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mom comes to L.A.., pt. 2
Feb. 3rd, 2009 11:15 amso, after our sea world adventure, we took an easy day, grabbed gabe, and went up to the getty. mom's not one for art, but she enjoyed the portrait gallery where she could see paintings by people she's heard of. of course there was also a new guilded manuscript installation (for me) and a new photography exhibit (for gabe). even though it wasn't in bloom, mom enjoyed the gardens as well.
then what. oh! we went to universal studios!! my cousin mark has a management position there as a sound tech, so he was able to comp us in. AND he grabbed a bunch of "front of the line" passes for us. score! sadly, the jurassic park ride was down for repairs, but we did plenty of other stuff.
the first thing was the studio tour, of course. not sure if you heard about this, but there was a huge fire on the backlot this year. the back to the future and king kong sets were lost, so they're rebuilding. the tour is as i remembered, with a few new things here and there. mom was excited as all getout to see wisteria lane (she's a DH fan), and i enjoyed the subway station set that breaks apart like an earthquake. they also had one of WETA's biggatures from king kong there (skull island), that was nice.
i only took one picture. it's one of the vehicles from serenity.
best of the best included:
--the terminator experience - a 3D emersion effects show. very worth it.
--the waterworld effects show - which takes place on a huge water set, lots of explosions, rip line flying, and a plane actually lands on the set
--the mummy ride - a cross between space mountain and indiana jones and the temple of the forbidden eye. we went on this twice. i screamed all the way through it the first time. it was that good.
--the simpsons ride - mom is the only person i know that hates the simpsons, but godblessher she undertook this one for me and i love her for it. and then she had fun. we've been seeing ads for this ride since it opened, but had no idea what it was. i can't even come close to the awesome with my words. i'm just saying this: motion simulator, dome-ceiling IMAX, krustyland rollercoaster (broken), and getting sucked on by a mutant godzilla-sized maggie.
the next day was another easy day, so we went down to the ocean and walked down the pier, the third street promenade, and the tar pits.
( here's pictures from the pier )
then what. oh! we went to universal studios!! my cousin mark has a management position there as a sound tech, so he was able to comp us in. AND he grabbed a bunch of "front of the line" passes for us. score! sadly, the jurassic park ride was down for repairs, but we did plenty of other stuff.
the first thing was the studio tour, of course. not sure if you heard about this, but there was a huge fire on the backlot this year. the back to the future and king kong sets were lost, so they're rebuilding. the tour is as i remembered, with a few new things here and there. mom was excited as all getout to see wisteria lane (she's a DH fan), and i enjoyed the subway station set that breaks apart like an earthquake. they also had one of WETA's biggatures from king kong there (skull island), that was nice.
i only took one picture. it's one of the vehicles from serenity.
best of the best included:
--the terminator experience - a 3D emersion effects show. very worth it.
--the waterworld effects show - which takes place on a huge water set, lots of explosions, rip line flying, and a plane actually lands on the set
--the mummy ride - a cross between space mountain and indiana jones and the temple of the forbidden eye. we went on this twice. i screamed all the way through it the first time. it was that good.
--the simpsons ride - mom is the only person i know that hates the simpsons, but godblessher she undertook this one for me and i love her for it. and then she had fun. we've been seeing ads for this ride since it opened, but had no idea what it was. i can't even come close to the awesome with my words. i'm just saying this: motion simulator, dome-ceiling IMAX, krustyland rollercoaster (broken), and getting sucked on by a mutant godzilla-sized maggie.
the next day was another easy day, so we went down to the ocean and walked down the pier, the third street promenade, and the tar pits.
( here's pictures from the pier )
