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| Universal Studios Japan |
We arrived at the gates at around 7.00 am because we wanted to be among the first to enter once the gates open. We bought normal (not express) tickets at the counter which opened at 7.30 am. Express tickets allow you to skip the longggg queue to go on the rides. Since we were on a tight budget, we decided to get the normal tickets. Once the gates opened at 8.30 am, we literally ran to the Harry Potter theme park to be among the first in queue for Harry Potter & the Forbidden Journey 4K3D ride.
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| Hogwarts |
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| Hogwarts |
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| Hogsmeade |
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| Hogwarts Express |
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| Stunning details of snowing Hogsmeade |
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| Shops in Hogsmeade |
Some major rides have "solo rider" lines which allowed us to skip the queue too. Since there were only two of us, we didn't mind getting separated when we go through the solo rider line at the JAWS boat ride. Another tip: there are time slot tickets where you can reserve the time to go on a ride. This way, you don't need to waste your time standing in queue. We used the time slot ticket to go on one of the most popular ride, the Jurassic Park. There is an incredible "surprise" at the end of the boat ride that you MUST experience!
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| JAWS boat ride |
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| Jurassic Park The Ride |
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| Jurassic Park The Ride |
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| Prepare to get wet on the ride |
Other than that, there is a display board for you to check the waiting times of the rides in the theme park. This was very helpful for us to choose which rides to pick based on the time we needed to stand in queue.
If you plan to visit Osaka in October, I suggest you Google the date for the Halloween party in Universal Studios Japan. We were lucky when we chose to go on 16th October because there were Japanese locals in Halloween costumes everywhere! They definitely went all out when it comes to Halloween. There were zombie brides, wizards/witches, SWAT teams, Snow White, Super Mario, minions, air stewardess, prison inmates... the list goes on. At dusk, the theme park staff walked around as zombies with chainsaws and they chased anyone who came across their path. I literally screamed when I saw them, their special effects make up was too real.Halloween celebration in USJ is definitely one of my favorite memories of Japan.
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| Studio Info Board with waiting times |
If you plan to visit Osaka in October, I suggest you Google the date for the Halloween party in Universal Studios Japan. We were lucky when we chose to go on 16th October because there were Japanese locals in Halloween costumes everywhere! They definitely went all out when it comes to Halloween. There were zombie brides, wizards/witches, SWAT teams, Snow White, Super Mario, minions, air stewardess, prison inmates... the list goes on. At dusk, the theme park staff walked around as zombies with chainsaws and they chased anyone who came across their path. I literally screamed when I saw them, their special effects make up was too real.Halloween celebration in USJ is definitely one of my favorite memories of Japan.
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| Halloween celebration |
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| Inmates walking around USJ |
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| Witches |
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| Snow White |
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| Arabian Nightsss |
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| Zombie brides |
The roller coasters in USJ were pretty "tame" compared to Fuji-Q theme park. We went on the reverse roller coaster (Hollywood Dream - The Ride - Backdrop) and my head was spinning after the ride. You can pick your own song that will be played while you are on the roller coaster. We also highly recommend watching the Terminator show even though all conversations are in Japanese. The special effects were amazing! However, we were not impressed with The Adventures of Spiderman & Back to the Future rides. The walk in house of horror, featuring Chucky the haunted doll, was the one of the scariest experiences of my life. The dead bodies hanging from the ceiling was really life-like and the monsters with chainsaws made me scream until my throat was dry.
Initially, we planned to leave USJ before the sun sets but decided to stay until around 8.00 pm. Do allocate one whole day to experience the whole theme park. Since we didn't have much time in Osaka, we left USJ for dinner at Dotonburi. Although "research" on Osaka found that the best takoyaki in Osaka is at Creo-Ru, the takoyaki was mediocre. Dotonburi is alive because of the huge hungry crowd & giant octopus/crab on top of the restaurants. The Glico Running Man is also a famous landmark of Dotonburi. The lights display was unbelievably hypnotizing.
Osaka Castle is next on the list, before we visited Nara on Day 8 - the final day in Japan. I felt like a Disney Princess in Nara - find out why in the next post! ;)
Budget (JPY1,000 is approximately MYR36)
Universal Studios Japan Entrance Ticket - JPY7,200
Creo-Ru Takoyaki - JPY730 for 10 pieces
Initially, we planned to leave USJ before the sun sets but decided to stay until around 8.00 pm. Do allocate one whole day to experience the whole theme park. Since we didn't have much time in Osaka, we left USJ for dinner at Dotonburi. Although "research" on Osaka found that the best takoyaki in Osaka is at Creo-Ru, the takoyaki was mediocre. Dotonburi is alive because of the huge hungry crowd & giant octopus/crab on top of the restaurants. The Glico Running Man is also a famous landmark of Dotonburi. The lights display was unbelievably hypnotizing.
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| Giant octopus on Dotonburi |
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| Creo-Ru |
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| Huge crowd in Dotonburi |
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| Takoyaki chefs |
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| Takoyaki |
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| Glico Running Man |
Osaka Castle is next on the list, before we visited Nara on Day 8 - the final day in Japan. I felt like a Disney Princess in Nara - find out why in the next post! ;)
Budget (JPY1,000 is approximately MYR36)
Universal Studios Japan Entrance Ticket - JPY7,200
Creo-Ru Takoyaki - JPY730 for 10 pieces
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