An honest review of USS from a family with tweens & teens<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Planning a family stopover in Singapore? You\u2019ve no doubt got on your list a visit to Resorts World Sentosa, the centerpiece of which is Universal Studios Singapore (USS)<\/strong>, one of five Universal theme parks currently found around the world<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Having recently taken on a trip with our tweens and teens to Universal Orlando<\/a><\/strong> (which presently consists of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure \u2013 Epic Universe is coming soon<\/em>!), we were keen to get more of our theme park fix and see how Universal Studios Singapore compared \u2013 plus the recent release of Despicable Me 4 and Minion advertising put this attraction front of mind for our family day out in Singapore.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s take a look at what to expect at Universal Singapore and how it compares to its international competition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This page contains affiliate links to tours and accommodation providers that may earn us a commission if a qualifying purchase or booking is made<\/em>.<\/p>\n Some familiar faces, on the other hand, that are very similar to Orlando include:<\/p>\n What you won\u2019t find in Singapore, a big divergence from other Universal parks is anything about Harry Potter. Whilst this might be a deal breaker for you, my lot could take it or leave it.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s be clear: Universal Orlando sets the bar high in the theme park world. However, overall, USS didn\u2019t live up to our expectations, but let us talk you through why\u2014they may not necessarily be deal breakers for your family and certainly don\u2019t mean we had a terrible time\u2014we\u2019re coming at this as worldwide theme park connoisseurs!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s a huge advertising push and signage everywhere in Singapore showing Minions, so naively, I guess, we assumed that was the star attraction of USS. But it\u2019s still a construction site. The expected opening date is \u20182025\u2019, though you can see many rides, from outside at least, look close to completion.<\/p>\n If you want your Minion fix, there are daily shows, character meets, and plenty of theming around Minions, but sadly, there are no Minion or Despicable Me rides, yet.<\/p>\n Because of this large-scale construction, there\u2019s currently only one way around the park. This makes it feel quite crowded and a little tricky to navigate \u2013 you\u2019ll be doing lots of doubling back on yourself. <\/p>\n We went on a weekday, mid-summer and it still felt very crowded, I dread to think what a cooler weekend day would be like. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Again, not a deal breaker; we did know this beforehand, but the Mario extension was touted around five years ago in the media. It seems that in the post-COVID world, these plans have been shelved (anyone got the official word on this, we couldn\u2019t find anything?!). <\/p>\n If this is high on your kids\u2019 dream theme park list, try Tokyo Universal Studios instead, or Universal Studios Hollywood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We knew this was an issue, so we thought we were prepared. We were willing to buy Express Passes on the day, only to find out they were $140 SGD each ($107 USD)! <\/p>\n We\u2019d price-checked online a couple of days before at $80 pp (bearing in mind the entry tickets are already around $70 SGD). I know this is comparable to Orlando, but note they cannot be packaged with your hotel \u2013 more on that to come.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It was simply out of our budget for a day out, so we had to join the regular queues; we were in the gate within minutes of opening and bee-lined to the most popular rides but within an hour, these rides had 60 minute + queues.<\/p>\n And that pretty much repeated the story of the day. You can expect lengthy queues to form across all sections of the park, particularly at<\/p>\n Well, basically, at all rides. Event the not-so-thrilling kiddy ones.<\/p>\n To add to the woes of queuing was the complete inaccuracy and discrepancies between what the USS app was telling us and what was displayed on the ride entrances. We\u2019d beeline it across the park to a ride we thought was quicker, only to find out 50 minutes was 90 minutes.<\/p>\n Needless to say, we spent waaay more time walking between rides and queuing than enjoying anything, in the Singapore humidity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Single-rider lines are a godsend for theme park enthusiasts who want to get their thrill on and pack as many rides in as possible without spending all their time in line. But don\u2019t be fooled into thinking they work the same way in Singapore as in Orlando.<\/p>\n (For those unfamiliar with the concept, Single Riders are used to fill the gaps on group rides, so if you have, say a group of 3 on a 4-person ride, instead of calling up someone to the regular queue and splitting a group, they\u2019ll fill the gap with a \u2018single rider\u2019. We frequently use these separate queues in Orlando when we\u2019re not fussed about sitting together or kids want to ride alone \u2013 it\u2019s often quicker than even the Express Pass lane.<\/em><\/p>\n So what\u2019s the go in Singapore? Well, it seems they are trained to use it as an absolute last resort. Many rides had the sign for single riders, but the queue was roped off (you could sometimes ask an attendant to open it, and they would).