Why You Need to Experience Jurassic Park: The Ride Before it’s Extinct

If you’ve ever been to Universal Studios Hollywood, you’ve probably already enjoyed sinking your teeth into the nail-biting log flume experience Jurassic Park: The Ride  that celebrates the original Jurassic Park, which director Steven Spielberg himself couldn’t even finish at the opening in 1996 (although there was no “running and screaming” reported).

The Gateway to Snowdonia

It’s no mystery that Betws-Y-Coed is dubbed "the gateway into Snowdonia". Upon arriving you’re welcomed by forest-clad mountains of such grandeur that it’s not unreasonable to draw parallels with the Canadian Rockies. After all, the forests here are composed largely of the mighty Douglas Firs - native throughout British Columbia but only introduced to this neck of the woods some decades ago.

Manhattan Haunts: A Ghostbusters Fan’s Guide to New York City

This year marks the 34th anniversary of supernatural comedy classic Ghostbusters (1984) and the phenomenal franchise it spawned. To celebrate, embark on a self-made movie tour in New York City by visiting seven locations that served iconic scenes in the film and its 1989 sequel, as well as the 2016 reboot-inspired attraction in Times Square.

There Was Something Strange In Manchester's Bowlers Exhibition Centre... And It Looked Pretty Good!

On the first weekend of December, with my wife, Sian, and two friends, Anthony and Ben, I attended the For the Love of Sci-Fi Comic Con at the Bowler’s Exhibition Centre in Manchester. It’s been a pretty busy year for me, with my wedding in February, followed by a three-month trip (aka “greedy honeymoon”) around the world, but it might surprise you to learn that my weekend in Manchester is quite easily one of the most memorable of the year. I have to be careful when saying such things, though, but if you’re reading this, Sian, just remember - we got married on a Friday!

For the Love of Sci-Fi Preview: There's Something Strange in Manchester...

Here's a small collection of pictures from the For the Love of Sci-Fi Comic Con I recently attended in Manchester with Sian and my two equally-geeky friends, Anthony and Ben. I'll be writing up a full blog post, so check this space again tomorrow to find out more about who we met and what else we got up to!

Why Snowdonia Is Our Very Own British Columbia

After greedily spending three months travelling the world this year on our honeymoon, where we explored the real Middle-Earth that is the mighty New Zealand, the beautifully-rugged islands of Hawai’i, and the rich mountainous landscape of the Canadian Rockies, naturally there was an element of worry that, upon returning to the UK, all of that epic scenery would render our home country’s great outdoors underwhelming, even if Snowdonia has always been one of our favourite places in the country. Honest!

Where To Find Fantastic Beasts? Lacock In Wiltshire, Apparently…

It’s been quite some time since I last blogged on a filming location. The last that comes to mind is New York, but up until today I suppose I’ve somewhat underestimated Wiltshire. After originally planning to visit London for the day where we were going to undertake a 9 ¾ km walk from Paddington Station to, well, Platform 9 ¾ in King’s Cross Station and back, as part of the "Medal Mad" challenges, with Sian not feeling too well we instead decided to follow the curious rumours of fantastic beasts out in the country, with the aid of our very own Marauder’s Map – aka the "SatNav.”

Never Grow Up: Why Disneyland Is Better For Adults Than It Is For Kids

It wasn’t so long ago that I last talked about my love for Disney, having visited Disneyland LA during my three-month trip, and all. But after suffering from the post-trip blues (sniff) – which we’re still very much suffering from - Sian and I typically decided to visit our favourite place in the world, Disneyland Paris, along with our friend, Ben. 

Iceland

After New York, we headed to Reykjavik, Iceland. Intended only as a short stay and as a way of breaking up the otherwise longer haul back to Earth (otherwise known as the “UK”), Reykjavik turned out to be more of a snapshot into the country than anything else.

Kualoa Ranch: Revisited

Given the fact that my last post on this awesome place was so very heavily Jurassic Park-focused, I promised that I’d return to the popular, 4000-acre, family-owned ranch that has served dozens upon dozens of movies since the 1950s. In fact, even its Hall of Fame – a modest two walls’ worth of framed pictures – tells only a tiny fraction of the movies it’s hosted over the last sixty-plus years. Sadly this post doesn’t involve an actual revisit, but it does involve a little bit more on the movies that have been filmed there as well as some interesting facts.

