Was very lucky to have a day at the newest Universal park in Beijing on 13/7. It was a rather wet day, with the rain not easing up until late afternoon. That said, it didn’t spoil as the majority of attractions are indoor.
Arrival
I arrived off the metro at 6:55 (yes, it was a very early start), and already there was a few hundred people at the city walk security entrance. At 7am this opened and everyone began running towards the park. Everyone ignored the Universal Globe so I got some great pictures. At around 7:20 I arrived at the park entrance gate. I wasn’t too far back. They began letting in early entry at 7:30am, and everyone else at 8:30 (official opening time 9am). I was in the park by 8:40 and in line for Forbidden Journey for 8:50. No physical tickets, everything is done by linking to your passport number. I bought on Klook as unable to register on the Universal app - the phone verification didn’t work with my UK number.
Morning
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. In line @ 08:50 - 40 minute wait. Same as USF from what I could tell (except the Chinese dialogue) although with two way locker system. No movement from the dragon or whomping willow.
Decepticoaster - In line @ 09:50 - 50 minute wait. The Hulk but with better (vest) restraints!
Untrainable @ 11:00 - a really fantastic show. If this is what awaits us at Epic Universe it is really beautiful and will be a great asset.
Light Camera Action @ 11:30 - a mirror image of what you get at Universal Singapore, and a new pre-show. Like this a lot, classic Universal.
In line for Kung Fu Panda 11:50 - wait 15. It’s quite a simple boat ride with a lot of screens. One small drop too.
Lunch back on City Walk at Toothsome. I was slightly disappointed, but I think I ordered badly (the chicken wings were very nice though, but a bit rich after a couple!)
Afternoon
Jurassic World Adventure. In line @ 13:35 - 100 minute wait. Was posted at 80 but slightly longer overall. I really loved this. I’d say this along with Harry Potter is the headliner attraction. Those dinos are impressive!
Kung Fu Panda @ 15:35 - 15 minute wait. Needed something quick to do before the next show!
Waterworld @ 16:15. As impressive as it is everywhere else (have seen in Hollywood and Singapore). All in Chinese language. Great reception.
Minion Mayhem @ 16:50 - 30 minute wait. Similar I believe to the USH version, with two separate smaller theatres each with 12 cars.
Sing On Tour @ 18:00 - very cute show, and lovely little venue. This runs every 30 minutes and you need to be there around 20 mins before each show as they do fill up it seems.
Evening
The park really started to empty out after 6pm, which meant I was able to do a lot in the last few hours.
Jurassic World Adventure. In line @ 18:25 - 40 minute wait. Even better the second time I thought.
Decepticoaster. In line @ 19:20 - 20 minute wait.
Transformers. In line @ 19:50 - 25 minute wait. Same as in Hollywood/Florida/Singapore
Jurassic World Adventure. In line @ 20:25 - 15 minute wait. Had to get in a third and final ride with the line now super short.
Jurassic Flyers. In line @ 20:50 - 20 minute wait. This was closed a big chunk of the afternoon due to the bad weather, but with just 10 minutes to go I jumped in line for my final ride. It’s fun! Faster than it looks, and great music, but no real scenery as such. This ride system with show scenes would be brilliant.
Overall comments
Generally, I found the park to be very well rounded in terms of what’s on offer. You have 4 “E” tickets in Jurassic World Adventure, Forbidden Journey, Decepticoaster, Transformers, a strong “D” ticket lineup of Kung Fu Panda, Minion Mayhem, Jurassic Flyers. Two kids coasters with Hippogriff and Loop Dee Doop-Dee, and then a further 4 flat rides (Bumblebee Boogie, Lanterns, Carousel, Super Swirly).
In terms of shows, it’s a very strong line up. All three shows (plus Lights, Camera, Action) are really great, and put them together I don’t think there’s a stronger theme park show lineup right now. I believe ambitions are to build a second theme park, the infrastructure can certainly handle the capacity (the station is huge!). In terms of expansion to the current park, I think something else that is classic Universal wouldn’t go amiss, perhaps Kong/Monsters. I’d be curious to know where the Fast and Furious ride was due to be. Another dark ride a la Secret Life of Pets would work well too. The other question is will they build Nintendo land here? Who knows. I think they’d be better off expanding the Harry Potter area, there were lots of people wearing the robes, and the queue for Forbidden Journey was in excess of two hours for most of the day.
There certainly seems to be plenty room for expansion, and the market for it. I think we’ll see this in the top 20 parks for worldwide attendance for 2023.
Arrival
I arrived off the metro at 6:55 (yes, it was a very early start), and already there was a few hundred people at the city walk security entrance. At 7am this opened and everyone began running towards the park. Everyone ignored the Universal Globe so I got some great pictures. At around 7:20 I arrived at the park entrance gate. I wasn’t too far back. They began letting in early entry at 7:30am, and everyone else at 8:30 (official opening time 9am). I was in the park by 8:40 and in line for Forbidden Journey for 8:50. No physical tickets, everything is done by linking to your passport number. I bought on Klook as unable to register on the Universal app - the phone verification didn’t work with my UK number.
