Category Archives: California

California trips

The LAIR

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The LAIR stands for Living Amphibians, Insects, and Reptiles. It’s a new exhbit at the Los Angeles Zoo. Warning: This video contains snakes. If you’re not into those things, don’t watch.

Review of Transformers 3D-The Ride

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I am an annual pass holder at Universal Studios Hollywood. Recently I was invited to preview their newest ride: Transformers 3D-The Ride. All I can say is there are only a few theme park rides that I would like to ride again and again. Transformers is one of them.

After going through a maze of hallways (which reminds me of Star Tours at Disney World/Disneyland) and getting your 3D glasses, you are taken to your armored vehicle, which can seat up to 16 (four rows of four riders). You are part of the Autobot army and your mission is to retrieve the AllSpark, which is held by the Decepticons. As you move along (your vehicle does move forward and backward along a track), the 3D movie plays around you and you are jostled about as you move along the story. You meet many of the characters from the Transformers trilogy and even get to virtually go through a plate glass window as you are sucked in and caught by one of the Decepticons.

The ride itself lasts for about 7 minutes and I thought it was the right length and it was a lot of fun. This is definitely one ride I will ride early on (before the line gets too long).

VIDCON 2011

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I went to Vidcon 2011 in Los Angeles and it was a LOT of fun. I met up with a few people that I know and even got to meet one of the YouTube celebrities.

For those who don’t know, Vidcon is short for Video Conference, which is where YouTube filmmakers get together and go to conferences to learn more about how to make your videos better. Lots of the YouTube celebrities show up also to entertain and meet up with their fans.

Next Year it will be in Anaheim and I’m definitely going.

King Kong 360 3-D at Universal Studios Hollywood

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On July 1, 2010 Universal Studios Hollywood introduced King-Kong 360 3-D. Created by Peter Jackson, who created the second King Kong remake, it was put in as part of the Studio Tour.

I decided to see how good it was. I visited on July 3.

Guests were given 3-D glasses before boarding and, after a brief tour of the newly re-opened New York Street, the tram took you to a “sound stage” that acted as Skull Island. Peter Jackson (in a video) introduced the concept and even told you when to put the 3-D glasses on.

To call this a 360 experience is inaccurate in my opinion. If you’ve visited the Chinese Pavilion on Epcot Center’s World Showcase, and you’ve seen the movie showing there, then you know what 360 is like. King Kong 3-D experience is more like a 180 showcase where you have action to the left and right of the tram.

During the show you see Kong battling the creatures on Skull Island and your tram becomes part of the action as you are jostled about like the Earthquake sound stage which happens later on in the tour.

So what was my overall impression? It was good, not great. I think Universal Studios should have made this a stand-alone attraction similar to Shrek 4-D and it should have been a little bit longer.

Photo Safari was awesome

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If you ever find yourself at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, definitely take the Photo Safari. It’s a lot of fun. You get to ride in the back of a pickup with a group of others. You are then taken into the field where you get pretty up close to the animals. We saw a lot of giraffes, rhinos, springboks and birds. You even get to feed a giraffe.

This is definitely something you want to do the next time you’re there.