When planning our trip to Japan, I knew we needed to check this park out. Everyone said the amusement parks in Japan are smaller than the ones in the US and they weren’t wrong. Though smaller, it did not disappoint at all. Made for easier time to get around and explore.
There is Harry Potter, Minion, Spider Man, Sesame Street, Water World, Hello Kitty and much more! It definitely was missing the Studios tour though. But hopefully some time next year the Super Mario Land will make up for that.
Unfortunately we JUST missed the Super Cool Summer event so everything Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan and Godzilla was gone. *le sigh* there were still One Piece items available but not sure if that’s limited or permanent. Seems like the “cool events” are active around spring and summer… times I refuse to travel back to Japan.
We were able to enjoy 1.5 days and it really wasn’t enough time to catch everything. The first half day we got acquainted with the park and the second day we dove into every part of it we could from open to close. The ride times are still high during off peak times. On average we waited between 60-90 minutes per ride and even about 2 hours on the Flying Dinosaur.
Lots of amazing souvenirs and gifts to bring home! Prices are decent, not super rediculous. Seems like every corner there was something available to purchase!
Overall we really enjoyed our visit. There was lots to do for adults, kids and even the little ones. The worst part of our trip was definitely wait times but that’s always to be expected when visiting theme parks in general. The staff was pleasant and spoke a decent amount of English for us to communicate a bit. The food was all amazing and very cute no matter what it was. I would highly recommend a visit if you plan to be in the Osaka area. Be warned that the trains are packed almost always and don’t count on finding a seat. Plan ahead and wear comfy clothing and shoes!
I had such a fun time here. I am more of a Disney gal and have never been to a Universal park in the states to compare it to. I was most excited about the rides that are exclusive to here like Jaws and the flying Dinosaur coaster.
We purchased the package with the extra fast passes ($$) and it ended up paying off (harharhar) because we saved a ton of time waiting in line for the Flying Dinosaur coaster (I think the wait time was almost two hours) and the Forbidden Journey (Harry Potter ride). We also utilized the single rider line on Jurassic Park and the Hollywood Dream coaster which was great because the Japanese do not usually like to ride single.
A lot of the rides here are definitely motion sickness inducing like the Minions ride and the Harry Potter ride. Both of those had a big dome like screen with multiple things going on that made it hard to focus. The theming on both was pretty great though.
The flying dinosaur ride was the most unique coaster I have ever been on! You board the ride sitting upright and then they rotate you so that you are facing the ground, feeling like you’re flying. My hair was flying in my face the whole time and the g forces were crazy when doing the 360 loops. I think I would have felt sick if the duration of the ride was longer.
This was also my first time in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it was such a cool area. It was pretty warm that day so we got a couple frozen butter beers which were delicious–tasted like a caramel or butterscotch Frappuccino from Starbucks. We went to Ollivanders Wand shop presentation and the shop employee was so genuine and good at his job- I’m not sure if the child that receives the free wand is prearranged or not.
The employees at USJ were all extremely friendly, constantly waving and smiling, and went out of their way to chat with us and ask where we were from, which was appreciated. I would definitely recommend this park.