Universal thrills (Ch 5)

Chapter Five of our BlogFairyTale, whereupon our wandering Aussie Family visit Movie Making Central… otherwise known as:

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!

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With the jetlag now behind them and just one day left in La-la Land (as Los Angeles is apparently known) our Family girded their loins for a visit to a special place with a see-through globe at the entry…

The Family decided that America is quite good at the whole entry thing, what with the extremely organised queueing systems and the waterfountainy, see-through globe-y thing happening. (Aussies, you see Gentle Reader, are not so used to the queuing thing.  Not to the degree of the Americans and especially the Japanese, who appreared to have sent half of Tokyo on some sort of mission to U.S. this particular day.)

And the Mother found that (for once) she wasn’t the only one with a Nikon (or similar device) welded to her eye socket…

The Family surged through the entry and (desperate to avoid too many large crowds) headed straight for the Lot Tour out the back of the theme park’s allotment , which looked a bit quieter…

They managed to nab a seat at the front of the train-like vehicle and prepared to be wowed…

There were some groovy, Wild West sets …

And the King Kong Ride which took place in blackness with some 4-D-ness and some wetness involved (so the Mother put her beloved new camera safely away) but which was fabulous and made an enormous impression on the young Prince.  He was from this point on, desperate to see the building on which this great gorilla swung (a wish that may or may not be fulfilled in upcoming chapters)…

They family then found themselves visiting the ‘town’ of ‘Amity’… is anyone out there old enough to recall which movie this Fairytale town featured in.  Actually it was less Fairy-tale-ish than Night-Mare-ish…

Anyone?

That reptile to the right is a clue for you young-uns…

Da-DOOMP. Da-DOOMP.

Da-doomp-da-doomp-dah-DOOMP!!!!

JAWS…

The movie itself scared the pants off the Mother, if she recalls correctly, when she and her sister went to the drive-ins with their parents in their very early teens, and watched it on the next-door screen to the one they parents INTENDED them to watch.  Even without scary music and sound of any kind, it was still a nightmare-inducing concept.

The Princess didn’t really get the foreboding-ness of the whole thing, and happily posed under a fiberglass predator…

Oh… what fun…

Then the tour-bus-train-type vehicle took the family somewhere that felt familiar…

Can you guess in what show these picture-perfect homes are usually seen…

All draped in wisteria…

Oh LOOK – isn’t that Lynette’s house?

And isn’t this the one Susan lives in?

And isn’t this where Mary-Alice shot herself? And don’t the gay couple live here now…

Ooohhh… Gabrielle’s house – the Mother was very taken with the vibrant yellow-and-white paintwork and was lovin’ the perfect wheelie bins. But (as has been established long ago) she’s a freak about things that most people wouldn’t notice or care about…

For those scratching their heads, these are all houses that feature in the television show, Desperate Housewives. And yes, the Mother is aware that she has wasted many, many hours learning which colour house belongs to which fictitional character.

Then, as the tour moved on, a bloke looked to be doing something rather strange in the boot of a very groovy old car.  Norman…

Put DOWN that body!  (An even OLDER movie than the shark one above – clearly Universal Studios usually has an aged audience for their lot tours!)

THEN, there was something the Prince and the Father could finally get into…

decidedly NOT Wisteria Lane-ish…

A whole lot plane-crash-ish…

The Prince was mesmerised… and only slightly traumatised.  (It did look VERY real!)

After disembarking from the studio tour, the Family bumped into two lots of characters the Mother refuses to let the Prince and Princess actually watch…

The Simpsons…

Who KNEW Lisa was so enormous?

And Spongebob Squarepants.

Does anyone out there reading this FairyBlogTale experience any feelings of perturbed-ness when observing this strange character…

The Mother just doesn’t GET the appeal of Spongbob.  He’s very, very naughty and quite rude.  Qualities that clearly appeal to the Princess…

And then FINALLY, a character that the Mother does approve of…

Dora the Explorer!

Then the Family headed towards some seriously nose-bleed steep escalators for some thrill-seeking rides…

Stopping off at the Apollo 13 photo-opp station en route…

And the Family discovered all KINDS of strange characters wandering the ‘streets’ below…

The Prince was mesmerised by BeetleJuice.  Of course he had NO idea who he was, but the green, rotting-effect around his head was kind of eye-catching!  The Mother was rather more taken with the Egyptian bloke on stilts.  All kinds of rides were then experienced, with varying degress of scariness.  The Mother and the Princess decided that the Shrek 4-D experience was the best, with Tinkerbell appearing VERY touchable.

Then as the men of the Family took themselves on yet another Jurassic Park and  Mummy ride, the Princess decided to glam up a little…

She doesn’t tend to mind a little pampering and primping, our Princess.

And the artist was very lovely and gentle and talented…

And knew to add just the correct amount of sparkle!

(Translation: LOTS!)

Then it was time for some interaction and some lessons on the Magic of the Movies…

And this crew lead the Family (and a few hundred others) on a merry journey down Trickery Lane…

People were selected from the audience and participated in the demonstrations… there were many but the Mother only really documented the final two.  Mostly because they have proven very hard to forget!  You see, a young lady was taken to a special table to have…

… her arm…

‘operated on’ …

During which the Princess gasped aloud and clapped her hand over her mouth.

(Please note the body parts underneath the bench.  Noice.)

A post-production zoom showed the technique being used.  The old tomato sauce (sorry ketchup) and fake arm trick.  An Academy Award for the young blonde please?

But the one that really disturbed our Princess, was the one where a young Indian gentlemen was suited up atronaut-style and sent flying (despite his loud protests) through the air and into the inky darkness behind the stage.

Our Princess was beside herself, wanting to know if he was okay and why no-one was looking for him!  It took the Mother and Father a good ten minutes to calm her down, and they even considered suggesting to the powers that be, that a label system (similar to movie guides) be used to warn parents of potential nightmare experiences in the theme park.  With Dismemberment and Lost Astronauts high on the list.

Naturally, the Family sought out an ice-cream and something glittery to settle the nerves.

This fail-safe technique worked a treat.  And after dining royally on pizza, and freezing their patooties off waiting for their shuttle bus, the Family made it back to the Luxe Hotel, Beverly Hills, to pack and recover.

Because tomorrow, they had another plane flight planned.  And another adventure.

How would there be a Chapter Six otherwise?

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