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Singapore TR September 2022


DaptoFunlandGuy
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15 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Their concierge though were amazing - when trying to make a last minute booking, our credit card required a text message authentication code - which of course we couldn't receive as our Aus numbers weren't set up for roaming. (I'll include some info on this stuff later)

I realised last night I never finished this thought bubble - so here's an update:

The issue here is that our credit card company wanted to do multi factor authentication because of the purchase (Verified by VISA). We had notified the bank we would be overseas (and all our other purchases were fine), but the only MFA option for this particular seller was by text message to our Australian number, which we didn't have access to in Singapore. 

Our options with Telstra were a flat fee of $10 a day per phone for international roaming and that was basically it. With 4 devices, this would have cost over $300 for our time there, and we instead purchased a local sim for our phones for the duration.

We purchased the Singtel 'Hi!' Prepaid tourist Sim. At $15SGD, it gave us 7 days access with local and international calls, text and 100GB of data. It meant we didn't have to worry about using our phones any differently to normal, or finding dodgy wifi spots to get a message through. We each had the local singapore mobile number for each other which made meeting up after going separate ways really simple. 

We were in Singapore for longer than 7 days, so we delayed purchasing the Sim until our second day, and this gave us coverage right up until we arrived at Jewel Changi on our last day. The Airport Wifi had us covered from there without an issue.

We could have extended the service, but in terms of value, it would have been better value to buy a new $15 tourist sim than to extend the existing one. The service is activated by scanning your passport though, so I'm not sure whether they'd let you register a second one?

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On 8/12/2022 at 6:50 PM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Crate Adventure was boarded up and being demolished. We knew it was due to start soon, but hadn’t heard they’d already begun.

I recently got back from a trip to Singapore and it looks like construction has been very slow. We didn’t visit USS this visit because of Minions still being under construction, but from outside the park we could see they were only just installing concrete panels. It’s due to open this year, but if anyone’s planned a trip to visit the park this year, I wouldn’t expect it to be open at the very end of the year at the earliest 

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We visited again at the start of January and there was noticeable progress from inside the park, with the entire facades distinguishable in the framing - all the parts of Gru's house, etc could be made out, very similar to what's in Hollywood. 

I think they've moved pretty quickly considering - they're about 18 months in now, since my visit where demolition had occurred. 

Consider that in a similar period of time, Arkham Asylum was standing in June of 2022, and WOZ land is yet to open (and is arguably far less complex than what Universal is building)...

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On 08/12/2022 at 5:50 PM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Previous TR Post

Just re-reading my original post and I should add to the above - On our visit this year, there were a few things to update:
 

Accommodation:

We again stayed at Village Hotel Sentosa. Our checkin was New Year's Eve and the place was packed. All of the little 'special' things I mentioned on our last trip - the gifts, the snacks, etc were all gone. Kid's checkin was not a thing either.

We were a group of three this time so had booked a different room type ("sleeps 3"), and discovered on arrival that they expected the three of us to share one bed. This is common in Asia but not something we had expected, nor really obvious in the fine print and had assumed a rollaway or similar would be provided. The room wasn't big enough to fit a rollaway and they were at 100% occupancy, and so we had to make do for NYE. The following day the hotel moved us to a different room type which did accommodate a rollaway but it still dampened our view of the resort overall.

Universal:

  • The park has resumed 7 day operation
  • The Madagascar carousel is now also removed and the entire Madagascar land continues construction for Minions
  • Shrek 4D had reinstated the animatronic pre-show, and the seats appeared to work for us on this trip.
  • Donkey Live had reopened
  • The themeing elements on Puss In Boots had received a lot of love and looked fresh as opposed to the dire state of them on our last trip
  • Waterworld had reopened
  • Jurassic Rapids had reopened - this Tube style attraction is different to the boat style jurassic adventures, and we got absolutely soaked - so much so we had to stop and wring out our socks.
  • Food - every single food outlet was open and operating
  • The queue in the mummy has seen extensive repair work and no longer has holes all through the plaster. The mid-course fire scene is still as brightly lit as ever, spoiling the surprise.
  • Little guy was tall enough to ride everything now - didn't like The Mummy purely for the theme, but loved Battlestar Galactica and lapped it repeatedly. Trains weren't dueling every dispatch but operators tried to when they could. Most causes of not dueling was down to guests not being ready to board and having items in pockets or things like glasses and footwear. One one occasion, operators held dispatch for our train because our little guy's watch had a camera built in, and they don't allow cameras (though every other dispatch it was fine)

Sentosa Island

This trip was a much more relaxed approach. We'd been recently so the plan for Singapore was to relax after a mad-rushed trip through Hong Kong over Christmas (which i'll get down to writing up eventually). As it was intended to relax, we did a lot less, spent way more time by the pool and far less on paid experiences, though we did do the Luge again. 

