Landing my dream job for a company as big as Universal has left me constantly pinching myself.
I am working on brands such as Minions, Jurassic World and Fast and Furious and during my first day my manager told me we would soon be flying to LA for our official on-boarding with the Creative team over in the states.
I think I bounced all the way home that night.
LA is somewhere I had not yet travelled to and whilst the trip was for business I was told we would be able to squeeze in a little bit of downtime. I couldn't wait to see a part of America I was yet to experience.
Flying out on a Saturday meant that we landed in LA Saturday evening, leaving a free Sunday to spend at the Universal Studios park in Hollywood.
Our tickets were all arranged and by 9am we were queuing by the entrance to head into the park.
We decided to tackle the areas of the park that were relevant to the brands we would be working on, so firstly we headed for Minions Mayhem, stopping by for a photo with Tom and Kevin along the way.
I have never been much of a fan of 3D rides or films as I have always felt they lacked the ability to make me feel I was part of the action.
I have never been much of a fan of 3D rides or films as I have always felt they lacked the ability to make me feel I was part of the action.
I am pleased to say that the Minions Mayhem ride did just that. It was 5 minutes of silliness, packed full of humour, eye popping colour and roller coaster motion. Having bananas flying into my face followed by a hungry Minion was a fun way to begin the day.
The ride is obviously aimed at younger kids but the big kid in me enjoyed it just as much.
The ride is obviously aimed at younger kids but the big kid in me enjoyed it just as much.
Next up we headed through those infamous gates and into Jurassic Park.
This is a river rapid ride and while some of the animatronics now look a little clunky, the ride was still lots of fun as you are surprised by pouncing raptors, before climbing a steep include in your boat before having a close encounter with a T-Rex, only escaping my sliding down a huge water slide getting wet in the process.
The Fast and the Furious ride is part of the Studio Lot tour so we jumped on a trolley cart and our tour guide Danny took us right into the heart of the Universal Studios, all of which are live and working film and tv sets.
Being a film fan myself it was such a cool experience to see up close how this industry works.
Being a film fan myself it was such a cool experience to see up close how this industry works.
From watching King Kong wrestle a T Rex to driving through Amity island and coming face to face with Jaws himself. Being goggled eyed at the huge airplane crash scene from War of the Worlds to a monster car chase with the characters from F&F themselves. It was a very surreal 90 minutes.
The highlight of the day though had to be the opportunity to head into Hogsmeade and get a sneak peak at the soon to be officially opened Harry Potter experience.
We were unsure beforehand if we would be allowed in due to the official opening not being until the 7th April, but fortunately luck was on our side and we were allowed in.
The set is so authentic, from passing Olivanders wand shop to Bertie Blotts sweet shop the attention to detail was incredible. Staff were all in Hogwarts uniforms and fellow tourists were all glugging on a glass of Butterbeer.
The ride in the castle is another 3d ride where you feel as though you are riding your broomstick through the grounds of Hogwarts whilst being chased by dragons, or chasing a snitch during a game of quidditch or even desperately trying to escape the Dementors, who were real life animatronics and damn right scary.
After being all 'theme parked' out we headed down to Santa Monica pier. Somewhere I have always wanted to go.
SM is great for shopping and bars and restaurants but its down by the pier that the liveliness and atmosphere is at.
It was also Spring Break during that time so there were lots of party goers and surfers enjoying the weather.
Down along the pier you have everything you expect from a seaside pier, slot machines, ice cream stalls, fair ground rides and cheesy Californian merchandise. However there are are a couple of iconic stand out points on the pier that I was sure to get a photo of. The first being the sign stating that you are now at the end of Route 66 and the second being the Zoltar fortune teller which is from the Tom Hanks film - Big.
Dinner and a glass of wine rounded off a jam packed day and it was time to get some rest before the proper work started the following day.
Dinner and a glass of wine rounded off a jam packed day and it was time to get some rest before the proper work started the following day.
The rest of the week was spent working alongside the US creative team and they really took good care of their international guests. From taking us for Mexican food in Melrose to the ultimate highlight which was dinner at Nobu in Malibu on Wednesday night.
Driving through the Californian hills with the sun blazing through the car roof was a pretty amazing sight, but when we turned a corner and suddenly being faced with the blue Pacific Ocean it was something else.
The decking area was pumping out chilled out house music all to the soundtrack of the ocean waves crashing against the rocks. With a beautiful sunset it all collectively made the evening feel really special. The food was incredible and it was nice to get to know my US, Japanese and Chinese counterparts.
So much of the past week has felt so surreal. From all of the above to standing on the Studio Lot following our town hall meeting being passed by a fleet of stunt cars.
I take nothing for granted though and know that I have been gifted an amazing experience. Aside from the fun stuff, the work stuff was pretty awesome too.
If only I could have stolen this Lego Raptor to take back home with me.
I am hoping to get back to LA at some point in the next year but for now this trip has been enough to make me fall in love with California.
Thanks for reading, back soon.
Nic x
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