Sing a song of coasters - Universal Singapore

[emoo]

I've wanted to get on Battlestar Galactica since before the issues threatening its existence. Singapore itself looks enticing with a wide variety of food options alongside fun dramatic buildings. Even the airport looks ridiculous in the best way and everything is connected with an effective transit system. But the cost to coaster ratio and distance means I could always find more to do closer to home. Thankfully it was the time for my friend to go so it was also the right time for me.

That said I still wasn't feeling a non stop 14 hour flight. A stop over with coasters would be a double win and I ended up with half a day in Abu Dhabi. Sounds like there would be time to rush YAS island and get anything new or missed a couple of years ago when visiting properly.

While waiting for my first flight I had a drink in the Gatwick spoons. A pretty poor Bloody Mary but I did enjoy the table number being underlined so you read it 69 and not 69. Nice.



After landing, waiting for a bag that had already been transferred to the next flight, and thorough security it was about 8:30am. Earliest park open on that day was 10am. It's theoretically doable to walk to the YAS island parks from the airport. Aerial maps show cross walks and pedestrian options over every major road. Common sense prevailed and I starred at this window for a bit while trying to nap.



I dropped my carry on luggage at the storage service and taxied to SeaWorld where my best pic on arrival was apparently the shade canopies out front when looking away from the marquee and Manta.



But as there hasn't been any pics of track yet here you go



All very well presented. It would be a while till I found the only reason for visiting as its an indoor maze on many levels.



If a theme park ever wants to recreate the corridors of Red Dwarf I'd be so happy. But this place is a very different vibe to the Cat ordering 6 Trout a la Creme or manually fishing for dinner.



Its enormous tanks and glass walls. Due to the low attendance and everyone spread out there was no one in the way of this to give a sense of scale. Assume people are in frame but smaller than a pixel - you get the exaggerated idea.



This concave window allows you to feel surrounded by water. Try not to fall over from the disorientation or awe.



Excuse me fishy, do you know where the rollercoasters are? They didn't but I got lucky after choosing the right tunnel. and this room with a small but very well presented selection of rides. Flats were open, Eel Racer was not.



A spite to kick things off for reasons unknown but inline with other peoples recent visits. Great celling and light effects. It took an hour just to get this far so I finally ask and got pointed the right way.



This means you are very close and looked better than the actual ride entrance sign, just to the right.



A very blue queue that looked decent and didn't take too long to dash through. Walked straight onto my very first ride, solo front seat. Neato! Really fun and long, running better than the other outdoor Macks in the UAE. Not Intamin in the desert smooth, but I found it more enjoyable than Flying Aces (easier on the thighs). No wait was longer than one train & could usually pick front or back. Front is best here for the views and ride quality. I expected to get more laps in but I had to take a break for food and trying to take useful pictures. On lap 6 it didn't launch out the starting tunnel so I got an evac! ID have liked to ride more times but a cool ending and a needed signal to move on.



Heading to to the exit I finally got a pic of this in the main hub room and thought to myself "That's how you do a screen sphere Nemesis eye". The room was wrapped by a large and ever changing projection screen as well. So much stunning tech and engineering in this place that my schedule has very little time for.

Yet somehow I spent a painful amount of time outside the parks entrance where I could see Manta and Formula Rossa. Neither tested for so long that 2 security guards on different shifts probably wondered what I was doing. Manta tested a couple of times with no riders but there was no movement from over the road.



The cutback was my least favourite bit. There should also be a higher water level in this area and looked a bit naff when I realised. On ride it didn't matter and the few interactions with scenery worked for me. However I've been hanging around suspiciously and wasting time for too long, gotta move on and hope for the best. It was a shorter walk than Google maps suggested but longer than I expected. At least I walked past this (there is an English version the other side of the road.)



Dozens of these stone balls line YAS Drive all the way to the hotels. The eyes light up at night and does anyone else see Marvin's head from the HHGTTG movie??? Ok the eyes are not triangles but I still see his sad face.



This would have given anyone else a smile though, FR is actually running! No riders though and long after the park has opened. And me with this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side. The lack of sleep, time pressure and uncertainty was getting to me.



