So firstly, let’s get the negative stuff out of the way.
Bluntly, it’s expensive, small and with only one (maybe two) thrill rides.
It’s close to $1,000 for four people if you want an Express pass which I’d say you do unless you want to stand in line for 45-60 minutes for rides which last about 60 seconds (looking at you Mummified and Hippogriff).
For that price, you get a lot of (admittedly well done) motion simulation rides, one real coaster and one flume. Plus of course the studio tour. By the end, our teens were definitely a bit sick of simulators and wanted more of the real thing. By the end, one simulator just blurs into another.
The site itself is small, and painfully laid out with a long series of elevators from the upper lot to the lower lot. So moving from one lot to the other takes time and makes popping between the two tricky.
So what’s to like? Well firstly the design of each area is fantastic, much more immersive than either Disney or Harry Potter studios in the UK - looks better, more interactive, more engaging. Simpson-land (for want of a better phrase) is amazing in particular, really bringing Springfield to life.
The same goes for the rides and the queues, which are also much more cleverly themed and deep than those at Disney. Ditto the motion simulators themselves. And whilst there’s too many, there’s some excellent ones amongst them (in particular Harry Potter and the Simpsons). There’s also a couple of weaker ones though, and less said about Secret Life of Pets the better, but suffice to say you’d need to be a real fan to like it.
And lastly the studio lot tour is great. Well scripted, good stunt stages and really enjoyable, especially if you know some of their TV shows and films with sets from the contemporary likes of The Good Place and Brooklyn 99 to classics like Jaws and Psycho.
We had the day there, probably spent about 6 hours and comfortably covered everything we wanted to see/ go in. I imagine two days would be tough to fill but one day was pretty good find