Wanted: thrillseekers who can handle a few queues (or are flexible on travel times), and are not too worried about getting wet. Working knowledge of Japanese optional.
Universal Studios’ theme park in Osaka is actually the most popular Universal park, at least in terms of attendances; as of 2016 it outdraws its sister facilities in Orlando and Los Angeles, and is the second-most popular theme park in the Asia-Pacific region behind Tokyo Disneyland.
If you’ve been to the North American parks, USJ is quite similar; many of the rides are the same or only marginally altered (other than being in Japanese; bet you didn’t know Japanese was such a popular subject at Hogwarts!) and so there isn’t much different if you’re a Universal veteran. Of course, if you haven’t been to those other parks, there’s a lot of cool stuff to see and ride (and if you have been to those parks and loved it, USJ will be right up your alley.)
As with most theme parks, USJ is divided into themed areas, with one or two big attractions in each:
Minion Park: If you aren’t sick of the Minions yet after seeing them badly edited into a million Facebook memes, they have their own area of the park. The main attraction here is Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, a 3D movie theatre with moving seats where audiences go through Gru’s Minion recruiting process; I didn’t try this one out as it appears to be the same as the rides at Universal’s American parks (although presumably with all the dialogue in Japanese.) But it’s a cool ride and kid-friendly.
San Francisco: Near the entrance to Minion Park is the Backdraft attraction. The Osaka theme park doesn’t have the movie studio tour that Universal Studios Hollywood offers, but Backdraft offers a bit of movie magic as it sets up- then sets on fire- a movie set as the audience walks through. There is some commentary from director Ron Howard but it’s been dubbed over in Japanese, so there isn’t much technical detail for non-Japanese speakers. Just stand back and watch the world burn.
New York: Features two main attractions, both of which are copied from Universal’s American parks and translated into Japanese. The Adventures of Spider-Man: The Ride is the better of the two, a motion simulator with 3D visuals where you hop in a Daily Bugle car and end up in the middle of a battle between Spidey and some of his most fearsome opponents. It was quite popular on the day but is definitely worth the wait.
The other attraction is Terminator 2 3D, which involves a sales pitch from Cyberdyne on their new “Skynet” project. It’s a theatre experience with some really cool 3D effects and transitions between filmed content and live action (actors appear to come ‘out’ of the screen at times).
Hollywood: Home to the Hollywood Dream roller coaster, which you can ride forwards or backwards (“Backdrop”). Sadly your humble scribe is a colossal wuss and opted not to try either. The Hollywood area also includes Shrek 4D (see the Sailor Moon entry below), which was unavailable when I was there but is apparently the same as the 4D movie experience at the American parks (in Japanese, natch).
Jurassic Park: If Hollywood Dream doesn’t satisfy the thrill-seekers amongst you, the two big rides in the Jurassic Park area might. Jurassic Park: The Ride is a log ride through the park that picks up pace as you encounter ever-bigger dinosaurs, then finishes with a near-26-metre drop into a lagoon; as with its sister rides in the United States, you should assume that you will get wet and plan accordingly. (Because of this, the ride might not be operating if you visit the park in the cooler months.) The ride seems a little longer than its North American counterparts, but I’m working from memory.
The other is a suspended roller coaster (the riders hang from the car) called the Flying Dinosaur, which on opening was the world’s longest flying roller coaster. Unlike Hollywood Dream it has a few loops and corkscrews to satisfy the adventurous, although it doesn’t have a ‘do the ride backwards’ option.
Near Jurassic Park is the Waterworld stage show (which was temporarily closed when I visited, but I had seen the Hollywood version in the US). Like Backdraft, Waterworld is hardly one of Universal’s bigger box-office successes but the show, featuring live actors, stunts and pyrotechnics, has been a long-running crowdpleaser at the theme parks and is worth a look. Plus it gives you the opportunity to sit down on a stable (non-roller-coaster) seat for a few minutes.
Universal Wonderland: The little kids’ area, featuring tamer rides themed around Sesame Street, Peanuts and (because this is Japan) Hello Kitty. There are rides for kids as young as 3 here, with nothing too scary (although Elmo’s Bubble Bubble ride does warn you you might get wet).
The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter: So popular, even a few years after opening, that occasionally access to the entire village of Hogsmeade (that is, the gift shops and restaurants surrounding the rides) is ticketed. That’s right, there’s a queue to access the queues to access the rides. Hogwarts’ castle grounds are home to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, a dark ride where you follow Harry and his friends and fly around chased by Dementors. (This ride is, again, the same as its counterparts in North America.)
This ride has the longest wait times at Universal (other than perhaps Backdrop) but is definitely worth the wait for Potter fans; perhaps the only jarring thing for mine was hearing Harry and Hermione speaking fluent Japanese. If you don’t feel up to a quick lap of the Quidditch pitch, there are tours of the castle you can do without going on the ride.