Morning
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. In line @ 08:50 - 40 minute wait. Same as USF from what I could tell (except the Chinese dialogue) although with two way locker system. No movement from the dragon or whomping willow.
Decepticoaster - In line @ 09:50 - 50 minute wait. The Hulk but with better (vest) restraints!
Untrainable @ 11:00 - a really fantastic show. If this is what awaits us at Epic Universe it is really beautiful and will be a great asset.
Light Camera Action @ 11:30 - a mirror image of what you get at Universal Singapore, and a new pre-show. Like this a lot, classic Universal.
In line for Kung Fu Panda 11:50 - wait 15. It’s quite a simple boat ride with a lot of screens. One small drop too.
Lunch back on City Walk at Toothsome. I was slightly disappointed, but I think I ordered badly (the chicken wings were very nice though, but a bit rich after a couple!)
Afternoon
Jurassic World Adventure. In line @ 13:35 - 100 minute wait. Was posted at 80 but slightly longer overall. I really loved this. I’d say this along with Harry Potter is the headliner attraction. Those dinos are impressive!
Kung Fu Panda @ 15:35 - 15 minute wait. Needed something quick to do before the next show!
Waterworld @ 16:15. As impressive as it is everywhere else (have seen in Hollywood and Singapore). All in Chinese language. Great reception.
Minion Mayhem @ 16:50 - 30 minute wait. Similar I believe to the USH version, with two separate smaller theatres each with 12 cars.
Sing On Tour @ 18:00 - very cute show, and lovely little venue. This runs every 30 minutes and you need to be there around 20 mins before each show as they do fill up it seems.
Evening
The park really started to empty out after 6pm, which meant I was able to do a lot in the last few hours.
Jurassic World Adventure. In line @ 18:25 - 40 minute wait. Even better the second time I thought.
Decepticoaster. In line @ 19:20 - 20 minute wait.
Transformers. In line @ 19:50 - 25 minute wait. Same as in Hollywood/Florida/Singapore
Jurassic World Adventure. In line @ 20:25 - 15 minute wait. Had to get in a third and final ride with the line now super short.
Jurassic Flyers. In line @ 20:50 - 20 minute wait. This was closed a big chunk of the afternoon due to the bad weather, but with just 10 minutes to go I jumped in line for my final ride. It’s fun! Faster than it looks, and great music, but no real scenery as such. This ride system with show scenes would be brilliant.
Overall comments
- The park is VAST. If you’ve ever been to Shanghai Disneyland it is similar in feeling.
- Lots of inefficiencies with loading, especially for Forbidden Journey where there was no real direction from the ride attendant. Lots of empty seats going around which explains how such a high capacity ride has such a huge wait.
- No single rider lines. They’re built into the buildings for Jurassic World, Harry Potter, Transformers, Jurassic Flyers and Decepticoaster but none are in use. This is a real shame because there’s lots of empty seats going around empty on all of these rides.
- The lines moved at a fair pace, but in the day, it was about 50/50 loading between express and standby (from what I observed for Jurassic World at least)
- Queueing was… a problem. Lots of groups enter the line separately and attempt to push past and reunite with their group in line. Very different to an experience at a US or Japanese park. That said, the queue times in the app were generally correct.
- General lack of awareness with regards to personal space. You can bet people will get right up close to you in the queue. Again with Umbrellas -, no sense of space. I was stood in line and consistently having umbrellas prodding the back of my head.
- Very few staff spoke any English at all.
- Merchandise selection was generally very good.
- Food in the park looked good. I regret not staying in the park now for food options but at least I know for next time.
- It was 99.99% Chinese guests. I saw only three other western faces throughout the day.
Generally, I found the park to be very well rounded in terms of what’s on offer. You have 4 “E” tickets in Jurassic World Adventure, Forbidden Journey, Decepticoaster, Transformers, a strong “D” ticket lineup of Kung Fu Panda, Minion Mayhem, Jurassic Flyers. Two kids coasters with Hippogriff and Loop Dee Doop-Dee, and then a further 4 flat rides (Bumblebee Boogie, Lanterns, Carousel, Super Swirly).
In terms of shows, it’s a very strong line up. All three shows (plus Lights, Camera, Action) are really great, and put them together I don’t think there’s a stronger theme park show lineup right now. I believe ambitions are to build a second theme park, the infrastructure can certainly handle the capacity (the station is huge!). In terms of expansion to the current park, I think something else that is classic Universal wouldn’t go amiss, perhaps Kong/Monsters. I’d be curious to know where the Fast and Furious ride was due to be. Another dark ride a la Secret Life of Pets would work well too. The other question is will they build Nintendo land here? Who knows. I think they’d be better off expanding the Harry Potter area, there were lots of people wearing the robes, and the queue for Forbidden Journey was in excess of two hours for most of the day.
There certainly seems to be plenty room for expansion, and the market for it. I think we’ll see this in the top 20 parks for worldwide attendance for 2023.