Before we find out if I can have a go there is a very important assignment : Get on that crappy mall coaster which was closed every time I tried before. Its been a stain on my spreadsheet. I had a German Donna Kebab while waiting for YoloWorks to open at 2pm (2 hours after FunWorks itself opened...) so I suppose it doesn't matter too much I'm running a bit behind.



Ride was garbage, absolute trash and now forever marked in my sheet with a which is honestly better than a red line highlighting missed opportunity. After Yoro it's another dash across the full length of the mall to a park with one of one of my favourite coasters that I hope is open. I remember Ferrari World being fairly quiet and the fast pass being cheap and useful so its all good from here right?

What we find is the worlds longest and slowest customer service counter. So much time was lost here with every customer taking an age to process what they needed. But its the only way to pick up a wristband to get either a one time timed slot for Formula Rossa or Fast Pass for everything else. Or in my case, both. While queueing I tried to save some time and purchase online. 3 different cards failed but was able to just pay so, so much money at the counter. With a days wage wrapped round my wrist I head out to do as much as possible in the few hours that remain. As long as things are open of course. I'm advised Turbo track will open around 4pm (it didn't) and Formula Rossa is due to open before my allotted slot (it opened so incredibly late). Flying Aces is down for annual maintenance.

A week before my visit there was a report with evidence of both, yes both sides to Fiorano GT Challenge being open. Having only got the usual left side I was sceptical I'd get the other but at least there was a chance. They were only running 1 side today of course. Grumpy and irritable me couldn't believe my eyes. No freaking way its running the right side, the one I wanted. Back row too, woohooo. Might have taken multiple park visits and never all at once but boom all credits checked off. The ride itself has unbanked turns and not that enjoyable beyond being a bit unique.



And now, to make things even better its finally for the best coaster to me for miles around - Mission Ferrari. I love this thing and the stuff it does. Even the janky gnarly bits. Not even the ride sign location was well thought out but its there and well done for getting this working.









The special stuff happens inside hidden from view of course



This mannequin slides back and forth rotating just a little. Very amusing but not enough to suffer through the full standby queue with all original marbles. Do yourself a favor and get fast pass if you can. Have multiple rides fairly quickly instead of possibly none due to breakdowns. Eventually you board a very interesting ride vehicle. 4 people in the front row and 5 in the back. At least 3 cars were running.

Spoiler: Mission Ferrari's best scene

At one point the car races towards a domed projection screen. The car is locked to the track that moves and bobs around pointing you up down, side to side. Most of my rides even had the screen with moving visuals!

Turbo Track remained closed all day. Its a weird ride but I'd have given it a spin. It would have given needed capacity with 2 the 2 majors coasters unavailable.



Worst of all the major draw of the park (recently reopened after a year SBNO) still hadn't opened for the day and was long past mine and many other peoples assigned times.

Long before you get to the ride sign and queue entrance people were gathering in an unorganised clump. Some sort of filming was going on out of view. I don't know if guests were actually told anything, it was just apparent from all the kit they were wheeling out of the ride area at a snails pace. If this was advertised ahead of time I didn't see it.



I dashed between the growing hoard and rides on Mission Ferrari, even took the car ride just to get some more pics and have some chill. Standby for that looked a chore as well.

Once the ride opened there was a brief moment of collective relief. No time to cheer as everyone is immediately back into stress mode being left to fate and the bundle to get to the queue line. The park had all day to manage this but all staff were clearly untrained for such an event and there was no evident or commendable plan. I guess this is a one off event (20th Jan) that doesn't sound worse than the Voltron incident but still I'd look for better in any park operator.

I'll cut the misery of the moment as I did eventually get my ride. Its great, terrific launch and intense all round. Eyes slightly watering even with the goggles. The only obvious changes were the lockers before riding have been swapped out for shelves. It was also a better controlled flow of people at that point. Props to the staff member putting his hand over the alarm to muffle the sound caused by a rider trying to leave through the wrong door. So minor but another bizarre event in a long day. Also I noticed a lot of water being sprayed on the wheels but cant tell if its more than before. One more Mission Ferrari for the road and its time to head to the airport.



