Having relocated to Singapore for work purposes, we thought it worthwhile to purchase the annual passes to Universal Studios and Adventure Cove waterpark. As I had already visited Universal Studios in Florida, I thought I knew what to expect . This is the case for the most part but we are in Asia and not the USA so I guess some differences should be expected.
Getting to Sentosa is fairly simple – more information can be found here.
Upon arrival at Universal, you must purchase a ticket of some sort! There are a lot of combo tickets available, so have a look and see what deal works best for you. I strongly suggest getting it right first time as, if you buy an annual pass or similar and any changes need to be made, customer services are not the fastest, most efficient staff you have ever encountered. We decided to upgrade our annual passes to include the 'Express' option and my husband had to queue for over an hour and a half to do so. Please note that this queue was at customer service and not at ticket purchasing points.
That brings me to my next point, if you want to make the most of your day, and don't want to spend time waiting in queues, the 'Express' is probably worth the money. Many of the rides allow express ticketholders to queue jump and this saves a lot of time, especially on the most popular rides that often have regular queue times of around 50 minutes.
The park itself is not as large as its sister park in the USA, obviously space is more limited here in Singapore. Aside from that, the park appearance is pretty much on par. There are several different themed areas, each with different rides. Rides vary in suitability and range from a traditional carousel to a plunging rollercoaster. There's enough here to entertain a younger child and yet also enough to entertain a teenager, so a good mix.
The park is incredibly clean and well kept. There are many refreshments points and themed eateries dotted around the park.
The food is not particularly exciting, and generally quite expensive. The usual fast food options are available, with an Asian twist. There is nothing stating that food cannot be taken into the park, so you may prefer to pack a picnic.
You can buy refillable drinks bottles, that are also really quite expensive, but the idea is that you can then pay less for free refills. The problem is that it's all fizzy juice so not great if, like me, you try to avoid that sort of thing!
It is possible to get round the park in a day, if you have the express pass and aren't queuing for rides. If you spend a lot of time queuing, you might not get through it all.
There are performances in certain places, at certain times. If you want to catch anything specific, have a look at the map first and try and work out where you need to be and when so you can plan your day.
I guess that the staff are 'OK'. They are could maybe do with an enthusiasm injection and perhaps a little bit of customer service training but hey, if there is one thing I've learnt since being in Singapore, it's that there is a bit of a lack of that all round. It's not that the staff in the park are unpleasant, it's just that they aren't really comparable to their extremely enthusiastic American comrades!
All in all, this makes for a good day out and, if you live here, the annual pass is probably worthwhile as you can pop in whenever and you don't need to commit to a whole day there. Kids with annual passes get a free ice cream each visit and if you are an annual pass holder, you can collect points on your purchases, which you can then redeem at a later date in the park.
Please be aware that if you use the Sentosa Express to get to the park, that the queues to get back on at around 5pm can be quite considerable. It is well managed though and although the queues look large, they do move quite fast.