USS Guide: How to Make the Best of Your Visit to Universal Studios Singapore

Please share this article if you think it's awesome!

Have you ever visited Universal Studios Singapore? If yes, did you leave with disappointment because you didn’t have enough time to enjoy all the attractions?

Do you ever wonder whether Express Pass is necessary at all? Do you want to know how to maximize your visit so that you can save money but still enjoy all of the attractions?

I still remember when I visited USS for the first time, back in 2011, my friends and I were so busy with taking photos and queuing for the rides & shows, we didn’t have enough time to take all of the rides and watch all of the shows.

One day, my hubby and I decided to purchase 6-month season pass so that we can truly explore the park on our own pace. Over the 6 months period, we have taken our favorite rides for many times, we know when the best time is to visit the park, we know the shortcuts, and we know which rides are worth visiting.

In this article, I will share useful tips and tricks that I’ve gathered based on my own personal experience as a frequent visitor to USS.

Without further ado, here is my Universal Studios Singapore Guide.

Looking for ideas on what to do in Singapore? Here’s my guide on the best things to do in Singapore.

1. Should you get 1-day ticket or season pass or annual pass?

PS: Currently, the annual pass and season pass is suspended until further notice.

Pro-Tip: For 1-day ticket is usually cheaper if you buy it online compared to if you buy it on-site.

To be honest, 1 day is really too short to experience the entire park. If you’re a short-term traveler and you don’t have the ambition to explore the entire park, 1-day ticket is definitely enough. However, if you’re a frequent traveler and you love theme parks, a season pass may be what you want.

2. Should you get an Express Pass?

An Express Pass allows you to skip the normal queue at participating rides/shows. There are 2 types of Express Pass:
– Universal Express (SGD 50): allows you to skip each ride/show just one time.
– Universal Express Unlimited (SGD 80): allows you to skip the ride/show unlimited number of times.

Please note that these Universal Express Passes do not include admission into Universal Studios Singapore. A separate One-Day ticket (or season pass or annual pass) is required for admission.

Should you get an Express Pass? Yes if you have tight schedule, want to take every ride and watch every show in one day and you can afford it. No if you’ve visited USS in the past, or if you’re a season/annual pass holder, or if you don’t have the ambition to take every ride/show, or if you can’t afford it.

3. Which day is the best to visit Universal Studios Singapore?

The best day to visit Universal Studios Singapore is when there are Special Events or when opening hour is extended. To find out which days have special events or extended opening hours, you need to refer to the USS Calendar (for updated calendar, visit USS Website, scroll down to the bottom right, click “View Calendar”).

To illustrate my point, see the calendar sample below. On most days, the park closes at 7pm. However, on 1 Jan & 2 Jan, the park closes at 9pm. Meanwhile, on 23 Jan and 30 Jan, the park closes at 5pm. To maximize your visit, do choose the day where the park is open the longest, i.e.: Jan 1 & 2. Of course, the crowd number will be more on Jan 1 & 2, so you might have to spend more time waiting in the queue for attractions.

In the past, on certain days there’ll be fireworks display, but due to the covid situation, there’s no fireworks at the moment. If you read this article in the future when fireworks is back, I recommend that you visit on the day where there’s fireworks display.

Pro-tip: If you’re a season/annual pass holder, the best time to visit USS is late in the afternoon because most of the rides require only 15 mins or less waiting time. I usually visit the park late in the afternoon and on most occasion, we spent only 5 mins waiting time for famous rides such as Mummy, Human, Transformer, Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure.

4. How to get to Universal Studios Singapore?

There are 3 main ways to go to Universal Studios Singapore from Harbourfront MRT station.

1. Take Sentosa Express monorail for $4 from Vivo City Level 3, alight at Waterfront Station, and walk a short distance to USS gate. Get ticket in advance here. (PS: From now til 31 Dec 2022, Sentosa Express is free for everyone)
2. Take RWS8 bus from Vivo City bus stop (bus stop no 14141) for $2, alight at Resort World Sentosa, and walk to USS gate.
3. The cheapest but slowest option is to walk! From Harbourfront MRT, walk to Vivo City, take escalator/lift to Level 1, follow signage to Sentosa Boardwalk. Walk along the boardwalk until you arrive at Sentosa gate (currently the entrance fee is FREE until further notice), then, follow signage to Universal Studios Singapore. The whole talking takes approx. 30 to 40 mins if you walk leisurely.

Once you are done with the park and ready to go back, you can take any of the 3 methods above to go back to Vivo City, and you need not pay a single cent!

The fastest method is definitely the Sentosa Express monorail. However, if there is a long queue, you can take the free bus from the basement bus stand near Casino.

I don’t recommend walking back because it is time & energy consuming, unless you want to enjoy the scenery along boardwalk.

