maybe ally…Goes to Universal Japan!

THE BASICS

Universal Studios Japan is in Osaka, Japan, and this park is fantastic! Depending on where you are staying it can take 35mins or more to get to the park. The train station exit is right where City Walk begins and is a “hang out” spot of sorts for Japan’s teenagers. It’s on the smaller side similar to the size of Hollywoods BUT will soon get bigger thanks to it’s newest addition Nintendo World! which will feature a Mario Cart attraction!! Everything will debut in April, and I am SO EXCITED. I wish that I was there for the opening but alas I’ll have to stick to POV’s.

USJ has various lands including The Wizarding World, Wonderland (features Hello Kitty, Sesame Street & Snoopy rides) an Amity Village (a personal favorite) & even a Jurassic Park area. They also have staples that are in every park like an NYC and San Francisco area. You can skip the wonderland area if you aren’t into the kid’s stuff however there are some very cute photo ops (see below) so maybe don’t miss it for the gram? Must-do’s include Jaws, Harry Potter & anything related to Cool Japan. When you get to the park run to Attack on Titan. It’s a VR coaster that has wait times of 3 hours or more. TIP: You have to put stuff in lockers (they are not free beware!). After that, I feel like you are ok to roam around a bit. We didn’t even need XPress pass because wait times were bad and a lot of things we had at home so we didn’t do them here.

Let’s take a look at not only the rides and the food but also at Cool Japan! It’s a special event that takes place once a year. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

THE FOOD

My goodness! We ate so much while in Osaka and it was ramped up to 11 by the time we got to Universal. While there for two days we had chicken tenders, vegetables and lots of snacks! Plus I couldn’t leave that park without some Butterbeer from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (we like Florida’s better TBH). The Jurassic Park area has a really nice restaurant inside its Discovery Center. Unlike Florida, it’s not a place to learn!, on Day two we had food themed to Attack on Titan, a very popular Anime that also had an amazing ride! More on that later!

We also had many sweets. Everything from Chocolate Churritos, Strawberry Churritos, Crepes, Popcorn. You name it we were snacking. If you are looking for Instagramable food the Minion Park area is perfect for you. They have various buns with different fillings that look like those crazy Minions.

The Wizarding World has all of the same foods and snacks that Hogsmedes at other parks have so there isn’t anything special there. I would say if you want really cool treats to try all the Cool Japan treats. We had a special Attack on Titan foods as well as Detective Conan foods. SO. GOOD.

THE RIDES

As for the rides we got a little lucky here. Because we’ve been on so many of them at past parks (Spider-Man, Jurassic Park) we didn’t need to get on them. It saved us time and gave us the chance to do things we have never done or never done together. For example, Backdraft is a show that discusses how the movie of the same name came to be and how all the fire stunts were done for the movie. Think of it as this Universal’s “Twister” (oh how I miss that one!. T2 is also still there. Those in Florida or Hollywood will remember this amazing stunt show based on the Terminator films well it’s still at USJ!!!

Know what else is at USJ still? JAWS!!! Oh, how I miss this ride. Literally the only place you can get on is this park. We went on it TWICE because I miss it that much. In fact, Amity Village is still an entire area in this park and lives alongside The Wizarding World (See Flordia it can be done!). This park was pure nostalgia for me. I almost didn’t want to leave. I was happy to have gone to relive those moments.

COOL JAPAN

Where do I start with Cool Japan! It’s a yearly event at USJ that features many popular Anime shows and has overlays of some of the rides at the park. This year IPs are Detective Conan, Lupin: The Third, Monster Hunter (debuts in May) & Attack on Titan.

Detective Conan not only got a restaurant overlay but one of the coasters played music from the show! We personally didn’t do these because of time constraints but we did have a crepe themed to the show. As stated above Monster Hunter won’t be there until May, which is a shame because my fiance was SUPER looking forward to that as well as the merch. Lupin: The Third also had a restaurant overlay as well as a mini-show in the New York area of the park.

Attack on Titan was the clear winner here, having an overlay of a rollercoaster THAT WAS IN 3D, booths with amazing snacks and merch for days! It was a highlight for my fiance as well. We got so much stuff. OH, MY HEAVENS.

So what do you think? Would you take a trip to USJ? Did these tips help you out? Let me know below!!!