A much needed beer and I was indeed able to reflect on a great day. I could have spend a couple more hours at the park, or perhaps even made it to the new Hamster Wheel coaster in the city. But was a good time to call it a day, I didn't want to risk the start of the actual trip. Zayed International Airport suggest arriving 4 hours before departure which is way to much. The common instruction is 3 hours to allow for issues especially travel and customs. Turns out, as expected this was a very efficient airport and they want you hanging round airside spending money. Like at the bar with the best mixed cocktail I'll have all trip.



A 7 hour red eye flight followed and I've never slept better on a plane.

 

[James F]

Great report so far! Manta looks quite snappy on POVs, properly the coaster I would want the ride the most in the UAE.

 

[emoo]

After landing I had a day to adjust and enjoy the city. A whirlwind of amazing totally normal things with delightful juxtaposition.



I really like the trees and types of foliage all around



Buildings were fascinating too with Temples & elaborate high rises



Two very different temples on the same street. One about a tooth relic and the other filled with hundreds of lanterns and Buddha statues



Asides the crowed walkways with random uneven steps I'm very pleased all round.



Enjoyable food and drink in the hawker markets (which need cash if you were not set up to pay in the local way)



and fancy roof top bars anyone can visit (the water feature is the hotels pool)



A marvellous day I'm not doing justice here as I have LOG points to register and a bucket to tick off.

 

[emoo]

A quick and easy ride on the MRT followed by a monorail and its spinning globe time. I've always wanted to visit Versal.



Expecting low crowds but not willing to risk it, we arrive early enough to have a relaxed breakfast just outside the park entrance. A fun assortment, perhaps a bit random but all very tasty. That's a dried plum in the drink actually adding more flavour.



Waiting close to the turnstyles and just before opening time we see some IP masots do a song and dance. Its cool for the kiddos and adults with a wide assortment of selfie sticks. But I just want the gates open and a clear path to run to this beauty.



Not to get overly emotional but if I didn't ride both sides of this in the next few hours it would have been devastating. The whole heart of this quest would have been ripped away, eaten by the Cylons or something. I dunno, never watched the show. This was all about the original idea to have different types of track and thrill levels duelling. LSM lift hills too woweee. Opening with the park in 2010 it had 4 across seating on both sides but that lasted about 3 years before the issues and fear set in.



Vekoma were in the early stages of their redemption arc and after a couple of years SBNO this was thankfully sorted for all to live on - now with 2 across seating. The black track turned blue at some point as well. Free locker shenanigans, slippery floors and mediocre batching made a minor dent in the pace. Didn't matter, not many people here yet. A couple of rides on the blue/Cylon invert and one on the red/Human sit down in about half an hour. Front row blue was excellent and more forces on both than expected. Even the lift hills, while fairly mild still had a noticeable boost. What a fun way to kick things off. Nothing earth shattering but a decent headliner & looking forward to many more rides today. The queue theming was interesting and I'm very glad the massive switch backs were in no danger of being touched today. The blue queue had red relieved walls (not as relieved as I was) made to look like guts or flesh. Clearly fake but a snazzy look all the same. The red was more about video messages that replayed too often. Its as if they were produced expecting a throughput of twice as many people from any given point.



Neither duelled in the morning and it wouldn't have surprised me if they didn't any more. Yet somehow the biggest gripe was the exit path - it was so plain and awkward. I've seen nicer backstage stairwells. Also there should clearly be water at the foundations. The lockers have a time limit, somewhat linked to the queue times so we may as well take a few steps out of SiFi into Egypt to ride The Mummy.



Very similar to the condensed Orlando version with less fire and no coffee. Rides as well as the others plus a minimal wait. This is great, could have gone round a few times but thought it best to hunt out the low capacity rides first.