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The few times we tried a Single Riders queue, it was painfully slow; granted, on the rides with 60-minute+ lines, it\u2019s a little faster. But we waited for 20 minutes at one ride where not one person was taken from the single-rider line. The attendants would constantly walk through the queue, looking for smaller groups to put together. They only moved our queue along after a fair amount of angst and exasperation from the SR queue to get things moving again after the ride malfunctioned and we\u2019d waited 30 minutes.<\/p>\n So don\u2019t be fooled into thinking you can strategize your day at Universal Singapore with teens taking single-rider queues.<\/p>\n The number of \u2018thrilling rides\u2019 is much lower compared to Islands of Adventure<\/a>, and because they are so few in number, they attract the largest queues non-stop throughout the day.<\/p>\n Now, your definition of thrilling may differ\u2014I suffer from motion sickness, so I go on very few of these rides, yet I could handle most of USS. The most \u2018thrilling\u2019 are the twin coasters at Battlestar Galactica and Transformers, which my teen\/tween audience both rated fairly low in all-time favorite rides but the best at USS.<\/p>\n If they do exist, we couldn\u2019t find them! Staying on-site is one of Universal Orlando\u2019s biggest perks; it can bring significant savings and convenience. <\/p>\n Accommodation for families in Singapore is super expensive, so we really hoped we could package things up, but this is not something we found possible as a last-minute booking through Resorts World Sentosa (as at summer 2024)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So it doesn\u2019t look like a pile of negatives (honestly, it wasn\u2019t that bad!!). A few things we did like about Universal Studios Singapore:<\/p>\n We booked our tickets online through the third-party ticketing app Get Your Guide<\/a><\/strong> rather than directly with Universal.<\/p>\n I did this largely because they are one of my affiliate partners (yep, that\u2019s an affiliate link there<\/em>), and I\u2019ve used and trusted their platform, I like to try and book through the platforms I recommend and the price per ticket was comparable.<\/p>\n The one thing you don\u2019t get when booking through third parties is a physical ticket. I still had to collect this from the Resorts World Sentosa vending machine, which was quite conspicuously hidden in the locker area to the right of the main entrance.<\/p>\n Do allow an extra 5-10 mins on your arrival for this, or at least get your family queueing straight away<\/p>\n The disadvantage to booking this way was I couldn\u2019t automatically add the Express Pass (some third-party apps like Klook DO allow this<\/a><\/strong>), so we went on the assumption we\u2019d just upgrade at the gate \u2013 well, you read what happened!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
![\"entrance](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Transformers-the-ride.jpg\"\/)
![\"entrance](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Transformers-the-ride.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nThe Cons Of USS: Where We Felt Let Down<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Minionland isn\u2019t open yet<\/h3>\n
![\"minion](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Entrance-New-York-1.jpg\"\/)
![\"minion](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Entrance-New-York-1.jpg\")
The Park is Cramped and Busy<\/h3>\n
There\u2019s No Marioland <\/h3>\n
The queues in the heat<\/h3>\n
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![\"queues](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Entrance-queues-1.jpg\"\/)
![\"queues](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Entrance-queues-1.jpg\")
The complete inaccuracy of queue timings<\/h3>\n
What\u2019s with the single-rider lines?<\/h3>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-single-rider-lines.jpg\"\/)
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-single-rider-lines.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"transformers](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Transformers-Sci-Fi-City-1.jpg\"\/)
![\"transformers](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Transformers-Sci-Fi-City-1.jpg\")
There are Very Few Thrilling Rides at USS<\/h3>\n
![\"enter](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-sci-fi-Battlestar-Galactica-human-and-cylon-rides.jpg\"\/)
![\"enter](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-sci-fi-Battlestar-Galactica-human-and-cylon-rides.jpg\")
There are no theme park & accommodation bundles<\/h3>\n
Tips To Make Your Life Easier at USS<\/h2>\n
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![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-stroller-rentals.jpg\"\/)
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-stroller-rentals.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"stroller](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-stroller-parking-1.jpg\"\/)
![\"stroller](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-stroller-parking-1.jpg\")
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What\u2019s Good About USS vs Orlando<\/h2>\n
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![\"waterworld](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Waterworld-show-1.jpg\"\/)
![\"waterworld](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-Waterworld-show-1.jpg\")
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How we Booked Tickets for Universal Singapore<\/h2>\n
![\"ticket](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-ticket-collection-machine.jpg\"\/)
![\"ticket](\"https:\/\/www.ourglobetrotters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/USS-ticket-collection-machine.jpg\")
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