 |
| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
|
And it's quite expensive! When you arrive by car, a guy at the entrance asks if you want to park directly in front of the park or if you'd prefer to walk 15 minutes through a commercial hell of fast-food restaurants and souvenir shops. The first option costs $20, the second $10. We chose the second option because we like commercial hells for research purposes. Once you've made it through the hell, the next shock comes: At the park entrance, the admission costs a whopping $61 per person!
Through gritted teeth, amidst screaming children and overwhelmed adults, you hand over the amount, and the guy in the ticket booth calmly asks if you'd like to buy an annual pass (No!), if you're sure (Yes!!), if you want a Front-of-The-Line pass ($99) so you don't have to line up anywhere (No!!!), and if an All-You-Can-Eat coupon might be worth it? (No!!!!).
Inside the park, you can either buy more souvenirs, eat fast food, attend one of the Disney-like shows, or ride themed roller coasters. We only wanted to do the studio tour, where they drive you past various buildings labeled "Stage 23" in a tour vehicle and an entertainer, then later comes "Stage 24," and further back there's a gray concrete block labeled "Stage 25."
On goes the tour through a Western setting, then the vehicle drives into a building, flames shoot up, the vehicle rocks back and forth, etc., quite well done. Then there's the replica of the great white shark to see, flames shoot up again as a gas station in the water (?) catches fire.
The television series "Desperate Housewives," which is quite popular here in the USA now, is also being filmed on the premises. We drove through their street with the tour bus, and it looks just like a typical suburban street somewhere in America.
All in all: Quite nice if you need to kill some time before your flight home, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. However, it's probably something you should do anyway, because otherwise you might feel like you've missed something.
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}