We had planned on eating at Hard Rock again (a tradition) but discovered that the entire Forum dining precinct in Resorts World was closed for refurbishment. Hard Rock chose not to renew and relocated their entire operation to the AIRSIDE of Changi Terminal 2. In place of the wonderfully varied and air conditioned eateries in the Forum, Resorts World had moved in a few shipping containers selling food-truck style options. We tried this once, and decided to eat elsewhere for the remainder of our trip. (It didn't help that it was raining, and the roofing they provided was wholly inadequate).

Everything seemed to be open more than last time though some places didn't open every day. We explored new areas of the island we hadn't been to previously, but many only opened at certain times so didn't do anything new.

The area where Sentosa Merlion was was still under construction (I hear it has since been reopened) but the Merlion is no longer there and a new boardwalk style path has opened between Resorts World and Beach Station. A pleasant option in fine weather if you don't want to wait for the Monorail.

Gardens by the Bay

We avoided the domes this time but took a walk to Satay By The Bay for lunch (10/10 recommend). We also walked all the way out to Marina Barrage (the water reservoir wall, not the building with the boat) for the view (and then it rained for half an hour so we took shelter and wandered the complex for a bit!).

Changi Terminal \ Jewel

We spent several hours wandering Jewel again on our outbound day. Due to the nature of our travel plans, we actually had 24 hours to spend airside on our inbound leg (before flying onward to Hong Kong) so we stayed in one of the Airport hotels and spent the entire day exploring all of the various terminals. We still haven't seen it all. 

Our hotel overlooked the apron at Terminal 1, with great views of aircraft movements all over the terminal, and gave us access to the rooftop pool for a swim \ spa and cocktails. We tried to visit every display, garden, and take in all the outlets, stores, food options, but there were still too many and we've already agreed we need to allow more time on our next trip to or through Singapore to continue exploring the terminals.

 

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8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Universal

Great to hear of those changes and improvements since your last visit. We were sceptical of visiting again purely because of whether negative things we’d heard about the park and because there was less to do than the last two visits. 

 

8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

We avoided the domes this time

Have you ever done the domes at night? If you (or anyone else on here hasn’t) I highly recommend you do. I’d actually say doing it at night is better than in the day because the crowds are lighter and it just makes it even better (especially at 8pm when the misters come on)

 

8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Satay By The Bay

This has improved so much since my last visit. Last time it was almost falling apart, but since the developments to the east of the gardens have begun they’ve invested in this area

 

8 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Jewel

How incredible was this! An attraction within itself. If you are ever just passing through Singapore, it is absolutely worth just heading to terminal 1 to purely see this 

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12 hours ago, themagician said:

Great to hear of those changes and improvements since your last visit. We were sceptical of visiting again purely because of whether negative things we’d heard about the park and because there was less to do than the last two visits. 

 

Have you ever done the domes at night? If you (or anyone else on here hasn’t) I highly recommend you do. I’d actually say doing it at night is better than in the day because the crowds are lighter and it just makes it even better (especially at 8pm when the misters come on)

 

This has improved so much since my last visit. Last time it was almost falling apart, but since the developments to the east of the gardens have begun they’ve invested in this area

 

How incredible was this! An attraction within itself. If you are ever just passing through Singapore, it is absolutely worth just heading to terminal 1 to purely see this 

Universal, even with all the things closed back in 2022 was still an enjoyable day trip. nothing felt rushed and it was a nice relaxing day. This year's trip we felt a bit more rushed because while everything was open, there was a lot more people too. Swings and roundabouts I guess.

GBTB - our 2022 trip was late afternoon, so we did the flower dome in gloomy overcast late afternoon and entered cloud forest just after dusk - which we feel was the perfect time to catch it (plus it was raining outside).

Jewel - Just to correct the record, Jewel isn't Terminal 1. Jewel sits in the middle of the airport complex, and has walkways leading to terminals 1,2 & 3 (though terminal 1 is the closest). There is also a monorail between each of those terminals, one of which travels through Jewel between terminal 2 & 3.

 

Jewel Changi Airport Archives - Pechluck's Food Adventures

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