A Whole New Dimension Of Ghostbusters

The infamous wax museum Madame Tussauds turned out to be quite a stressful and gruelling experience in the end. And no, it had nothing to do with our walk-through of all the famous wax models from Johnny Depp to Kim Kardashian, Anne Hathaway to Scarlett Johansson or Barrack Obama to Donald Trump (who we avoided like we would spores, moulds and fungus), but more so to do with the action we were thrust into in the second half of the tour: a Ghostbusters walk-through tour and a revolutionary virtual reality experience. Okay, stressful and gruelling might be a bit of a lie but saving the world – or the day – is no easy feat!

I Love This Town

Does the title of this post sound familiar? They're the words echoed by one of my favourite Ghostbusters – I have four in total – from the 1984 classic when the guys are covered in marshmallow after giving the giant sticky sailor what for on top of the apartment building now dubbed “Spook Central.” And seeing as you all by now know I’m a huge fan of the franchise, and having just been to the Big Apple itself, it won’t surprise you to know that said-trip involved Ghostbusters quite a fair bit, as well as the welcome onslaught of the smell of burnt marshmallow (not so much being covered in it) and even that once-creepy building as mentioned where refrigerators and kitchen counters just aren’t to be trusted.

The Curious Rockies

Vancouver

After a few days in the hugely undesirable city of Seattle, Vancouver came as a breath of fresh air. Sure it’s a city like most others, but the real difference is it’s in Canada. There might only be a marginal difference in terms of friendliness between Americans and Canadians, with the latter being the friendlier, but such a small detail makes all the difference.

LA And Seattle

There are very few good things to say about the central Hollywood Boulevard area, if any at all. I didn’t even really want to come back to LA this time around. But if you’ve seen my last post on the awesome theme parks here then you’ll know why we did. Our 2014 visit to LA was quite eye-opening at the time, but that’s not to suggest we had a bad experience when not in the parks, and nor did we this time. It just wasn’t a great one.

A Curious Wookie At Disneyland And Universal Studios

If you know us personally (that’s me and Sian), then you’ll have no doubt attended our wedding earlier this year. That means you know we’re a right pair of Disney buffs - and film buffs too. So naturally, during our visit to LA we visited both Disneyland and Universal Studios.

Kauai Part II: The Not-So-Lost Jurassic World

Following on from my post on our Jurassic Falls experience, during our stay on Kauai we stayed in Kapaa, located on the east coast of the island. And let me first mention that it was the best accommodation we've ever stayed in. The campus, composed of accommodation blocks, was surrounded by tall palm trees, and beyond them gorgeous green mountains. 

The Real Isla Nublar

I remember one of my very first blog posts where I joked about King Kong’s Skull Island being on Google Maps. It is on there as a bit of a joke, but of course it doesn’t actually exist in any shape or form, although scenes from the latest Kong movie were shot on location in Vietnam as well as Kualoa Ranch in Hawai'i. However, there is a fictional island that pretty much does exist: Jurassic Park’s Isla Nublar...

Oahu, Hawai'i

Our time in Hawai'i saw us spend four days on Oahu and the following four days on the island of Kauai, where you'll remember we visited Manawaiopuna Falls - more commonly known as Jurassic Falls. This absurdly-majestic natural construction was used in the original Jurassic Park movie when our characters land on Isla Nublar by helicopter, but I won't talk about that experience just yet. Instead, like I did with Kualoa Ranch, I’m going to give it a post of its own. Why? Because Jurassic Park. 

MoDana..?

Paradise comes at a price (literally)

After spending a month in New Zealand, we headed for Fiji; the chain of tropical islands in the South Pacific. There, we embarked on a tour with ‘Awesome Adventures’ which took us to four islands, each with a ‘unique’ resort of its own. Well, as unique as an island resort next to a beach can be, of course. Here though, I think ‘unique’ translates into ‘standards.’

Welcome To Jurassic Park...

At Kualoa Ranch, the gates to Jurassic Park are always open

Since landing in Honolulu, Hawai'i a few days ago, we haven't just been lucky enough to visit the city zoo where scenes from Jurassic World were filmed (see the elephant pictures below, whose enclosure doubled as the film's Gentle Giants petting zoo), but just yesterday morning we were even luckier to visit the real thing. Yes, we spent the day in Oahu's Kualoa Ranch, where the box-office monsters Jurassic Park and Jurassic World were filmed, in 1992 and 2014, respectively.