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In anticipation of the release of the upcoming Jurassic World Dominion on 9 June in cinemas, Universal Studios Singapore has introduced a Jurassic World Dominion Dining Adventure themed dinner experience that includes entry to the park, at S$248 per adult, and S$188 per child.
This dinner experience runs from 8 May to 14 August 2022, but is only available on Sunday nights. Park-goers will get to eat in the presence of dinosaurs, which is, of course, a better alternative than being the main meal of the prehistoric creatures. But what exactly does the package entail, and is it worth it? Let’s find out.
Jurassic World Dominion Dining Adventure is what you’d call a play-and-dine package, where you get full-day access to Universal Studios Singapore (with early access at 10am) with Universal Express Unlimited Pass, which means the shortest wait to get onto all the rides in the park. The main highlight is of course the four-course dinner that comes with free-flow drinks (including alcoholic drinks for adults and ice-cream for children), followed by the meet-and-greet that takes place after dessert.
Dinner starts at 6:30pm and lasts till 9:00pm. Before that, you are free to roam the theme park from as early as 10am, as the park opens to regular guests at 12pm on most days.
Shortly after the guests are seated, Velociraptor Blue makes a surprise appearance at the entrance of the restaurant for guests to grab some quick selfies.
The food menu is thematically accurate, which means it’s catered to carnivores, as BBQ pork ribs and beef skewers are served as mains. However, if you prefer a herbivore (vegetarian) menu instead, it can be requested when you make the booking (though we can’t justify this option, unless you’re there to tap on the free-flow alcohol).
As each course is served, dramatic lighting, smoke effects and music will accompany the meal, along with bits of interesting facts about Herbivorous (1st course), Omnivorous (2nd course) and Carnivorous (3rd course) dinosaurs displayed on LCD screens throughout the restaurant.
It was interesting to be served a salad in a jar, and the champagne vinaigrette dressing was flavourful. The second course consisted of BBQ pork ribs that were grilled to fall-off-the-bone perfection, and the smoky Boerewors pork sausage with caramelised onions made this dish our favourite.
The BBQ beef skewer mains, on the other hand, lacked the finesse as advertised. At first glance, the beef skewers look more like super-sized satay sticks. Taste-wise, they were pretty good when dipped in the hickory BBQ and hot sauce, though the bites were a tad tough for our liking.
The dessert dish, which resembled a dinosaur egg, looked the part. However, the lemongrass osmanthus jelly tasted a little bland, and the cookie crumbs with crushed peanuts didn’t quite go well with the jelly.
The children get to have fried chicken lollipops with fries, and spaghetti with dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. The fried chicken and fries were pretty good, especially when dipped in the caramel sauce but unfortunately, the tomato paste for the pasta left much to be desired. Even the dinosaur chicken nuggets were a tad too dry… and hard.
Free flow of non-alcoholic drinks includes apple, orange & pomegranate juices, soft drinks Sprite, Coke & Coke Light. Free-flow of alcoholic drinks includes beer, white & red wine. On top of that, all adult guests would already have been served three drinks alongside the first three courses, comprising of young Thai coconut water, a glass of chilled red sangria, and a glass of sugarcane mojito cocktail.
Like the movies, the experience won’t be complete without encounters with dinosaurs. In this, you’ll get to meet paleontologist Dr. Rodney, who’ll show you the hatching of a baby Velociraptor.
And finally, to end off the night, guests are led back to the Jurassic Park gate for a “meet-and-greet” with Velociraptor Blue and the ever-menacing Tyrannosaurus rex. After a brief performance, the guests will have a chance to get up close and personal with the dinosaurs for some selfies.
Once the show ends, guests will be asked to exit the park. Upon reaching the park exit, all guests are given a Jurassic World Dominion memorabilia metal bottle each.
So is the experience worth the price of admission? Considering that a day ticket to Universal Studios Singapore with an Express Unlimited Pass is worth S$148 (adult) or S$138 (child), you are essentially paying S$100 (adult) or S$50 (child) for the dining experience as well as VIP treatment during the 2.5-hour dinner experience.
If you are a Jurassic Park/World fan and don’t already have regular access to the park, this bundle is worth a revisit to the park. You get to enter the park earlier than anyone else (10am instead of the usual 12pm), get into the shortest queue lines, and end the day with a themed dining session. The bundle gets even more attractive if you happen to have a Maybank card, since you get a S$50 off the package prices.
So is it all worth the price of entry, or are you one of those looking for the franchise to end? You should be able to decide for yourself. Advance bookings can be made via Resorts World Sentosa’s website.
Yonk is a geek who is fortunate enough to have an equally geeky Star Wars fan for a wife, who owns a LEGO Millennium Falcon encased in a glass coffee table as their home’s centre-piece.
Natalie
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