Nothing left stands out on paper but at least adults are allowed to ride them all. Canopy Flyer even has a useful single rider line and a very pleasant tree fly by. The park atmosphere suddenly shifts and there's a 40 min queue showing on the remaining 2 coasters. A quick snack led to getting fast pass. They are only good for a single ride on each applicable attraction costing an off putting amount. We didn't see ourselves ever coming back and my friend had already brought them before I could think f++k it. What a guy. We can now walk on what's left and quickly re-ride others. First up Enchanted Airways, a Vekoma Junior 335m with good dragon heads on the trains. A fine basic +1, I guess this is a one train (one lap) coaster and the other dragon is a spare.



Time for another forgettable cred. Or so I thought.



Puss in Boots became a surprise hit of the day. It uses the same rotating core lift mechanism more commonly found on Volare's. Coasting you through various scenes no doubt from the film - so much more coaster than I expected. Not more than was needed however, more rides could do this for my liking.



The individual cars felt huge, 3 rows of 3 people and many cars on track. They were quickly dispatching this ride. Themed really well too. This is an all rounder, something little kids and grown ups can enjoy together. Plus recipes for cannibals, how cute.



There's still a lot to do in the park including WaterWorld, always good for a laugh. The man on fire got a bigger pop from the crowd than the seaplane but I loved it. The other top moment was one of the personal watercrafts spraying a vicious amount of water towards the splash zone. A mean but hilarious move.




They have a Transformers clone here too - I do like this ride a lot but being the 3rd version I've ridden there was no need to save the planet again by sitting down (trying to look for the floor level change.)



The Sesame Street ride was about spaghetti, meatballs and space, best not question it too much. We walked past the yet to open Minions land a couple of times while lapping. 3 weeks till opening, no soft previews, all work walls still up. Just the carousel testing - I liked the disco lighting attached to the roof but otherwise wasn't interested. Battlestar Galactica was duelling by now. After fast pass was used up the park starts to quiet down an hour or so before closing so time a few laps on our favourites.



Time to head out, bucket list checked off and very satisfied. There was a queue for the monorail so we chanced the walking route off Sentosa island back to the city. Well worth it and stumbled across a better entrance shot.



Once through a construction zone there was a pretty and calming 20 min walk along the water I'd recommend.



No a camera quirk, these were solid LED lines wrapped round the trunk. I prefer the classic spotted individual lights you see everywhere else.



That's one way to easily ride every coaster in a country.

 

[James F]

Looks like you had a great day Hope I'll get to visit Singapore at some point. Puss in Boots and Battlestar Galatica are quite unique coasters when you think about it. Is the airport as cool as everyone makes it out to be?

 

[emoo]

I thought Changi was a great airport, plenty of ways to pass some time. Could be a few hours napping in a bed (one of the many transit hotels has a pool although I didn't get round to that). Or spend a free moment in various scenes indoor and out.



Much more pleasant than a typical cramped and noisy waiting area.



There are shops of course including this frankly ridiculous coffee shop. Great pastries and I was going to keep the bag forever (until I got a better Bacha bag days later).



But this is what always gets talked about, a waterfall falling through the roof down many floors in a landscaped rainforest setting.



It is indeed stunning day or night. The light show that goes off in the evening was good but not massively better than the general mood lighting.



This is landside surrounded by terminals 1 to 3 and not the arrivals/departures. That's a bit of a walk away. If airside take the Skytrain route highlighted in yellow from T2 to T3 to travel through the best bit. The same train had isolated cars and loadings areas for people landside which I thought was a clever way to move everyone around.



The Jewel had many floors of shops and restaurants surrounding the main feature. Its basically a shopping mall with extra suitcases that honestly looks inconvenient unless you visit when not flying. We stayed the night before in one of the attached hotels to explore relaxed. At the top were a few bars, one with an excellent gin assortment. The proper dry stuff not that flavoured sticky fad.



Once through the final bag check I came across my first cashierless store in the holding area. Tapped a payment card to get in and used my passport to open the beer fridge. Almost certainly got undercharged even after waving the goods at cameras so the tech isn't there yet but interesting all the same.



There's enough to see and do here a second visit could be completely different. And if you wait long enough a mega new section will be added. However that and this summary is getting ahead of itself. We still had a lot of city adventures to come including a day trip by land to Malaysia, before we eventually flew out to Malaysia.