The other is a roller coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff, which is a bit tamer than Hollywood Dream or Jurassic Park (no corkscrews or loops here) but would work if you’ve got kids who are ready for something more than Elmo and Hello Kitty can offer.
Hogsmeade village has some additional bits and pieces for the Harry Potter completionist; it’s home to an outlet of wand shop Ollivanders, and some wands can even be used to activate animatronics in the village. There are also performances from ‘students’ from Hogwarts’ various houses, who teach passers-by how to use their newly-acquired wands. And you can always pick up a refreshing glass of Butterbeer.
Seasonal Attractions: Universal has a few attractions that are changed out periodically. At the time of my visit they were featuring Universal Cool Japan, with attractions based on four series (these should still be around until 24 June 2018):
Sailor Moon: The Miracle 4D. A short movie (maybe 15 minutes tops) in which the Sailor Scouts team up to battle a rogue Universal employee who’s taken the theatre hostage. The ‘4D’ refers to additional effects in the theatre, which will be familiar if you’ve seen the Shrek 4D feature here or at other Universal parks; the seats shake and there are wind and mist effects in addition to the film requiring 3D glasses.
For the full effect, you can purchase and wield Sailor Moon’s Cutie Universal Rod, which lights up during key moments of the movie (it was ¥2900, $35.17, from memory). The feature is entirely in Japanese but it’s not difficult to follow.
As an aside, the theatre used for Sailor Moon has apparently hosted similar ‘4D’ experiences in previous years, themed around Attack On Titan and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
– Final Fantasy XR. This had a lengthy queue, but it was worth the wait; it’s an indoor roller-coaster (like, say, Space Mountain at Disneyland) but you wear a virtual-reality headset throughout. The effect works well, even though without my glasses I couldn’t quite get the headset to focus for me (the attendants will give you a secure container for your glasses, as you can’t wear them under the headset). Presumably this is another ride that could be re-skinned at any point; just change the graphics inside the headsets, and give the attendants new uniforms, and voila, brand new attraction. (Apparently in a previous year this was a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu ride. The mind boggles.)
– Detective Conan: The World. I wasn’t able to try this one out, as you need to prebook tickets and I wasn’t familiar with the show (it apparently streams on Crunchyroll in English as Case Closed). The attraction itself is an escape room, set up as a tie-in with a new Detective Conan movie that had just been released in cinemas. There’s also a theatre restaurant, again, requiring pre-booking.
– Monster Hunter: The Real. I didn’t see this one in operation, either, but it looks like an animatronic pavilion with displays. Anime News Network did a write up on it here.
Practical Info: A one-day adult ticket (anyone older than 12) is ¥7,900 JPY, or $95.81. If you really like theme parks, a two-day pass is ¥13,400 ($162.52).
In addition to your entry ticket you can buy a Universal Express pass, which allows you quicker access to particular rides by ‘booking’ a time slot during the day. (You don’t so much jump the queue as ‘get to join a much shorter queue’.) An Express pass for four rides is ¥5,200 ($63.07), while a seven-ride pass is ¥7,600 ($92.18)- almost doubling your entry cost. However, if you want to guarantee yourself access to the more popular rides (particularly for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey) you might find this useful.
I opted to skip the Express pass and never found I was waiting for more than about 45 minutes for a ride, although I wasn’t there during peak times like school holidays or Golden Week; you can save time and money by going midweek. (Mondays and Fridays seem to attract school groups, as I found out on a Friday. It did mean there were lots of kids in school uniforms hanging around Hogwarts, though, which seems fitting.) There is an unofficial tool (click here) that will try and predict the sort of crowds you’ll face on a given date; it’s in Japanese but works with Google Translate.
Speaking of Japanese, most rides don’t require a knowledge of the language. If you just follow the normal common-sense rules (keep your hands inside the ride, make sure your harness is secure, etc) you’ll be fine. Some attractions have a story attached to them but the story is never terribly subtle or complex; only Backdraft really suffers from the lack of context.
Some rides have a Single Rider line, which may speed things up if you’re travelling solo or don’t mind your group being split up. It basically means they will draw from the Single Rider line to fill empty seats- when a ride has four seats but the group ahead if you only has three people, for example. This mostly worked pretty well, but failed me on the Final Fantasy XR ride, which only had two seats per car; solo riders had to wait for an odd-numbered group for a seat to become available. Most of the big rides also have a child-switch facility where parents can take turns on the ride, leaving one behind to look after a small child.
If you’re visiting Osaka probably the easiest way to get to Universal is by train for ¥360, about $4.37, each way. Travel to Nishikujo station from Namba (or from anywhere on the Osaka Loop Line), then transfer to the Yumesaki Line outbound and get off at Universal City. The station opens up directly onto Universal Citywalk, the assortment of restaurants and shops just outside the park proper.
A reference to ‘dollars’ means Australian dollars. Prices are based on the exchange rate as at 2 May 2018; 1 Australian dollar buys 82.45 Japanese yen. Tickets were purchased by the writer.