5. Download Universal Studios Singapore App

6. Get familiar with USS zones in advance

7. Decide in advance which attractions are must-visit

Everyone has different preferences for attractions. There are mainly 4 types of attractions: Rides, Shows, Street Performance, Characters Meet & Greet. If you decide in advance which one to prioritize, you can save time from thinking/discussing/deciding when you are in the park.

My rule of thumb: Always take the ride with the shortest queue first. If the waiting time is more than 20-30 mins, do not waste your time queuing. Read my post on the full list of USS attractions.

8. Decide in advance which street performances, meet & greet you want to attend

Unlike rides which are permanent, the street performances and meet & greets are not permanent. Every month or so, USS change the performances and M&Gs, making it hard for first-timer to make a concrete plan on which performance or M&G to attend.

The best way I can recommend you to do is to browse the Universal Studios Singapore App a few days leading to the day of your visit, and look at what performances and M&Gs are available. Most likely, they will be pretty similar to what will be available on your visit day. This way, you can roughly decide which one you want to attend.

The schedule of shows, street performances and meet & greets are different each day, and the schedule is only released on the day itself, which you can see from the app on the day of your visit.

Personally, I like to watch street performances, but I don’t really like Meet & Greet because the queue can be quite long, especially during holiday season. When you decide to join a meet & greet, you’re basically giving up a chance to take 1 ride. So, if you love rides, you may have to do time-analysis whether it’s worth attending Meet & Greet. Well, unless you visit USS during off-peak season when the park is quiet.

9. What to wear

For clothing, any kind of clothes are fine, but try to avoid thick clothing due to humid weather of Singapore.

For footwear, my personal favorite is slippers. That is because I know I will get wet when I play Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure.

10. What to bring

Also note that outside food is not allowed, so if you want to save money, eat your food at Vivo City or Seah Im Food Court prior to coming to USS.

11. Lockers

3 of them (1 at Sci-Fi and 2 at Ancient Egypt) are free for certain period of storage (such as free for 45 mins or 60 mins, depending on ride waiting time). The allowed time limit is usually longer than the waiting time for the ride, so it’s unlikely that you’ll exceed it.

The annoying fact is that the locker at Jurassic Park Rapids is not free. It’s probably because it’s not compulsory to keep your belongings in the locker in order to take the Rapids ride. If you want convenience, you can just pay to use the locker. Otherwise, if you want to save money, just bring your belongings on the ride with you. Do cover them in a plastic bag, or carry them under the poncho that you’re wearing.

12. Where to eat in Universal Studios Singapore

There are plenty of food options inside USS. Here’s the list of places to eat in USS.

• Dining outlets or Restaurants:
  • Hollywood: Starbucks
  • Hollywood: Mel’s Drive-In (menu)
  • New York: Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor (menu)
  • Sci Fi: Frozen Fuel
  • Sci Fi: Planet Yen
  • Ancient Egypt: Oasis Spice Café
  • The Lost World: Fossil Fuels (menu)
  • The Lost World: Discovery Food Court
  • Far Far Away: Goldilocks (menu)
  • Far Far Away: Friar’s Good Food
• Food Carts:
  • Hollywood: Pops! Popcorn Delight
  • Hollywood: Star Snacks
  • Sci Fi: Planet Yen
  • Sci Fi: Frozen Fuel
  • Ancient Egypt: Pharaoh’s Dessert Oasis
  • Ancient Egypt: Cairo Market

*Some of the restaurants may be closed.

Personally, I have only eaten at Goldilocks. I love the chicken tender (they call it Chicken Fingers), and Garlic Fried Chicken. I don’t recommend Tom Yum Fried Chicken. My friends who have eaten at Loui’s NY Pizza said that their pizza is pretty good.

Generally, the food at USS is quite expensive if you compare with similar items in shopping malls. For example, 2pc fried chicken set meal (comes with hash brown and drink) at Goldilocks costs SGD 16, meanwhile at KFC, you can get roughly the same thing for SGD 8.40.

If you really can’t afford to splurge, you can eat elsewhere (VivoCity or Resort World Sentosa) before entering USS, and at the end of the day, eat your dinner elsewhere. Alternatively, you can exit the USS to eat at RWS or Vivo, then come back again to USS (inform the staff that you’ll be coming back); this method is quite time-consuming in my opinion.

13. Shortcuts

Aaaand, yup, there are shortcuts! There are 2 shortcuts that I know of. The first one connects Transformer to Mummy without having to go through Battlestar Galactica. The second one connects Waterworld to Enchanted Airways and even Madagascar without having to go through the entire Far Far Away section. Basically, to access these shortcuts, just walk around the edge of the lake instead of walking along the main road.

Other information

For more FAQs, visit USS page, and scroll down to see the FAQ.

Read next: List of Attractions in Universal Studios Singapore and My Recommendations

This article was first published on 2 July 2016. It has since been updated to reflect the latest situation.

Please share this article if you think it's awesome!