Universal Studios: Singapore. Should you go?

While in Singapore we filled every moment exploring as many attractions as we could. The first place we ventured to was Universal Studios.

Did we like it? Why yes, we certainly did.

Would we recommend other families travel to Universal Studios? That is a big fat yes from all of us.

Singapore is a busy place and they stay up late, so the attractions don't open til 10am, which gives everyone lots of time to get there early, but we arrived at 8.50am and managed to be first in line. We purchased our tickets and then headed to a restaurant for breakfast.

The tickets are pricey. And just how much they are depends on the day. Forget checking the website for the price. We looked up the prices and decided to purchase the additional express passes for the day. This is quite a large additional cost at $50 per person extra. But, the day we went they decided to change the price to $70 per person per day - even though the sign still said $50! When I questioned the price, they simply said "Sorry, we have 'dynamic pricing' it changes depending on what we think might happen that day".

Anyway. Once you have your tickets, pop down to Slappy Jacks restaurant and order some pancake batters and cook your own pancakes at your table. I am not sure who had more fun here, it was a great way to kick off our day.

After breakfast, head back to the gates at Universal. The lines are long to get in at 10am, but once you get through you are good to go.

Grab a map and a schedule of the days events and you will have more than you can possibly see in one day.

There was only one ride that Immy was too small for but we managed to go on every other ride there. This was the Mummy ride, Miss 8 went on it and ended up with bruises on her back from bouncing around so much, but it's apparently an awesome ride.

Immy and I took some photos while we waited. This man just happened to photobomb her photo, I think he forgot to put his shirt on, opps!

We did end up buying the express passes and I would highly suggest factoring in the costs of these passes for your day.

Singapore is hot, the lines are long, the rides are short.

The express pass means that you bypass the very long lines for each ride and go straight on. The alternative is to spend over an hour in many lines, this would totally change the day and I don't even know if we would have enjoyed it had we had to stand for hours just to get on an attraction.

Favourite Rides

The transformers ride was a clear winner for me. Mr H loved the Mummy ride. Immy found the Jurassic Park river ride the best while Miss 8 loved the Roller Coaster in Far Far Away. The Shrek 4D movie was also full of great surprises.

Getting your photo with a minion was yet another line which we didn't bother with.

There are lots of fun worlds to walk through. I found New York fun.

Recognise this door?

In New York you will also find a Steven Spielberg set where you see how they make a hurricane happen in a movie. Fascinating stuff. Miss 8 found it nearly too real and a bit frightening, but we were right at the front and the fire felt like it was actually going to get us. If you like to be a part of the action and don't mind getting a bit wet, stand in the middle and at the front.

I am not sure how much value you would get with smaller kids that can't go on the main rides. There are a few rides for little ones, but you really need to be over 110cm to really get your money worth.

We got the free bus back to our apartment at the end of the day, but before we left the kids cooled down in a fountain. Singapore has lots of places like this, and in a place of such heat they are great options to get your kids cooled down quickly.

Five minutes later and they were dry again.


In conclusion, Universal Studios Singapore was a fantastic day for our family. The rides were amazing, it is laid out well and easy to get around and there is a lot to do. Costs for us in July 2014 were $74 per adult and $54 for kids (Singapore dollars). We also purchased the Express Passes once we were in the park and the lines started to get too long. These were an additional $50 per person that allowed us one turn on each ride. It was $70 per person for the unlimited express ride pass on the day we attended.


Check the webby for Universal Studios.


Disclaimer: 
This is NOT a sponsored post. We travelled to Singapore as a family holiday and covered all expenses ourselves. I found reviews of places in Singapore hard to find so decided to share our opinions.