Had a couple of friends staying on Saturday, so we went to Universal Studios. It's pretty good – an actual Theme Park rather than a collection of rides. In fact the rides are fairly tame as these things go, but that's not bad. The view over the valley is amazing, and they have a huge escalator system that goes down the side of the hill, joining the upper lot to the lower lot.
The studio tour was pretty good, and the various 3D shows not bad either, but the highlight for me was the Backdraft stage. Being 20 feet from some huge pyrotechnics, basically inside a burning building recreated in the sound stage, was amazing. And you can really feel the heat when those barrels explode in a big fireball. The special effects show was also cool – probably the most polished presentation.
Now I have my yearly pass, so maybe I'll go back there again in the off season. At $53 a ticket, I want to get some value out of it.