who's a musician in the show) sang with his sidekick pirate pal, songs from the show. It was pretty cool, but I didn't get to watch the whole thing until later! This was right at the entrance to Jurassic Park.
Between New York and Jurassic Park is San Fransisco. This is the view across the lake towards Jurassic Park. The big coat you see behind the Discovery Center is the memorial site for two of the beloved characters in One Piece, always with a huge line for a photo op. They always had photo opportunities everywhere, because it's definitely an easy way to make money - especially in Japan. The Japanese LOVE pictures.
This is in San Fransisco. It looked like Richter's, but more bubbly/happy, and it's focus was on curry. (This is probably my favorite photo I took while there for some reason)
Just the San Fran street.
Lombardo's had a One Piece overhaul that was a really expensive restaurant that you needed advanced reservations for, that had exclusive merchandise, meet and greets with characters, etc. inside. They always sold out the second the park opened though, so I didn't get a shot to go inside. Bummer! (My wallet is thanking me anyways)
Jurassic Park on one side, San Fransisco on the other!
To be continued...