Resorts World Sentosa opens four hotels; Universal Studios Singapore to open next

by Melanie Nayer on

Grab your fairy dust and put on your glass slippers: the opening of Resorts World Sentosa four hotels at the site of Universal Studios Singapore will commence on Jan. 20, with the Festive Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Crockfords Tower and Hotel Michael. The hotel openings will set the stage for more reveal during the following 30 days.

Part of the Resorts World Sentosa, Universal Studios Singapore has been in production since 2006. The magic of movies will come to life in one of the seven ‘themed zones’: Hollywood, New York, Sci-fi City, Ancient Egypt, The Lost World, Far Far Away, Madagascar. In each zone will live a host of attractions and rides specific to the theme, such as:

  • Broadway-style theater and a Walk of Fame replica (Hollywood);
  • Pizza parlors, neon lights and city-scapes (New York);
  • Dueling roller-coasters and Battlestar Galactica facades (Sc-fi City);
  • Pyramids and mummy attractions (Ancient Egypt);
  • Water parks and dinosaurs (The Lost World);
  • Fairy tale characters comes to life in Far Far Away land and;
  • Zoo animals and river rides hit the streets in Madagascar.

Like any good theme park, guests of all ages will have the opportunity to go on wild rides, fight villains, channel their favorite celebrities and dine with your favorite animated character. The resort will feature 24 different attractions on the 120 acres and include six hotels upon completion. As you would expect, there’s plenty of shopping and dining to be had in this magic land of make-believe.

The cost to enter the new playground: Adult passes begin S$32 (approximately $23 USD) for a senior-citizen day pass to a S$118 (approximately $85 USD) for a two-day adult pass.

The experience: Priceless.

High-tech bridge to connect Singapore’s Sentosa Island

by Stephen Greenwood on

Construction began Tuesday on a 620 meter boardwalk that will connect Sentosa Island with Singapore’s mainland.

The resort’s annual 5 million guests will be able to access the island on foot come November 2010. A series of covered travelators will be capable of transporting an estimated 8,000 guests per hour in each direction.

The boardwalk will be lined with retail, food and beverage outlets and be divided into five garden theme areas – mangrove, rock garden, terrain / hill, coastal flora and rainforest.

The development is expected to cost USD $48.6 million, and will accomodate a surge in visitors next year when Resorts World at Sentosa opens. The island currently features two five-star hotels, two golf courses, and will be home to Universal Studios Singapore when it opens in early 2010.

And if all that isn’t enough to pique your interest, then maybe our list of Summer festivals in Singapore will.

More tech specs can be viewed via the Sentosa Leisure Group’s official press release.

Universal Studios Orlando unveils Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

by Grant Martin on

Universal Studios in Orlando just released plans and animations of their new ride, the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, a state of the art roller coaster ride with all sorts of new features.

The experience starts before you even get in the ride vehicle. People movers have been integrated into the launchpad to streamline vehicle loading and unloading, meaning more launches and faster lines. Once you get into the vehicle (pictured) you have a personal bucket seat and Guest Interface Panel, where you can select a soundtrack for your journey that plays through integrated speakers.

Vehicles are staged in stadium style seating, meaning everyone gets a front row seat — which is important, because 14 cameras along the ride will be filming you. At the end of the journey, clips from each camera will be beamed to the video desk on the way out, so you can purchase a custom tailored video of you screaming your head off.

The Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit represents the newest, most cutting edge technology in roller coaster design. We can’t wait to get onboard.

Gadling Take FIVE: Week of Nov. 8–Nov. 14

by Jamie Rhein on

Today Gadling welcomed our newest blogger, Brenda Yun. Yun, who is tapped into the thrill of world travel without guidebooks, has looked for surf in a remote spot in Vanuatu and has traveled to where many haven’t tread.

Keeping with a theme of thrills in mind, here’s Gadling’s Take FIVE for this week:

This week also marks the end of our series, Catching the Travel Bug. The series offers personal accounts of various parts of the world where the kindness of strangers and newly made friends have resonated over the miles and years.

Forget parties, now it’s time for real Halloween.

by Martha Edwards on

Halloween weekend has come and gone, and with the parties being over, now is the time for the real spirit of the season to reveal itself; Instead of costume parties, now we’re talking about good, old-fashioned frights.

Got plans for the real Halloween this year? If not, why not consider going to a to one of these events, where they’re sure to put on a good show. According to Reuters, here are some creepy amusements going on this year:

  • Six Flags: Visitors to Six Flags have option of participating in the Secret Coffin of Fear, in which you lie in a coffin with meal worms for one minute — ick!
  • Universal Studios, Californian: Visitors to the House of Horrors will be haunted by some scary villains from the movies, including Freddy Kruger and Jason Voorhees.
  • New York’s Halloween Parade: More than 2 million people are expected to attend this parade, happening October 31st at 7pm.
  • Camp Blood, Carrollton, Georgia: Crazies with chainsaws and swamp-dwellers will greet visitors after a walk through the scary forest. Sounds really frightening!
  • Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia: Looking like a medieval castle, this abandoned prison is a natural place for a haunted house.