Universal Studios Singapore has been gradually adding Chinese New Year decoration to the Hollywood and New York area since mid-January. For those non-Singaporeans, Chinese New Year is a holiday celebrated by Chinese all around the world. Festivities occur on the first month of the lunar calender and last 15 days. In fact, it is the only Universal Studios Theme Park to celebrate Chinese New Year. Even though there will be no Ang-Pao (red packet) in 2015, the festive spirit is still there with extensive decoration, special dining and seasonal offers.
USS Chinese New Year 2015
No Chinese New Year celebration will be complete without reunion dinner, and for Chinese New Year 2015, USS has prepared a special reunion dinner menu at the Hollywood China Bistro. Prices are comparable to typical restaurants around Singapore though USS admission is required. Up till 18 February 2015, there is a special discount that offers USS tickets for SGD55 including a SGD5 meal voucher. Finally,USS will have extended opening hours from 19 Feb to 21 Feb 2015 till 9pm.
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| USS Reunion dinner is served at the Hollywood China Bistro |
The festive mood is most evident in the Hollywood and New York areas. In particular, Hollywood is really bristling with red and even our dearest minion has an oriental dress up.
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| 财-Minion 到！ |
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| Even the lamp posts are bristling with fire crackers |
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| This is the year of the goat, so a giant goat emblem is at the centerpiece of the decorations |
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| The decoration at New York is not as elaborate as Hollywood |
Puss in Boots and the Giant Journey update
Truthfully, in the press release in July last year RWS actually promised that the ride will open by the end of 2014. However, I only very recently saw the new ride vehicles mounted onto the track. The ride vehicles resemble classical caravans, and rider's feet will NOT be dangling in mid air. Each train can sit 6 people and multiple trains can operate together so the capacity should be comparable to Enchanted Airways.
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| Can you spot the ride vehicle? It is on the right side of the image in between the 2 trees. |
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| At least there is 1 reassuring thing: the cranes are gone! |
Return of Battlestar Galactica Roller Coaster
As with Puss in Boots, there is no official announcement on the exact date the ride will return to USS. However, testing is now much more rigorous and I spotted the trains tested in rainy conditions as well as dueling with one another. It is quite noteworthy that the human (red) train is getting more tests than the Cylon (blue) side in recent weeks. Testing stops at about 6pm daily so do come early if you want to catch the trains in action.
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| This exact same message has been on since the start of the year |
However, it is worth noting that Revenge of the Mummy also recently got closed for a few days due to technical difficulties. I think that this means we can expect further delays in the reopening of either ride as the RWS technical team will need to juggle between 3 separate rides at the same time.
Conclusion
I must admit that I find the lack of ang pao for Chinese New Year this year a little disappointing. Also, I do hope that RWS can keep us updated about the status of Battlestar Galactica and Puss in Boots. I do hope the rides will come before my annual pass runs out in July. Don't forget to
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